2010 Toyota Highlander
(Starting at $25,705)Drive into any Home Depot or Garden Center parking lot over the weekend and you will them. By the hundreds and thousands they roam the streets of your local Metropolitan area. Am I talking about cockroaches? No, I am talking about Toyota Highlanders.How has this innocuous family SUV become such a fixture of our national landscape as to become nigh on invisible? Because they are great cars for families with more than one child, that is why. Seemingly purpose built to make family life easier, the Toyota Highlander is an outstanding choice for anyone looking for an SUV that makes their life easier.It Has Enough Room For a Family With Three Kids: The more children you have the fewer options you have in the automotive marketplace and the closer you get to the m word. The minivan. The Highlander is perfect for anyone with up to three kids as it is wide enough to fit three car seats across the middle row and it comes with third row seating optionally. The cargo area is roomy enough to haul you, the family and all that baby clutter that seems necessary these days. Let's face it, this car is the grocery getter concept perfected with laser sharp precision.It's Practical and Should be Reliable: With available seating for seven and Toyota's reputation for reliability, the Toyota Highlander should be a headache free ownership proposition. But just like your mom once told you, nothing in life is guaranteed. So while Toyota has a great reputation for reliability its basic 3 year/36,000 mile warranty is kind of short so if you prefer guarantees why not check out a Hyundai or Kia? Their SUVs might not be as polished (yet) but they do have longer warranties. And they are cheaper. (You can also always extend your warranty at the Toyota dealer but make to buy one through Toyota Motor Company proper. The warranties from aftermarket firms aren't worth the paper they are written on.)All Engines Are Highly Fuel Efficient to Varying Degrees: The Highlander comes with three engine options starting with a perfectly adequate 2.7 liter 4 cylinder with 187 horsepower, a 3.3 liter V6 hybrid with the equivalent of 208 horsepower and a 3.5 liter V6 with 270 horsepower. The four cylilnder comes with a six speed automatic, the hybrid comes with a CVT (continuously variable transmission), while the bigger V6 comes with a five speed auto. Got that? Aren't you glad you don't have to remember this kind of stuff?The entry level four cylinder model is fine for smaller families and for people who sometimes use it to just commute. It is smooth, peppy and fuel efficient but can be strained when loaded fully. To be honest, the hybrid here is kind of pointless. While the four cylinder is rated at 20 city/27 highway the far more expensive hybrid is 27 city/25 highway. So unless you live in a congested city there is no advantage to the hybrid especially considering the price differential. If you want a hybrid that will save gas buy a Prius.For those with a little bit more of a lead-foot there are still plenty of giggles to be had with the 3.5 liter V6. EPA rated at 18 city/24 highway, the Highlander V6 gets decent fuel economy for a vehicle so heavy. The steering could be a little less loosey-goosey around the center but it tracks straight and true on the highway. Just don't expect bit thrills.You Can Get a Third Row of Seats and Can Separate the Middle Bench Into Two Separate Seats: These features seem designed to insure that there will be playing of the game known as, he was sitting too close to me mom! We all know the one. With the third row you can banish one or two of your loudest children so they are far enough away from you and the lovely music coming from the powerful front JBL speakers (JBL speakers are part of an audio upgrade).You can then sit your two children that never get along in the second row and separate them far enough from each other so they can't hit each other. But you will still be close enough to wag your finger in their face and say, if you don't quiet down we are going straight home! You can also monitor the goings on in the back seat with a built in mirror that drops out from the ceiling. This is possibly the smartest mommy SUV on the planet. If every parent drove such smartly engineered SUVs perhaps the notion of child abuse would be a thing of the past. It truly is a place where any family can find peace and isn't that what SUVs are really about nowadays?It Doesn't Pretend to Be Anything That it Isn't: To put it in perspective, the Toyota Highlander is the Kate Gosselin to the Honda Pilot's John Gosselin. The latest Pilot tried to stylistically go all angular and urban hipster and just wound up looking lamer than some poseur in an Ed Hardy T-shirt (Cough! John Gosselin. Cough!). The Highlander instead focused on the fact that it has chosen its lot as a family SUV and does its best to create a cozy, relaxing and home-like environment. Much like Kate Gosselin, the Toyota Highlander knows its place is with the family and that is where it excels.(Note: The Toyota Highlander is also built in the U.S.A. at a plant in Princeton, Indiana using many U.S. based parts suppliers.)
(Starting at $25,705)
Drive into any Home Depot or Garden Center parking lot over the weekend and you will them. By the hundreds and thousands they roam the streets of your local Metropolitan area. Am I talking about cockroaches? No, I am talking about Toyota Highlanders.
How has this innocuous family SUV become such a fixture of our national landscape as to become nigh on invisible? Because they are great cars for families with more than one child, that is why. Seemingly purpose built to make family life easier, the Toyota Highlander is an outstanding choice for anyone looking for an SUV that makes their life easier.
It Has Enough Room For a Family With Three Kids: The more children you have the fewer options you have in the automotive marketplace and the closer you get to the m word. The minivan. The Highlander is perfect for anyone with up to three kids as it is wide enough to fit three car seats across the middle row and it comes with third row seating optionally. The cargo area is roomy enough to haul you, the family and all that baby clutter that seems necessary these days. Let's face it, this car is the grocery getter concept perfected with laser sharp precision.
It's Practical and Should be Reliable: With available seating for seven and Toyota's reputation for reliability, the Toyota Highlander should be a headache free ownership proposition. But just like your mom once told you, nothing in life is guaranteed. So while Toyota has a great reputation for reliability its basic 3 year/36,000 mile warranty is kind of short so if you prefer guarantees why not check out a Hyundai or Kia? Their SUVs might not be as polished (yet) but they do have longer warranties. And they are cheaper. (You can also always extend your warranty at the Toyota dealer but make to buy one through Toyota Motor Company proper. The warranties from aftermarket firms aren't worth the paper they are written on.)
All Engines Are Highly Fuel Efficient to Varying Degrees: The Highlander comes with three engine options starting with a perfectly adequate 2.7 liter 4 cylinder with 187 horsepower, a 3.3 liter V6 hybrid with the equivalent of 208 horsepower and a 3.5 liter V6 with 270 horsepower. The four cylilnder comes with a six speed automatic, the hybrid comes with a CVT (continuously variable transmission), while the bigger V6 comes with a five speed auto. Got that? Aren't you glad you don't have to remember this kind of stuff?
The entry level four cylinder model is fine for smaller families and for people who sometimes use it to just commute. It is smooth, peppy and fuel efficient but can be strained when loaded fully. To be honest, the hybrid here is kind of pointless. While the four cylinder is rated at 20 city/27 highway the far more expensive hybrid is 27 city/25 highway. So unless you live in a congested city there is no advantage to the hybrid especially considering the price differential. If you want a hybrid that will save gas buy a Prius.
For those with a little bit more of a lead-foot there are still plenty of giggles to be had with the 3.5 liter V6. EPA rated at 18 city/24 highway, the Highlander V6 gets decent fuel economy for a vehicle so heavy. The steering could be a little less loosey-goosey around the center but it tracks straight and true on the highway. Just don't expect bit thrills.
You Can Get a Third Row of Seats and Can Separate the Middle Bench Into Two Separate Seats: These features seem designed to insure that there will be playing of the game known as, he was sitting too close to me mom! We all know the one. With the third row you can banish one or two of your loudest children so they are far enough away from you and the lovely music coming from the powerful front JBL speakers (JBL speakers are part of an audio upgrade).
You can then sit your two children that never get along in the second row and separate them far enough from each other so they can't hit each other. But you will still be close enough to wag your finger in their face and say, if you don't quiet down we are going straight home! You can also monitor the goings on in the back seat with a built in mirror that drops out from the ceiling. This is possibly the smartest mommy SUV on the planet. If every parent drove such smartly engineered SUVs perhaps the notion of child abuse would be a thing of the past. It truly is a place where any family can find peace and isn't that what SUVs are really about nowadays?
It Doesn't Pretend to Be Anything That it Isn't: To put it in perspective, the Toyota Highlander is the Kate Gosselin to the Honda Pilot's John Gosselin. The latest Pilot tried to stylistically go all angular and urban hipster and just wound up looking lamer than some poseur in an Ed Hardy T-shirt (Cough! John Gosselin. Cough!). The Highlander instead focused on the fact that it has chosen its lot as a family SUV and does its best to create a cozy, relaxing and home-like environment. Much like Kate Gosselin, the Toyota Highlander knows its place is with the family and that is where it excels.
(Note: The Toyota Highlander is also built in the U.S.A. at a plant in Princeton, Indiana using many U.S. based parts suppliers.)
