Thinking about buying a 2006 Avalon Limited - Comments from owners pro or con would be appreciated!

<sun@beach.com> wrote in message
news:g1eur1dqfo175v84nnb04v55ajbsbcqjga@4ax.com...[color=blue]
>[/color]

Avalon took a bit of getting used to after driving an A6 for 5 years. I
have the Limited with all of the gear including the Nav unit. Fit and
finish was mostly very good but provided the only surprise. The FOG lights
are not mounted flush to the bumper. The glass lens is about 1/8 to 1/4 of
an inch set back allowing an unsightly gap. Also the platic bezel moves
around in the bumper opening. Not what I would expect from Toyota. It also
make for additonal virbration and probably is the cause for the right side
lamp to be burned out after only 6K miles (about 5 months) of driving.
Dealer took care of it and compared my car to others on the lot and they
were all similar.

Ride is vastly different from A6 but we are talking apples and oranges from
a handling standpoint. I believe the Avalon rides and handles as most of
the rags describe - a bit floaty in the turns but great on the highway going
straight. Performance wise the engine on regular gas is very snappy (268
bhp). Almost too much for the streering geometry as when you get on it, you
do feel some torgue-steer. Getting on it too hard and causing the front
wheels to spin will immediately engage the vehicle stability program which
will back off the throttle to eliminate the wheel spin and keep the car
going straight. Stability program also helpful in snowy/wet weather.

The most outstanding features of the car are exterior styling and interior
fit/finsh, color palatte and roominess. Gages well laid out - everthing is
visible. Electroluminecent dash looks great and very visible day or night.
Buttons on steering wheel are convenient but can be depressed inadvertently
when hands brush across as in quick one handed steering (kooking a spoke by
a finger during parking manuver).

Then there is the Nav unit. I've read the manual twice now and just getting
used to all of the features. Especially the setting of points of interest
vs. setting destinations by address. Havn't tries to set destinations
across cities/regaions yet. That should prove to be interesting. Most
features are accessed by an integrated menu (GUI) which is keyed to the
speed of the vehicle. When vehicle is moving more than 12 mph, the Menu
locks out most map functions. A safety issue (so you pay attention to where
you're going) but quite annoying none the less. Nav unit does have lots of
option including map orientation, but the more options, the more study
required to effectively use them.

That the high level. If you have specific questions, le tme know. I'll try
to answer the best I can.

Nice thorough review. Check the trim at the outside bottom of the
windshield to see if it is mounted tight. It wasn't screwed down tightenly
in the previous generation and caused aggravating clicks in cold weather
after a couple of years of use. Did they learn anything or will history
repeat itself.


"Dale Webler" <dwebler@wi.rr.com> wrote in message
news:gXIvf.24587$Dk.12328@tornado.rdc-kc.rr.com...[color=blue]
> <sun@beach.com> wrote in message
> news:g1eur1dqfo175v84nnb04v55ajbsbcqjga@4ax.com...[color=green]
>>[/color]
>
> Avalon took a bit of getting used to after driving an A6 for 5 years. I
> have the Limited with all of the gear including the Nav unit. Fit and
> finish was mostly very good but provided the only surprise. The FOG
> lights are not mounted flush to the bumper. The glass lens is about 1/8
> to 1/4 of an inch set back allowing an unsightly gap. Also the platic
> bezel moves around in the bumper opening. Not what I would expect from
> Toyota. It also make for additonal virbration and probably is the cause
> for the right side lamp to be burned out after only 6K miles (about 5
> months) of driving. Dealer took care of it and compared my car to others
> on the lot and they were all similar.
>
> Ride is vastly different from A6 but we are talking apples and oranges
> from a handling standpoint. I believe the Avalon rides and handles as
> most of the rags describe - a bit floaty in the turns but great on the
> highway going straight. Performance wise the engine on regular gas is
> very snappy (268 bhp). Almost too much for the streering geometry as when
> you get on it, you do feel some torgue-steer. Getting on it too hard and
> causing the front wheels to spin will immediately engage the vehicle
> stability program which will back off the throttle to eliminate the wheel
> spin and keep the car going straight. Stability program also helpful in
> snowy/wet weather.
>
> The most outstanding features of the car are exterior styling and interior
> fit/finsh, color palatte and roominess. Gages well laid out - everthing
> is visible. Electroluminecent dash looks great and very visible day or
> night. Buttons on steering wheel are convenient but can be depressed
> inadvertently when hands brush across as in quick one handed steering
> (kooking a spoke by a finger during parking manuver).
>
> Then there is the Nav unit. I've read the manual twice now and just
> getting used to all of the features. Especially the setting of points of
> interest vs. setting destinations by address. Havn't tries to set
> destinations across cities/regaions yet. That should prove to be
> interesting. Most features are accessed by an integrated menu (GUI) which
> is keyed to the speed of the vehicle. When vehicle is moving more than 12
> mph, the Menu locks out most map functions. A safety issue (so you pay
> attention to where you're going) but quite annoying none the less. Nav
> unit does have lots of option including map orientation, but the more
> options, the more study required to effectively use them.
>
> That the high level. If you have specific questions, le tme know. I'll
> try to answer the best I can.
>[/color]

Our 05 Limited has about 5k miles on it. This is our third Avalon.

I did not get Nav or Laser - didn't feel they were necessary or worth
the about $5000 more. Had a hell of a time finding one with out them
in right color.

Art might be right about windshield trim. There is occasionally a
tiny bit of noise on the upper right dash area on really rough
surface. I can't find it but wife swears she hears it. I will check
the windshield trim!

I didn't notice the foglights being loose when I waxed it. But will
look at them too. When wife went down ramp in parking structure she
had a bit of awakening with the "leveling" of the headlights.

I can find nothing wrong with this car - like Dale says lots of torque
steer if you really hop on it. No trouble getting on highway - can
really accelerate. Easy to overtake someone when merging with the
power.

As close as I can tell, the mileage indicator is pretty close to paper
& pencil MPG figures. Most tanks of gas are about 20 with 23-24 if we
leave town. Course not a lot of miles but its definitely head and
shoulder in all respects over other Avalon's, inc mileage.

I even like the Michelin MXV4's that came on it. (saved me from
changing!)

One little thing I noticed is that they increased crankcase capacity
to 6 1/2 quarts.

Enjoy - Ron

Judging by what I'm reading in this thread about
the Georgetown Avalons, I'm definitely going to
set my sights on a Tsutsumi Camry.

Thanks to awful GM and Ford Management, certainly
the Georgetown Toyotas must be of higher quality than
the GM and Ford machines, but the Georgetown cars
probably lag their Aichi bretheren in quality by just
a bit.

Come on Georgetown. I'm sure you're getting
close. Figure out what you need to do to equal
the Tsutsumi plant.

For now though, I hope I can get a
pretty silver Aichi Camry.

I am not sure of how many Camry's are made in Japan for export to USA.
FWIW I seem to remember reading somewhere that somewhat more Camrys
are produced in USA than imported and imported ones tended to be on
West Coast.

The Georgetown Avalons as far as I am concerned are fine.