Compare the2025 Toyota Grand HighlanderVS 2025 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.

With its standard Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, the Toyota Grand Highlander is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Chevrolet Tahoe, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

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’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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, 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.

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 Grand Highlander’s reliability 40 points higher than the Tahoe.

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 Chevrolet vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota second in reliability, above the industry average. With 27 more problems per 100 vehicles, Chevrolet is ranked fourth.

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.

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 1200 pounds less than the Chevrolet Tahoe.

The Grand Highlander is 9.9 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.

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 Grand Highlander’s headlights were rated “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Tahoe’s headlights are rated “Poor.”

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/Nightshade 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.

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

The Grand Highlander was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2024. The Tahoe has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.