Toyota’s Highlander has never been a vehicle to grab the attention of our automotive hearts. Its subdued styling and midsize packaging just doesn’t stand out in the crowd. Our all-wheel-drive test example was even painted a nondescript shade of beige. But setting out with low expectations can be good, because it’s then hard to disappoint. Read more…
Toyota dropped off an all-wheel drive Highlander Limited at the Automotive Trends garage this week. Timely since Mother Nature also stopped by with about two inches of snow for us to play in. Watch as Design Editor Gernand gives us a quick walk around of this beige family crossover.
While we have always regarded the GM large crossovers as great vehicles, the fact of the matter is their class-leading days are firmly in the rear view mirror. Editor Dye discusses this while driving the most premium of the GMC grade, the Acadia Denali. It is still a great vehicle, but at the end of the day this crossover was designed in an era of hard interior plastics and, like many Americans, needs to lose a few pounds. Read more…
The “Perfect Size” Crossover Wants Its Sales Crown Back
Of all the vehicles in need of a redesign Honda’s CR-V isn’t one of them. The current generation of the entry-level crossover went on sale as a 2007 model and won the sales crown for its class every year through 2010, averaging about 200,000 sales per year. The streak would most likely be in place this year had Mother Nature not put on a shocking show of force first with the earthquake in Japan and then devastating floods in Thailand. Honda says it has lost more than 200,000 units of production for the U.S., including significant shortages of the ever-popular CR-V, which spelled an end to the little crossover’s sales reign. But despite the vehicle’s continued popularity anyone who knows Honda knows they plan five year lifecycles for their vehicles, which means we should see an all-new CR-V for 2012. And despite the aforementioned significant supplier and R&D interruptions, come December 15th, we will. After a day spent with the Honda team learning everything there is to know about the new CR-V one thing is clear: they want their sales crown back. Read more…
Nissan Manages to Offer up an Unconventionally Styled Conventional Crossover
A few years back I found myself earning a living after answering a job posting at a local car rental agency with the unglamorous description of ‘Lot Attendant’. As the lowly lot attendant I found myself vacuuming and washing battered and abused rental cars, completing vehicle inspections of those poor cars, towing them to and from remote locations using a tired F-150 of indeterminate vintage with an auto dolly and shuttling customers to and from dealerships while their cars were in service. It was the dealership customers that seemed to be the most interesting, as they often shared a story of their once-loved purchase. The most amazing stories reliably came from our Nissan Murano customers. It seemed that this early entry in the crossover craze was also one of the first larger vehicles to offer a continuously variable transmission (CVT) in the US. So problematic was the transmission that one customer posted a “for sale” sign of his Murano in our office hoping to offload the vehicle onto one of our customers dulled by a sense of mediocrity after turning in their rental Chevy Classic. On more than one occasion I witnessed a problematic Murano in the service department with entire engine and transmission removed as the mechanics searched for a solution. It should come as no surprise, then, that I wasn’t expecting much when an all-wheel-drive 2011 Murano SL showed up in the Automotive Trends garage. Would this vehicle’s unloved CVT and bizarre styling draw further criticism, or, like the Mazda CX-7 we drove last year, surprise by exceeding expectations? Read more…
When the Acura RDX was introduced in 2006, it was designed to be one of the sportiest luxury crossovers on the market — a smaller, more affordable version of the Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5. Today, though, the market is flooded with crossovers that claim to be sporty, many of which are exceptionally good cars. Even brands like Mazda and Hyundai are becoming better competition for entry-level luxury brands like Acura. Read more…
Just a Flash in the Pan
Since our weeklong foray with the Cadillac SRX 2.8 Turbo, GM has decided that Cadillac dealers no longer require the services of this “premium” offering of their midsize crossover and have decided to cancel the 2.8 Turbo engine offering after one year. Without tipping my hand too far here, I have to say we are inclined to call this a smart move. But let’s delve into the details a bit before we bury the hatchet on Cadillac’s troubled turbo crossover. Read more…
Disappointments Tarnish an Attractive Package
The Venza had a lot going for it heading into this review. My colleagues and I had already determined that its bold grille, modern crossover proportions and over-the-top 20” wheels made it the best looking Toyota among the current crop. Not exactly a hard fought victory, we realize, but bonus points nonetheless. Plus we knew our particular model would be powered by the optional V6 that has been praised in everything from the RAV4 to the Camry, so we expected that to help seal the deal. Add in the fact that this particular crossover isn’t even tall enough to adversely affect handling all that much and we were fully expecting to write a review praising Toyota’s family hauler. And then over the course of a week we found ourselves distracted by some glaring faults and by the end we were left questioning, of all things, Toyota’s hard-earned and long-held reputation for unbeatable interior execution. Read more…
A Stylish Redesign Still Leaves The Tucson A Bit Short
Hyundai’s aggressive product investment has rewarded the stalwart automaker with one of the freshest lineups in the business. We’ve already put our stamp of approval on the company’s killer new Sonata sedan, but there is tempting new product on the crossover front too. Last year the vanilla Tucson was the extra-strength sleep aid of the Hyundai lineup thanks to generic headlights, a homely grille and chunky plastic cladding that tried in vain to liven up the derivative profile. But the Tucson enters 2010 with swoopy new bodywork and a stylish interior ready to engage the hotly contested small crossover segment and attract new consumers that simply didn’t consider Hyundai just a few years ago. Read more…
Zoom, Zooming Beyond Expectations
When the Mazda CX-7 made its debut in 2006, my initial reaction was an automotive yawn. I dismissed it as another crossover that promised to combine all the worst light duty attributes of a car with the disadvantage of the high center of gravity of traditional truck-based SUVs. Then Mazda went one step further and gave us the disservice of revealing pictures of the poor thing. The only reason public reaction to the grinning clown-face didn’t amount to outright ridicule was because vehicles like the Pontiac Aztek, Honda Element, and Scion xB had already numbed America’s sense of good taste. Read more…
