[gpsman]

Maybe it's the way you are built.

 

[TptGeek]

Maybe so, but the same happens to my wife, who is 5'4''. If the seat is already moved into "her driving position," then she also has to be careful not to hit the right side of her head when getting into the car. We have been a Toyota family for over 25 years, having owned several, including a 2013 Venza (Gen. 1), and I guess we're accustomed to being able, if we want, to initially sit somewhat on the edge of the seat, and as we pull our head inside the cabin, we shift/scoot our "seat" into the center of the chair. We've owned 5 Siennas, 3 Camry's, a 2014 Prius v, and a 2013 RAV4, and we've never had to be "careful" getting into any of them. It took me a little time to understand what was happening for me with this 2021 Venza XLE, but it quickly became apparent how much of a raised seat "edge" the front seats have compared to all of the other Toyotas we've owned.

 

[Ken722]

Maybe so, but the same happens to my wife, who is 5'4''. If the seat is already moved into "her driving position," then she also has to be careful not to hit the right side of her head when getting into the car. We have been a Toyota family for over 25 years, having owned several, including a 2013 Venza (Gen. 1), and I guess we're accustomed to being able, if we want, to initially sit somewhat on the edge of the seat, and as we pull our head inside the cabin, we shift/scoot our "seat" into the center of the chair. We've owned 5 Siennas, 3 Camry's, a 2014 Prius v, and a 2013 RAV4, and we've never had to be "careful" getting into any of them. It took me a little time to understand what was happening for me with this 2021 Venza XLE, but it quickly became apparent how much of a raised seat "edge" the front seats have compared to all of the other Toyotas we've owned.

I have a 2020 Camry and the roof line is lower than the our 2005 Camry, making entry a bit tricky at first. That's just the way many manufacturers like Toyota are going with lower roof lines for aerodynamics.

 

[cb91710]

Maybe so, but the same happens to my wife, who is 5'4''. If the seat is already moved into "her driving position," then she also has to be careful not to hit the right side of her head when getting into the car. We have been a Toyota family for over 25 years, having owned several, including a 2013 Venza (Gen. 1), and I guess we're accustomed to being able, if we want, to initially sit somewhat on the edge of the seat, and as we pull our head inside the cabin, we shift/scoot our "seat" into the center of the chair. We've owned 5 Siennas, 3 Camry's, a 2014 Prius v, and a 2013 RAV4, and we've never had to be "careful" getting into any of them. It took me a little time to understand what was happening for me with this 2021 Venza XLE, but it quickly became apparent how much of a raised seat "edge" the front seats have compared to all of the other Toyotas we've owned.

Unfortunately, the automatic seat positioning when the ignition is turned off only moves the seat forward and rearward. It does not also move it down to the lowest position (my '06 Silverado did).
My wife taps the button to put the seat into my preferred position, which is with the seat all the way down, then she shuts down and opens the door, the seat then has plenty of room for either of us to avoid hitting the roof.

The passenger side is terrible though, and the Rav4 is worse. They should have lowered the non-power seat by an inch.

 

[Adriano Scuds]

We can always use our head (or body, or anything with water) to transmit the key FOB's signal to further distances.

This is plain stupid lol. Having to hold it against your body? Jug of water?

With my previous '17 Tucson, I could lock/unlock/panic button from 3 stories above/below on a multi story parking building. This one, it won't work, reliably, from behind my front door.
The car is roughly 16-20ft away, if not less from the door.

I feel like this is on purpose, and not a flaw of any kind. Fresh batteries and all...
App or google home for remote start it is...

 

[ramirezluisg]

We've had our new 2021 Venza XLE for about five weeks. Great car. However, I have officially "given" it to my wife, and I will drive our 2017 Sienna XLE. The main reason? I can't stand how I nearly hit the right side of my head every time I get in the driver's seat! Yep! Those seats do not go low enough for me, and I'm only 6'0''! Why didn't I notice this when we were buying it?! I dunno. What I discovered is, I have to "position" my bottom all the way into the seat AND NOT ON THE RAISED EDGE OF THE SEAT before pulling my head through the doorway! This car has a cool bucket-seat design, but it's hard to clear the head jamb if I start by sitting on the edge of the seat and scoot to the center of the chair.

I’m only 5ft 4” and I like my seat all the way down lol, I can’t imagine being an extra 8” taller and dealing with it. I can see just fine but I also am used to seeing less of the ground because I had a 2016 Limited AWD 4Runner and I have a 2006 Tundra DC SR5 that one sees more of the hood compared to CUVs and sedans (I’ve owned Corollas and Camrys as well).

 

[vandel]

Not really a complaint but I wish there was at least a 7 band equalizer. Three bands on the premium JBL is not adequate to get optimal listening pleasure. No the eq settings on the phone do not make up for it since they are presets and can not be customized.

 

[jlflick]

No Homelink mirror compass.

 

[cb91710]

No Homelink mirror compass.

XLE has Homelink on the auto-dimming mirror.
LE does not.

 

[jlflick]

XLE has Homelink on the auto-dimming mirror.
LE does not.

My XLE has Homelink, but NO compass.

 

[cb91710]

Ya, I haven't seen a compass in a Toyota-supplied mirror in 10 years.
Never really bothered me having GPS since the mid-2000's, but I did like having a temperature readout.

 

[DE_Toyota_fan]

but the same happens to my wife, who is 5'4''.

My wife is 5'1". Finally there are some advantages to marrying a petite woman

 

[jlflick]

Ya, I haven't seen a compass in a Toyota-supplied mirror in 10 years.
Never really bothered me having GPS since the mid-2000's, but I did like having a temperature readout.

Gor used to it in my 2019 Outback.

 

[Pique F]

3. I really miss having a mute button on the driver console. My last two vehicles had that, and its really handy to be able to quickly silence the audio. Now I have to turn the power off, which is a bit more inconvenient.

On the Venza Limited, at least, you can mute/pause the radio by holding in the Mode button on the steering wheel. Not very intuitive, but it is in the manual!

 

[cb91710]

On the Venza Limited, at least, you can mute/pause the radio by holding in the Mode button on the steering wheel. Not very intuitive, but it is in the manual!

Yep...
I use it any time certain commercials or politicians are on.

 

[Adriano Scuds]

Yep...
I use it any time certain commercials or politicians are on.

But that's th thing, it isn't mute, it's pause. Whenever you hold it to resume playing, the politicians and commercials are still there lol ... And then you have to go to the radio, press LIVEA again to get rid of them. A mute button would be way better than been able to pause live radio. On my previous car, it was as simple as depressing the volume button to mute. Miss it a lot

 

[cb91710]

But that's th thing, it isn't mute, it's pause. Whenever you hold it to resume playing, the politicians and commercials are still there lol ... And then you have to go to the radio, press LIVEA again to get rid of them. A mute button would be way better than been able to pause live radio. On my previous car, it was as simple as depressing the volume button to mute. Miss it a lot

Not on mine, at least not on AM/FM.
Maybe a "feature" of the Limited with Premium Audio? Both of ours are Audio Plus.

 

[tim.s]

Not on mine, at least not on AM/FM.
Maybe a "feature" of the Limited with Premium Audio? Both of ours are Audio Plus.

I think "Radio replay" auto-pause is included on the 8" and 12" systems, but you DO have to enable it in the radio options. Go to Radio >> Options >> Auto Pause (set to "ON").

​

AM/FM/XM are cached automatically when interrupted or if you manually Pause the channel.

And if you have SirusXM, you can set up to 20 channels as "Smart Favorites" and they are cached automatically when you start the vehicle. This means you have up to 30 (?) minutes of programming on each Smart Favorite channel that you can FF and RW. Of course the cached channels reset to zero when you turn off or restart the vehicle, but it's handy if you have a long drive.

 

[cb91710]

I knew about the Smart Favorites things... wife always commented that it seemed like every time she turned on XM, it was right at the beginning of a song.
Well... ya... it is

 

[Thomcat]

And I wish mine could fly.....but, it can't which I found out playing with all trims on test drives before laying the bucks down.

Traded a '20 Rav4 xse for the Venza xle with Limited seats and Nav radio and although less trunk space it is what it was designed to be.....a luxury version of the Rav4 built on the same TNGA platform and identical drive train. And like the Rav4 it is perfect for what it was intended.....a grocery grabber, all around town scooter.

At 5'10" with a bad back and arthritis had to adapt technique of tilt head-in entry for access, but still a pleasure when compared to getting my a$$ into a '15 Camaro. Only two of us but have to go for three row Highlander for the room, conveniences, ride and ease of entry. Don't need 3 rows and haven't raised the third row since I bought it which will stay down until trade in time, but like the Rav/Venza plenty of test rides and kicking tires determined it's suitability of the former attributes and comfort during long drives before purchase. So no complaints here on either.

Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but as far as comparison with other sows ears on the market, the Venza is the leader.