USA Today Reviews Avalon - Practically Perfect

[goblue]

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition...ivet11.art.htm

New Avalon's close to perfect
Redesign adds luxury, loads of legroom and lots of style
By James R. Healey

PHOENIX — Toyota's flagship sedan, Avalon, has been a bit too small, slow and staid its 11 years on the market. Even its most-loyal partisans — its many devoted owners — have told Toyota so in surveys and clinics.

Toyota has not become an enormous gorilla in the car business by selling what people don't want to buy, so it recrafted Avalon to address the shortcomings.

The result is the 2005 model, arriving at dealers this month and starting at about $27,000. A day in preproduction Avalons looping through the mountains outside town, whipping along local boulevards and creeping along in rush hour leads to this conclusion: Who are those guys and how do they keep doing it?

“It” being coming up with the best, big, Americanized four-door sedan ever to turn a wheel in service of everything from groceries to granny. The latest Avalon is a stunning piece of work; the kind of Yank-mobile that, had Detroit been building it all these years, would have denied the Japanese the significant foothold they now have in the mainstream American car market.

Here's what Toyota did to improve the already respected, if not celebrated, Avalon: Everything.

More: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition...ivet11.art.htm

[goblue]

Before accusing of bias - read the review of the STS, and the lacrosse. He is pretty fair.

This is the closest competitor to the Lucerne of any vehicle. The buick is coming out later, and IMO gets whipped by this thing for the money. What does it mean - rebates for lucerne right out of the gate. Save the exterior style, I can't think of a thing the Buick does better. I'm tempted to say the V8 - but its the 1992 Northstar - a much less technically advanced engine than say the GM HF V6 family, or the 4200 I6 for instance, or the Toyota 3.5 My guess is even with the V8 the Avalon will beat it to 60 - unless GM finds a 6 speed.

Also note in the Lacrosse review the vehicke is "sluggish with the 3800" It's going to be a dog on this car with the extra 500 lbs. It would not surprise me that they had to drop the hp to save gas and keep the mpg up to the current lesabre level to avoild ticking off the core buyers.

[AJR]

I agree with the viewpoint on this car. I find it to be a very impressive offering from Toyota. It's much better than the car it replaces and is probably going to be one of the top full size sedans out there. People really seemed to like it at the St. Louis Auto Show.

Now, if that Motor Trend test was done again, I think this new Avalon would not be bringing up the rear. Personally, I think it would be leading the pack.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

O.K., we are talking about Toyota; everyone, kneel and genuflect.

[spudglo08]

just a little biasd.

[driverblogger]

the avalonis a good car, like any toyota.

[dindak]

True, ALL toyotas are good. ALL of them. They also never break down, last forever and drive on water.

LOL

[mbaluch8]

<quote>Also note in the Lacrosse review the vehicke is "sluggish with the 3800" It's going to be a dog on this car with the extra 500 lbs. It would not surprise me that they had to drop the hp to save gas and keep the mpg up to the current lesabre level to avoild ticking off the core buyers.</quote>

I just bought a lacrosse CXL with a 3800 and it has plenty of power for the car - I have power whenever I need it.

[crj1]

GOBLUE... You should not be so critical of detroit automakers...If you grew up in Michigan or went to U of M then a big part of your growing up or parents lively hood was probably provided in some way by the Big 3 auto industry!

[paul3230]

Originally Posted by driverblogger

the avalonis a good car, like any toyota.

Is that a Toyota in your picture there?

[hudson32]

I have to give props to that Avalon. It looks much better than the old one. I like the simplistic, chiseled styling on it. Having said that, the Lucerne has far more raked styling and looks more classy. Now if Buick can put a more powerful V6 in there, they have a winner.

[espo19047]

Originally Posted by dindak

True, ALL toyotas are good. ALL of them. They also never break down, last forever and drive on water.

LOL

IS IT TRUE IF YOU BUY ONE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO WALK ON WATER?

[tgagneguam]

"...lots of style..." Really?! Wow, I definitely missed the memo on that one.

The Avalon is nice, but I'll pass, even if I'm in the market for a near luxury auto.

[uujjj]

a11 t0y0t45 4r3 t3h 5ux0r
a11 t0y0t45 4r3 t3h 5ux0r
a11 t0y0t45 4r3 t3h 5ux0r

(waiting)

(surprisingly, Toyota fails to disappear)

Holy cow that thing has 41in of legroom!

Personally I find the new Avalon highly unappealing. My favorite Toyota is the mid-90s MR2. But I am not the target audience; the USAT writers are much closer.

Like it or not, the gauntlet has been thrown down. Beating the 500 is no longer enough.

[goblue]

Originally Posted by crj1

GOBLUE... You should not be so critical of detroit automakers...If you grew up in Michigan or went to U of M then a big part of your growing up or parents lively hood was probably provided in some way by the Big 3 auto industry!

Actually - I've got so many connections to GM it's not even funny. That's why I'm a little critical. I want to see them thrive - not go chapter 11. GM says they want to make Buick a Lexus - then proudly released 2 vehicles and said, compare these to lexus. The brand new Lucerne will get beat by the Avalon in every single comparison, let alone the coming ES. This does wonder's for GM's credibility - makes them look like an A*S*S is what it does.

Give me a 5 or 6 speed with the 3.6 and a Northstar from sometime this milllenium and I would sing this car's praises. A engine designed in the 90s on a 28K car is unacceptable when your competition has a powertrain equal or better to what you have on your 40K Caddy. The 25K Avalon has the powertrain of the STS. That is a big problem. However, GM says they want to be Lexus - when they can't even seem to get past toyota. So yes - they deserve some flack. Same thing on the G6, and the Lacrosse to an extent.

Lets contrast with the STS, CTS, SRX (biggest hit IMO compared to competition) and most of all, the Cobalt. Being hard on GM is what will get the message across that we want best in class - as in many of the prev examples.

Look at it this way - the LeSabre really had no meaningful competition. Now its got the Avalon. This tends to be how Toyota hurts GM's marketshare. Mark this, the Lucerne will not sell as many units as the LeSabre did over the next 5 years as the prev 5 years. The Tacoma will do the same thing to domestic compact/mid trucks.

Also, don't give me this a LeSabre buyer would never consider a toyota. BS. I see plenty of 45-55 year olds in Camry's. You don't think they might consider the Avalon in a few years?

I'm getting really tired of GM releasing all new vehicles with all new names and all old powertrains. Maybe we should put a 3 speed and the 2.2 OHV in the Cobalt. Does anyone honestly believe it would be doing so well if that were the case? I swear its whats harming the G6, Lacrosse, and now the Lucerne. OHV V6s and 4 speeds on 22K+ cars have got to go! Or at least make a OHV V6 that has low NVH.