Being new to this forum, and rather than just asking questions, I thought some of you may be interested in my first impressions of my 2011 Avalon, coming from a long time GM devotee, who just traded in his 2008 Buick Allure CXL on the Avalon...
Engine is green, so have not given it the beans yet. Car seems similar to the Allure around town at part throttle. The 3.5L v6, like most 4-valve engines, is a high winder, so needs some revs to realize its potential, whereas the 3800 v6 in the Buick is old school, larger displacement power down low. While a lot more power, +68HP, it is only up 18 ft/lbs, and cars similar weight, so perhaps not too surprising. No doubt the Avalon will handily outrun the Buick if I boot it.
Interior is fancier than my Buick (did not have the leather option), and with the touch screen sat nav and stereo and back up camera, largely more modern.
Not fussy that the Avalon's tire pressure monitoring system is crude, I understand all you get is an idiot light and it doesn't tell you which tire, unlike the Buick that tells you each tire's pressure. I see I gave up the voltmeter and oil life monitor too.
Have ranted before on the lack of OEM remote starter in Canada, but apparently the OEM start is lousy anyhow.
Like the huge back seat. Trunk unfortunately smaller than the Buick.
I am partial to big cars. The Avalon is perhaps a bit conservative looking, but I think looks the part as a near luxury car.
Despite almost identical exterior dimensions to the Buick, length, width and wheelbase all within an inch, the Avalon to my eyes has a much stockier look to it, IMHO, a good thing in a luxury car. Car sits surprisingly low, most sedans look better if lowered a couple of inches, the Avalon already sits quite low. My Buick looked like it could have been lowered a bit, though to be fair there was a bigger wheel option I didn't get that would have improved things.
Can feel the car shift gears more than the Buick, probably to be expected as the car has 6 gears to the Buick's 4. Feeling the car downshift when slowing is something you do not feel with a GM 4-speed. A coworker with a Venza indicates his does the same, do let me know if this is unusual.
The Avalon, despite a 0.29 cd, has more wind noise and noisier overall than the Allure. The Buick was very quiet, looked in vain, never did find a db measurement; guess there was something to their "quiet tuning". The Avalon is hardly loud, but was surprised it is noisier.
Leather on the "wood" leather wrapped wheel is the cheapest leather I've seen, well as bad as the 2012 Camry SE I drove, and unfortunately inferior to the demo I drove. Leather on the seats not brilliant; the leather in my dad's Caddy definitely nicer, though to be fair, a substantially more expensive car.
Memory power seats/mirrors a bit of a disappointment. Dumb that it has been designed such that the ignition has to be on first. So, still have to squeeze behind the wheel first and fire the engine. Was expecting to be able to open the door and press the button and have everything magically move before I enter the vehicle, and save contorting myself if my vertically challenged wife had driven previously. Still, better than nothing.
Ride is similar overall to the Allure. I think softer suspension, but firmer tires thanks to 55 series versus 60 and harder eco rock tires. I suspect (not exactly a clash of the titans), the Allure would outhandle the Avalon.
Cheers,
Dan
The Following User Says Thank You to DanSM For This Useful Post:
Just stumbled onto your new-Avalon review and thought it first-rate. While I chiefly drive and like my old Mark VIII, but sometimes my wife's '08 Avalon, I've seen few user reviews as good as yours
I did drive the 2011 Lacrosse. Visibility was a big issue. The car has massive A pillars and with the rake of the windshield and placement of the mirrors, could really see mowing down a pedestrian by accident. I am very long bodied, which may not help, but I understand that this is a common complaint of the car. I could probably get used to, my petite wife, maybe not. And why put up with it, when there are (I trust) better alternatives like the Avalon?
My 2008 Allure was a nightmare. Despite very good reliability ratings, my particular car was rubbish. Had the tranny replaced. Blew the intake (infamous dexacool, though supposed to have been fixed by 2008). Throttle sensor problems, nessitating a tow. Plus a slew of other issues, air bag sensor, driver's lock mechanism, warping rotors every 25k.
I only have 500KM on the Avalon, so my verdict is still out. No buyer's regret yet, but definitely not going back to the dealer I bought the car from.
I did also drive a Lucerne. Very big and roomy, but antiquated drivetrain. Also, brutal 42' turning circle, which is a pain for a big city dweller such as myself.
I think the Avalon has some shrewd engineering. As roomy as the Buicks, but lighter, faster, yet more fuel efficient at the same time.
The Avalon, despite a 0.29 cd, has more wind noise and noisier overall than the Allure. The Buick was very quiet, looked in vain, never did find a db measurement; guess there was something to their "quiet tuning". The Avalon is hardly loud, but was surprised it is noisier.
Dan, can you please talk more about how the avalon is nosier than the buick? Is the noise coming from the tires, exhaust, engine bay or the mirrors/pillar when cruising on the highway? Reason why I'm asking is because I'm cross shopping a avalon and lexus ls 430 (both used). I need to know where the noise in the avalon is coming from because some of the noise I believe is very easily fixed with sound deadening products.
I'd say most of the noise is wind noise; as to where exactly it is coming from, I'm not sure.
Engine noise is quite muted. Tire noise is reasonably well managed too. My 2011 car has Michelins on it, I gather earlier cars have Bridgestones. I switched to snow tires within a week of buying the car, so can't elaborate further on OEM tire noise. The Michelin X-Ice Xi2s I put on it seem decent in terms of tire/road noise, certainly far quieter than the X-Ice (earlier version, circa 2005) on my mom's 2005 Camry SE, though how much of that is due to a refinement of the tire versus the Avalon having better insulation, I don't know.
Exhaust noise also well managed, so mostly wind noise you hear on the highway.
My sense, though I'm no expert on this, is that the wind noise on the Avalon is probably not easily reduced, as it does not appear to be say, road noise.
If this analogy helps, the Avalon reminds my of my dad's Olds 88 from the early 80's. Engine/exhaust very muted, what you mostly hear is wind noise. Again surprising as the Avalon has a 0.29 cd verus probably 0.45 cd or so for the Olds.
I can relate to your review and hope you don't mind my chiming in with our observations as well. A family member traded a 2005 Lincoln Towncar in for a 2011 Limited Avalon. Overall he's happy with the car, but does miss a few things.
Ride a bit rougher than the Lincoln. With factory suggested air in the Bridgestone tires it still seems to jar over bumps and have a stiffer ride than the Lincoln. Best I can compare is like going from a pure luxury barge floaty ride to a sports sedan with what feels like a tighter suspension. Guess benefit is he feels he has more control on the road.
Definitely misses the trunk space. The trunk was huge on the Lincoln and with the flat floor due to spare placement in the Avalon larger items will not fit in the trunk the same as on the Lincoln. Also the trunk on the Avalon is a simple slam shut affair where the Lincoln had the power open and close. Kind of a nice feature that he misses.
Power wise he is pretty happy with the power. The engine is responsive and when he gives it some throttle to get into traffic etc. it isn't lacking.
He's pretty happy with the mpg as well. His Lincoln would get 26-27 and he's now averaging 29-30 on trips.
He's not too sure on the factory tires. The Bridgestones don't have a huge wear rating so will probably wear fairly quickly. He will probably look at a different brand when needing to replace.
Just little niggly things bug him about the car. When using voice command he can't break the habit of saying the command before the thing beeps to have him do so. Think there needs to be a little less delay between where the voice tells you to say what you want and when the thing beeps for you to do so. Picky I know.
His biggest issue with it is that it does not have valet. The sales person showed him a pop out key from the smart fob deal and said that was the valet. After getting home and looking and looking it turns out from everything he can find that the 2011 does not have a valet option.
On the 2010 you had a button in the glove box you pushed to stop the trunk from opening. You would then take the key part with you and give the fob to the valet. This allowed them to open the door, start the car, but not open the trunk.
In the 2011 models the button is no longer in the glove box. It just has a blanking plate there (will post a question on this as he wants valet on the car) so not way to disengage the trunk.
That is about it really. As I said, overall he is very happy with it. Has the limited model so has the heat cool seats, nav, the remote start etc. Really a nice car (we have an xle camry so really like his Avalon) and as he pointed out at a list of $39k it is still a bargain comparatively to the base Town Car at $48,000!!!
Cheers
__________________
A glass of Chateu Thames Embankment please.....
Don't fix it if it isn't broken! Muck with it until it is broken and THEN fix it.
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