The first of the Toyota Highlander generations burst onto the scene in 2000 as a more road-biased Toyota SUV with unibody construction and independent rear suspension, as opposed to the off-road-focused Land Cruiser and 4Runner. For the 2008 model year, the XU40 redesign of the Toyota Highlander came with a roomier third row than the cramped first-gen car thanks to a larger footprint, while a base four-cylinder engine later joined the V6 unit.
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