Background
The Toyota Highlander in Nigeria is a mid-size crossover SUV that has been in production by Toyota since 2000. It is a highly successful SUV that has earned a good reputation amongst Nigerian SUV buyers.
In fact, the Toyota Highlander is Nigeria's most popular SUV. Did you know you can further beautify this SUV by an easy upgrade? Well, if you need to know how to upgrade your Toyota Highlander in Nigeria (we, car enthusiasts, call it facelift too), this is the right place. First though, a bit about this SUV.
Popularly called the Carton Wagon in Nigeria
You would agree with me that the Toyota Highlander 2008-2010 is the most common Toyota mid-size SUV in Nigeria at the moment alongside the 4runner and other cars of Japan. You see this car everywhere with both male and female drivers just because it is a perfect all-rounder when considering cargo space as well as interior space for passengers.
In terms of fuel economy, ride comfort, and user-friendliness, it is also a great car. Maintaining the Toyota Highlander in Nigeria is also very easy, which is a perfect advantage for owners.
How to upgrade the Toyota Highlander in Nigeria
I will be showing you the various ways to upgrade your Toyota Highlander from the regular appearance to something everyone would talk about when you drive by. Most importantly, I will show you how to facelift your Toyota Highlander to a newer year model on the exterior and how to upgrade the interior also.
This is exactly what a facelift is; Old face to New face
This eliminates a need to buy a newer Highlander since most of them run on the same engine for a very long time. The manufacturers themselves just effected these facelifts and announced it as a newer year model.
Please note, not all Toyota Highlander models can be facelifted to a newer year but all can be upgraded or modified to look more expensive than the regular ones out there on the road.
>>> Wanna know about the Highlander Competition? Read an expert comparison between the Toyota Highlander and one of its closest rival; the Ford Explorer here
How to upgrade the 2000 - 2007 Toyota Highlander
This is the first generation of the Toyota Highlander. It used a 3.0-liter V6 engine initially but from 2004 it began to use a 3.3-liter V6 engine. This car didn't have any major facelift between the years of production before the next generation. This means you can't make any Toyota Highlander 2007 or below look any different, it can only be modified with aftermarket body kits, grilles, and other parts to make it look sportier than the regular build.
Two common upgrades on the 2000 - 2007 Highlander
What do I mean? There are parts that can be bought for this car that has been built specially to make your first-generation Highlander stand out. Parts like front bumpers, rear bumpers, mesh grilles, modified headlights/taillights, and rims. All these would make the car stand out.
You can take an extra step by replacing the regular infotainment on your highlander with an android enabled infotainment system. This infotainment comes with Bluetooth and a normal Android phone interface that lets you connect to Wifi and download applications, music, and pictures from the internet. This is as you normally would with your smartphone.
Here is an android infotainment upgrade on a 2007 Highlander
You also get to connect a reverse camera to this infotainment to assist you with blind spots while reversing.
Thinking about buying a 2005 Highlander? Check out the review and price: Check out a review on the 2005 Toyota Highlander and price in Nigeria
Price of First-generation Highlander Upgrade
| Item | Price in Naira |
|---|---|
| Aftermarket Front & Rear Bumper | ₦80,000 - ₦300,000 |
| Aftermarket Grille | ₦20,000 - ₦120,000 |
| Aftermarket Headlight | ₦60,000 - ₦150,000 |
| Aftermarket Taillight | ₦60,000 - ₦150,000 |
| Android Screen | ₦60,000 - ₦150,000 |
| Aftermarket Rims | ₦40,000 - ₦200,000 |
How to upgrade the 2008- 2013 Toyota Highlander
This 3.5-liter engine SUV had a mid-cycle refresh in 2010 for the 2011 Highlander. The headlights and the grille both became slimmer and sleeker just to make the Highlander look more appealing to buyers. This facelift became available 2 years after in the aftermarket industry of Toyota cars.
You can make up look like down very easily
You can now facelift your 2008,2009, and 2010 Highlander to look like the 2013 Highlander motor vehicle. Trust me, the interior of the facelifted Highlander (2011 - 2013) only differs from the older models because of the LCD infotainment screen. This LCD screen can be bought as an aftermarket part and installed on your highlander after the facelift. This facelift also applies to the Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
Android screen for Toyota Highlander 2008-2013 is a good facelift
The facelift has a conversion kit that comes with the full front/rear bumper, headlights, taillights, fenders, and front grilles. In all honesty, the rear isn't all that different from the older models. The minor difference is the presence of two white parts on the taillights, then a more pronounced two-tone rear bumper. If you are on a tight budget for this facelift, don't bother changing the rear bumper and taillights.
These conversion kits are manufactured by unaffiliated companies with up-to-date automotive technology. By the way, this is the same method used to manufacture the original parts by Toyota Motor Company.
This car can also be made to look sporty with aftermarket modifications like rims, sport body kits, and grilles to switch up to a car that looks capable of sprinting from 0 to 60 in just 2 seconds.
Headlight, Grille, and Rim upgrade on a 2010 Highlander
Price of Second-generation Highlander Upgrade
| Item | Price in Naira |
|---|---|
| Complete facelift kits (front only) | ₦200,000 - ₦400,000 |
| Aftermarket Grille | ₦20,000 - ₦120,000 |
| Aftermarket Headlight | ₦60,000 - ₦200,000 |
| Aftermarket Taillight | ₦60,000 - ₦150,000 |
| Android Screen | ₦60,000 - ₦150,000 |
| Tesla Screen | ₦180,000 - ₦350,000 |
| Aftermarket Rims | ₦60,000 - ₦200,000 |
How to upgrade the 2014- 2019 Toyota Highlander
The Toyota Highlander 2014 is one of the roomiest mid-size SUVs in the market today. This car is the ideal large-sized family SUV. A lot of Nigerians buy this car because of its exterior appearance. It is very attractive especially because of the front grilles and this look got better in 2016 when the Toyota Highlander 2014 design got facelifted. This gave it new headlights and taillights that got thinner and also a revised grille with more horizontal offsets that gave it a bolder presence for the 2017 model.
So, if you drive a Toyota Highlander 2016, 2015 and 2014, there is good news for you. You can facelift your car in two ways; you can either make it have the 2019 Highlander appearance or make it have a Lexus fascia. The Lexus fascia is just a large grille that looks like the Lexus LX570 front appearance. It is no longer strange that a lot of Toyota owners like making their cars look like the Lexus counterpart. You could achieve either look by purchasing a complete conversion kit that includes front/rear bumpers, front/tail lights and the front grille.
This is the second facelift available for the Toyota Highlander
You can also give your Highlander, with an all-wheel-drive, a cargo carrier on top to make it look as rad as a proper off-road wheeled vehicle. Coupled with designated off-road tyres and rims.
Off-road Toyota Highlander upgrade
Aftermarket body kits, grilles, and lights are also available for this car. Most Toyota cars from 2016 leave no room for owners to upgrade their infotainment based on vehicle technology equipped. The third-generation Highlander already comes with smart infotainment with Bluetooth connectivity for every kind of smartphone.
Beautiful aftermarket taillights for the 3rd generation Toyota Highlander
After 2019, the 2020 Highlander was introduced with a fully redesigned appearance. There is no way you can upgrade a Toyota Highlander 2018 to 2020 for now and I doubt there would ever be a way because the new design is a world apart from the outgoing 2019 design.
There is a strong rivalry between the 2020 Toyota Highlander and the 2020 Volvo XC90. Honestly, they are both great cars but if you were to pick one, which would it be?
Price of the Third generation Highlander Upgrade
| Item | Price in Naira |
|---|---|
| Complete facelift kits (front and rear) | ₦500,000 - ₦1,000,000 |
| Aftermarket Grille | ₦120,000 - ₦200,000 |
| Aftermarket Headlight | ₦200,000 - ₦400,000 |
| Aftermarket Taillight | ₦180,000 - ₦350,000 |
| Tesla Screen | ₦180,000 - ₦450,000 |
| Aftermarket Rims | ₦120,000 - ₦400,000 |
| Cargo Carrier | ₦120,000 - ₦400,000 |
Where to buy the upgrade parts for Highlander in Nigeria
To acquire the items needed for the upgrade, you have only two options available to you from Nigeria; it's either you order the parts you want online and get them shipped to you at a fee or you procure the parts from a car parts dealership within the country like the popular Ladipo Market in Oshodi area of Lagos.
The conversion kit for a Toyota Highlander upgrade is all you need
When shopping for parts you should make sure that it is the Highlander you are buying for. Well, you are lucky that the Highlander has only a few generations available and it is hard to mistake parts for each other.
Note that the Toyota Highlander is also called the Kluger in Japan. Don't be confused when buying parts from Japanese websites and you see Toyota Kluger. As a rule, all Toyota SUVs aka Toyota Jeeps in Nigeria are generally good quality SUVs.
Conclusion
The highlander facelift upgrade is only available for the second and third generation and it is very easy to fix up with little fabrications to be done by the panel beater handling the project. To buy this SUV, check out the Toyota Highlander price in Nigeria on Naijauto.com.
You have to be careful when buying a Highlander that is locally used or tokunbo in Nigeria, you need pro tips! You have to inspect the car well to make sure that it is not an upgraded highlander that is being sold at a hiked price. Now that you know how to upgrade or facelift your Toyota Highlander to a newer model in Nigeria, you can go about town with a dashing-looking, pimped up SUV!
>>> Get more up-to-date car price articles, and car reviews here
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