By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
People who are willing to go out and spend $60k for the wonderful LS, are generally more concerned with labels than they are with value. Difficult to justify otherwise. In fact, if you really think about it, $35k for an Avalon also difficult to justify. But, we are all entitled to our pleasures, aren't we?
And, FWIW, you would not be the only one that would be bothered passing 6 cars on the freeway that are the same as yours - a Camry kind of problem!
I drove the new Camry SE this week, and while I found it to be a nice car and a great leap forward for the Camry, it's not nearly as nice as the Avalon. The power is good and the transmission was fairly smooth (some slight throttle lag but not too bad), but the ride was real bumpy. The seats were too firm and I felt like I was getting bounced around in a grocery cart. The Avalon Touring is worlds above the Camry in terms of ride quality.
Other than that I thought it was a nice car, probably the other trims will ride much smoother.
as for the interior of the Av Touring vs. the Av XLS, the Touring is nice. Personally, I can't stand fake wood on most cars...and Toyota can keep the wood they use in the XLS/Limited. That hammered aluminum look in the Touring is nice. Aluminum pedals would be nice.
as far as price, it looks like you can get an Av Touring with the upgraded stereo and sunroof for about the same price as the Camry XLE.
I'll post instructions on the other fixes soon...
Thanks in advance,
Doug
I have an annoying rattle/tapping/ticking noise coming from the shelf/roof area in the back. The dealor put some "spacing" where the headliner meets the back windshield which helped with the roof rattle a bit.
But, the shelf/C-pillar rattle is driving me NUTS! and I can't isolate it. I've sat in the back with someone else driving the car trying to find it....no luck......any ideas?
I don't have the laser-assist version, as its only the XL Avalon... but it sounds like there still may be some sort of connection between the CC and the wash/wipe...
I am sure that there is a fault somewhere because the cc light flashes and the ABS light comes on...
If you think about it for a minute though, there is more reason to keep the laser-assisted CC active when you wash/wipe BECAUSE that is when you can not see thru the windscreen.... and the laser will be able to 'see' for you..?
I have an 05 XLS and wanted the Touring but it didn't have VSC available at the time. Why did I want the Touring? Firmer suspension/better handing = more fun and safer handling car. Coming from a Maxima SE, the lost cushiness going to a Touring would've been meaningless to me.
Were I in your shoes, I'd go for the Touring - you can always buy some wood kit for the dash/door inserts if you don't like the faux aluminum trim. As for the leather, be glad you'll be getting the dark charcoal - it's the nicest color combination out there (IMHO). Many on this forum have lamented the lack of avaiability of dark charcoal leather in the other trim levels.
Regarding the wheels, like the interior trim, they are things easily changed. If you live in the snow belt you might actually find it advantageous to buy another set of wheels mounted with snow tires, thereby eliminating your wheel dilemna 3-6 months out of each year. Conversely, these changes (wheels specifically) can be costly, but no car out there is perfect.
Put another way (from a hetero male perspective), you can look at the Avalon Touring as a nice looking woman with a great personality who doesn't dress well (with your dislikes about the car being the woman's sense of style). Now let say the XLS is a nice looking, well dressed woman with a bad personality (with its suspension being the bad personality).
Which would you choose? My point is that it's a lot easier to get a woman to change her clothes than her personality (just try succeeding with the latter) :P .
You can easily change the things you don't like if you get the Touring, but changing the suspension on an XLS is like trying to change the woman's personality - not gonna happen. I've been longing to replace my XLS shocks/struts with those of the Touring, or get an aftermarket setup, but the aftermarket doesn't yet support our Avy's suspension, and No Toyota mechanic can tell whether or not installing the Touring suspension in the XLS is a simple swaping of parts.
Another point about "appearance" of a car/its features: I'm spending a lot more time driving a car than I am looking at it, so any gripes about the car's exterior I can live with (the Avalon is no beauty in car design circles anyway). As far as the plastiluminum is concerned, the aftermarket wood kit is a cheap fix (you might be able to buy real wood too), and if you aren't a "do-it-yourselfer" any car customizing shop will do the install for a nominal fee.
What I should do is just trade the 05 XLS in for an 06 Touring. What you should do is completely up to you. Hope I've helped. Let me know what you decide.
Regards,
Deanie
265 HP engine (I like Power)
21/30 MPG (I do alot of driving)
Stylish/Sleek interior
Reasonably roomie in the front and exceptional room in the back W/reclining rear seats.
Very Decent JBL sound system.
$30,900 price tag!
I really feel The Avalon offers satisfied luxury for a very decent price.
I only wish there were more MODS for the car but I am satisfied enough the standard options as is.
MODS to look for in the future:
Air Intake
Exhaust
Lowering Springs
* These mods I haven't found available. I would appreciate any links leading to these MODS of an 06 AV. :confuse:
Regards,
Derrick
I just installed the reverse backing system from Awell and wanted to spread a word of warning: when measuring out the location of the sensors, do not measure from the ground up but measure from a point on your bumper, e.g. the lower or upper edge as previously suggested. It turns out there is about a 1/2" difference in height between the rear driver and passenger side on my brand-new Avalon (as measured from the floor to the lower edge of the bumper). I wonder if others have noticed this too?
Also, the dark grey sensors that I ordered are a perfect color match with my phantom gray pearl.
The system works just fine and it helpful. $109 and 3hours of work.
Regards,
Andre
ps I'd be happy to offer help/pics to anyone who needs it.
Before I take it in to my dealer, I'm wondering if others are having trouble with this. And, if so, does anyone have a suggestion. Thanks.
BTW, this is my ONLY complaint after owning the car for a month. It is smooth, quiet, rattle free, and powerful. In short, it is AWESOME!
Because of this, the radar cc cuts off when there is enough rain to use the wipers or when the radar senses anomalies due to rain or snow. It's a safety thing.
Steve
Regards
Do you notice the engine tap and noise yet?
How aboput the terrible raod noise from the lousy tires on anything but perfedct roads?
Al
jesse
Thanks,
jesse
Your transmission is unfortunately "normal" - that is, "normal" for a modern Toyota.
I cured the tire noise by replacing the crappy OEM's with Bridgestone Turanza LS-V's. See my previous posts on sizes etc. More info at http://www.tirerack.com
Guys, I know I owe you more instructions on fixing the rattles - I will follow up shortly.
My wife got a new 2006 Honda Pilot last week and the drivetrain comparison with the Avalon is inevitable. Both are 3.5 liter V6's, both use drive by wire systems with 5-speed transmissions.
The difference is amazing. The Pilot has instant throttle response opposed to the Avalon's soggy hesitation, the transmission is seamlessly synchronized, with none of the hunting and slipping the Avalon suffers from, and gear changes are as smooth as silk. The powertrain is quieter and sweeter than the Avalon, smoother at idle and the computer management systems feel consistent, completely "integrated" and completely normal.
Honda got it right and Toyota have it wrong.
Sure the Avalon has more power, but I'd trade that small power advantage for the seamless power delivery, quiet and smoothness of the Honda engine and there are no rattles or funny noises. The gaps between the fenders are tighter than the Avalon and the build quality seems spot-on.
After experiencing the Pilot, if Honda made a larger car than the Accord with the Pilot's 3.5 liter V6, my new Avalon would now be on a Honda used car lot.
Although they are "genuine" Toyota parts, they are not available from most "non-Gulf States" dealerships. My dealership in Washington only offered the dark grey/black mud guards.
I ordered color matched mud guards on-line from "TRD Parts 4U" (I don't want to antagonize our gracious host by posting a web site, so you'll have to figure it out from there). TRD Parts 4U is actually a dealership (Toyota of Dallas) who discounts "genuine" Toyota parts on the internet.
The price: $33.26 per set (need front and rear sets) $66.52. Shipping TX to WA $9.99. Total cost $76.51
Delivery time: Four days. (Note: the web site lists these parts as 2005, but 05 and 06 parts and colors are identical)
The Installation: Very easy. Instructions and all required hardware are provided. Tools required are a phillips screwdriver, a 3/8 inch wrench, a drill, and a 1/4 inch bit. Total time of installation: Less than 1 hour. The front: Installation requires no drilling at all, just remove existing screws and replace them with the provided screws which are slightly longer. No need to remove tires, just turn the wheels to give you some work space.
The rear: I found it best to remove the wheel to give you the required work space and to ensure the drill holes you must make were "square". Don't let the "drill holes in your new car" scare you. You would have to work very, very hard to screw this one up. It's basically a "no brainer" if you use the new mudguard as a template (It's all covered in the instructions). In any event, you just drill two (per mud guard) 1/4 inch holes in the plastic lip of the rear body panel which faces the tire, attach the provided clips and screws and you are done. The holes drilled are not on the surface of the body panel, so you do not damage the vehicle's appearance even if you wanted to remove the mud guards at some later time.
I found this to be a good (and inexpensive) way to "dress up" your Avalon while at the same time providing some rock nick protection.
Rod
My concern with the Avalon...other than this interesting transmission issue....is that once we pack up the double stroller in the trunk, that we would not have a lot of room for luggage even for a weekend trip...and we don't want to put all of our miles on the Pilot.
Thoughts?
Bob
I own an 05' XLS and had luggage concerns similar to yours - two young kids (one stroller/pack-n-play crib). Before I bought the Avalon, I had an old Maxima (sold it) and my company car is a Chrysler Sebring Touring (small car).
My dragon-in-law is staying with us until the youngest becomes 2 and 1/2 yrs old, so I needed real seating for five, good power, high reliability, safe handling/braking/performance numbers, good fuel econ & strong reliability. Seating for five - Avalon was the only choice short of a minivan or an SUV. But Minivans and SUV's don't handle/accelerate/brake particularly well, they range from "not great" to "bad" on gas, but offer superior luggage capacity. I travel to NYC from MD 4-6 times per year and renting a minivan/SUV that frequently would be prohibitively costly.
So, How do I manage with five passengers on trips in an Avalon XLS? A pair of Saris roof load bars and a 15 cubic foot cargo box costing $500-$600 (Thule or Yakima will do as well, but are far more complicated and less aerodynamic). Even when fully loaded with the box, I still get 25-27 hwy MPG @70-75mph and when the trip's over I remove the box and load bars and get my 27-29 highway MPG again. It's a total of 20-30 minutes to install/remove each trip an elegant and solution to a temporary and relatively infrequent problem. Gas ain't getting any cheaper and to expect it to is a bad bet.
The one time every 2-3 years I'd actually need more capacity than I have between my trunk and cargo box (hasn't happened yet), I'd rent a larger vehicle. You already have a Pilot, why not get a car you'd enjoy more that's more responsible to own (better mpg), more fun (more horsepower and less weight = quicker/faster vehicle, which translates to safer as well). Hope I've helped. Please post what you plan on doing.
Regards,
Deanie
Nice car but feels generic.
The Avalon is an Azera killer in resale value...
NWBLIZZARD
Anyway, maybe I'll try the Azera again as perhaps I got a bad one on the test drive. Or, perhaps, I was still getting over the feeling of getting thrown back into my seat testing the Charger RT (which I tested right before I tested the Avalon that day). The Charger was a beast that had absolutely no problem getting to 80....and the Avalon was so smooth getting to 80....that anything in between (the Azera) was probably not going to cut the mustard that day.
Test drive in traffic if you are concerned about this issue.
Bookmark | Reply | E-mail Msg
In June 2005,we purchased a new Avalon. Almost immediately,we started noticing that the low speed shifting was not smooth (jerky). This is most noticeable when slowing down and then accelerating as you would constantly be doing in city driving. At the same time,a hesitation would occur. I have spoken to the dealership and opened an incident report with Toyota. All that I've been told is that this "characteristic" of this 5 speed transmission and the way that it is controlled by the computer. The hesitation is again "computer" related in conjunction with the wonderful "electronic" accelerator control. I just recently opened a complaint in NHTSA web site (www.nhtsa.dot.gov) as a result of a close call we experienced because of this lousy performance in the Avalon. We were exiting a major interstate and had to quickly merge into a heavily travelled secondary highway. As I slowed and then proceeded to accelerate,the engine RPM died off and then when the car decided to shift it lunged forward at high speed. This all happened in the span of 1 or 2 seconds but was enough delay that it frightened all in the car. I've been reviewing Edmunds for similar problems with other Avalons and see that I'm not alone here. Has anyone gotten "ANY" satisfaction from Toyota on these problems???