First time Toyota owner. Picked up this guy recently, XSE Hybrid w/ 20k miles. Was really in the market for a Camry XSE Hybrid, but 1) was having a really hard time locating one new and 2) used ones w/10-20k miles were selling well over MSRP. I pretty much got this Avalon close to what I was seeing the Camrys go for.
Considering I like the styling of the Avalon more and the added leg room in the back, I had to jump on it.
First impressions are great.
Only "nuances" are:
- The temp gage doesn't sit in the center. Whatever, that's fine.
- Fuel gage sits well past "F" when full. Whatever, that's fine.
- Passenger front headlight has a "haze" to it when looking at it at the right angle. Really strange, but with the wee bit of digging I already did around here it sounds like this isn't uncommon.
- Had a rattle in the car over larger bumps. I learned that it's the button on the center console. There is about a 1/16" of play in it that isn't spring loaded so when I go over a rougher surface on the road it rattles a bit. Not a big deal, I'm glad I know where it's coming from - I should be able to come up with a fix so the button has some dampening to it.
These are obviously pretty petty things - I've only been in the car for less than a week so not much to complain about.
Obviously love the styling, the fuel economy, and I am really looking forward to some peace of mind. My wife has a Prius and that thing is a marvel to me. It just goes...
My previous car was a CC so I'm also thrilled to have retained most (if not all) of the features I had in it. Plus, now I have lots of the bells and whistles that were absent in the CC as well. Only thing I miss are the rain-sensing wipers... I feel like all cars should have them. Good thing is I'll only be reminded of it when it's raining.
Got through my first tank... lots of highway driving - averaged 45.4mpg according to my fill-up and the Trip ODO. The dash display should be pretty accurate too. I reset the integrated mpg counter a couple days ago and the mpgs have been climbing since. I had 46mpg on the readout before I cleared it, and am at 42.5mpg now so I expect it to average around 44mpg once I get more miles in.
I will say that once the hybrid honeymoon phase is over and I'll probably see more around 41-43 to a tank. I've been really easy on it when in EV mode and have been capitalizing on coasting down the mountains without getting on the throttle.
That is all.
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