I pulled up to my buddy’s house for game night, and the 2019 Toyota C-HR was quickly surrounded by a bunch of middle-aged guys.

“It’s… really blue,” said one, the disappointment in his voice palpable.

“Is this a handle?” said another, fiddling with the door release lever high in the rear C pillar.

“I don’t like it!” exclaimed my third friend as he turned on his heel and stormed back inside.

Compare that to when my son came home from school the afternoon it was delivered. I heard his car door shut, but then he didn’t come inside. When I finally went out to see where he was, I found him circling the C-HR like a moth around a flame.

“Cool,” was the monosyllabic response I got when I asked what he thought.

What Is It?

Toyota’s C-HR is a four-door subcompact crossover SUV that sits somewhere between a classic VW Beetle and a Tron lightcycle in terms of styling. It’s rounded and angular at the same time in a way that evokes sci-fi street scenes.

First Impressions

The C-HR stands out like no other vehicle I’ve tested. Part of that is due to the two-tone Blue Flame R-Code Black paint and trim.

The styling reminds me of the Prius Prime, but it feels more fun – more specialized. It’s not like the majority of family haulers or practical commuters out there, and that’s a large part of the appeal.

That eye-catching style continues as I walk around the C-HR. The high-side rear doors with their unusual handles are immediately polarizing (my daughter and I love them, my wife instantly hated them).

The hatch swings high for plenty of access to the rear. There’s plenty of room to haul a week’s worth of groceries. Or, in my case, all the materials needed for my latest Imperial Assault session with the guys. You can also drop the 60/40 seats for extra cargo space.

Opening the driver’s side door, I’m impressed with the gray leather interior… until I notice the brown diamond-patterned panels on the door interior. Once I’m seated in the driver’s seat with the door shut, it shifts more toward black. But in direct sunlight, it’s very, very brown.

The brown accents continue across the dash and I start to worry about the designers who decided that brown was a complementary color in this mix of gray, blue, and black. Then I see the Limited’s piano-black center console is actually sparkly and I know this interior is a cry for help.

Color choices aside, there’s no denying that the Limited model C-HR is loaded with amenities. There’s an 8-inch touchscreen, dynamic cruise control, voice activation, blind spot monitors, cross-traffic warning, a rearview camera, and more.

But How Does It Drive?

Taking the C-HR out for a spin, the 2.0L 4-cylinder engine has plenty of pep. It’s higher profile absorbs bumps with aplomb and makes the C-HR feel like a larger car than it is.

The radar-enhanced cruise control works just as well as it does in larger Toyota vehicles. Though you’d be wise to heed the warning that it’s only to be used on the highway. Driving around town with it on, vehicles turning in front of you are reacted to with a swiftness akin to slamming on the brakes. Leave the cruise for the highway and you won’t have any issues.

The ride is comfortable for passengers as well. I was worried that the small windows and high doors of the back seat would feel confining. But for my kids, who interact on drives mostly through their phones, they both enjoyed the “cave-like” feel. It helps that the ride is smooth and quiet. No one does noise-dampening like Toyota.

Driving around for a week, even with a quick trip to Tampa, I had plenty of gas left when I handed the keys back. The 18-inch tires of the Limited don’t eat into the 29 MPG average.

I appreciated the little quality of life upgrades of the Limited trim. The rain-sensing wipers got a workout in our unpredictable spring weather. The auto-folding side mirrors kept me confident that no one was going to ding them in busy parking lots. The touch-to-unlock door handles were so convenient it made me annoyed my own car didn’t have it. As superfluous as it is, I even grew to appreciate the C-HR’s puddle light.

Putting the “Meh” in “Infotainment”

However, as fun as the C-HR is to drive, it’s infotainment system needs work.

After using the excellent Chevrolet Traverse system and the more-than-serviceable Volkswagen Atlas head unit, using the infotainment system in the Toyota C-HR is a frustrating affair.

Just listening to the radio and adding your favorites is a chore. Non-intuitive controls and a decidedly last-gen interface make an attractive touchscreen almost worthless to use while moving.

My recommendation is to figure out what radio or XM stations you want to listen to before you hit the road, program them in, then use the steering wheel controls exclusively for tuning.

Luckily, the C-HR Limited also has Apple CarPlay as a standard feature. But getting it to launch is an exercise in patience. Sometimes it pops up without fail. Other times you end up with a fairly useless black screen. It’s something I’ve experienced in aftermarket head units but never in a factory implementation.

I expected better. After all, the 2018 Toyota Highlander was able to integrate Apple CarPlay without the lag. I can only assume that the head unit in the C-HR is underpowered or in need of a major software upgrade to optimize the software. (I’d blame the beta software on my iPhone, but my other vehicles didn’t have the same issue the week I had the C-HR.)

Who’s It For?

Other than my frequent frustrations with the infotainment system, I enjoyed driving the C-HR. For a sub-$30,000 vehicle, the feature package is impressively robust. There are tons of chrome-lined physical switches throughout the cabin, and the leather seats and steering wheel feel like they belong on something much more expensive.

As a people hauler, it’s perfect for getting you and a few friends around. As a cargo hauler, it’s more than perfect for filling up with a dorm-room’s-worth of gear and heading off to college.

As I look around the cabin and walk around the brilliant exterior with its aggressive styling, it occurs to me that the target demographic here isn’t me but my son. This is a fun, versatile vehicle that he could fit into all kinds of questionable parking spaces on a college campus.

I’d feel OK about sending him away with it because of the copious safety features, solid fuel economy, and brand reliability that’s kept Toyota at the top of just about every consumer rating guide for the past decade.

Unless you really want leather seats, I would probably go with the XLE and add on Apple CarPlay. Despite my frustrations with the implementation, it was still miles better than the stock infotainment system.

The Toyota C-HR LE starts at around $21,000, and the nicely appointed XLE goes for about $2,000 more (you can compare the models here). My Limited model was around $29,000.

(Thanks to Toyota for lending me a car to drive for the week. Opinions are my own.)