When I first came upon the Toyota Highlander on the evening of our wedding anniversary, I was nostalgic and looking to celebrate. We purchased the vehicle that evening, and for awhile, everything seemed fine. We loved the stylish interior with room for our growing family. The creature comforts of electric windows, door locks, and other gadgets seemed to make our daily commutes easier as we were traveling back and forth with kids in tow. What I do not like about this vehicle is the upkeep cost. We had a fuel injection system issue way earlier than anticipated, and that cost us almost two thousand dollars to repair. We were scrambling to cover that cost when all of our brakes failed on us, and we ended up putting in another $2,200 to cover the cost of repairs. All in all, we added almost $5,000 to the total cost of owning this vehicle.

The interior of the car is functional and high quality. Using the hands-free calling is simple. The gas mileage average is in the lower 20's with over 65,000 miles on the vehicle. The car is well built and the ride is smooth. The AWD works well in the winter tackling slippery, steep hills without problems. We were able to pull an evasive maneuver to avoid a car sliding head on out of control on icy roads without the vehicle sliding out of control. As a hockey mom I run into some trouble with the trunk space. Hauling two large equipment bags (including one goalie) takes up most of the back making it hard for luggage, coolers or other items you may need to take out of town. Also going to the cabin it is difficult to fit our luggage, 2 adults, 2 kids and our three dogs in the vehicle.