Rent Toyota Highlander 2023 in Dubai

Three rows that all get used, a V6 that doesn't strain under a full load, and a card-or-cash handover with nothing held on deposit: that's the short version of why the Toyota Highlander 2023 rents well in Dubai. We bring it to your door in one to two hours, and you settle on delivery however suits you, card, cash, transfer or wallet. It's an eight-seat SUV with a 3.5-litre V6 and all-wheel drive, built for the family that needs people-space and bag-space in the same trip. The thing this page sorts out is the one that trips renters up: can you fill the seats and still fit the luggage, or do you have to pick one.

The seats, and which row is real

The middle row is the Highlander's strong suit. Two adults and three kids ride in comfort, the second row is genuinely roomy, and on a long Sheikh Zayed Road stretch the cabin stays quiet enough for conversation. That's the natural fit: a family of four or five with a week of mall runs, beach mornings and the odd visiting relative.

The third row is the part to be clear-eyed about. It's a usable seat for kids on a short hop to the mall or a hotel, but two adults back there for the 90-minute run to Hatta will be counting the minutes. Treat it as occasional seating and the Highlander makes sense. If you need both rear rows filled with grown-ups all week, this is the point to step up to a full-size body-on-frame SUV.

People or luggage: the real airport question

With all three rows up, the boot holds roughly 453 litres. That's enough for a few soft bags, a stroller and the day's shopping, not a stack of hard suitcases. Fold the third row and you open about 1,370 litres, which is where this car earns its keep for a family of four or five.

So the DXB or DWC run with seven people and their cases is the conflict to plan around. You can seat the people or carry the bags at full count, rarely both. My desk advice is plain: five passengers plus luggage, drop the third row and the Highlander is ideal. A genuine seven or eight with check-in cases means two trips, or size up to a Patrol or Land Cruiser.

Spec at a glance

Fuel and the running costs you carry

The V6 is thirsty next to a small hatch, but the large tank means you're not tied to the pump. A normal week of city driving with a couple of highway runs is usually one fill, maybe two if you're doing daily long hauls. Fuel is cheap here, so the bigger engine isn't the budget worry it would be elsewhere. Salik tolls run on your account while the car is with you, and any RTA fines from the drive come back to you, so keep an eye on the speed cameras.

Cooling a big cabin in July

A three-row cabin holds a lot of air, and Dubai summer afternoons sit in the mid-40s, so cooling takes longer than it does in a small car. The Highlander's AC is strong and the rear vents reach the second and third rows, which is exactly what you want with kids strapped in behind you. Parked in the sun, give it a minute or two with the fans up before everyone climbs in. The V6 keeps the compressor pulling hard once you're rolling, so it settles to comfortable across all rows. No SUV this size goes from oven to cool in thirty seconds, and this one is honest about that.

Living with the size on Dubai roads

At just under five metres long and nearly two wide, the Highlander is a big thing to thread through Marina side streets and tight multi-storey bays. The camera and sensors help, but pick the wider end bays at malls rather than fighting a narrow slot. The 203 mm of clearance clears speed bumps and mall ramps without scraping, and the AWD adds useful grip in the rare wet spell. It'll handle a graded track out to a desert camp, but it's a road SUV, not a dune machine, so leave soft sand to a proper 4x4. Child seats are required for under-fours, and the space makes them easy to fit.

Who should book it

Rent the Highlander 2023 if you're a family of four or five who wants room, quiet and a third row for occasional use, with the luggage space to match once you fold it down. It's the sensible middle of the Dubai SUV market: more practical than a five-seat crossover, far cheaper to run than a full-size 4x4, and dependable across a week or a month.

If you regularly carry seven or eight adults with their bags, size up to a Patrol or Land Cruiser and stop fighting the boot. And if it's just two of you on city errands, you're paying for space you won't use, so a compact crossover will save you fuel and parking grief. Match the car to the trip and the Highlander is hard to fault.