Tires MICHELIN or Nexen

I have Defenders on my Highlander, Corolla and Rav. They are the only tire I will ever buy.

Have had Defenders on the 2013 Sienna, a heavier vehicle than the Highlander, and they lasted me 53k miles...could have gone longer, I thought I had a worn out tread causing noise that turned out to be a bearing.

I went Michelin from Costco and I have no complaints. They are not noisy and have been great in the snow we just had in Minnesota this last season

Switched to CrossClimates from Defenders. They are unequivocally better.

Have a set of X-ice for the winter. Can't go wrong with Michelin's.

The Defender LTXs have been great on my Highlander. Nice ride, quiet, good traction, long wearing too.

I have the defenders on my 2017, I have had them for 2 years and didn't put my snows on. They are a good all season tire and aren't noisy

The second day I owned my '22 Highlander, I swapped out the OEM tires for the Michelin Defenders. They are by far my favorite tires. I live way out in the country on a dirt road that doesn't get plowed for hours after a snow storm. These are truly year round tires and I don't have any problems in six inches of snow. I can't rate them high enough. Just fantastic tires.

I will say they are a bit hard for an autocross tire (even at 200 tw), I would go Kuhmo instead.

I put the CrossClimate2's on my 2015 Jetta TDI. 4% loss in fuel economy. Not only that but the car lost it's precise on center feel and required much more correction to keep in straight. Feels like driving on underinflated snow tires. I hate them and will replace them with the OEM Bridgestone Ecopias.