30 minutes with the 2008 Toyota Highlander

[El Calor]

The last generation Toyota Highlander was one of the first vehicles to utilize a car chassis (from the Camry) underneath the body of an SUV. Today we call them CUVs or Crossovers, but back in 2001, they were just different. As a matter of fact, SUVs like the Explorer and Trailblazer were considered by many to be superior due to their more powerful powertrains, ability to tow large amounts of weight, and relative off-road prowess. In this age of $3 per gallon gasoline, however, Toyota's Highlander has weathered the storm better than most midsize body-on-frame SUVs.

Where the Highlander did come up a bit short was in the looks department. Calling the last-generation Highlander homely would almost be a compliment. The interior, while nicely built with high-quality materials, wasn't very usable, either. To see if Toyota was able to improve upon the boring-yet-successful Highlander, we traveled to Dearborn, Michigan, of all places, where Toyota officially unveiled the Highlander and gave us a chance to drive the vehicle around town.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/01/a...ta-highlander/

[canddmeyer]

What a crappy review. Supposedly the writer had the vehicle for 30 minutes and the only driving review they could make was "Our drive-time in the Highlander gave us the impression of a smooth, comfortable ride without much to get excited about. The 3.5L V6 had pep, but the steering was predictably light."

What a waste of everyone's time.

I'll tell you how good this vehicle potentially is. My next door neighbor traded in a 2003 model for the 2008 Limited two weeks ago. That's a $42,000 purchase from a company that makes a reliable vehicle that has most everything a consumer wants, and repeat customer business at that. Unlike the write-up, the customer didn't care about Trailblazer, Explorer, CUV, bland, ugly, and other useless comments in the write-up. If it's as bad as the write-up, then why are they selling so well?

[mobilezen]

Dearborn is just West of Detroit. That is just a bunch of GM plants around there so the review was probably skewed a tad.