If only you knew how hard it was to get them to move away from the gated shifted and back to the straight shifter.

 

You nailed it. Finally the Venza has evolved into a SUV format.

 

I like it. Interior looks good, I like the console personally. Modern vans always have some sort of console there so you really can’t walk into the back anyways Chrysler is doing to a full console on the refresh 2021 Pacifica too. Love the real shifter.

Don’t love that it’s only a hybrid. Will be interesting to see pricing. I’m guessing $55k fully loaded.

Not an alternative for someone who thinks the Highlander is too small. Again, crossover consumers don’t want a van.

I really like the Venza, except for the hideous front overhang

 

wheel gap is non issue on SUV. They are meant to be high.

i think the new venza looks better, despite the front overhang. the rear side view kinda looks jaguar. Very clean.
and I like the bulging rear fenders in the new toyotas.

the old venza looks dated, tall, and chunky, and I can't imagine many people liking that design.

any money to toyota is good, but I can see this cannibalizing some lexus nx/rx sales.

also, camera angles. The new and old venza photos are taken at different distances and focal lengths. The old venza photo shows less wrap around, and makes the overhangs look shorter than reality.
The old venza had a bigass overhang too.
the super cabforward design with the A-pillar sitting on top of the front wheels mitigates the hugeness of the front 1/4
but let's not deny this was an ugly car.
plus the high belt line of the old venza made visibility just as crappy.

while this photo shows a little more of the front than the new venza side photo, you can see all FWD suffer the same

 

The Highlander makes less sense now. If you have a Venza that's a dedicated 5 seater in between a Rav 4 and Highlander, wouldn't you want a larger 7 seater SUV? The Honda strategy makes way more sense as they have a larger 7 seater above the new Passport and almost the same size as their miniVan for those who don't want a minivan.

 

That expanse of silver plastic looks worse than I thought. I thought the original one you posted was just an odd reflection, but dang that's bland.

 

My other concern about that console is it seems very high. A high console like that makes the interior feel way less spacious.

 

The Venza console is definitely better looking than the Sienna. A bigger screen to boot. Sienna looks too much like the highlander or Rav4 with the side buttons. The size will be greatly appreciated when hooked up to a smartphone for navigation. I'm not so sure about the less spacious when you get more screen to view and in line with your 'view' of the road (which beats looking down significantly to middle of console).

 

Issue is Toyota's widescreen system wont display CarPlay across the whole screen.

 

I think that’s a good feature to have. The crappy thing about Apple CarPlay in the new Avalon is that it takes up the whole screen. I was driving it last night and it’s either CarPlay or the onboard system can’t have both. That’s really crappy

 

I'm not so sure smart phone hookups needs to go 'full screen mode'

Toyota seems to be venturing into having that screenspace become a multipurpose type of screen (eg work for car info/feedback/radio/backup cam/climate controls, etc while carplay/android auto may get the lion share of the screen.).

If this is the case, then there's no need to frequently exit out of smarphone app screen to access a vehicle info/comfort control.

 

How big is the Avalon's screen? If its like the rest of them being 7 or 8 inches, they can't make Carplay or Android Auto smaller. Honestly, I find it fine the way it is, since it beats the factory set up.

 

100% it's plastic.

 

Ive never cared either way but now you've ruined leather boots in cars for me FOREVER! I'll never look at it the same.
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Looks good. The brown is a nice soft plastic. Toyota interior materials have certainly improved over the years. The only questionable ones from this picture are the glove box which is the 'rough' cheap plastic, the the window switch bezel which is the flimsy and smooth type.