Compare the2025 Toyota HighlanderVS 2025 Ford Explorer

With its standard Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, the Toyota Highlander is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Ford Explorer, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

Both the Highlander and the Explorer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Highlander is safer than the Ford Explorer:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Highlander for 2 years and 25000 miles. Toyota will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Ford doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Explorer.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Highlander’s reliability 34 points higher than the Explorer.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Ford vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota second in reliability, above the industry average. With 92 more problems per 100 vehicles, Ford is ranked 23rd.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Ford vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota second in overall reliability. Ford is ranked 22nd.

On the EPA test cycle the Highlander gets better mileage than the Explorer:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Toyota Highlander uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Explorer requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Highlander has a standard locking fuel door with a power remote release convenient to the driver. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Explorer. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

The Highlander stops shorter than the Explorer:

For better maneuverability, the Highlander’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Explorer’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.4 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Highlander has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Explorer (8 vs. 7.6 inches), allowing the Highlander to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Highlander is 3.8 inches shorter than the Explorer, making the Highlander easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Highlander offers optional seating for 8 passengers; the Explorer can only carry up to 7.

The Highlander has .5 inches more front headroom, 4.7 inches more third row hip room and .4 inches more third row shoulder room than the Explorer.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Highlander’s middle and third row seats recline. The Explorer’s third row seats don’t recline.

The Highlander’s cargo area provides more volume than the Explorer.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Highlander XLE/XSE/Limited/Platinum’s liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Explorer doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Highlander Platinum has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, tachometer, warning, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Explorer doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Highlander’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Explorer’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the Highlander the driver can close them all at the outside door handle. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows at the outside door handle or from a distance using the keyless remote. (This window function must be activated by your Toyota service department.) The driver of the Explorer can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Highlander’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Explorer’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

When the Highlander Limited/Platinum is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Explorer’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

Insurance will cost less for the Highlander owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Highlander will cost $190 less than the Explorer over a five-year period.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Toyota Highlander, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Ford Explorer isn't recommended.