The power and handling are excellent. A very quiet and smooth ride. Not rough like larger SUV's. There is a lot of 'room' for the rear seat passengers. My children enjoy the vehicle too, and I feel confident with my wife behind the wheel.

The price could come down a little. There is not as much value for the money, but as compared to the RX 300 you are well ahead of the game.

I would recommend this vehicle to any family person with its smooth drive and easy handling. The sunroof is really fun in sunny California. For the physical type, there are additional options for play in the mountain or beaches with a roof rack. The limited was not appealing to me because of the leather interior. Too hot for California.

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Jeep grand cherokee and Nissan Pathfinder. The highlander is way ahead in its class.

Good size, comfortable drive, little roll when turning, good price

Accessories are not available in Canada except the license plate cover...

Tried it after RX300 test drive and liked it better, mostly because of firmer suspention and less roll when turning. Good engine/transmission.
However, does not have enough storage in front - needs a centre console or more storage in front.

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None

good mileage, quiet, good handling, just overall looks/feels excellent.

umm...i guess that it's the cheaper cousin to the RX300? Since it's so new, I know there arent many after-market products out there yet...

Just very pleased with the car.

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Mazda MPV was such a gas guzzler....slow, noisy, looked like a hippo.

GREAT LOOKING, GREAT GAS MILEAGE, ROOMY, DRIVES VERY SMOOTH,HANDLES THE TURNS EXTREMELY WELL,NICE FOR PRICE, STEREO SYSTEM SOUNDS GREAT.

CUP HOLDER TOO LOW,NOT ENOUGH TRUNK SPACE.

OVERALL GREAT CHOICE RELIABILITY FANTASTIC I ALSO HAVE A 91 TOYOTA COROLLA
WHICH IS FANTASTIC NEVER BREAKS DOWN I STAND BY TOYOTA 100% AND NEVER WILL BY DIFFERENT

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4 RUNNER TOUGH RIDING NOT AS NICE LOOKING,COMPAIRED TO HIGHLANDER

Powerful 220hp V6 4WD
Quiet & Smooth ride
Stylish looks
Good mileage

Lack of choice when it comes to options...

Got the V6 4WD Limited and I am extremely pleased with it. The same as the Lexus RX300 for 10-15K less and the Highlander is even better looking.

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Dodge Durango-noisy and not very smooth

Look, comfort and back seat leg room. Recline back seat is awsome.

Excessive noise around front doors when drive on highway with cross wind of over 30 mph. I believe the front door seal gasket has gap or not thick enough. Leather seat cover for the back seat come of easily. High price with few selection.

I was looking to buy a tacoma and endup with the V6 Highlander. The highlander is similar to the Lexus RX300 with price tag about $6000 less. I pay my $1500 below sticker and gets good deal for my trade-in (Honda Passport). It has more leg room than the Lexus and has the same engine.

Comfort, noise, controls, sunroof, looks, passengers are digging the reclining back seats!

Even though we got the optional center storage there needs to be a better spot for a wallet, cell phone etc. Also the brakes do take some getting used to. The dog was getting bounced around the back pretty badly until I got used to it.

We were looking for something that my wife could use for her job in sales but that could also take us into the mountains for camping and skiing adventures. Huhlooooo Highlander!

With the reasonable gas mileage and fantastic comfort it's a great work car. On the weekend we broke in the 4wd with a trip up some Sierra logging roads and it handled the unseen and misjudged holes beautifully.

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Explorer. and Escape. Didn't want the feel or the gas mileage of the truck and the Escape didn't come close to the Highlander even for the price difference.

-Driving and handling; my wife was worried that she could not handle an SUV. After only driving for a couple of minutes she was a pro.
-The controls are easy to use.
-The driving position is incredible. The view is great (inside & out).
-The back windows go down all the way (my kids love that, I don't).
-MADE IN JAPAN!

Excessive wind noise with back windows down. Solution-Hey kids, roll the windows up and leave em up!!!!!
Had a very light rattle from the glove box. I took it in to the dealer and they adjusted the strikeplate which silenced the rattle.

Traded in our old reliable Camry for a fresh start with this great vehicle. We have only seen a couple other Highlanders on the road. They are very hard to find with the right equipment. Our dealers in Cincinnati only have one or two on the lot and they are Limited's (Too expensive). We found one with all the right equipment and color we wanted. It didn't even hit the lot. We bought it as it was rolling into town. (Only two weeks after production in Japan.) We choose the 4x2 with a 4 cylinder. The gas milage is the best with these options. So far we are getting about 28 mpg. I was hesitant at first to buy a 4 cylinder with such a large vehicle. I have read a lot of reviews that say to go with the V6. I don't agree. If you are not towing or doing any serious off-roading, the 4 cylinder is the best choice. Let me tell, it has power, even with the a/c cranked and entering the highway. We've owned two Camry's; one with a 4 cylinder and one with a V6. The power was the virtually identical, except the V6 was at the pump twice as much.

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First SUV

The Highlander is comfortable, quiet and handles more like a car than a truck. Power and acceleration are adequate if not breathtaking. It's thoughtfully designed (cup holders aside) and seems to uphold Toyota's reputation for quality fit and finish, although only time will tell on that end. Rear comfort was particularly impressive, thanks to reclining rear seat back and good leg room under front seat. There's enough room in the spare tire well for jumper cables and some tools.

Center console cupholders are bizarre. Driver's seat is a bit short fore-and-aft for me, but my wife (it's her car) likes it. Transmission sometimes takes to long to kick into 4th (overdrive), but that may be the nature of the AWD. The button under the shift knob also makes it too easy to turn overdrive off. Not a whole lot to complain about, huh?

This is a comfortable and stylish SUV that rides and handles more like a car than a truck. That's exactly what we were looking for -- an adult vehicle with enough room to haul a lawnmower or pack our son's stuff up to go off to college. We also wanted 4-wheel drive to get through snow but we we didn't require real off-roading capability. And finally, it couldn't remind us of the Dodge Caravan that we wrestled for seven years. The van served its purpose well, but our Little League days are behind us. We also wanted to keep the price under $30,000 if possible.

We really shopped this one. We drove every midsized/small SUV from the Cherokee to the Pontiac Aztec (a really strange duck that's worth a look for the humor value if nothing else). We wanted a reasonably well-equipped car -- my wife wanted leather seats in partciular -- but not one loaded with stuff that we don't care about, such as satellite navigation systems or 12-disc CD changers.

We kept coming back to the Highlander, but were appalled by the option pricing. To get leather seats, we'd have to buy $3,000 worth of stuff we didn't want, including a moon roof. Eventually we found a model that had everything we wanted and nothing we didn't, with the exception of leather seats and a center console. The dealer offered to install after-market leather upholstery for $1,250 and a console for $200. We took him up on it and the results were spectacular -- they did a great job with the leather, including side panel trim. We had to bring the car back for three days (we had a LoJack installed, too), but they gave us a loaner. So we got exactly what we wanted and saved a bundle. If you're looking for this kind of trim package -- better than basic but not outrageous -- ask your dealer about after-market installation.

Another interesting note: we bought the longest, bumper-to-bumper extended warranty Toyota offers; it cost us 50 percent less than similar warranties we've purchased with other cars -- and this was the most expensive vehicle we've ever purchased. It obviously shows Toyota doesn't expect much in the way of failures.

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Tried out lots of SUV's. Highlander a close match with Grand Cherokee, which we also liked but has a rotten reputation for reliability and would have cost us more. I liked the new 2002 Explorer for comfort and room (tires aside) but it didn't handle or ride as well as Highlander.

Styling, V6 power, Handling, Handling, Handling.

Big jump from base price to one with options. Need more flexiblity on the options.

This is perhaps the smoothest riding, best handling SUV I have ever driven. Toyota quality is evident throughout, with flawless fit and finish, extremely quite ride, smooth car like handling, no roll in the corners, V6 has quick pickup for Highway passing. I have the Limited with Sunroof, 6 CD changer, cloth seats, center console, towing package. I have owned Toyotas for the last 15 years and can testify to there long term quality and dependablity. I fully expect to keep this vehicle for many, many years. I may have to drive past the dealership just so this vehicle will no where it came from as it will probably never need the services of the Service Department apart from oil changes. 100% quality throughout!!!

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Dodge Durango, Mitsubishi Montero, Nissan Pathfinder - Beat them all hands down -- No Contest