2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID tow

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 vehicle 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 r ange 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 ra nge will provide
greater accelerating force and
engine braking force than a higher
shift range, and t he 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 sa fety and driving
performance, dow nshifting opera-
tion may sometimes be restricted. In
some circumstances, downshifting
may not be possible even when the
shift lever is operated. (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 imme diately. (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 toward you to the
center position to turn the high
beams off.
2Pull 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 ta il 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, condi tion 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 abl e 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 windshi eld 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 h ighly 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 o perates the wip-
ers and washer.
The wipers will au tomatically oper-
ate a couple of times after the
washer squirts.
■The windshield wipers and
washer can be operated when
The power swit ch is in ON.
■Dripping prevention wiper
sweep
After washing and wiping operation
several times, the wipers operate
one more time after a short delay to
prevent dripping. However, this
function will not operate 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 intermittently strikes the
windshield, or if bugs, etc. are
present on the windshield
●If the wiper switch i s 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

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 fron t 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, pre venting the sys-
tem from opera ting 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, gua rdrail, manhole
cover, vehicle, steel plate on the
road, etc.
• When a detectable object is under a structure

2614-5. Using the driving support systems
4
Driving
HIGHLANDER HV_U
WARNING
■Before using LTA system
●Do not rely solely upon the LTA
system. The LTA system does
not automatically drive the vehi-
cle or reduce the amount of
attention that must be paid to
the area in front of the vehicle.
The driver must always assume
full responsibility for driving
safely by paying careful atten-
tion to the surrounding condi-
tions and operating the steering
wheel to correct the path of the
vehicle. Also, the driver must
take adequate breaks when
fatigued, such as from driving
for a long period of time.
●Failure to perform appropriate
driving operations and pay care-
ful attention may lead to an
accident, resulting in death or
serious injury.
■Situations unsuitable for LTA
system
In the following situations, use the
LTA switch to turn the system off.
Failure to do so may lead to an
accident, resulting in death or
serious injury.
●Vehicle is driven on a road sur-
face which is slippery due to
rainy weather, fallen snow,
freezing, etc.
●Vehicle is driven on a snow-cov-
ered road.
●White (yellow) lines are difficult
to see due to rain, snow, fog,
dust, etc.
●Vehicle is driven in a temporary
lane or restricted lane due to
construction work.
●Vehicle is driven in a construc-
tion zone.
●A spare tire, tire chains, etc. are
equipped.
●When the tires have been
excessively worn, or when the
tire inflation p ressure is low.
●When your vehicle is towing a
trailer or during emergency tow-
ing.
■Preventing LTA system mal-
functions and operations per-
formed by mistake
●Do not modify the headlights or
place stickers, etc. on the sur-
face of the lights.
●Do not modify the suspension
etc. If the suspension etc. needs
to be replaced, contact your
Toyota dealer.
●Do not install or place anything
on the hood or grille. Also, do
not install a gr ille guard (bull
bars, kangaroo bar, etc.).
●If your windshield needs
repairs, contact your Toyota
dealer.
■Conditions in which functions
may not operate properly
In the following situations, the
functions may not operate prop-
erly and the vehicle may depart
from its lane. Drive safely by
always paying careful attention to
your surroundings and operate
the steering wheel to correct the
path of the vehicle without relying
solely on the functions.