as i get older and having a 2 year old to haul around, one of my guilty pressure is the fondness of big family sedans (not a SUV guy). the new Avalon is a really sharp looking car with sporty exterior, premium looking interior and fair price. for $32k i can get a pretty much fully loaded one without navi. my only complaint is the skinny tires, wish they have a more aggressive setup. anyone here owns one or had experience riding in one?

 

I test drove a 2013 Avalon (for a $50 gift card) and it drove pretty nice. Similar to the 2 ES350's I had. Many reviewers have preferred it to the new ES350, but that can be subjective. I won't get into interior quality etc. IMO it's too subjective. YTD sales are 65k units +166% so a lot of actual buyers seem to like it.

 

Tires you can always replace, so that is a non issue to me. Here's some reviews posted here in CL about the Avalon

Here's CL member mmarshall's review:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...ta-avalon.html

Here's Autoblogs review:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...on-hybrid.html

and Here's Motortrends comparison test:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...n-limited.html

 

The new Avalon is an awesome car. I think Toyota really pulled out all the stops. The features and materials are simply outstanding for the price point.

 

0 to 60 in a hair over 6 seconds ain't bad either for a car this size

 

Does anyone know why the Camry V6 is almost a second faster despite having the exact same motor?

 

Weight total, weight distribution, aerodynamics, gearing, tires, throttle response, suspension dampening, and a whole lotta variables...

 

If the Avalon can do 0-60 in 6.0, the Camry is not going to pull off 5.0. Not even 5.5, so, no, the Camry is nowhere near that fast.

 

I've been driving a 2013 Avalon Limited as my work demo (I work at a dealership). As an overall package, the 2013+ is a much nicer vehicle to be in (features, styling, etc.).

As a daily driver you really can't beat it. My Limited has the 18" wheels standard (also standard on the XLE Touring) and I will say it doesn't ride as nice as before and it does transfer a little more road noise than before. But for me, it's definitely something I can overlook.

 

LOOKS is one thing (and I will agree with you that the new Avalon, inside and out, has a plush, refined look). But the actual solidness of the sheet metal, trim, and a number of the interior materials are quite another matter. The whole car, IMO, was designed and built with either weight-saving or cost-cutting (perhaps both) in mind.

 

I really think if your secretly interested in a family sedan, the new avalon is perfect. I'm still finding myself doing double takes everytime i see one on the road

 

Agreed the new Avalon is fantastic.

 

I like the new Avalons. There was a Toyota Dealer in the Houston area that was lowering the MSRP price by $4k. From $32k on the window to $28k.

 

In Consumer Reports annual Owners Survey they asked the question "would you get this car if you had to do it all over again?". In the Large/Upscale Sedan segment the Avalon did pretty well. The highest rated in order are:

Charger V8 (85%)
ES350 (79%)
Chrysler 300 (78%)
Genesis V8 (78%)
Avalon (77%)
Azera (77%)

Lowest rated car was the Lacrosse, just below the Taurus V6.

 

The Camry is something like 8.6 seconds. (source: http://autos.aol.com/cars-Toyota-Camry-2014/overview/)

LOL, my 13 year old AWD RX300 with over 200k miles on the clock can do that.