Toyota denies it’s delaying the Highlander EV SUV again [Update]

The electric Highlander was set to go on sale soon as the current gas-powered SUV is phased out, but Toyota’s delay is creating a bigger headache. more…

Dan Clougher is an automotive journalist and former classic and sports car dealer with hands-on experience across luxury, performance, and collector vehicles. Before joining CarBuzz, he managed his own showroom and worked with both independent and franchise dealers, specializing in classic and high-end models. Since 2023, Dan has contributed to HotCars and CarBuzz, producing news coverage, buyer’s guides, and in-depth features on classic and modern cars. His work draws on a practical understanding of the used and collector car markets, with a focus on value, rarity, and historical significance. High depreciation in the luxury segment is nothing new, and in fact, it's something we've covered here plenty of times in the past at CarBuzz. However, while there certainly is plenty to celebrate about a $40,000 luxury sedan now selling for $12,000, or tanking EV prices, this piece zeroes in on some of the biggest losers when it comes to plummeting values. Fully loaded SUVs from some of the most prestigious automakers are, on paper, properly desirable cars.

Despite hybrids being so hot right now and compact luxury crossovers being so hot right now, the overlap in the resulting Venn diagram has historically been small enough for but one vehicle: The Lexus NX. For more than a decade, Lexus has planted its flag firmly in the soil, declaring reign over the fuel-sipping corner of the reasonably-sized, reasonably posh, reasonably tall car market. Now it’s going all the way: with a 2027 refresh, the Lexus NX is going hybrid-only. It couldn’t have come at a more important moment. For the first time in what feels like forever, Lexus isn’t alone in taking electrification in this segment seriously. With new plug-in and non-plug-in rivals either already on the market or hitting showrooms imminently, Toyota’s brand for the Whole Foods set needed to keep up with the Joneses by revamping some of the weaker spots on its second-most-popular model. So, has it worked? I headed not far from the NX’s North American production plant to find out.

The great thing about doing this job is that it’s something I was doing anyway, looking at classified ads for crappy old cars and annoying people (usually my wife) by babbling about them. Now I just get to annoy a lot more people. The terrible thing about this job is finding a whole bunch of cars I wish I could buy, like the two I’m about to show you. One is on the wrong side of the country, and the other is nearby, but twice the price and broken. Yesterday we looked at a couple of Ford’s stranger post-malaise efforts: a diesel Escort and a 4WD Tempo. I was surprised by the results; I didn’t expect that many of you to cotton to the idea of a $4,000 Ford Escort. Oh, it still lost, but only by about two to one. I thought it would be a lot worse.

Vik is the Co-Founder and former Editor at MotorAuthority, a leading U. S. website covering performance and luxury cars. Since 2025, he has contributed to CarBuzz, blending his engineering background and almost 20 years of automotive journalism experience to deliver cutting-edge news and analysis. Ferrari unleashed the F80 hybrid hypercar at the tail end of 2024 as the latest entry in its Special Series, that collection of flagship models that includes cars like the LaFerrari and Enzo before it. And just like those previous entries, the F80 will spawn additional variants. One we know is coming is an open-top version. Another is likely to be a hardcore version designed strictly for track use, and we might already know its name.

I was hoping there would be at least two Slate Trucks on site, so I could compare build quality between trucks and check things like panel gaps, window operation, and chassis creaks. But only one truck was on display. And it wasn’t close to a production model; rather, the black Slate Truck was a hand-built, older prototype with a black wrap (the Slate Truck base color is gray). The bed and passenger sides were cordoned off, but the driver-side door was open so shoppers could hop in and check out the interior. It was bigger than I expected—to my eye, roughly the size of a Hyundai Santa Cruz. The tailgate was down, and it felt reassuringly sturdy when I pressed down on it. The 5-foot-long (152.4 cm) bed floor looked and felt durable, not much different from any other pickup on the market.