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Not even with the new 2013 Chevy Impala LTZ? If you are not averse to the Chevy name plate, you will be pleasantly surprised.
We just bought a 2013 RAV4 that was delivered to us with 50 psi tire pressure on all 4 wheels. It's ride was unbearable until I lowered the pressure to factory specs. That transformed the ride to smooth and comfortable. From what I can gather Toyotas are transported with high tire pressure to keep the movement on the truck to a minimum. Unfortunately most of the dealers do not adjust it to. specs before delivery.
I to, missed some of the other features, and with that and the ride, decided to trade my 2013 in on a 2012, and have never looked back.
YES, there are many features I liked / Loved on the 2013, but none enough to live with the ride and other issues.
I have been told told of these issues will be addressed in the 2014, but not likely they will make the car bigger, add back the rear reclining seats, make the trunk opening larger, make it less cramped inside É
Maybe marginally, but on the baseline of gpd used, it's a blip. What it DID do, was take a million used cars out of the market, and raised the average price of used cars about $4480 dollars. (Depends on the model, of course). It should have corrected some by now, as the subsidized cars are now starting to come back in off lease or by trades, but it really hasn't corrected very much at all. And that's puzzling us.....
To have Used Cars so expensive now, in a depressed economy is quite the hardship on the low-moderate income population. So, while the effort helped out the domestic auto industry (as well as all the imports as well), the unintended consequence was to screw up the free market, sadly. And we all pay for that.
Well, I hope it was unintended.
Skip
Grab a 2011 Town Car! Have an audio shop install a really nice Navigation/Bluetooth system (really the only important feature it doesn't have) and you'll have a heck of ride for not a lot of money.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
I love the car but do not care for this vibration. The dealership has checked the car and says there is nothing wrong. I took a ride with the service manager to try and reproduce the issue. It happen a couple of times after some bumps and I was told this is normal.
Is anyone else experiencing this issue? I am used to cars with low profile tires and stiff suspension but I have never experienced this vibration. I have the michelin tires at 35 psi. I plan to try 33 psi as others have recommended but not sure if this will make a difference.
I recently installed Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires on my 2009 Toyota Avalon and the car's ride deteriorated noticeably. I now feel the same vibration you do plus road cracks, expansion joints, and any roughness in the pavement that I never felt before. The same thing happened to my son's Toyota Sienna after he installed new Michelin Energy Saver tires. I have lowered my tire pressure a bit with some minor improvement in ride quality. Consumer Reports rated these tires at the top in most categories and say the tires provide a smooth and quiet ride. Based on my experience, I don't know how they could come to that conclusion.
Ride has been fine for me so far.
I would note and this may be of interest to all of you, that my headliner had a small ding when I bought the car and the dealer promised (in writing) to fix it. The ding was that it was hanging down a little in the middle of the back window.
For the fix, the dealer sent it to an interior shop who glued it to the window in the middle. (Now, it goes up in the middle instead of down)
Because it is now in contact with the window glass in the middle, the parts that aren't vibrate against the glass enough to be rather annoying up front. The pulling up in the middle also caused "folds" halfway out on either side.
I went back to the dealer, they agreed I needed a new headliner. Toyota however has recognized this problem and had done a re-design on teh part and it will be available in January.
Why don't you go to the dealer and drive a car identical to yours and I bet it rides the same.
Just so everyone knows what a rough ride it is, every couple of hundred miles I have to close my sunroof shade. It gradually opens on its own (maybe a half inch) from all the shaking going on inside the cabin. I know its time to close the shade when I see sunlight coming in.
I should add that my loan to own the vehicle is 550/month and its a limited Avalon with the tech package so 480 for 36000 miles on a less pricey model seems high by comparison. (had to put down 15%).
I brought the car in this week to let the service guys check it out. They said they took it out for a ride and that they couldn't find anything wrong with it. I was asked if I had gotten out of a previous Avalon. I said no, that I got out of a 2012 V6 SE Camry, which I could feel just about every bump on the road with the low profile tires. I told him that the ride is much smoother on the whole, but that the shaking sounded like the tires weren't balanced correctly. The tires are Bridgestone, btw.
I'm curious now if if this is just the way it's going to be, or if something is not correct with the ride. I do really enjoy the vehicle, but I want to nip this in the bud if there's an actual problem.
I love everything else about the car, but probably won't keep it more than a year because of the poor ride quality.
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If you own a high-trim Avalon, it probably wouldnÕt pay to switch to taller-sidewall tires. But if you want a nice big car with a great ride, think about getting the latest Chevrolet Impala. ItÕs everything the Avalon ought to be and more.
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These aren't facts or other folks thoughts on the Avalon, I'm just trolling
I agree 100%. The LTZ trim level is pricey but it is a great example of what a large American can be. And without hyperbole, the ride handling dynamics in the Impala is even better than a LS 460 or some of the high-end German models.
It is what it is and most of the time a pretty sweet ride. Especially on the freeway. It could be a lot better on lousy roads like Lombard and Van Ness avenues in San Francisco. The TAH gets an average of 14 more mpg than the Impala V6 which only gets 14 mpg city.
My Limited Hybrid has Bridgestone Turanza EL-400 215/60-17. Everybody here hates them.
I'm still going to ditch the Bridgestones in another few thousand miles for the H rated Michelins.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/311-4th-generation-2013/579345-sour-smell-air-- vents.html