re: Which would you buy: highlander, pathfinder, santa fe or acadia

I think they are all on car platforms now (pathfinder used to be in the 4Runner category but I think they switched over to the car chassis a few years before '14). To answer your question, probably the highlander, followed by the Santa Fe/pathfinder. I know someone with the Buick Enclave (higher end version of the Acadia), who has had all sorts of trouble.