I have owned two Toyota Highlanders. As a busy mom, reliability and dependability are two important aspects of a commuter car. The Highlander has both plus more. For a base model medium SUV, it is quiet, great on gas and extremely smooth. I put 200K miles on my 2004 model prior to buying the 2012 model. Only paid for basic maintenance throughout the ownership. The Highlander will not let you down.

When I bought the Highlander it was to replace a Ford Explorer. The Toyota Highlander had better fuel mileage, nicer interior, and more trunk space for surf boards, luggage, and my families traveling needs. The best part about the Highlander was that the gas mileage was much better than the V8 engine in my Ford Explorer. Even though it saved on gas I did wish that the engine had a little more power.