One problem related to manual transmission has been reported for the 2004 Toyota Highlander. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Toyota Highlander based on all problems reported for the 2004 Highlander.
Acceleration lags all the time, but is especially apparent when "flooring it" upon freeway entry, passing, etc. I see that this is one of the most frequent complaints about 04 Highlanders. Overall, quite disappointed in my overpriced SUV.