My wish is not for more "stuff" at all. I wish they would work on fit and finish BEFORE they start worrying about the "stuff" they want to add. The "stuff" is nice, but I know what people are talking about when they mention toyota quality issues. I am not a whiner by any means, but will speak frankly to fellow toyota owners. I should mention that our venza is garage kept and has never seen rain or water from a hose. I clean it with prolong waterless car wash and I use turtle wax ice each month. The car is not misused or abused.
Our venza's sticker was more than 60 percent higher than the 2000 accord and about $5k more than the 2007 mustang GT. NEITHER of the other cars has ever had a rattle to this very day. The venza has leather seats that are nicer than the camry, but that is about it. They are nothing to write home about and I don't think they are as nice as our friend's 2007 camry XLE leather seats. The cheap, hard plastic throughout the car is ridiculous. We've had the venza in 3 times for the back hatch rattle (we live about an hour from the nearest toyota dealership). The last time we had it in (just like the first two) we were told it was fixed and immediately on leaving the dealership it rattled (like the previous two times). THEN they had a "master" technician look at it and he moved the rear latch and the problem was fixed... for about a week. We were told the console between the front seats would be the same as what we have in it now - and it rattles/squeeks if you put an elbow on it. They could not duplicate the rattle in the front passenger door and I failed to mention the dash rattle (my bad). Our front dash now rattles not just in front of the driver, but from left to right. Both front door panels now rattle. There are other rattles in the back, but I'm not sure where they are and can't really ask anyone because nobody has ever ridden in the back seat to listen for them. At 53, I have owned a lot of cars in my life - some were real clunkers (thinking back to my college days), but I've never owned anything that rattled like this. The interior of our venza is what I would expect from an econobox, NOT a car costing more than $30k. The 6 cyl is fine and runs quiet. Transmission shifts smoothly. All the stuff with the premium package works fine. But the fit and finish / quality of materials used in the interior is totally unacceptable for a car within $10k of this price. So my wish is that they would stop using inferior quality materials before they worry about what "stuff" to add - i.e., get the basics taken care of before you look to add anything else.
