2011 Toyota Avalon

nan48

jim, that's the way I do it, we keep every fill up written down in a book. At least we did with all of other new vehicles. That's excellent MPG you got. I hope mine will get the same. So far my car has only got 27.6 MPG hwy (have to see post note to see for sure) but for me that's pretty good for this size car.

I did note in a post note that I thought my transmission was slipping. I an now convinced that it is NOT slipping. The Avalon simply has one very smooth shifting transmission. No doubt about that.

There's been several post on the haze on the windows. We had a tint put on our Avl. first thing so we didn't noticed any haze of any kind. I'm guessing where the dealer had the tint put on took care of it. The light tint really sets the car off. At least I think so.

twinb----------What mountains?-----too personal, I understand. We're originally from Chattanooga Tennessee. So we know about TN mountains.

twinb

The Smokeys are pretty but I'm in the Rockies west of Denver.

iamknott

tjc,

Thanks for looking up the horsepower testing change. If I understood it correctly, it confirms my suspicion that the Avalon's hp would be higher, if measured the same way that the pre-1971 muscle cars were. Therefore, the apparent 100 hp difference is really not that large. I will try to find something that tells how much lower net hp is than gross hp.

While I love the quickness of the Avalon, I sure miss the sound of big V8s. I know I'm not alone in this regard, because when the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association has their annual show here in
Columbus, the streets are lined with old guys like me, just watching, listening, and remembering....

nan48

I took a friend of mine years ago to show him the TN mountains. He took one look and said "you call them mountains"? He was from Montana, so needless to say he's seen real mountains. I don't know for sure, but I bet your mountains are much bigger than the Smokey Mountains. I've never been West of Tyler TX. or North more than Baltimore or Washington DC. Southern boy all the way.

On another note I too miss the rumble of the old cars. The glass pipe sound. My cousin owned a Hemi Cuda, all factory, this car sounded like a race car. We never got the two four barrels right. Even the speed shops could not get them right. I'm afraid I never owned anything fast. My first car, 64 Dodge Polara with a big bock 318, push button automatic. Amazing car but not really fast. TC, Bill

twinb

Oh yeah, 14,000 foot high peaks are common in Colorado.

When I take my Avalon to see classic/hot rod car shows I feel like I'm driving up in my grandma's old conservative Buick compared to what's there; no one even knows I drove in, it's so quiet compared to the show cars.

algee

There is definitely to many old people on this forum. :-) Just funnin

iamknott

Yes, algee, there seems to be a lot of oldies here, but we are a breed of enthusiasts that had fun with cars and you can't have too many of those. In fact, I think we had more fun than the kids today will ever have, for a number of reasons.

First, look at the way cars used to change each year. Compare the Chevys and Fords from '55 through '62. You could easily tell them apart and it was exciting to anticipate the arrival of the new models each year. Now you have to wait years for a new body style -- until the corporate accountants decide that one of their models has reached the end of its "cycle." Can anyone really tell one generic Taurus from another?

Secondly, we could actually work on our cars in those days, either for normal maintenance or to alter their mechanical performance. What can kids do today? Buy a hotter computer chip or a buzzy muffler and have some shop install it for them? Ho-hum.

Back in the day, you could test the improvements you made on your car at the drag strip and there were actual stock classes to compete in. Or you could just go the strip and watch stock cars compete. I don't even know if they still have stock classes today. When I watch the "national" drag meet of the week now on TV, all I see are million-dollar funny cars and fuel dragsters with which I can't identify.

Speaking of car racing, when did the Indy 500 become a race in which every contestant uses the same engine and body? Boring! For all I know, NASCAR is probably doing the same thing with the Car Of Tomorrow. Their emphasis has shifted from the manufacturers to the drivers. I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't really care whether Billy Bob beat Jimmy Joe Jr., I want to know what they were driving. I thought that Toyota's entry into NASCAR would create some excitement, but if it has, nobody talks about it. Formula 1 still emphasizes the manufacturers (teams), but too much of the commentary is about the damn tires and the courses are so narrow that the races are often decided in the first lap.

OK, enough ranting. Bottom line: in terms of cars, I'm glad that my youth occurred when it did.

algee

Well ole timer :-)

I am one as well (71) and I think todays cars are far better than those clunkers of yesteryear that had to have spark plugs and points changed every 12k etc

Love todays cars with all of the electronics as well. Have to have GPS etc. I'll take every thing.

I also think I'm young at heart. :-)

wwest

Experience and knowledge gained comes with old age......

donb1

Drove both the LaCrosse and the Genesis to compare against the 2011 Avalon

Loved the look of the LaCrosse but found it heavy to drive. Lots of shiney stuff in the cockpit and it feels very small. A few things I found annoying VERY poor side and rear visbility, no inside trunk release, no inside gas door and I could not get my golf clubs inside the trunk without major jockeying. It would NOT be possible to get 2 sets of clubs in.

nan48

Thanks Don, I didn't test drive any other car but the Avalon. One reason is I bought a used 2000 Avalon. Loved the car, love the size, speed, everything, Except this one owner car had some electrical problems the lady didn't tell me about. All the signs said something was wrong but I simply didn't listen to my inner thoughts. I didn't have the heart to sell it to someone else. So I traded it in where that car was sold new. I went to buy a 2010. I only looked at older ones because I know cars lose value fast. Both the 2010's sold the same day the salesman said. After a lot of talk over the next week or so, I bought my 2011 LTD. I gave 28 thousand and my 2000 Avalon. The 28 includes all local taxes, fees, everything. OTD price.

I agree with the fellow who said our Generation was better. We worked harder and didn't look for freebies around every corner. Even though I'm only 54, I grew up around cars. Working on them, etc. Finally I had a wholesale business dealing in cars/trucks for years. The cars of today are MUCH better than the cars of yesterday. I also went to the track when I was young, were we had street racing. No law suits back then that I know of and plenty of wrecks.

Now I ramble on long enough. TC, everyone, Bill

Kirstie_H

A journalist would like to speak with a consumer who has recently installed an aftermarket GPS unit, rear entertainment unit, remote key entry, or back up camera. If interested, please send an email by Thursday, Sept 30, including the item you purchased/installed, your name, and phone number to pr@edmunds.com.

douglas1

I took my 2011 Avalon back to the dealer because the compass did not work. He had previously ordered a new unit and was going to install it. He called me this morning and told me that they had talked to Toyota headquarters and they said they were issuing a technical service bulletin for the issue and NOT to install the new one because that would not work either. He said they are working on a 'fix' but had no time table as to when they would have a solution.

nan48

Well, I said "plenty of wrecks". I should said plenty of accident benders.

I took my Avalon to my dealer the other day. I had a small separation in the bumper molding. They fixed it no problem. The man over the shop said some of the Avalon's are assembled in Japan. I know in the vin number if it starts with a J then it's been assembled in Japan. DOES anyone have a 2011 Avalon assembled in Japan? I think the man was wrong but didn't want to correct him because I wasn't for sure. I almost certain NO Avalons were assembled in Japan. The reason the subject came up is because the man said "in Japan they stop the line for such small things". I would hope/think the happens here in the US. Especially for a Japan company. Another note: Has anyone notice the radio is weak, the XM goes in and out under trees which is probably normal. However our old rock station which comes in just crystal clear on my other vehicles IS NOT clear on my Avalon. Almost like a weak antenna. Anyone have this problem?

twinb

When you say "did not work" do you mean nothing showed up on the compass heading or the reading was wrong? Mine was stuck on reading North no matter which direction I was driving. The manual gives directions on how to re-orient the compass; I did what it said, which involved driving in a large circle among other things, & now the reading is correct again.

RE: the radio signal in the next post, I've lost the XM signal several times in the open, while driving in one of our shallow 'canyons' here in Colorado, but the FM band seems strong enough, for the few stations I listen to.

douglas1

The compass did not work correctly. It would stay 'stuck' on a direction. It would work correctly about 20% of the time and would then become 'stuck' on whatever direction I was going when it quit working.

According to my dealer he was told it is now a know issue but they had no idea when a fix would be coming. I called Toyota Corporate customer service and told them that it was acceptable to spend this kind of money on a car and then have no idea how to fix a problem with the compass especially since they have had compass' in their cars for years. They gave me a case number and said they would call me with more information on Thursday.

twinb

Yeah that's the same thing mine was doing. On page 368 of the manual there are directions on how to recalibrate the compass, including some precautions about keeping magnetized objects away from the mirror, etc. Even though mine is working now I usually keep it turned off because it's distracting when I look in the mirror. If it's a known issue, keep us updated on what Toyota says, OK? Thanks.

tkaz

Just got my 2011 LTD Magnetic Gray with Light Gray interior. It looks nice. Don't like the black mats though. Previous year Avalons used the same size mats - checked with ,my 2005 mats. I would like to buy similar color mats. In previous years the mats were offered in Taupe and Stone. Does anyone know if the Stone is a similar color to the Light Gray and how well they go together?

Unfortuantely the car (and all the others on the dealer lot) has Bridgestone Turanza tires with a thread wear of only 260. The dealer would not budge on changing the tires. I didn't even know there were tires with such a low treadwear.

Everything else seems to be fine.

tjc78

Expect less than 30K miles out of the Turanza EL400s. I got 27K with proper maintenance.

As for the mats, the 05-10 Avalons came in four interior colors: Ivory, dk charcoal, lt grey, graphite.

Here is a picture of the four mat colors in the same order listed above. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a set on Ebay.

yanker

My wife bought an Avalon Limitd and we held out for Michelins Glad we did no problems Actually this is our third or fourth set The ld car was a 2000 Avalon with 150,000 miles We did have a set of Yokohama aAvids and they were poor in snow and ice

tkaz

Found them on ebay. Thanks for the tip. They seem to be the same light gray as my interior.
Figure I will need to replace the tires with Michlins MXV4's for next winter.

douglas1

Toyota Customer Service called me this afternoon and acknowledged the problem and confirmed that a Technical Service Bulletin has been issued and that they are working on the issue. I told him that I didn't think this was rocket science since Toyota has had a compass in the mirror for at least 10 year and he agreed. He said he believed they had isolated the problem and were working on a fix but could give no timetable. He said they would contact me as soon as the fix was issued and apologized profusely.

I guess the only thing we can do it wait. I'll post back if/when I hear from Toyota or my dealer.

twinb

Thanks for the update. I guess a misaligned compass reading is not on top of the priority list for Toyoda-san, wherever he is these days. Hope his putting game is improving, he never did get the knack of wrist suppleness.

nan48

Does anyone radio especially the XM part seem weak under trees? I thought at first going under trees and having the XM go out would be a normal thing. Also if my FM is on a station I normally pick up clearly with my other cars doesn't seem to be near as clear with my new Avalon. Has anyone else experience this problem or a problem like this? It's almost like my antenna is not working at full speed. Is there some kind of adjustment? Any information will help. TC, Bill

nan48

Does anyone radio especially the XM part seem weak under trees? I thought at first going under trees and having the XM go out would be a normal thing. Also if my FM is on a station I normally pick up clearly with my other cars doesn't seem to be near as clear with my new Avalon. Has anyone else experience this problem or a problem like this? It's almost like my antenna is not working at full speed. Is there some kind of adjustment? Any information will help. TC, Bill

nan48

Oh yea, my garage door now works great. I had to push the reset button on the the garage door opener while pushing the knob on the rear view mirror. Took two people.

ncee

My 2008 is bad just like your new Avalon.

I've been told by a local radio shop that they can put a booster antenna in and that should help a lot.

I haven't ask what it would cost yet, mostly because I travel a lot and when I'm out of town, I listen to my iPod.

tkaz

Hi Bill,
It is not unusual to lose XM signal under trees. It is a much higher frequency than FM. It is direction (line of sight) from the satellite which is typically to the south. This is like satellite TV.
Tony

nan48

Thanks Tony & tkaz, I didn't know about XM, I thought it MIGHT be normal to lose signal under trees. However I am kind of upset that my one FM radio station doesn't come in clear. It does on the Mazda I just sold, on my 2,000 Avalon I traded in and my two trucks. All of them the FM station comes in clear. So I suspected it was a weak connection on my new Avalon. I wish other people would check there radio's out to see if this is a normal thing. Thanks again, Bill

nimimi

I wanted to reply to #635 that the colored mats from (at least) 2010 will fit the 2011 models, however, I can see no "Reply" button.
What's wrong and how may it be fixed?

Thanks!

twinb

Something's wrong here. Only half the page is visible
on my screen, & the message texts are cut off on the
right side of each post.

Kirstie_H

Thanks to one of our members for the note - this happens sometimes when the image is too large for our Forums pages. The only answer is to resize the photo, or to provide a link to the photo instead of imbedding it within the message.

Sorry I had to remove the photo, but that's the only action I can take.

tkaz

Bought a set of Lt Gray 2005-2010 Avalon floor mats. They match well with my 2011 Avalon LTD Lt Gray interior. Look much better and much heavier than the flimsy black mats that came with the car.

I have a spare set of new ivory mats from my 2005 that I had as spare. Since I traded in my car I did not need to use them to repalce the orginal mats. So I guess I can sell them as 2005-2011 Avalon mats.

twinb

Did you buy the Lt Gray mats from the dealer or where? I know floormatguys dotcom & costco dotcom both can have them specially made to fit.

tkaz

I bought the mats on ebay from Clearwater Toyota. They are Genuine Toyota mats.

tjc78

Bought a set of Lt Gray 2005-2010 Avalon floor mats. They match well with my 2011 Avalon LTD Lt Gray interior. Look much better and much heavier than the flimsy black mats that came with the car.


Glad it worked out. IIRC the mats on my 06 were pretty heavy and held up well. Not sure where you live, but if you have harsh winters I would keep those black mats in the trunk (even if just the driver's side) for when the weather is nasty. This will keep your matching ones much cleaner.

tkaz

I have a set of Avalon rubber mats for the winter here in NY. They go in on Thanksgiving and come out Easter.

stl82

Glad I found this forum. I am having the same problem. I drive in circles and it works for a few days, then gets stuck on one setting, usually SW for some reason (I park the car pointed east). It has now been working for 2 days. It will be interesting to see if it fails again. I will mention the service bulletin when I take the car up for some minor work in a few days. I talked to the salesman who sold me the car yesterday and he didn't know anything about the problam

twinb

...

twinb

stl82, it doesn't surprise me that the salesman doesn't know about the car's probs. Keep us updated on your next service vist.

With almost 2,000 miles on the odometer, I filled the tank once again (with non-ethanol gas) and figured the mileage to be 27.8 mpg. I purposely stayed off the highways during this tank & the mpg increased a bit. Last car I had that came close to this mileage was my new 1983 Tercel 4WD wagon, with the 1.5 engine & 5 speed tranny; remember that one with the granny gear that'd pull a house off its foundation? It got 30 in the city & 40 on the interstate, & it wasn't half the car the Avalon is. Most unusual looking/performing car of its time, started a whole new generation of 4WD cars that were accepted by Americans as being useful, practical, and fun to drive. And I had one of the first; $8,000 brand new, the list was over 10K as I recall, and though expensive for its time it was worth every penny. Anyone else have one of those?

tkaz

tkaz

Wanted to add matching body side molding like I did with my 2006. But the local dealer said it was not availble for the 2011. So bought it on line from http://www.sportwing.com/toyota-chromeline-painted-body-side-molding.aspx.
They will supply you with directions for the 2011 as the measurement is a little different than the 2005-2010. It looks good with a narrow chrome strip in the middle of the molding.

twinb

T, how long did it take you to put those on your car? Was just wondering because i've been looking at that site for the past couple of weeks.

tkaz

Hi rwinb. I went to a local body shop to have them installed. I didn't want to take a chance on not getting them straight. Took less than an hour and he charged me $47. This was the same body shp that installed the body side moldings on my 2006 Avalon too.

Instructions were quite clear on how to mount. Just clean the side of the car. Use something like masking take to establish a straight line. Peel the backing off the molding and stick in place.

jaws11

Just bought a new 2011 Avalon Limited and the dealer told me they cannot install

a remote starter Is that correct?? this dealership is not that sharp

thanks jaws11

nan48

Gas mileage checked on city driving 20.4 MPG......I expected better but probably comes from jack rabbit starts. Update later! 1,098 miles on car as of today. Any feedback on radio's that pick up FM stations???? Thanks, Bill

twinb

So Bill, when your better half drives she probably gets ~27 MPG? hehe. I haven't noticed any loss of FM signals, except from a couple of the weaker transmitting stations & I would lose them on my '99 Cherokee also. Never listen to AM so can't comment there. Joe.

bergamini

It shows the remote start as an available accessory here:

http://www.toyota.com/avalon/accessories.html

So, my guess is that your dealership is wrong. I would push back on them a little bit, email your sales person or service advisor that link and ask them if Toyota is wrong.

jonesfwb

can you lock something in trunk, park car with Valet and leave smart key with him, and have him not able to get into trunk. 2011 Avalon limited. thanks

jwillin

There is a secret button inside the glovebox you can use that will lock the trunk. The key will not be able to open it, but possibly if the valet guy knew where the button was located all they would have to do is activate and then be able to raise your trunk. At least I believe that is how it works.