The new Subaru Ascent looks pretty nice, and will (at least if true to its heritage) get you places (or through them) that no Highlander dare go. OTOH, if basically you need a “mall finder” the Highlanders are great, well made and well thought out vehicles. As much as I like our Outback, Subarus can have a couple things really hard to work on that shouldn’t be...
But the Outback with good(!) snow tires is amazing in even 12” or more of snow.
I’d really like to “land” a used Toyota Sequoia AWD, someday, but they are hard to come by at a decent price - owners really do seem to hang on to them. We settled for an excellent condition used ‘08 Explorer for towing and cargo capacity: It’s decent enough, but it is NOT at the same quality and “thought out” level as even our Outback.
When we bought our first CRV in 2001 Suburus were highly rated by Com Rep. Looks like they have maintained the quality.