Overall, the Highlander is a great smaller SUV. It has been driven many miles with my family. It is big enough for my husband and 2 kids. It has cup holders reachable for my son in his car seat. The trunk area is large enough to carry furniture or any large items. I have put minimal expense into upkeep of it. Gas mileage is adequate for the size of the engine. Also, if you choose to work on it yourself instead of taking it to a mechanic, it is not difficult to repair compared to my other vehicles I have owned. It features all the basic things plus a sunroof. I look more for reliability than luxury at this point in my life, and this car fits that. Only negative I could think of is that it does not have leather interior and is difficult to clean in between the seats.

Bought this as an extra vehicle to use for multi-purpose driving. It was very boring to drive with no road feel and, even with the V6, very underpowered. It would need to constantly downshift just to keep up with traffic. Build quality was just average. Fuel economy was not great, but it was okay for the era it was built.