Hi,

I had a shortlist of crossovers I wanted to test drive. They were Acura MDX, Volvo XC90 and Toyota Highlander. A friend of mine asked why I hadn't considered the new Mitsubishi Outlander and to be honest i hadn't even heard of it. I tried the other three and ended up going to the only Mitsubishi dealership in town who didn't have the GT model which I was interested in, but I did try the cheaper 4 cylinder model. I had read some lukewarm reviews and didn't expect much when I got behind the steering wheel for the test drive. But while driving I was realizing I really liked it! It was not the quickest, not the prettiest and absolutely not the most expensive alternative, but i really liked the way it drove and feel of it. And it's very functional well put together it seems I went back and tried the MDX and I simply couldn't find that it was a whole lot better as the reviews suggests. I ended up with a 2014 Outlander GT (incredibly well equipped for the price) and have been driving it for a couple of months. It's a great cross over in my opinion. Yesterday I was driving my neighbors Volvo XC90 and I was happy to get back to the Outlander and that was when I decided to post here.

My question is: Why is the Highlander getting one bad review after the other here in the US? what is it about it that the press and testers do not like? I just do not understand it. I have been driving for 40 years and very puzzled when it comes my experiences trying these cross overs. What am I missing?

Anyway, I an very pleased with the Outlander GT and would not have chosen differently if I had a chance to do so.