Compare the2024 Toyota Grand HighlanderVS 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Grand Highlander have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Chevrolet Tahoe doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

The Toyota Grand Highlander has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Tahoe doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Grand Highlander has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Tahoe doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The Grand Highlander has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Tahoe’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Grand Highlander has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Parking Support Brake on the Limited/Platinum automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Tahoe and the Tahoe’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.

The Grand Highlander’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Tahoe doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Grand Highlander uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Tahoe uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Grand Highlander and the Tahoe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Grand Highlander’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Tahoe’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Grand 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. Chevrolet only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the Tahoe.

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Grand Highlander have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of some of the engines in the Tahoe.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota above average in long-term dependability. With 34 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Chevrolet is rated lower.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota second in overall reliability. Chevrolet is ranked 20th.

As tested in Car and Driver the Grand Highlander Hybrid Max 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid is faster than the Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3 V8:

On the EPA test cycle the Grand Highlander gets better mileage than the Tahoe:

Regenerative brakes improve the Grand Highlander Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Tahoe doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Grand 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 Tahoe. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Toyota Grand Highlander higher (7 out of 10) than the Chevrolet Tahoe (3 to 6). This means the Grand Highlander produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Tahoe every 15,000 miles.

The Grand Highlander offers an available continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Tahoe doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Grand Highlander stops much shorter than the Tahoe:

The Grand Highlander has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Grand Highlander flat and controlled during cornering. The Tahoe’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Grand Highlander Platinum AWD handles at .80 G’s, while the Tahoe Z71 4x4 pulls only .63 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Grand Highlander Limited AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2 seconds quicker than the Tahoe LT 4x4 (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 29.4 seconds @ .54 average G’s).

The Toyota Grand Highlander may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 1000 to 1150 pounds less than the Chevrolet Tahoe.

The Grand Highlander is 9.3 inches shorter than the Tahoe, making the Grand Highlander easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Unibody construction lowers the Grand Highlander’s center of gravity significantly without reducing ground clearance. This contributes to better on the road handling and better off-road performance and stability. In addition, unibody construction makes the chassis stiffer, improving handling and reducing squeaks and rattles. The Tahoe doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

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

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

If the windows are left open on the Grand 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 Tahoe can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Grand Highlander Platinum has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Tahoe doesn’t offer cornering lights.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Grand Highlander to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Tahoe doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum has standard front air conditioned seats and the Grand Highlander Platinum also has them in the second row. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The Tahoe doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Toyota Grand Highlander has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Tahoe LT/RST/Z71/Premier/High Country offers wireless charging.