Re: Thinking about buying a 2006 Avalon Limited - Comments from owners pro or con would be appreciated!
<
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]
>
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.