Your Buyer’s Guide to the 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander

Toyota’s Grand Highlander is a versatile, three-row midsize SUV that offers shoppers many opportunities to customize it to their specific needs. But how can it do this? What packages and trims does the latest Grand Highlander for sale offer? Well, we’re here to break down the options available for a gas-powered 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander.

Toyota has trims for specific purposes, and if you’re interested in a particular package or feature, we have you covered. This buyer’s guide will cover the new features, trims, colors, capabilities, and convenience and safety features of the 2025 model so that, by the end, you will hopefully have an idea of the Grand Highlander you’ll want to buy.

What’s New for the 2025 Grand Highlander?

The biggest change for the gas-powered 2025 Grand Highlander is the addition of an all-new trim—the LE—which replaces the entry-level option of the outgoing model year, the XLE. The XLE is still part of the lineup, but it has now been moved up a grade, so you can get all the basics you need from the new LE trim if you’re looking for a good entry-level three-row SUV. It’s designed to be affordable and rich with content.

The LE trim is available in multiple configurations. For the gas-powered Grand Highlander, you can get it in front- or all-wheel drive with the 2.4-liter turbocharged inline 4-cylinder. The LE has seating for up to eight people, comes with 60/40 folding seats for the second and third row, and has all of the model’s basic safety and infotainment features, including the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 suite, connectivity features for smart devices, and charging ports. You have up to 13 cup holders across the three rows, and it has power outside mirrors and a power liftgate as standard features.

Interior and Exterior Colors

The gas-powered 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander comes in one of four trims: the LE, XLE, Limited, or Platinum. The four trims scale from conventional daily driving all the way up to luxury-oriented content, plus options in between so you can choose what you want. The gas-powered iterations of the 2025 Grand Highlander are all available in six colors: for the base trims, you can get Celestial Silver Metallic, Storm Cloud, Wind Chill Pearl, Ruby Flare Pearl, Midnight Black Metallic, or Blueprint; for the upper-end trims, Celestial Silver Metallic is replaced with Heavy Metal.

You can also get each of the four gas-powered iterations of the 2025 Grand Highlander in different interior colors. For the trims with the SofTex interior upholstery, you have either Black or Light Gray color options. For the trims with leather upholstery, you again have the option of Black or Light Gray; the Platinum trim, however, has the added option of having its leather upholstery in the Portobello hue.

Performance and Safety Tech

All gas-powered Grand Highlander models come standard with a 2.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder, which makes 265 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque, and it is paired with an 8-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission. This powertrain can be configured in either front-wheel drive for prioritizing fuel economy or all-wheel drive for added stability management and traction control. (The Platinum trim, however, is only available in all-wheel drive.) With this powertrain, every gas-powered Grand Highlander is capable of towing up to 5,000 lbs.

All Grand Highlander models come with the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 suite, which has collision mitigation systems to help keep you and your family safe during all of your travels. Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 has a Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, Lane Tracing Assist, Road Sign Assist, Automatic High Beams, and Proactive Driving Assist. There is also a Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, so you can set the cruise control and have ample protection while your vehicle modulates its speed autonomously.

Available features like a rear-passenger seat belt reminder, hill start assist control, traffic jam assist, and downhill assist control add to the value of the Grand Highlander’s safety suite for the upper-end trims. Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and a backup camera with dynamic grid lines are standard features, along with an anti-theft system and LATCH for lower anchors and tethers for children’s car seats. The Star Safety System—which has electronically controlled braking, enhanced stability control, and traction control—is also standard across the trim lineup. However, features like the front and rear parking assistance with automatic braking are only available on the upper-end trims.

Convenience and Cabin Tech

You have the option of standard seven-passenger seating or seating for up to eight people if you get the optional second-row bench seat. (One thing to keep in mind is that the Platinum trim is not available with the bench seat.) Your seats’ upholstery can be SofTex or leather for the gas-powered model, and you have a 10-way power adjustable driver seat with power lumbar support and an 8-way power front passenger seat. For the upper-end trims, the driver seat gets memory settings, so the posture you prefer can be saved and loaded every time you step into the vehicle.

The digital key is a neat convenience feature that enables remote access using your smartphone as a keyfob. This gets you the functions of remote start, keyless entry, remote liftgate access, and remote unlocking standard across the trims. You also have standard power locks and power up/down windows. The soft-touch center console (with a removable utility tray) comes standard across the trim line, so you can easily store small belongings in the compartment between the front seats.

Seven USB-C ports and two 12-volt outlets are sprinkled throughout the three-row cabin, so you can keep your smartphones, tablets, or other devices easily charged while on the go. You can also keep your smart devices charged with the standard Qi-compatible wireless charging pad, which is excellent for those who want to charge without cords.

You have Bluetooth wireless connectivity for audio streaming, which you can access through the standard 12.3-inch touchscreen; you can also connect via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The entry-level trims have a 7-inch digital driver display, while the upper-end trims have a 12.3-inch one. You also have a standard 6-speaker audio system for the entry-level trims and an 11-speaker JBL premium audio system for the luxury trims. An auto-dimming rearview mirror comes standard across the trim line; if you want the Homelink universal transceiver or the 10-inch head-up display, you’ll have to get the Platinum trim.

Finding the Right 2025 Grand Highlander

Each trim offers a great number of modern features and amenities for a gas-powered 2025 Grand Highlander. If budget is a big concern, the LE and XLE trims offer enough content at a reasonable price; if comfort and luxury are too important to pass up, then the Limited and Platinum are the better options for you.

No matter which trim you go with, all have different packages you can acquire to personalize or upgrade your Grand Highlander based on your preferences, ranging from storage dividers and roof racks to pet products, steps, safety gear, and even lights. If you have questions about buying a gas-powered 2025 Grand Highlander, reach out to us so we can help you find the right model today.