The only way I’ll believe that an Eclipse is worse than a RAV4 is from firsthand experience.
I don’t think the Traverse is bad looking but from that angle it looks like a truck with a broken frame.
I reserved a couple of days in Honolulu for Sep 7 and 8th for $48/day through Costco for Enterprise “Jetta or Similar” and $55 for a Intermediate SUV for the 15th-lets see what I get as prices skyrocketed after I reserved in April, then I have another car in Hilo, HI that I prepaid through Hertz $180 but was checking occasionally and when it dropped down to $65 I got credited back the difference by modifying the reservation online (Hertz gives you up to two times when you prepay to modify) Hope I get a Mitsubishi Eclipse as speed limit is 25mph on streets or 55 on Freeway hehe
Reserved a Ford Fiesta with Avis and got “upgraded” to a Kia Forte…better then I expected but wow soooo much plastic
A Hertz local store tried to walk me on my bargain basement corp rate. I couldn’t allow that, so they put me in a 2019 Sienna with nearly 62,000 miles on the clock.
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My latest rental car was a Lexus ES. Didn’t expect much, but wow I’m surprised they call this a luxury car. Everything feels cheap, the door slams with a hollow sound you’d expect from a Nissan Versa, not from a luxury car. Materials screamed Toyota rather than Lexus. It felt every bit the rebadged Camry/Avalon that it is.
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I had a CH-R 2 weeks ago in NorCal: no pictures but the interior accent colors are definitely for someone with a purple streak in their hair. It has no Friskies coupon dispenser like every HR-V (aka “the 
car”) comes with. A Hertz bargain at $300 for 4.5 days (AAA was almost $100 less than Costco travel).
Did you check the VIN to see whose lease Hertz over-paid for?
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Made a friend at a rental place I went to every week for 3 months. He hooked it up after a few weeks, I always booked midsize for emerald aisle at National, and I drove:
GLE
740i
Cadillacs (regularly)
Evoque (what a shit car, like driving an overweight miniCooper)
GLC
Camaro (obviously picked this up the week it ended up snowing, so that was fun)
Q5
Volvo s90 T8, s60
Nissan SUVs are the worst cars to be upgraded to. No Apple CarPlay, ancient entertainment, etc.
On the other hand the Altima and maxima sedans are not too terrible to pick from the executive aisle with the self driving always coming in handy on i95 traffic.
Volvos are probably my favorite car to find regularly with all the features and power
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Lexus is the luxury car for people who have only ever bought Hondas and Toyotas due to the reliability reputation. It’s nice enough over a Camry to think it’s worth it. That is if you’ve never been in another modern luxury car and don’t realize how ancient all the tech is.
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Lexus has a very specific target audience, people in their 40s or 50s with relatively deep pockets who want reliability over flashiness or badge (d*#k) measuring contest or drag race 0-60 times.
Higher trim Lexus-es definitely have superior materials compared to their counterpart Toyotas.
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I actually owned a couple of Lexus cars in the past (2008 IS350 and 2010 RX350). Back then they were excellent and held their own against the German competition. But I haven’t driven one in quite a while and hopping back into this ES I felt like I got transported back in time. Was great a decade ago, but everything else has progressed since then and it felt like Lexus stayed stagnant. I also drove an IS350 recently (the refreshed 2021 model) and same issue there… the powertrain they’re using is from 2006… literally… and the interior has barely been touched since 2013. Beautiful exterior though. Would have strongly considered an IS500 if Lexus bothered to update the interior.
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Apparently Toyota doesn’t feel the need
Of course not. They hang their hat on reliability which appeals to the majority of consumers. Also most consumers don’t purchase luxury vehicles - cars are simply seen as a mode of transportation, so things like luxury materials and powerful motors are unnecessary.
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I have you beat. 66k mile base Highlander, courtesy of Avis. Usually use national/enterprise, didn’t know fleets had cars with this high mileage. Registration expired 4 months ago too.
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Yeah, Hertz was NOT a first choice, but was in a weird location not near National and Enterprise was booked up. I guess this is a just another present times anomaly.
I’m very intrigued by the one new FJ Cruiser TMNA sold in 1H 2021. I want to hear that story.
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Budget didn’t have any Eclipse Crosses. 
Choices were few, so I ended up with this Corolla Hybrid for the weekend.
What a blast to drive around Alaska in a car with less power than an immersion blender.
And with 9,600 miles on the odometer there are three distinctly different squeaks, distributed unevenly among the steering column, somewhere in the dash, and under the driver’s seat.
And of course there is zero sound-deadening insulation.
And I thought the 2010 Prius I married into was hot garbage. 
So to recap:
Prius: hot garbage
Corolla: bowl-spattering diarrhea
4Runner: mobile cess pool
RAV4: steaming loaf festooned with kernels of corn
And of course
Our RX350: Porta Potty with leather
There may be a trend here.
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The only thing this perfect pull-quote is missing: attribution to Car and Driver. Sadly if Toyota ran ads with that quote, they would still sell every one they build (which won’t be many, for a while).
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It was 113F in Sacto last week for two days in a row. I’ll take your 53F and 56.4 MPG immersion blender.