2005-2007 Toyota Avalon

deanie

Hi:
Wife and I are each 37. Bought an 05 XLS. Drove a 1996 Nissan Maxima-SE before (still driving it - it's a great car). But, two kids (4 and <1) and a need to tote the mother-in-law in the back seat for the next two years meant there was nothing in the class (quality/reliability/safety/fuel economy/refinement/resale/etc) that could accomodate us.
Regards,
Deanie

deanie

Hi All:
Take it easy. Calm down. Toyota has neither the vision nor the gumption to make an Avalon Wagon (which would sell well). To Turn My 05 XLS into a temporary station wagon, I purchased a pair of 59" (model 902) Saris brand roof load bars (a roof rack) on which I secured my 9 year-old Saris brand 16 cubic foot cargo box. Added to the 14.7 cu. ft. trunk, that's more than 30 cubic feet of cargo space!

Yeah, the aerodynamics are slightly compromised, but I'm sure it's still better than most SUV's, and after the trip is done I can take the box off - regular Avalon again. With the box on, A/C on half the time, and two hours of 5mph to 20mph stop-and-go traffic on a 550 mile round trip from Maryland to New York and back, I averaged 25 mpg with highway stints averaging 70mph and reaching 90mph passing bursts - great fuel economy considering the traffic, five on board and loaded to the gills.
Regards,
Deanie

bhallinan

I'm 37, coming out of a 2000 Honda Accord with almost 200,000 miles. I have had 7 Hondas and was 99% sure that an '06 Accord V6 was in my future. For the extra $3-4,000 my XLS with Nav is head and shoulders better than the new Accord. Not to mention that the so called "re-style" for 2006 Accords was a joke. I could not be happier!

gws

".... five on board and loaded to the gills."

I don't know how much leeway is feasible, considering the specified 875 lb. load limit for the Avalon. The positive effect on fuel consumption of those relatively skinny 215 tires does have an impact on carrying capacity.

jayvis

You guys almost sound like you work for Zaino. Even that name sounds like a knockoff of Zymol, which has been around for years. Zymol has consistantly been considered one of the top polishes on the show car circuit. The whole 'wet look' pitch Zaino makes is nothing new. Zymol can be bought at most auto parts and retail outlets, including Walmart. I've tried them all and haven't found anything better than Zymol.

geoshill

The November issue of Popular Mechanics came yesterday. They have run a comparative evaluation of four of the mid sized sedans, Dodge Charger, Buick La Crosse, Ford Five Hundred and the Toyota Avalon. And again the Avalon received top honors. This is the third comparative evalution of this size car I have read recently and the Avalon has come out best all three times.

I got rid of a trouble prone Honda 2000 V6 to buy the Avalon.

havalongavalon

"How can I remember what CD's are in the changer?"

Hi geoshill,

I saw that nobody had replied to your earlier question. I keep the empty CD boxes in the glove compartment, stacked in the same order as I inserted the CDs into the player.

havalongavalon

gbinplano

To each his own... I've been polishing my cars for 40 years, from Simonize and Blue Coral through Maguires and Mothers, and Zymol, and have personally settled on Zaino for lasting finish and ease of use.

Greg

buzz123

I have an 06 XL with 1,200 miles and I've had the exact same transmission problem right from day one. I read this forum prior to buying, so I was aware that there could be a problem. Unfortunately, it really is a problem even if Toyota doesn't acknowledge it as such. Other than that, it's a great car. I just got my JD Power New Vehicle Quality Survey in the mail today. Needless to say, I'll be letting them know how dissatisfied I am with the transmission. My wife has an 8 year old Corolla with 112,000 miles and the transmission is much, much smoother than my Avalon. It's really such a shame because, other than the transmission problem, the car is a perfect 10. Unfortunately, the transmission is a perfect 0 which makes my overall rating of the car a 5. I'm hoping Toyota comes out with a fix for this problem soon!

havalongavalon

buzz,

Do you find the transmission behaves the same way when shifting to S? In my experience it runs smoother when in S.

havalongavalon

chodie

My 06 Avalon runs smoother and gets about 4 mpg better than regular. The Toyota factory rep. suggested the premium and it does improve things.

gypsy13

Your Avalon "wanders with crosswinds at speeds over 70 mph?" No kidding. I'm amazed you can stay on the road in that kind of wind!

gypsy13

Concerning visibility of tall drivers, I'm almost 6-3 and have no problems at all....nor do I find the front seats of my Limited the least bit uncomfortable.

My only problem was a very slight dent in the passenger's door...looked like maybe someone leaned into it. Didn't see it in the few minutes we were at the dealership in Montana picking it up. Drove the car to Arizona, and the Montana dealership paid to have it rolled out here -- the bill sent directly to them. The waver in the door was so slight you had to look at the right angle to see it....but it can't be seen at all now. There was no hesitation by the Great Falls, Montana dealership taking care of it. What a great outfit.

I love this car and look for excuses to drive it. No problems of any kind. Now if I can just sell my 17.7 mpg GMC Denali!

vette '67

We purchased an '06 Limited. The wife's 50 and I'm 58. Replaced a Bonneville. Also drive a Caravan and a Vette. All bases are covered!

06ltd

I am 59, my wife is 56. We just bought an '06 Ltd, and it's my wife's car. Before that. we had a '98 Avalon XLS. Before that, we had a '91 Plymouth minivan.

06ltd

I'm 6'1" and am very comfortable in both the front and the back of the new '06 Ltd. The view out the back window is restricted compared with my BMW 330 Ci and my wife's '98 XLS. A backup camera option would be a good idea for the new Avalons, I think.

lgigante

I'm 70 and replaced a 2001 Chrysler Concorde.

lgigante

I recently drove from Michigan to Florida at about 75 to 80. I used regular and got 28.6 mpg for the 1,350 miles by actual measurement. My Limited Nav system never failed even though I tried to argue with it when I thought it was wrong. (It wasn't) It was a big help since I was all alone.
When Hurricane Wilma threatened, I drove to a friend's condo across the stae and got pelted with 70 mph pebbles for my trouble. I will have to get the entire car bumped and re-painted (Titanium Silver). I also had Ziebart Diamond Gloss and pinstriping, which will need to be replaced. I haven't got an estimate yet but it's going to cost plenty. Fortunately, my insurance will cover it all and provide a rental car. (Still a pain in the rear).
Love my car!

scoti1

There is a forum dedicated to the hesitation problem. Check it out.

"Engine Hesitation (All makes/models)"

easyrider300m

all you guys that are having tranny complaints, be sure to get your message to the proper department at Toyota Corporation. If they don't realize many many drivers are having tranny issues, then they will never address it. If enough people complain I would bet they would look into a fix for the problem.

EzRider300M
2002 Chrysler 300M black Special---next car perhaps an Avalon if tranny problems fixed

bahraini_zupra

heres pics of my white blizzard with parktronic sensors this is only few fast pics stay tuned for more

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2153813

motownusa

Nice pics baharini. How many miles have you put in it so far. Do you let any other people drive your car ?

buzz123

Thanks for the suggestion havalongavalon! I haven't tried that yet, but I will. Thanks again!

drh3

I have the same noise/rattle as you describe in my 06 LTD. with 600 miles. The dealer first verified the rattle then later said they could not locate, I have also called the Toyota Customer Experience # who said that a corporate rep from the dealership would get back to me, nothing after three days. The rattle only occurs when we go over bumpy or rough roads. Have you had any success resolving?

Thanks,

hamboner

I'm 42 and replaced an 04 acura tl

captain2

Interested in knowing what you find the differences are in the 2 cars?

paul_p

My 2005 Avalon shifts into 5th gear automatically (with minimum throttle) at 45mph everytime without fail. Wish I could cause it to go at 40 mph, especially on long 40 mph roads. But then I'd proably be below too low of an RPM number.

- Paul

paul_p

This appears to be normal operation with my 2005 Avalon, from day one with only 4 miles on the odometer.

I usually let the car warm up until the tach is down to just above the 1,000 rpm mark. I know this wastes gas, but I've been doing the same with my 1993 Toyota pickup (22RE) that has over 217,000 miles on it now - and still no blue smoke. Long live Toyota!

- Paul

P.S. I believe both vehicles have timing CHAINS, not belts - so one, no two, less maintenance chores and expenses to plan for.

paul_p

My wife and I are 41 and 43 respectively, and the 2005 Avalon was intended to replace a 2000 Mercedes C230 Sport - that we decided to keep after all. No transmission hesitation, and for "only" $26k, arguably one of the fastest, most reliable, and comfortable cars on the road.

- Paul

deanie

The humans on board weighed 700lbs collectively (my two kids comprised only 60lbs), the load bars were 15lbs, cargo box was 25lbs, combined cargo in trunk and on roof was 100-125lbs = 840 to 865 lbs. If I had four of my friends on board, we'd exceed 900lbs w/o any cargo, but that'd never happen anyway.
Regards,
Deanie

fattnatt

Hello,

I'm going to get the same car. How did you get the parktronic?
Thanks
Nate

texasags

I have an 06 Limited and have had no trouble with the auto wipers. There is a sensitiviy adjustment on the stalk (detailed in the manual). I have had them on auto several times and found them to be very capable. Much better than continually adjusting it myself.

jayvis

My problem was fixed. Go to message #9015 on this forum for details.

lenp

How do I turn it off on my dashboard display without goint to the dealer? I just turned over 5K and I do all my maintenance myself. Thanks for your help!

n0v8or

I wish I knew the secret to obtain similar results. Mine act as if possessed, rapidly jumping between high speed, low speed, and various intermittent speeds in a manner that appears spastic rather than related in any way to the amount of rainfall. They are so distracting that I have to turn them off and use the manual single-swipe mode in light rain. I wish Toyota had retained the manual intermittent mode control in addition to automatic. Moving the sensitivity control over its range has no obvious effect.

fin

Keep in mind that the rain sensor has little to do with rain...and a lot to do with heat. Or lack of heat. Where is the sensor? What is the weather (temp inside and outside the car and humidity) while the sensor seems to malfunction? Ideas?Your abilities are well known to the forum. Maybe you can resolve this issue for everybody. Several posts on this subject..... :confuse:

captain2

in the '05 manual page 153 - in the main odometer mode, turn off ignition, while holding down trip reset knob turn ignition back on and continue to hold knob down a few seconds. A bunch of zeroes will appear, the light goes off - to reappear 5000 miles later.

limiteddriver

Please explain how heat effects the wipers operation. I've never seen this in my other cars' ( BMW, GM ) shop manuals on how their systems work.

fin

The manuals deal with the function of the device...as they should. Light is generated, reflected, calculated and the device works. Or there are instructions on how to fix it. The manuals do not deal, probably, with temperature and humidity changes that can fool the sensors.

It's not exactly just heat. If a windshield is very foggy inside, or even slightly dirty, the light patterns reflected will probably be very different from a dry piece of clean glass. Fog could occur from a variety of sources. It could even form on the lens of the sensor. Momentarily. Extremes of temp and humidity should be eliminated as causes of a malfunction.

Again, this is an interesting event, probably not unique to Avalons. All ideas would be welcome, especially from other makes, and any "fixes".......

hamboner

the tl was a wonderful car- sporty- drove like a dream, the only problem was it had so many rattles it sounded like a model t. the avalon in a much softer ride and plusher but haven't missed the tl for one second.

ron6

I'm 61 and I used to drive an Oldsmobile Intrigue. I also drive a 2004 Ford F-150 Supercrew and a 1999 BMW Z3 Roadster.

limiteddriver

Thanks.

paul_p

Thanks, captain2. That helped me too.

- Paul

bahraini_zupra

hi there thanks for the complmints , within 1 week i made it to 1000k just got her back from the service tho i fixed my wheel allignment prob by realligning the front wheels .
and i got the parktronic from our toyota dealer with free all weather floor mats .

but iam sad about one thing and its the annoyin rear rattle that comes on rough roads dunno how to fix it asked the dealer to fix it but they did nothing

..

bahraini_zupra

if you could just tell me how to remove the rear shelf to do this mod i would be greatful even if its hard to do i am doin it so plz if u can tell me how to remove the rear shelf step by step would be greatful or somebody find out how from the avalon manuals .

thanks

havalongavalon

Paul, you said

"My 2005 Avalon shifts into 5th gear automatically (with minimum throttle) at 45mph everytime without fail. Wish I could cause it to go at 40 mph, especially on long 40 mph roads. But then I'd proably be below too low of an RPM number."

When I'm cruising at 40 mph in "D" on level or downhill, I can usually cause it to shift into 5th gear by shifting to "S" and shifting up once or twice (or thrice...). The RPM will then drop from about 2000 to 1500.

Going uphill, at 50 or 55 mph, I can also cause it to shift into 5th gear (1500 or 1600 RPM) even if in "D" it would just not shift out of 4th at that speed.

I think 1500 RPM is about the lower limit for driving in 5th. If the RPM drop below 1500 it will just shift into 4th, in "D" as well as in "S", no matter what you would prefer.

Hope this helps.

Now, here is my Question: In terms of fuel economy, is it always true that at a given cruising speed, lower RPM = better mileage? Or is it possible that if the RPM are too low, torque and efficiency drop to a point that it may be more economical to travel, say, in 4th at 2000 RPM than in 5th at 1500 RPM? In other words, by shifting into 5th in "S" can we actually get better gas mileage than the Avalon transmission is programmed for, or not?

havalongavalon

n0v8or

bahraini,

I can help you. See message 9420 for instructions how to send me a private message.

paul_p

Thank you, havalong.

Cool! - I can't wait to try upshifting as you describe when I get back home to my avy this weekend! I did try it before by shifting to S and only pushing the lever up once, but not twice (or thrice). :-)

Fwiw, in observing the MPG readout within a short time after refilling, it seems as if I can't get as high an MPG if I'm in 4th, even if I go slower (i.e., 30 MPH) as I would going 45 MPH to 55 MPH in 5th.

I seem to get really high mileage, 35 to 37 MPG sustained on the highway, if I keep between 50 and 55 MPH. 60 to 65 MPH seems to put MPG in the 34 to 35 MPG range on a trip. Of course, this is a completely non-scientific observation regarding open-road driving, but with some carefulness towards MPG, such as not forcing even a part-throttle downshift.

Your point about being in a higher gear at a LOWER speed (if it were indeed possible) actually reducing MPG is very interesting, and I'm looking forward to reading furture posts regarding that.

Btw, has Anyone found any "easter eggs" regarding the display in the XL, i.e., how to reset the MPG readout without filling the tank, or keep the trip timer constant after shutting off the engine? My '86 VW Golf GTI was good about that, had a little button that would do those sorts of things.

- Paul

lnt

THANKS from me, too! I have gone 300 miles with that light on because the dealership didn't reset it when they changed the oil and I didn't want to read through that thick manual!
lnt

bender1

thanks for the link scoti. chodie, looks like we will have to wait for a fix. drive carefully. bender1