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2020 to 2022 is the sweet spot. The fourth-generation Highlander arrived for the 2020 model year on Toyota's newer platform, with a stiffer body, a far better cabin and driver assistance as standard, and it drives tighter than the 2014 to 2019 car. Toyota freshened it for 2023 and dropped the V6 for a turbocharged four-cylinder, so if you specifically want the naturally aspirated V6, stay on the 2020 to 2022 side of that line.
The Ford Explorer is the faster and more imposing car, usually for less money; the Highlander is the easier one to live with day to day. Cabins are where they separate — interior staining turns up on 47% of the Explorers we inspect in the UAE, against the 39% we would expect for SUVs of the same age and mileage here. For real off-road ability instead of a family cabin, compare the Toyota Prado.
Long enough that distance is rarely what ends one. The Highlanders we inspect in the UAE come in at a median of around 43,000 km, so most of what changes hands is barely run in. The V6 and its automatic are the same unstressed units Toyota uses across its larger SUVs, so judge a car on its service record rather than its odometer.
Every used Toyota Highlander we list comes with its full CarSwitch inspection report. Read the cabin and service sections first — on a low-mileage family SUV that is where two identical-looking cars stop being identical.