Hybrid SUVs that carry real value

Check out the Toyota Highlander Hybrid on AOL Autos

To start with, the redesigned Highlander Hybrid is a major improvement over the earlier version. Not that the old Highlander was, by any means, bad but the new version has genuinely usable third-row seats and a luxury-like elegance through-out the interior.

The Hybrid version has an intuitive and useful fuel-efficiency aid built into the tachometer, the gauge that shows engine speed. A moving white bar along the outside offers a suggested maximum engine speed that varies depending on the situation. It helps to keep you from revving the engine unnecessarily even when passing or merging.

Other analyses have called the Highlander Hybrid a money-loser based on fuel costs alone. It does well here because IntelliChoice's analysis automatically adjusts for the Highlander Hybrid's long list of features. However, if your non-hybrid choice would have been a stripped-down Highlander, things would come out differently.

NEXT: Dodge Durango Hybrid