2001 Toyota Highlander Review

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Review:

Toyota's successful penetration of the U.S. light truck/SUV market continues with the all-new 2001 Highlander, the ideal midsize SUV for the person who likes the Lexus RX300, but not the window sticker that comes with the RX.

That's because the Highlander shares its basic platform with the RX300. Similarities abound, from the interior's characteristic shifter console to the layout of the front-drive/all-wheel drivetrain. The interior space is comparable, too, with plenty of room for five people plus a cargo area in the rear. With its rear seats folded down, the Highlander has 81.4 cubic feet of interior storage space (38.5 with the rear seats up) and can pull up to 3500 pounds when properly equipped.

Differences lie in the overall shape (the Toyota has a boxier and more pugnacious stance than the softer, rounder RX300), in the standard V-6 in the RX300 (the Highlander comes standard with a four-cylinder; the RX's 220-hp V-6 is optional) and the overall differing ambience and level of features and equipment one would expect to encounter in a luxury vehicle (the Lexus) vs. the more bourgeois Toyota.