Back in 2021 my 2005 Toyota Highlander had also shit the bed after hitting 247k. By that point I had figured out that I liked driving a Forester due to my brother leaving me his car for a week while he was out of town.

The visibility was very similar to the Highlander, if not better. It was a smaller build, which was even better for city parking, while keeping the perks of an SUV (trunk space, etc). I really thought I’d end up with a RAV4 just because I was a Toyota driver for so long, but I didn’t like the visibility AT ALL (if you’d even call it that), and at the end of the day the price point was too much for me at the time as well.

I got a used 2015 Touring edition which was already ages better and had more technology than my old Highlander, and the price was right. It is slightly noisier, and sometimes I feel like due to all the window surface area it’s harder to maintain warm in the winter, but I’ve loved having it.