tow TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID 2021 (in English) Owner's Guide

2084-1. Before driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
Trailer ball load rating
Matches or exceeds the gross
trailer weight rating of the trailer.
Ball diameter
Matches the size of the trailer cou-
pler. Most couplers are stamped
with the required trailer ball size.
Shank length
Protrudes beyond the bottom of the
lock washer and nut at least 2
threads.
Shank diameter
Matches the ball mount hole diame-
ter size.
Weight carrying ball position:
50.7 in. (1289 mm)
Use the wire harness stored in
the rear end under body.
Please consult your dealer
when installing trailer lights, as
incorrect installation may cause
damage to the vehicle’s lights.
Please take care to comply with
your state’s laws when install-
ing trailer lights.
■Auto current cut-off function
In case of over current, the auto
cut-off function stops the power
flowing to the traile r lights to prevent
damage to the vehicle’s electrical
system.
Trailer classTypical trailer ball
size
IV2 5/16 in.
II and III2 in.
I1 7/8 in.
Positions for towing hitch
ball
Connecting trailer lights

2094-1. Before driving
4
Driving
HIGHLANDER HV_UThis function is activated when the
rated current of any of the following
trailer light circuit components is
exceeded:
●Tail lights: maximum 4.5 A
●Stop/turn signal light (right): maxi-
mum 7.8 A
●Stop/turn signal light (left): maxi-
mum 4.5 A
■When the auto current cut func-
tion is activated
If a trailer light does not come on
due to the activation of the auto cur-
rent cut function, the light system
will need to be reset.
Follow the reset procedure shown
below.
●If a tail light does not come on,
turn off the headlight switch.
●If the right-side stop/turn signal
light does not come on, put the
turn signal in the off position or
remove foot from the brake pedal.
●If the left-side stop/turn signal light
does not come on, put the turn
signal in the off position or remove
foot from the brake pedal.
If the emergency flashers do not
operate, press the emergency
flasher switch to turn them off.
After the light system is reset, oper-
ate the light switches again to see if
the lights operate normally.
If the lights do not operate normally,
have the vehicle inspected by your
Toyota dealer.
Your vehicle will handle differ-
ently when towing a trailer. Help
to avoid an accident, death or
serious injury, keep the following
in mind when towing:
 Speed limits for towing a
trailer vary by state or prov-
ince. Do not exceed the
posted towing speed limit.
 Toyota recommends that the
vehicle-trailer speed limit is 65
mph (104 km/h) on a flat,
straight, dry road. Do not
exceed this limit, the posted
towing speed limit or the
speed limit for your trailer as
set forth in your trailer owner’s
manual, whichever is lowest.
Instability of the towing vehi-
cle-trailer combination (trailer
sway) increases as speed
increases. Exceeding speed
limits may cause loss of con-
trol.
 Before starting out, check the
trailer lights, tires and the
vehicle-trailer connections.
Recheck after driving a short
distance.
 Practice turning, stopping and
reversing with the trailer
attached in an area away
from traffic until you become
accustomed to the feel of the
vehicle-trailer combination.
 Reversing with a trailer
attached is difficult and
NOTICE
■Do not directly splice trailer
lights
Do not directly splice trailer lights.
Directly splicing trailer lights may
damage your vehicle’s electrical
system and cause a malfunction.
Trailer towing tips

2104-1. Before driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
requires practice. Grip the
bottom of the steering wheel
and move your hand to the
left to move the trailer to the
left. Move your hand to the
right to move the trailer to
right. (This is generally oppo-
site to reversing without a
trailer attached.) Avoid sharp
or prolonged turning. Have
someone guide you when
reversing to reduce the risk of
an accident.
 As stopping distance is
increased when towing a
trailer, vehicle-to vehicle dis-
tance should be increased.
For each 10 mph (16 km/h) of
speed, allow at least one
vehicle and trailer length.
 Avoid sudden braking as you
may skid, resulting in the
trailer jackknifing and a loss of
vehicle control. This is espe-
cially true on wet or slippery
surfaces.
 Avoid jerky starts or sudden
acceleration.
 Avoid jerky steering and
sharp turns, and slow down
before making turn.
 Note that when making a turn,
the trailer wheels will be
closer than the vehicle wheels
to the inside of the turn. Com-
pensate by making a wider
than normal turning radius.
 Slow down before making a turn, in cross winds, on wet or
slippery surfaces, etc.
Increasing vehicle speed can
destabilize the trailer.
 Take care when passing other
vehicles. Passing requires
considerable distance. After
passing a vehicle, do not for-
get the length of your trailer,
and be sure you have plenty
of room before changing
lanes.
 To maintain engine braking
efficiency and charging sys-
tem performance when using
engine braking, do not put the
transmission in D. If in the S
mode, the hybrid transmission
shift range position must be in
5 or lower. ( P.220)
 Instability happens more fre-
quently when descending
steep or long downhill grades.
Before descending, slow
down and downshift. Do not
make sudden downshifts
while descending steep or
long downhill grades.
 Avoid holding the brake pedal
down too long or applying the
brakes too frequently. This
could cause the brakes to
overheat and result in
reduced braking efficiency.
 Due to the added load of the
trailer, your vehicle’s engine
may overheat on hot days (at
temperatures over 85°F
[30°C]) when driving up a long

2124-1. Before driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
Dinghy towing
Your vehicle is not designed
to be dinghy towed (with 4
wheels on the ground)
behind a motor home.
NOTICE
■To avoid serious damage to
your vehicle
Do not tow your vehicle with the 4
wheels on the ground.
■To prevent causing serious
damage to the hybrid trans-
mission and Hybrid AWD sys-
tem
Never tow this vehi cle with any of
the wheels on the ground. This
may cause serious damage to the
hybrid transmission and Hybrid
AWD system.

2224-2. Driving procedures
HIGHLANDER HV_U
When the shift lever is in the S
position, the shift lever can be
operated as follows:
1Upshifting
2 Downshifting
The selected shift range, from S1 to
S6, will be displayed on the
multi-information display.
The initial shift ra nge in S mode is
set automatically to S4 or S5
according to vehicle speed.
■S mode
●You can choose from 6 levels of
accelerating force and engine
braking force.
●A lower shift range will provide
greater accelerating force and
engine braking force than a higher
shift range, and the engine revolu-
tions will also increase.
●To prevent the engine from
over-revving, upshifting may auto-
matically occur when the shift
range is 4 or lower.
●When the shift range is 4 or lower,
holding the shift lever toward “+” sets the shift range to 6.
■Downshifting restrictions warn-
ing buzzer
To help ensure safety and driving
performance, downshifting opera-
tion may sometimes be restricted. In
some circumstance s, downshifting
may not be possible even when the
shift lever is oper ated. (A buzzer will
sound twice.)
■If the S indicator does not come
on or the D indicator is dis-
played even after shifting the
shift lever to S
This may indicate a malfunction in
the hybrid transmission system.
Have the vehicle inspected by your
Toyota dealer immediately. (In this
situation, the hybrid transmission
will operate in the same manner as
when the shift lever is in D.)
Changing shift ranges in
S mode

2314-3. Operating the lights and wipers
4
Driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
1With the headlights on, push
the lever away from you to
turn on the high beams.
Pull the lever towa rd you to the
center position to turn the high
beams off.
2 Pull the lever toward you and
release it to flash the high
beams once.
You can flash the high beams with
the headlights on or off.
AFS (Adaptive Front-lighting
System) secures excellent visi-
bility at intersections and on
curves by automatically adjust-
ing the direction of the light axis
of the headlights according to
vehicle speed and the degree of the tire’s angle as controlled by
steering input.
AFS operates at speeds of 6 mph
(10 km/h) or higher.
■Customization
Some functions can be customized.
(  P.530)
NOTICE
■To prevent 12-volt battery dis-
charge
Do not leave the lights on longer
than necessary when the hybrid
system is off.
Turning on the high beam
headlights
AFS (Adaptive Front-light-
ing System) (if equipped)

2334-3. Operating the lights and wipers
4
Driving
HIGHLANDER HV_Ufrom around a curve
• When the vehicle is cut in front of by another vehicle
• When vehicles ahead cannot be detected due to repeated curves,
road dividers or roadside trees
• When vehicles ahead appear in a faraway lane on a wide road
• When the lights of vehicles ahead
are not on
●The high beams may be turned off
if a vehicle ahead that is using fog
lights without its headlights turned
on is detected.
●House lights, street lights, traffic
signals, and illumi nated billboards
or signs and other reflective
objects may cause the high
beams to change to the low
beams, or the low beams to
remain on.
●The following factors may affect
the amount of time taken for the
high beams to turn on or off:
• The brightness of the headlights, fog lights, and tail lights of vehi-
cles ahead
• The movement and direction of vehicles ahead
• When a vehicle ahead only has
operational lights on one side
• When a vehicle ahead is a two-wheeled vehicle
• The condition of the road (gradi- ent, curve, condition of the road
surface, etc.)
• The number of passengers and amount of luggage in the vehicle
●The high beams may turn on or off
unexpectedly.
●Bicycles or similar vehicles may
not be detected.
●In the following situations the sys-
tem may not be able to correctly
detect the surrounding brightness
level. This may cause the low
beams to remain on or the high
beams to flash or dazzle pedestri-
ans or vehicles ahead. In such a
case, it is necess ary to manually
switch between the high and low
beams. • When driving in inclement weather
(heavy rain, snow, fog, sand-
storms, etc.)
• When the windshield is obscured by fog, mist, ice, dirt, etc.
• When the windshield is cracked or
damaged
• When the camera sensor is deformed or dirty
• When the temperature of the cam- era sensor is extremely high
• When the surrounding brightness
level is equal to that of headlights,
tail lights or fog lights
• When headlights or tail lights of
vehicles ahead are turned off,
dirty, changing color, or not aimed
properly
• When the vehicle is hit by water, snow, dust, etc. from a preceding
vehicle
• When driving through an area of intermittently changing brightness
and darkness
• When frequently and repeatedly driving ascending/descending
roads, or roads with rough, bumpy
or uneven surfaces (such as
stone-paved roads, gravel roads,
etc.)
• When frequently and repeatedly taking curves or driving on a wind-
ing road
• When there is a highly reflective object ahead of the vehicle, such
as a sign or mirror
• When the back of a preceding vehicle is highly reflective, such as
a container on a truck
• When the vehicle’s headlights are damaged or dirty, or are not aimed
properly
• When the vehicle is listing or titling due to a flat tire, a trailer being
towed, etc.
• When the headlights are changed between the high beams and low
beams repeatedly in an abnormal
manner
• When the driver believes that the high beams may be flashing or
dazzling pedestrians or other driv-
ers

2374-3. Operating the lights and wipers
4
Driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
the sensor sensitivity can be
adjusted by turning the switch
ring.
6Increases the sensitivity
7 Decreases the sensitivity
8 Washer/wiper dual
operation
Pulling the lever operates the wip-
ers and washer.
The wipers will automatically oper-
ate a couple of times after the
washer squirts.
■The windshield wipers and
washer can be operated when
The power switch is in ON.
■Dripping prevention wiper
sweep
After washing and wiping operation
several times, the wipers operate
one more time afte r a short delay to
prevent dripping. However, this
function will not op erate while driv-
ing.
■Effects of vehicle speed on
wiper operation
Vehicle speed affects the intermit-
tent wiper interval.
■Raindrop sensor (vehicles with
rain-sensing windshield wipers)
●The raindrop sensor judges the
amount of raindrops.
An optical sensor is adopted. It
may not operate properly when
sunlight from the rising or setting
of the sun intermit tently strikes the
windshield, or if bugs, etc. are
present on the windshield
●If the wiper switch is turned to the
“AUTO” position while the power
switch is in ON, the wipers will
operate once to show that AUTO
mode is activated.
●When the sensor sensitivity ring is
turned toward high while in
“AUTO” position, the wipers will
operate once to indicate that the
sensor sensitivity is enhanced.
●If the temperature of the raindrop
sensor is 185°F (85°C) or higher,
or 5°F (-15°C) or lower, automatic
operation may not occur. In this
case, operate the wipers in any
mode other than AUTO mode.
■If no windshield washer fluid
sprays
Check that the washer nozzles are
not blocked, if there is washer fluid
in the washer fluid tank.
■Front door opening linked wind-
shield wiper stop function
(vehicles with rain-sensing
windshield wipers)
When “AUTO” is selected and the

2524-5. Using the driving support systems
HIGHLANDER HV_U
■Enabling/disabling the
pre-collision system
The pre-collision system can be
enabled/disabled on ( P.97,
107) of the multi-information dis-
p l a y.
The system is automatically
enabled each time the power
switch is turned to ON.
If the system is disabled, the
PCS warning light will turn on
and a message will be displayed
on the multi-information display.
WARNING
• In some situations, while the emergency steering assist is
operating, operation of the func-
tion may be canceled if the
accelerator pedal is depressed
strongly, the steering wheel is
operated sharply or the brake
pedal is being depressed and
the system determines that the
driver is taking evasive action.
• When the emergency steering assist is operating, if the steer-
ing wheel is held firmly or is
operated in the opposite direc-
tion to that which the system is
generating torque, the function
may be canceled.
■When to disable the pre-colli-
sion system
In the following situations, disable
the system, as it may not operate
properly, possibly leading to an
accident resulting in death or seri-
ous injury:
●When the vehicle is being towed
●When your vehicle is towing
another vehicle
●When transporting the vehicle
via truck, boat, train or similar
means of transportation
●When the vehicle is raised on a
lift with the hybrid system on
and the tires are allowed to
rotate freely
●When inspecting the vehicle
using a drum tester such as a
chassis dynamometer or speed-
ometer tester, or when using an
on vehicle wheel balancer
●When a strong impact is applied
to the front bumper or front
grille, due to an accident or
other reasons
●If the vehicle cannot be driven in
a stable manner, such as when
the vehicle has been in an acci-
dent or is malfunctioning
●When the vehicle is driven in a
sporty manner or off-road
●When the tires are not properly
inflated
●When the tires are very worn
●When tires of a size other than
specified are installed
●When tire chains are installed
●When a compact spare tire or
an emergency tire puncture
repair kit is used
●If equipment (snow plow, etc.)
that may obstruct the radar sen-
sor or front came ra is temporar-
ily installed to the vehicle
Changing settings of the
pre-collision system

2574-5. Using the driving support systems
4
Driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U(road sign, billboard, etc.)
• When approaching an electric toll gate barrier, parking area barrier,
or other barrier that opens and
closes
• When using an automatic car wash
• When driving through or under
objects that may contact your
vehicle, such as thick grass, tree
branches, or a banner
• When driving through steam or smoke
• When driving near an object that reflects radio waves, such as a
large truck or guardrail
• When driving near a TV tower, broadcasting station, electric
power plant, radar equipped vehi-
cles, etc., or other location where
strong radio waves or electrical
noise may be present
• When there are many things which can reflect the radio waves
of the radar in the vicinity (tunnels,
truss bridges, gravel roads, snow
covered road that have tracks,
etc.)
• While making a right/left turn, when an oncoming vehicle or a
crossing pedestrian has already
exited the path of your vehicle
• While making a right/left turn, closely in front of an oncoming
vehicle or a crossing pedestrian. • While making a right/left turn,
when an oncoming vehicle or a
crossing pedestrian stops before
entering the path of your vehicle
• While making a right/left turn, when an oncoming vehicle turns
right/left in front of your vehicle
• While steering into the direction of oncoming traffic
■Situations in which the system
may not operate properly
●In some situations such as the fol-
lowing, an object may not be
detected by the radar sensor and
front camera, preventing the sys-
tem from operating properly:
• When a detectable object is
approaching your vehicle
• When your vehicle or a detectable object is wobbling
• If a detectable object makes an abrupt maneuver (such as sudden
swerving, acceleration or deceler-
ation)
• When your vehicle approaches a detectable object rapidly
• When a detectable object is not directly in front of your vehicle
• When a detectable object is near a wall, fence, guardrail, manhole
cover, vehicle, steel plate on the
road, etc.
• When a detectable object is under a structure