Just like in the Academy Award-nominated movie The Favourite,where two young women are hilariously competing to be a queen’s favourite, this year’s Toyota Highlander is also competing to be your favorite and it has a lot to offer families who don’t have a real queen but a lot of day-to-day needs that demand a hard-working vehicle with stability and guts. And a touch of class.
Not that long ago, even in the Obama era, an LGBT family was something of an anomaly and oddly defined to maybe include a rescue animal. Not anymore. Everywhere you look, you see that we as proud parents have children and rescue pets (and sometimes even rescue spouses), and that means we have to work hard (sometimes seven days a week, unfortunately). Our hard work means that our equipment must be reliable. Year after year, the Toyota Highlander, a class-leading midsized SUV, has always answered the call valiantly. For 2019, the car again rises to the occasion.
There are no major changes from the 2018 model year. You will still get a standard inline-four-cylinder engine, offering 185 horses and 184 pound-feet of torque. Yes, you are not going to win any races with this engine, and if your typical weekday includes waking before sunrise, corralling your loved ones, hoping not to spill coffee and soggy Cheerios on your business attire and getting everyone to school and work on time, well, yeah, you just don’t care about winning races (though a peppier V6 engine is offered on higher-end trims).
For those weekend visits to the big box bulk stores, you’ll have 83.7 cubic feet of interior space for all your purchases, assuming you don’t bring the kiddies along. There is a total passenger volume of 144.9 cubic feet and advertised room for eight passengers. Just looking at the third row of seats, I’m not sure you could get your growing pre-teen back there comfortably, but admittedly, I did not try. As always, caution is advised.
Prices start at $31,330, and we here at gaywheels.comrealize that not every family (indeed, not many struggling families) can afford that. A smaller SUV or even a used car might be in order, and if so, a used Highlander would be worth consideration. But for those who do need room for a growing family and growing demands, you really do have to look carefully for where you can get help. Look to the Highlands.
Keep in mind, the midsized SUV market is a very, very, very crowded and competitive market. If you are shopping for a new family SUV, I would also take a look at the Volkswagen Atlas, Honda Pilot and Mazda CX-9. You really do have a lot of choice in this area, so when you have a moment to yourself (as a parent, what’s that?) grab a beverage and spend some time listing what you want, what you need and just surf the web by typing into your search engine “ 2019 midsized SUVs” and see what comes up. Do that in between checking work emails and adding fabric softener to the rinse cycle.
And if you feel so inspired to just take what we say at gaywheels.comand run with it, we can’t blame you.
We will never do you wrong, unlike maybe the first ten loves of your life did.
