Nobody's Perfect: AvalonThe Avalon is Toyota's flagship, a challenge to the traditional big American car. Previous Avalons were described as "Japanese Buicks" and seen as too close to the Camry in size and appointment level. The company completely redesigned the big sedan for the second half of 2005. This is the third generation Avalon. With a huge interior, soft, quiet ride, and luxurious fixtures, there is now plenty of daylight between it and Camry. The 2007 model sports few changes from last year. The competition is large sedans under $40k; Buick Lucerne, Ford Five Hundred, Hyundai Azera, Chrysler 300, Kia Amanti, Mercury Grand Marquis, Nissan Maxima. Coming to AmericaToyota's fast growth, and especially expansion of manufacturing into the US, has created a spate of embarrassments for the once near-perfect builder. Transferring "The Toyota Way" to an American industrial setting has proven difficult. Nissan, and, to a lesser degree, Honda, have also had problems here. The second big problem TMC has is engineer burnout: they are overworking their engineers, especially the rare software talent. As a result, 3rd generation Avalons have been some of the most problem prone Toyotas ever. Yes, the flagship car is the focus of the quality image slippage at the mighty Toyota. Toyota has provided service bulletins, notifying dealers of problems, on weak U-joint welds, faulty (sulfur/rotten-egg smelling) catalytic converters and leaky and clogged oil lines to variable valve timing.
The Grand DesignBut the big issue is the electronic control unit for the gearbox. Transmission hesitation/hunting problems have been common with the five-speed automatic transmission. Slippage occurs during fast acceleration or hesitation in slow traffic, rolling stops, and yields. This is a complex vehicle, with sophisticated electronic controls and contradictory goals: fuel economy and safety. Some think transaxle problems are caused by software conflicts between engine compression braking and the anti-lock braking system. Having personally worn out several "drive by wire" throttle pedal sensors, I agree with those who suspect this system's software as well. This problem has proven difficult to solve. With one setting the bug occurs at high speed - fix it and the low speed lurch emerges. Today's automotive software "learns" its environment, including driver behavior. Sometimes this can lead to problems that cannot be resolved unless the exact conditions are replicated. Dealer service technicians frequently are unable to do this. Notice that this is not about gearbox failure, but an annoying, and sometimes dangerous, glitch. Owners take the cars in, techs reset the computer, then it "learns" the same mistake again. Dealers tend to respond to these situations by stonewalling while they wait for a response from the manufacturer. Everyone makes mistakes, successful people recognize their own and fix them quickly, often before others notice. Toyota has taken too long to fix this mistake, which occurred on the RAV4 first. As a former programmer, I know Toyota's overworked engineering staff have missed lots of sleep trying to debug this frimware amidst firefighting elsewhere. Six of these guys are presenting a paper titled "Development of Smooth Up-Shift Control Technology for Automatic Transmission with Integrated Control of Engine and Automatic Transmission"at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) April, 2007 meeting. It looks as if they are trying. However, the Camry boards show many complaints about hesitation with the brand new six speed transmission. Meanwhile, many drivers circumvent this by using the "S" gear selection. From the edmunds.com forums; "In the S-5 mode, the car will shift through all the gears as needed, but with no attempts at 'learning' and no surprises. Keep driving as you would in D. No need to shift up & down manually through the gears..." Some have eliminated the problem by using lite left foot braking in low speed situations. Others say adjusting your driving style to a flaw like this is totally unacceptable. Owners report reduced transmission problems with high octane gas. Numerous user reviews note easy paint chipping, body panel denting, and interior rattles. Owners recommend side body molding option, around $200, to minimize parking lot damage. Born in the USA: Avalon?Toyota Avalon is designed for the North American market by Toyota’s Calty Design Research in California. Engineered by the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, MI, it is assembled in Georgetown, Kentucky. As with all US-built cars, there are widespread build quality issues; misaligned panels, wind noise from the rear doors on some but not others, latches that don't catch, "built first thing Monday" lemon cars... I think this explains the wide divergence in user satisfaction: those who don't have problems love this car. But there are lots of sour reviews. But take this all in context. Toyota is still rated the most reliable brand, and, unlike some builders, takes these issues very seriously. Despite this, the quality gap with rival big sedans is much narrower than 5 years ago. Almost every company, including premium brands, is struggling with quality issues in today's chaotic car market. Look what happened at Mercedes with only a minor distraction (running Chrysler). Consumer Reports (CR) latest on Avalon: "Reliability has been above average of late." CR recently awarded the flagship a class-topping "89" rating. Hyunai Azera was second with an "83." Life in the Fast LaneClass-leading EPA Mileage Estimates of 22 city/31 highway, and real world good fuel economy are the strongest justification for Toyota's hard line on price. In Edmund's (.com) testing, the big car averaged 21 mpg. Users report very good highway mileage. In fact, I'd call the fuel economy on this big, fast, 268 hp car astonishing. A no-headwind flat country trip, with A/C off, at a steady 60 mph and 1900 rpm typically yields 34 mpg. Of course this is rare. Adverse conditions and true freeway speed (75 mph) will give upper twenties economy. A Coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.29, making the big sedan sleeker than most Corvettes, is a big part of the highway fuel sipping story. An 18.5 gallon tank provides a range of over 500 miles, an important consideration in the age of terror attacks and hurricane evacuations. I recommend keeping even this tank half full or better at all times to avoid having to make a fuel stop your first priority in an emergency. Shelter from the StormCrash-test results are impressive. In IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) testing, the Avalon earned a top score of "Good" for its protection of occupants in frontal-offset and side-impact crashes. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) Driver Front, Rear Side, and passenger front Crash Tests are all 5 stars. Most safety equipment is standard. Like airbags; for a total of 7. Tire-pressure sensors were added for 2007, standard. Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with Traction Control (TRAC) and Brake Assist is still optional. Irrational ExuberanceAvalon rides on a front engine, front-wheel drive stretched version of the Camry platform. Power, 268 hp worth, comes from a 3.5-liter DOHC 24-valve dual variable valve timing, short stroke V6.This engine is shared with the Lexus ES350 and Toyota RAV4. It is a destroked version of the 4.0-liter mill in Tundra, Tacoma, and 4Runner. There is one transmission, a 5-speed electronically controlled automatic overdrive with "intelligence", as previously noted. Deceleration is provided by power-assisted 11.7-inch front ventilated discs and /10.9-inch rear solid discs. Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) are standard. XL trim comes with 16 inch wheels, the others have 17s. Avalons are not BMW wanna-be firm-riding performance sedans. Because of its relatively soft suspension, the car tends to float when traversing uneven highways. The body rolls heavily on hard cornering and hard stops will bring the front end down. Avalon is highly predictable: steering, brake, and road feel are closer to Buick than BMW. But despite the lack of track-day prowess, a relatively good power to weight ratio (13 lb/hp) gives suprising straight-line performance. The Avalon's 6.9 second 0-to-60 time is very quick for a full-size (3600 lbs.) sedan. Passing speed is the car's forte, through the 50 to 80 mph range. Tightest in class 36.9 foot diameter turning circle means Avalons need just two lanes to make a U-turn. Sixty to zero stopping distance is a reasonable 123.8 feet for a big car. Front wheel drive Avalon does not offer the twisty road thrills of the rear-drive 5-Series BMW, or even the Chrysler 300. This is just a great freeway car. Sports sedan buyers should look elsewhere, but with the realization that true enthusiast equipment is headed inexorably toward six digits. A Peaceful, Easy FeelingThe big Toyotas come in four trim levels; XL, Touring, XLS, and Limited. MSRP ranges from $27K to $34K. Class-leading build quality and fit and finish are intended by design, but execution may not be flawless. The interior, with covers for everything to give an uncluttered appearance, really stands out. There is a strong resemblance to Lexus quality materials. The car's overall length of 197 inches and passenger volume of 107 cubic feet allow limousine-like rear seating accommodations, even with tall people in front. Rear 60/40 split seats manually recline up to 10 degrees. The flat floor in the rear lets three adults to sit side-by-side in comfort. With everyone clamoring for the return of the rear drive luxury car, who remembers sitting on the driveshaft tunnel? This car is actually big enough for a family of 5: there is no front bench seat. Comfortable and stylish multi-adjustable power front seats with driver’s power lumbar support make the front seating like the back. Some passengers question the absence of power lumbar on their side. Dual zone automatic climate control with interior air filtration and directional rear-seat vents rounds out the near-luxury picture. Users in extremely hot desert climates have noted lack of capacity in air conditioning. A very quiet car, it produced 66 decibels @ 70-mph in Edmunds.com tests. But a substantial number have developed wind noise problems. The optional JBL sound system, standard on Limited trim, is highly recommended. JBL Synthesis® 360 watt AM/FM Cassette/6-disc in-dash CD with 11 speakers and subwoofer. Yeah. Due to Toyota's alliance with XM Satellite radio, some evidence suggests attempts to substitute Sirius Satellite are not a good idea. There is no Bluetooth interface, users report using a cassette adapter for ipod transfers. A Generation, Lost in SpaceUsers report major problems with the navigation system offered with Avalon. It looks like these are supplied through compromised financial relationships with third party suppliers, leaving little opportunity for the manufacturer to adjust to defects. The Navigation system is operated by a combination of buttons and a joystick, rather than a touch screen. Calling it counter-intuitive may be an understatement, though many users do not invest the study time to properly operate the GPS. This is a overly expensive option I'd leave off the car. Luggage capacity, at 14.4 cu. ft., is below average for a big sedan. A wide opening and deep compartment combine with a trunk pass-through from the back seat to enhance capacity. Mo MoneyA MSRP of $31,325 corresponds to a dealer invoice of $27,565, just under a $4k spread. The boards say $500 over invoice is a pretty good deal. Dealer holdback is widely cited as $3k. Edmunds true cost to own is $.62/mile, with 5-year residuals of 39%. The Toyota Avalon is not the easiest car to lease cheaply. Toyota Financial Services has not historically provided good lease support (incentives) for the vehicle. Three year/45k mi residuals are around 55%. Money factor depends on buyer credit history. Many buyers have used third party leasing to beat manufadcturer deals. Warranty lengths are; Basic - 36 months/36,000 miles, Powertrain - 60 months/60,000 miles. Toyota's stateside customer service is widely reported as not being real useful when there are problems the dealership can't resolve. These glitch situations show how Toyota has begun to reach a ceiling: the company seems unable to respond to problems at the US consumer interface. Wasn't that what they said about General Motors? Both Sides NowAs promised, car reviews at texas-cars-and-dealerships.com show readers both sides, not just the sunny side so prevalent in the industry sponsored media. CR called Avalon "a lot of car for the money." I agree. Fast and very fuel efficient for the level of comfort and roominess provided. Despite the issues detailed above, Toyota Avalon recieves texas-cars-and-dealerships.com recommendation for Texans looking at large sedans. Consumer Reports second place Hyundai Azera might offer competition on a value basis. These two cars are at the top of my family's personal vehicle list, with a choice to come soon. Buyers considering Avalon should insist on an extensive test drive of the exact car planned for purchase. Remember this car is not built in Japan. Carefully check out the transmission and build quality. Try every electronic device, open, close and inspect every body panel and orifice. This is something every car buyer should do, but many discover issues almost as soon as they get the car home. Also, too many buyers fail to properly evaluate the dealership: TMC service departments have varied widely in their responsiveness to problems. It is very important to cross-shop dealers, since all these dealers are often selling cars from the same pool. edmunds.com towhall-talk Toyota Avalon forum End Toyota Avalon Review, Return to Toyota Brand Review End 2007 Toyota Avalon Review, goto Sitemap
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