[lopezalexandria]

My wife bought an 2013 Elantra GT SE Tech. It is adequate for the price but we are not thrilled with the quality and won't consider a Sante Fe. General maintenance is reasonable but the unique parts (that should not be failing) seem priced for a Porsche. Also, they have issues with replacing things more than once under warranty. My thinking is that they should make better parts if they don't like it.

 

[lopezalexandria]

I thought the Highlander was similar but it is marginally a third row seater. My issue is that the Highest Trim (Limited )comes with second row captains chairs that forces use of those crap seats for 5th person. The XLE has a second row bench but it does not interest me. Toyota should offer both seating options in their Limited Trim like Honda does for the Pilot. I did find the Highlander cabin noise to be a bit much but that can be fixed for a price.

 

[lopezalexandria]

The Highlander is scheduled for a big redesign in 2020. My understanding is that it will be s little longer, sportier body exterior and upgraded tech to include Apple car play. May want to look into it.

Ya, I find getting bigger a bit of an odd move since they already have the 4 Runner and the the other even bigger monstrosity. My thought is that most people just buy it for a more comfortable version of the Rav rather than more seating. If they make it bigger, they may start losing sales to other nice two row models.

 

[lopezalexandria]

I like the RX350 but my wife finds them a bit plain and the rock solid quality seems less of an feature for her. My co-worker just retired his 18 year old Subaru Outback and replaced with with another well broken in model. Both were 4 cyclinders but he was looking for a V6 model but there are not many used ones on the market. KIA is OK but just buy one two years old and save 50 percent. LOL.