2005-2007 Toyota Avalon

blaquebyrd · November 2005

The Avalon is gorgeous and has a bright Gold paint finish. The grillwork makes it look more like an Audi.
That grill is nice, wish I could get one for my white Avy.

ange · November 2005

Try Toyota of Greenfield Mass. 985.00 e-mail

Same exact warranty as local Toyota Dealer. Same literature. ange1

ange · November 2005

Undercoatings are almost obsolete. They do reduce noise a little. Actually some undercoating jobs cause corrosion by not adhering tight and water and or salt gets in behind the coating and has time to rust away.

Nearly all of the car manufactuters now run the car bodies through a electrified dip of, I believe, zinc phosphate, or some other coating that is bonded on to the metal. They also install galvanized parts where severe service is needed. ange1

lbs1 · November 2005

How do you make anything happen with Toyota? I have had problems with my '06 Nav system all along. I took it to the dealership - they kept it for a day and told me it was fine "that's the way it's supposed to be" (I'm delivered to the wrong street and told by the navi that it is my destination. By the way, the Federal Highway Administration states that "The Maximum error for navigation systems should not exceed 91ft, and in no case should cause the system to assume that the vehicle is on a parallel road." Mine lands one tenth of a mile away (528 feet) and at my office tells me I'm on a parallel road. So back to making things happen. When I told the shop forman that I couldn't accept that the system was supposed to work that way he said to call customer service. I did, they were very sympatahetic and obviously called the same shop forman who left a message on my tape saying I told you that's the way it's supposed to be. I asked to speak with the area rep - that was early October and it hasn't happened yet. I'm feeling stonewalled. Is there a way to get past the shop forman/customer service cycle and reach someone who is listening. If you look over the 9000++ messages on this forum, the problem of not being able to navigate while underway has come up again and again as have may other problems. True being able to vent and share on the Forum is helpful but how do you get action. Who can you contact so that we know they hear us, they're working on it or that they even care.

wwest · November 2005

Okay, at some level I have to say that I agree. I have yet to fly on any "drive-by-wire" airplane. I have up to now avoided them by more carefully scheduling my flights.

And I also worry that for a minority of the population that does tend to "push it" every so often the VSC will be nothing more than a wider set of tires. More "traction" that in reality doesn't exist.

I have always felt that something like a "stick shaker" used on commercial airliners should be used in cars when one of these systems activates. That way the driver would "learn" where the "edges" are. Sorta like the vibration you feel in the brake pedal with just light application telling you that the roadbed is VERY slippery.

I recently read where one of the new vehicles has a VSC system that causes the stearing wheel to resist being turned in a direction that would exacerbate a VSC activation circumstance.

Heading in the right direction but who knows how long it will be to reach "Perfection".

fragmire · November 2005

This knocking people are discussing ... What does it sound like exactly? I notice the car has the tapping noise at a frequency of roughly 4 taps per second while idle, but it's soft and not very noticeable. Is this knocking?

n0v8or · November 2005

Two questions:
(1) How did you enter your office destination; by punching in the address, or one of the other methods?
(2) When you do reach your destination, or what passes for your destination, does the display cursor also indicate a location that is ~500 ft from reality?

Having worked breifly, in my youth, in the auto retail business, perhaps I can offer some philosophical input regarding after-sales service (or lack thereof). To maximize their earnings potential, everyone at a new car Dealer is focussed on the next sale. I call this mindset "forward-focussed". Spending time and energy servicing a sale already made only gets on you the fast track to the poorhouse. It's unfortunate, but the nature of the business. As long as you personally are not perceived to be a threat to the next sale, you will receive little or no meaningful attention unless you have a friend "on the inside" (this is a generalization, there are rare exceptions). Now, imagine how the scenario might change if a business card were somehow accidently to slip into their possession, indicating you were a Consumer Reports employee, or perhaps an assistant automotive review editor for a nearby newspaper. It takes underhanded tactics to make the system work for you.

tzuppe · November 2005

Had my car 3 weeks and a kid swung into my lane and hit me and drove me into another car on my right. No one hurt, but over $3000 damage so far to '06 not counting hidden left front suspension damage like bent wheel, tie rods etc.

drivers outside mirror $550.
Left front headlight $960.

Paint front bumper and left/right side front fender and drivers door.

And I was worried about a few stone chips later this winter!!! HA!!!!!!!!!!!

n0v8or · November 2005

Knocking, a.k.a. ping, preignition, and detonation, has a distinct sound characteristic that is hard to describe. First, try to imagine what a few grains of dry rice inside a plastic baby's rattle might sound like. Now, imagine the rattle is wrapped in a diaper to muffle the sound, then shaken hard.

Yes, I know that's not a particularly elegant description. Remember, I did say it was hard to describe.

Valve train noise, on the other hand, I would characterize as more like tapping waxed paper stretched over a saucer with the side of a pencil.

havalongavalon · November 2005

I notice the car has the tapping noise at a frequency of roughly 4 taps per second while idle, but it's soft and not very noticeable."

First thing in the morning, for a few minutes, I hear this too sometimes. To me it sounds like an old Singer sewing machine, as if it were two rooms away. It goes away when the engine has warmed up.

havalongavalon

havalongavalon · November 2005

After 7 months, the audio cover often was stuck shut and I could only open it while on a steep downhill. Toyota paid for the replacement with the re-designed cover latch. I saw the invoice: Can $440 for the part, plus about $56 for labor. That's a lot to charge for a plastic cover with fancy springs, dampers and latch.

Works well now. I'm glad I bought the extended warranty. I can see a bunch of things like this happening after the original warranty is up...

My Toyota extended warranty is also paying for the first 4 maintenance service visits, parts & labor ($200 savings)except for replacement cost of the cabin air filter ($52) that in my case was not yet needed.

havalongavalon

havalongavalon · November 2005

Can't believe I read over 8000 messages here since Jan-Feb...

Learned some good things, though!

Happy motoring, fellow avaloners,

havalongavalon

n0v8or · November 2005

The ~4/second frequency suggests to me a single valve with excess valve train lash. Here is my line of reasoning:
Assume idle speed = 600RPM, which is 10 revs/second
It takes 2 revs to complete the 4 combustion cycles (intake, compression, power, exhaust) for all 6 cylinders, so during each engine revolution, either an intake valve pair or an exhaust valve pair will operate for every cylinder. For any one valve, the operating rate will be 1/2 the engine speed, or in this case 5 operations per second.

This correlates reasonably well with the estimated 4 taps per second. Once the hydraulic valve actuator pumps up, the lash will be reduced to zero . . . . no more tapping.

captain2 · November 2005

At the risk of an Orwellian reference -we are becoming victims of 'lawyer think'.
For many years, I enjoyed repairing my own cars and now am pretty much limited to oil, filters, brakes, belts and hoses. For several years I built my own computers and would write simple programs for them and could for the most part diagnose problems in both. Not any more!
So in an effort to make the Avalon idiot proof we all will become idiots - at least by some lawyer's definition. If I offend some lawyers here, I apologize - but you have no business on a NAV screen or anywhere else that has to do with what an idiot I am perfectly capable of being without your 'help'. From my perspective, I prefer my Touring without the VSC, and only hope that I can remain capable enough not to need it. Big Brother may watch me lose it into a bridge abutment some day - but, He needs to understand that I probably deserved it!

joe369 · November 2005

I don't think VSC for the most part has much to do with the driver's "capabilities" in the real world. IMHO, its most useful when one comes across a sudden change in the road conditions (e.g. black ice while cornering). On that note, I am curious to see how VSC will respond when pushed well past the physical capabilities of the car. IE, what would happen when the car is at a very high rate of speed and does one of those lateral slides (going/slding forward while car is pointed at 2-3 o clock position) in wet/icy conditions. I'm curious if VSC at that point will actually hinder the driver's remmote ability to get the car back in line....

captain2 · November 2005

think the whole theory behind VSC is that IT will not let you get to that point in more normal driving conditions - hitting the black ice under some cornering loads - there is nothing that VSC or anything really can do that a snow bank can't. By definition, VSC intervention must be at some level lower than the car's actual capabilities - otherwise there would be no reason to have it!

06ltd · November 2005

Yesterday, I installed the Ice>Link Plus on my wife's 2006 Limited w/JBL Synthesis and Nav. I got it direct from Dension about a week ago. Installation was fairly simple. After installation and several restarts, the unit worked...for a moment. What I found was that it would play for 5 seconds and flip to "pause" and play again for 5 seconds when I hit FF, then pause again. I was on the phone with Dension who told me that it's a firmware problem and they hope to have a new firmware version within a week. I don't understand why it works in some Avalons and not in others. Any ideas?

alan_s · November 2005

I am REALLY sorry. That happened to me back in 1988, 3 weeks after I got my new Cressida - was rear ended with $5K of damage.
I hope the damage is only $3K. The cost of repairing these fender-benders tend to add up like you can't believe.
Be sure to ask your insurance company for a check for diminished value.

tmeframe · November 2005

7Yr-100K no ded

"Try Toyota of Greenfield Mass. 985.00 e-mail"

If I remember correctly, that's about $50 above cost.

Steve

wwest · November 2005

"....I probably deserved it!..."

Yes, with your attitude you probably did. But what about your wife in the right seat or your ten year old in the rear seat? Or what about the passengers in the other vehicle(s) you hit after your car bounced off that bridge abutment and into the oncoming lane??

Maybe I'm just getting old and fuddy-dutty, but I don't think that even in my youngest driving days I could give the level of constant attention to my driving that mine and others safety warranted.

I find that being able to set my cruise control to something very close to the speed limit allows me a enough relaxation that I can still easily drive 500 miles in a day. If everyday driving required the level of constant attention I needed on the track at Daytona I wouldn't last 10 minutes before becoming mentally, if not physically, exhausted.

havalongavalon · November 2005

Hi n0v8or,

In my case, the cold engine tapping noise that resembles a quiet sewing machine is at higher than 4 Hz frequency; perhaps 10-15 Hz, is noticeable during the first couple minutes of driving, and scales with engine RPM at maybe 1500-2300 RPM. Fragmire reported 4 Hz while idling. These values appear to scale, consistent with your frequency-compatible theory. But in an earlier post, you suggested that the source of noise in a cold engine could be an under-lubricated timing chain. What would characterize the timing chain noise frequency?

havalongavalon

captain2 · November 2005

actually you are missing the point. Many years ago the Porsche 911, rear engine and rear drive - not a good combination handled like it was on rails especially compared to other cars of that era - until you pushed it too hard at which point it really became an oversteering handful and quite dangerous. Why? Because the required driver input was counter-intuitive - to get the car out the corner actually required more throttle.
My contention is that VSC can interfere with what is needed just as it can inhibit you from getting in that situation to begin with. Good with the bad, perhaps. Or post 10003 that seems to think that VSC is somehow going to save him from black ice in a corner. Not that is a dangerous attitude! No substitute for good experienced drivers - computers in automobiles, I think the jury is still out.
sorry, if you were somehow offended by comments about me getting what I deserve- because certainly anything I or anybody does potentially harmful to somebody else - that's why we have laws and jails. The intent of the comment to reinforce accepting some personal responsibilities for our actions and not rely on silly lawyers or the government to make decisions for us. Now that is fuddy/duddy!

will16 · November 2005

Hey dcboater

I too am a PCA member since 1976, Share my 06 Avy with 01 Boxster S, love both

Bill, in CT

3puttmax · November 2005

06ltd -

Sorry to hear about your problem. I don't have any useful info, just my sympathy. I'm hoping to put in some kind of iPod player, haven't decided which one. Please let us know how this works when it's fixed. Good luck.

Max

fin · November 2005

After reading the noise/frequency post, this same thought occurred to me. 600 rpm...increases with rpm.. one valve lifter/rocker is the source. And of course it goes away as the engine warms up. Good post.

The follow-up is: "What happens next?" Does the valve stick? Open? Closed? Problem go away? Is it a problem? Most important, why should it happen at all in a new Avalon? :confuse:

05avforum · November 2005

Hi. I have the same setup and my Ice>Link Plus works exactly the same way. I am also waiting for a firmware update. In the mean time, there is a fix that works. You need to put the ipod in UI mode. This allows you to control the iPod itself (i.e. pick the album or playlist manually from the iPod controls). In UI mode, you can skip to the next song using the car steering wheel or radio controls. Instructions for putting the ipod is in UI mode is in your instruction book. Let me know if you need help.

wwest · November 2005

Hmmmm...

"..many years ago..."

Now you're REALLY making me feel old.

Take a gander at:

http://www.hobbystage.net/porsche/wwest

Yes, those older Porsches could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

The problem is this....How many drivers, today, know to turn into the skid in order to recover. Most don't even know, and don't care, if the car is FWD or RWD. Two radically differing recovery techniques and most wouldn't have a clue which.

What we most need today is a driving simulator along the lines of what is available for commercial flight training so newbies can find out the total and complete handling charactoristics of a given vehicle and how to react in differing dangerous circumstances.

captain2 · November 2005

neat site - assume you have a car of two listed? Brings back some memories, but at that time never could afford the Porsches or Jags. Still have a peculiar fondness for things like the big Healeys, Sunbeams, and believe it or not the Datsun 2000. All dated, of course in the 60's and into the early 70's. Lucas electrical and SU carbs nightmares - but a lot of fun and I could always take that GTO if I were allowed to pick the road! So, yep, that's how old I am as well.
The lack of driver abilities is especially frightening when you also factor in the capabilities of many of today's cars - our Avs will outrun and outhandle about any of those 60's 'musclecars' and do it much more competently despite being a FWD car. Maybe the solution to the training problems would be to hand over keys to things like the SS396, RR or Charger 383/440, various Mustangs, Goats and Camaros and see who bends some metal (on a track, of course). It is amazing that we survived, but to experience those early Porsches something I'll never forget - damn, that rear end could snap around on you!

n0v8or · November 2005

As my engine is fairly noisy even when warm, I did theorize that use of a timing chain might be a cause. I don't think I can take credit for mentioning under-lubrication . . . chains are more noisy than belts even when well lubricated.

Those with the cold tapping noises probably have one or more hydraulic lifters that leak away their oil charge during shutdown, temporarily creating a mechanical gap in the valve train until new oil is pumped in.

Your use of "Hz" instead of "per second" suggests another engineer is on the scene. God help us all.

deaner1 · November 2005

The car looks great with the window tint. Have you had any trouble with the GPS after tinting. I have read several posts and a statememt in the manual that tinting the windshield may interfere with receiving the satellites. It recommemends that the tinting should be non-metallic. Do you have a brand name that was installed.

havalongavalon · November 2005

Not to worry. Let's just say I'm a contemporary audiophile and (certain) engine sounds can be music to my ears.

Thanks for your further thoughts on chain vs. valve sounds. I wonder, though, how long it should take for new oil to be pumped in a cold engine. Surely this must be a matter of seconds, not the several minutes that the cold tapping noises can last?

avaster · November 2005

Just curious how many people with the knocks use synthetic oil and how many use refined.

lbs1 · November 2005

Thank you for the info and confirming my perceptions. Answers to your questions:
1 I entered my office address by punching it in and it delivers me to a not too unreasonable distance away (my old nav system was far more accurate) When I am in my office parking lot and press the map/voice button it shows me on a different street that is about 100 to 150 yards away (not the office address).
2. The cursor is where I am and the destination icon pretty close (to the cursor, not the real destination.)

Actually the cursor follows me pretty accurately - it's the software that is unpredictable. I'm beginning to think it does pretty well with low numbers on a street, but the higher the address number, the further away we land which is usually at the beginning of the street or on another street, In all of these incidents the address is punched in.

n0v8or · November 2005

Sounds familiar. The first time we entered our home address, it was ~120 yards off (too far south). Because our street runs North-South, at least we were on the correct street.

Instead of "typing" in the address, I simply pointed to the place I wanted to register as home, by scrolling the map then pushing the Enter button. Much easier to do if you are already parked there. It confirmed the registration with a non-existent street address (I live on the last house on my street, #400; it gave my address as #442).

A disadvantage of that registration method was the the "home" icon looked like the logo for the London Underground instead of a house. So I tried again by "typing" in the phony address from trial #2. My destination is now perfectly aligned and has the icon I prefer.

There is a calibration of some sort available on the service menu, but I have not dared to try it.

All of our other destinations were entered by the "point & click" method rather then entering the address. Much faster unless you don't know where the destination is.

I concur with your observation that the accuracy is beter with low-numbered addresses. I think the software must use some fixed constant estimate for the rate house numbers advance with distance. Unfortunately, municipalities across the country to not universally adhere to that constant.

limiteddriver · November 2005

No.

limiteddriver · November 2005

I just had my first oil change and put in Mobile I and the knocking noise and time to stop knocking did not change.

endovit · November 2005

I took my 06 Limited in. Had one fog light loose - one not loose. Told them I needed the loose one replaced. Guess what they did? Yep - replaced the one that wasn't loose. Now both are loose. Go figure.

n0v8or · November 2005

Regarding the question of how long it should take for the hydraulic adjuster to eliminate any lash in the valve train:

Admittedly, I am not a mechanical engineer, so I can only speculate based on the (quite good and detailed)information published by Toyota.
The adjuster is a hydraulic-mechanical element (cylinder and plunger) whose effective length can increase to offset play (lash) in the valve actuation system. It's oil supply is provided by an oil passage in the cylinder head. I do not know if this oil passage contains pressurized or return (gravity fed) oil.

In any case, the adjuster changes its effective length by means of a small internal oil pump that transfers oil to a chamber where it becomes trapped by a check valve. The pump requires motion of the plunger to operate. If the oil has leaked out past the check valve duiring engine shutdown, the plunger will be collapsed, and there will be very little plunger movement. Low plunger movement means the internal pump will take a long time to fill the chamber, because the stroke is so small. Visualize a bicycle tire hand pump where the stroke is only 1/4" instead of several inches. It would take you a long time to pump up your tire.

The net of all of this is that I can accept that it might take minutes rather than seconds to pump up a collapsed adjuster.

3puttmax · November 2005

n0v8or-

Where are you getting all this detailed information on the hydraulic lifters?

Max
(mechanical engineer)

pftaylor · November 2005

deaner1,
Thanks for the kind words. The consensus from my family and friends is that it just plain looks better and more aggressive than before. The B pillar seems more pronounced and therefore adds more sport to the overall look.

The GPS system is not affected by the tint since only the side and rear windows were tinted. Finally, the brand of tint was called Solar Guard which is made in St. Pete, FL and it was applied by Albright Tint in St. Pete. Tammy is the owner and can help you with any level of detail you may need. She was an absolute sweetheart to do business with.

I have been able to eliminate the annoying gadfly-like seatbelt chime due to the helpful fellow members on this site. The instructions worked the first time. Thanks!

My never-ending battle with the automatic lock system is another story however. I have tried every bit of advice on this board and to date, none have worked. I have RTFM to no avail and even have gone so far as to buy a stop watch to ensure the proper time frame for holding down the lock button. I have tried 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, and 6 second intervals. Nothing has worked - not even my local dealer.

Last weekend I made an appointment with Kuhn Toyota in Tampa to have the locks changed to the 12mph speed sensitive setting and after waiting for over two hours, the service manager sheepishly told me that my car didn't have it as an option.

I took a deep breath and politely informed him that 1-800-go-toyota disagrees with him. The owners manual disagrees with him. Hundreds of Avalon owners on Edmunds disagree with him and most importantly I disagree with him.

I humbly suggested to hook up the scanner and "try" to change the setting. An hour later the service manager proclaimed that although my car now had the option - it couldn't be changed. I asked for proof and what he produced was a printout by the scanner which proved my point - it could in fact be changed according to the printout. At this point, I asked him if he was a product of the Florida public school system because it was clear that he didn't read the printout. And if he did, he couldn't comprehend its meaning. I was flabbergasted. I asked for his supervisor which really stirred up the pot but at this point (about 3 hours of tedious waiting) I was boiling over with all the misinformation. I suggested that the printout proved that it could be changed and begged them to implement the change. The service manager came back with an explanation which was classic. He claimed that if they tried to implement the change with the scanner, it would wipe out the ECU completely. Therefore, he was unwilling to put my Limited at risk.

As it turned out, his supervisor was getting chewed out by another customer and it was clear that he wasn't going to be available in short order. I decided to cut my losses and asked for my car to be returned to me so that I could enjoy whatever was left of my weekend.

To top it off, I received a call the next day telling me that they had forgotten to put the owners manual back in the glove box.

Shameful behavior.

Intentional lying on the part of the service manager.

Pitiful. Disgraceful in every respect to be frank.

I will never go back to Kuhn Toyota.

I now understand why people pay $25K more for a luxury brand. I came out of a Q45 and never had a service incident anywhere close to what I've experienced with this Toyota.

n0v8or · November 2005

http://www.techinfo.toyota.com/

I paid for a 30-day subscription (since expired) and downloaded all of the new Avalon service manuals, tech training material, TSBs, wiring diagrams, etc. More than 2000 pages and 200Mb in total. Well worth $50, in my opinion.

The information specific to the (quite clever) valve train design is from the Engine training manual.

fragmire · November 2005

I understand that you have tried all the things mentioned in this forum, but I just want to bring it up again that you need to first "un-program" the previous setting according to the owner's manual (also discussed on this forum), then program in the new choice.

fragmire · November 2005

Got my Limited near the end of July and have only 3400 miles on the odo, so I'm assuming that I still have the refined oil that came with the car. Will most likely switch to Mobile-1 5W-30 at service in Jan.

fragmire · November 2005

Now, this may be a little off-topic (sorry Pat), but did anyone have (or have heard of) a good experience at a SF South Bay Toyota dealer for servicing an Avalon? Mine is almost due for the 6-mo. and there are simply too many dealers to choose from. Cost isn't an issue, but would be nice to know. Thanks in advance!

larrymit · November 2005

You're correct is saying that mapping programs use some sort of formula to estimate the location of a street address. Not only do NAV systems work that way, so do programs like Microsoft's Streets & Trips. The best they can do is get you close to the actual address.

That being said, you shouldn't be shown to be on a street other than the one you are really on. When I got my 2004 Solara with NAV, it said that the street I live on was called by the name of a street nearby. Toyota issued a recall for the NAV system which fixed that problem and probably a lot of others I never knew about. I suspect if enough people are dissatisfied with the accuracy of their Avalon NAV and complain directly to Toyota, a recall might be in the future.

n0v8or · November 2005

I forgot to mention that these are not "lifters" in the conventional sense. They are not located directly in the serial path between the camshaft lobes and the valves. A fulcrum is interposed between the camshaft and cam follower. The pivot point (ground symbol in a statics drawing) of the fulcrum is semi-compliant to take up the lash. The fulcrum pivot rests on top of the hydraulic adjuster plunger, while the cylinder (body)is fixed in cylindrical cavity in the head. Only the plunger moves.

Much easier to draw than to describe.

fragmire · November 2005

I've noticed a lot of discussion regarding GPS accuracy, and I just thought I'd chip in my two cents.

Fact 1: The common GPS systems that are commercially available are accurate within 65' of true position. Various techniques and error-corrections can reduce this to 4" (but obviously, this is not available on most passenger vehicles).

Fact 2: The system used by Toyota (Denso) automatically places the car on the nearest street going in the same direction. This means that if GPS places the car 5' to the right of a freeway, but there is no road there, the system would show the car as going on the freeway. This is done only up to an unknown (but probably small) range (i.e. if you're driving in the middle of nowhere and the DVD doesn't contain any road information there, you're not gonna be placed on some random road 200 miles away going in parallel). This error-correction algorithm is very much necessary since, due to the relatively large margin of error on the common GPS system, the system would almost always see the car as being off any real road. Only by guessing which road the car is nearest can the system provide direction on where to turn next.

Now, with these two facts in mind, let's talk about the accuracy of the system.

Most of the complains are regarding the placement of the vehicle on a parallel street. Now, I believe what is happening underneath is that the GPS signal is off (perhaps right in the middle of two adjacent streets), and the system's error correction algorithm (see Fact 2) automatically places the car on a street that goes in the same direction. This should be okay in a sparsely populated suburb, but in a dense city, the (up to) 65' of error and the error correction may result in placement of the vehicle on an adjacent parallel street. This is not exactly Toyota's fault, since the mapping system was given inaccurate information to begin with, and I'm sure most of us know that working with inaccurate information can be difficult, or down right impossible.

The other class of frustration seems to originate from the system reporting the arrival at a destination when in fact the car is still tens of yards away. What I've observed is that the system actually reports you have arrived a little distance before the car arrow icon and the red target destination icon overlap. I'm guessing that this is by design so that the driver would be signaled just before actually arriving at the destination to allow time for reaction (e.g. turning into a plaza).

So in the end, most of the frustrations experienced by Avalon GPS owners are caused by the combination of GPS error margin and the error-correction algorithm. Realistically, there isn't much any of us can do (not even Toyota) until more precise GPS systems are widely available.

Just my two cents

gws · November 2005

"Much easier to draw than to describe."

Perchance is there a drawing among all those pages that you downloaded, that you might be able to pass along here?

n0v8or · November 2005

Posting it here would run afoul of Toyota's copyright. I don't want to get the Edmund's folks in trouble, particularly as thay have been so kind as to host this forum at no charge to readers. See message #9420 or #8655 for instructions how to send me a private communication.

mdchachi · November 2005

Actually that's very possible (talking about the difference in accuracy between low and high street addresses) because the geocoding process (way of mapping addresses to lat/long) works with blocks of addresses of a time. That is, every address is not individually mapped to a lat/long location. Only start/end points (or specific intervals) are mapped and everything in between is calculated. So it sounds like the map data in your area is not as accurate as it could be.

As the other poster said, you may need to set your destination by adjusting the location via the map if you need to be more exact.

As for being shown on a different street that is 100-150 yards away, how far is the correct street from your physical location?

--
For more info about geocoding, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocoding

2005-2007 Toyota Avalon

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