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This is what I was looking at????
Skip
I will say, if it's the looker he said, and what I'm hoping for, I WILL own a Blue one. If not, I'll be looking at getting my LS 460 L Executive Model for my next car (Yes used:)
Skip
I've tried to find a car rental place with LS 's in stock, but haven't had any luck yet.
I figure if I can rent one for a day or 2, but on some serious miles, I could then make a much better decision on one.
I'd REALLY like to drive an LS L, seeing that's what I'd purchase, but any LS would be nice.
The models I've looked at are 2009, and 2010's
Skip
Now buying a used car you have a lot of advantages. One is no sales tax. Plus the depreciation value is gone and you'll have a Toyota warranty. I'm almost talking myself OUT of selling it. Plus on my car you know just what you're buying. So let me know. Ok!
Having said all that - the LS isn't that much smoother than the Avalon! I admit that. The panache, comfort, features, and options, especially on the L are the difference, and also the power from the V-8, the Rear Wheel Drive and tuning make it handle differently. They're not that great in the snow. The Avalon is better there. I love the Avalon - I could be happy in one. I may be in one someday. Never know in times like these.
The price difference is horrendous. Some say it's not worth it. They may be right. But once you've had an LS, it's hard to go back to the Toyota, if you can afford the LS. I buy them used, so I can. And astonishingly, the mileage is about the same! I get 23 in town consistently.
Many of my trips are 750 miles or longer, so quiet and comfortable is REAL important to me.
My 2011 Avalon is reasonable quiet / smooth, but NOT as much as I'd like. When Trailer Trucks, Loud Motorcycles, Trains, Construction Sites, and worst of all, LOUD Rain become a real pain. I have to turn the radio up, or live with the noise, for a period of time.
All small issues in the scheme of things, but more pet peeves at best.
My 1996 Buick Park Avenue was a TON more comfortable, and all most as quick. But as we all know, they don't make cars like they use to.
I must admit, getting a 3+- year old LS L for the same or a bit more, then a 2013 Avalon, is a bit tough to take, but again, if it's what you really want, and as my wife would say "If you keep the car longer then a year, just buy the damn thing!"
Skip
Mine seems pretty quiet and I don't notice much noise from other vehicles, either. (I probably will now, though.)
If you want a quiet car, just bite it and buy what you really want. I drove loaners while my Avalon was in (lots of days in loaners!) and I couldn't wait to get the Avalon back. Especially missed my ventilated seats.
I had a rattle in the dash after about a year (got mine 6/2010) and the guy at the dealer knew right where it was before I told him- center dash, toward the windshield. They padded it and now it's quiet again.
MY AVALON'S REMOTES ARE THE ABSOLUTE WORST!!! TELL EVERYONE TO TRY IT OUT BEFORE THEY BUY!!! DO NOT BUY THE REMOTE START UNLESS YOU WILL BE STANDING RIGHT BESIDE YOUR CAR WHEN YOU START IT. THEN WHEN YOU OPEN THE DOOR, THE ENGINE TURNS OFF. I don't want to warm up my car at home, so the only time I would start it ahead of time is when it's been parked somewhere and I want it to heat or cool a few minutes ahead. IT WILL NOT START. TOYOTA GAVE ME A $499 REBATE CHECK WHEN THE CAR WAS 18 MONTHS OLD. I have never, ever been able to use the remote start when I wanted it. Ever.
I took my car in several times for days at a time and one thing I noticed, and had to point out to them, was that the car didn't seem to even recognize the key fobs much of the time. What I kept hearing is that the car started every time for them. When I told them to SHOW me how well the car starts, it worked less than half the time. "Gee, it worked every time before." I was told it worked every time up to 170 feet. Once they even said the remotes didn't work because there were too many other Toyotas around.
They did a few things including changing out my key fobs for new ones. The new ones are even worse. When I called my Michigan dealer, Serra Toyota, to ask to have them changed again, the service manager said, "The engineer said there's nothing wrong with your car. They won't change it again".
I called Toyota and was told that OPTIMAL distance for the key fobs is 60-70 feet; less with interference. 25 feet is usual. I used to be able to find my Highlander in a parking lot by using the panic button, but these are so weak, they work from about 4 parking spots away. It's really bad. I can't believe it. My Highlander and 4Runner have great distance. The Avalon is crap for remotes.
Another thing, if you have ANY hip problems, the Avalon seat won't let you sit with your hips at a 90 degree angle. Sitting with my hip flexed so much hurts. I don't have that problem in a 4Runner because I can straighten out a little. The Avalon seat is more of a bucket seat.
DO NOT BUY REMOTE START. MY REMOTE KEY FOBS WORK AT ABOUT 20 FEET, SO REMOTE START IS USELESS!!!! I GOT A REFUND AFTER ABOUT 18 MONTHS.
ALSO, NEVER TAKE TOYOTA SERVICE COMMENTS AT FACE VALUE. WHAT A BUNCH OF LIARS.
Seriously, if anyone is looking at buying a car, use the CostCo discount. I used it on y 2004 Highlander that was a perfect car, then the 2011 Avalon with the worst remotes ever.
NEVER. EVER BELIEVE WHAT TOYOTA SERVICE TELLS YOU. THEY JUST DON'T KNOW. WHATEVER IT IS, THEY DON'T KNOW. THE FIELD TECHS AND THE ENGINEERS DON'T KNOW, EITHER.
DO NOT BUY THE REMOTE START FOR THE AVALON!!!! MY REMOTE KEY FOBS WORK AT ONLY ABOUT 20 FEET. I GOT A REFUND FROM TOYOTA BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO USE THE REMOTE START IN 18 MONTHS.
NEVER. EVER BELIEVE WHAT TOYOTA SERVICE TELLS YOU. THEY JUST DON'T KNOW. WHATEVER IT IS, THEY DON'T KNOW. THE FIELD TECHS AND THE ENGINEERS DON'T KNOW, EITHER.
About tires. Tires can effect the ride, and road noise and gas mileage. It can effect it a lot, even the handling of the car. Certain tires are soft and ride more quite but suffer on worse gas mileage. My Bridgestone tires are noisy, I suspect Michelins would be better but more costly. I really don't know what kind of tires I will buy next. I hope people on our blog will have something to say about the tires they buy. Hope this helps,
My 2008's had a nice LED screen that had a car, and it looked like the exhaust was working when it started, which saved my the trouble of having to go outside to check on it.
As for tires, I know they make a difference, and yes, you WILL give up something. They are ether quiet, or get good mileage, it's hard to get ones that you'll get both.
My snow tires are quieter then the OEM tires that came with the 2011. but yes, my mileages goes down 4-7 MPG.
I am sure that I am spoiled. The Avalon is very smooth and quiet, yet I'm looking for something that is even more quiet and smoother.
Around town and short drives, I have no complaints, it's the long drives that get to me. The noise level after a few hundred miles gets to the point where I need to have the radio at 15 - 20 to hear clearly, and well, even though I'm hearing the radio and not the tire noise, I'm now hearing all of it, at a pretty high volume. No this isn't as big a deal when I'm driving by myself, but when folks are in the car and you want to talk, you have to talk a bit on the loud side, and this is with the radio off.
I'd love to drive with a gauge in the car that checks the noise level in a car, to see what this is at when driving 65-75 MPH.
I do like the 2 years 24,000 FREE maintenance, I just wish it was more. I'm at 9 months, 20,000 miles so far, so it's looking like this will end up being a 24,000 miles 1 year FREE warranty. I will likely end up owning this car a little longer then most, as I'm going to wait for the 2013 Avalon to see if it's all the hype that's going around. And from what's being said at the dealer level, the 2013 won't be available until spring of 2013, which means another whole year and 35,000 +- miles more on this car before I trade.
Oh [non-permissible content removed], it's time to get back to work.
- Pack the car for several deliveries
- Head to the state capital to cash in a winning lottery ticket
- make some sales calls while up there
- get back to work on 2011 taxes
Skip
Then possible choices are given of tires available. I find the reader comments and rankings really helpful because feedback from the street of the tires also weigh-in my deceision to purchase either from them or locally. Check it out as all these tire companies, both in and out of country have so many different compounds and changing of compounds within the manufacturing process that sometimes I have read some variations are noticeable from the users purchasing the same tires but at different times with different dates of manufacture.
You could place an internet RFP out using this website and see what proposals do come up? I bought a base model Avalon in Dec of 2010 and it was just a fuzz North of $30k before trade-in ICT and application of taxes. It took me all of 1 1/2 hours starting/finishing paperwork to them detailing, my inspection, their fill-up and my drive off the lot once I arrived. My salesperson was/is a veteran long timer working there. I understand the new owner went to a salary for salespeople as opposed to the total commission as was before. I would not have dealt with the dealership before that with old owner but I had purchased three (3) used Lexus vehicles with the new owner at one of his other stores and had good experience from sale to service each time. Hope this helps.
My 09 LS460 came with Bridgestones, and they were excellent. SO, when I burned those off, I bought a nearly identical set of Bridgestones, so as not to screw up the dynamics. Successful this time.
But, it's hard to figure out why some tires are so noisy and some are not, at least to me.
They seem to be a good value.
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I'm due for an oil change and I will mention it and the wipers then. All my doors close great. Really tight. I suspect your door problem is an isolated one. Let me know more about the noise from your steering column. My noise is almost like it's loose, I do NOT think it's in the front in.
My car is also show room condition, gararge kept with 14,700 miles on it and of course No Accidents of any kind. Not as much as a door dent.
On another note: The last oil change (15,000) I mentioned the wiper arms, and the small noise coming from the steering column. They fixed the wiper arms but said they could not find any problem with the steering. I tried and tried to see if the wiper arms made any noise. No noise at all. Such a nice fix. Like someone stated, it's logged into he national data books on how to fix this problem. The new arms seem to cure up, I don't think the old ones did. I think they where straight across. Still hidden, still looks good but quite.
I continue to keep all records including every fill up. My computer continues to be off by one MPG, sometimes two. That was discussed in here before and most people agreed it probably was me. So when I keep my records I now write both MPG down. Just a personal thing to do and should help the sell of my 2011 Avalon.
Hope this information helps all who own these cars. I still give the Avalon 5 stars, smooth ride, plenty of power and a whole LOT of ROOM. Very nice car with no squeaks, noises of any kind. Very quite car. A looker too.
Oh on the MPG, I NEVER, I repeat NEVER get under 23 MPG. NEVER!
Down there in the "Detailed History" section, it shows location of purchase, service performed in two states, then finally the sale to a dealer via auction. The history on this vehicle looks really odd to me, and almost suspect. Of what I can't say. It just looks fishy to me.
Does anyone understand or have insight to this report?
Short background: On the 29th, my 1996 XLS was totaled after a deer struck the front end. 207,501 miles, 148k by me since 2000. It was supposed to get me through until I completed school in twenty months, but I guess not. So, I'm on the search to replace it. There's no rush, but I'm trying to gather as much information as I can prior to purchase.
Thanks!
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I believe this is a repossessed car you're looking at. Repo's are nothing to be alarmed about and by law have to be brought to the auction or sold by the lender. Most the time banks simply take them to the auction for quick sale. It's fast with no hassles. All NEW Toyota dealers are required to buy so many "program" cars a year at auction and sometimes buy repo's because of the price. I suspect this is NOT a program car because of the low miles. My thoughts are this car was a repo, bought by the dealer then put up for auction. However with that said, I would have an expert check the car out for damage. Damage meaning paintwork, wreck, etc. People THINK all damages are reported on Carfax. This is not always the case. I can give examples of buying cars recently, seeing paintwork and it's not on the Carfax. Your main concern should be bodywork. Anything mechanical can be fixed under warranty, *if it's had no damage*.
This is not a "stay away sign" by the Carfax. It is only a sign to take a MUCH closer look. You could ask, but most dealers would say anything to get you comfortable and I mean tell you literally anything. I was a wholesaler, a person whose specialty was going to auctions and then selling to dealers. Therefore, I never had to retail cars. I'm glad I wasn't a part of that part of the business.
One reason for paint work check. Manufactory warranty stays with the car no matter who owns it. The warranty is only void if it's been in an accident or abused. I was in the car business off and on all my life. I hope this helps,
It was a fleet vehicle owned by a corporation in California. This doesn't mean the car LIVED in California - only that the corporation is in California. It could have been a corporate vehicle issued to a salesperson (which would explain why there were two services in Eastern states). If the employee to which it was issued left the company, or the company discontinued their "car program," they wouldn't bother shipping the vehicle elsewhere. They'd just send it to auction and be done with it.
Either mine or nan48's explanation is plausible. I'd still post in the discussion I linked to - some people there have access to info other than Carfax (auction info) that might be more detailed.
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I agree with kirstrie. I'm in the South. If I had to guess, I would say California would be stricter than GA. or SC, TN, etc. I would like to also note, this is a low mile car so my guess it's a repo. ONLY a guess. You did good by checking the carfax.
The good news is that the dealer will certify it and you have a full warranty..... No one is scared of it.... sure is odd, though...