U.S. News names 2015 Lexus RX 350 and Toyota Highlander best family crossovers

The Highlander can’t seem to lose a contest lately. Here’s why this win is important for Toyota and Lexus.

The 2015 Toyota Highlander and the Lexus RX 350 took home top honors in their respective family car categories this week in US News & World Report’s Best Cars For Families ranking. The Highlander earned the 3-row Mid-size SUV category, and the Lexus RX 350 took first in the 2-row luxury mid-size SUV ranking. These are two very important family car categories. More and more families are migrating away from sedans to crossovers for their practicality, all-weather capabilities, and safety. The Highlander Hybrid also won best Hybrid SUV.

US News & World Report, an on-line publication, has a very interesting way of evaluating cars and ranking them. The group reads other automotive publication’s reviews and stories and then it creates a sort of algorithm to get a consensus on what vehicles are best. We love that idea and wish we had thought of it. The team also participates fully in its own real-world and track testing to ensure they have a feel for the vehicles they then rank.

Speaking about the 2015 Lexus RX 350, US News said “With the best combination of positive reviews and long-term ownership costs in its class, the Lexus RX 350 is our 2015 Best Luxury 2-Row SUV for the Money. The RX isn't just a great value; it's also a great family SUV.” US News had similar praise for the 2015 Toyota Highlander, saying, “…the Highlander is an excellent family SUV. It has the best combination of interior space, safety and reliability ratings and available family-friendly features in its class, making it our 2015 Best 3-Row Midsize SUV for Families.”

Perhaps the biggest advantage that the Lexus RX 350 and Toyota Highlander have is safety that surpasses rivals in IIHS testing and real-world data. The Highlander is the only Top Safety Pick Plus vehicle in its IIHS class. More impressive, in the most 3-year period studied by IIHS, neither the AWD Highlander nor the AWD Lexus RX 350 had any driver deaths. None. Zero. Only nine models of the hundreds available for sale in the US can make that claim. Four of the nine are Toyota -Lexus vehicles.