Perhaps, but I'm not losing any sleep over it LOL. In general, I enjoyed most of the vehicles I did get......although, before the late 1980s, most of them, particularly from Chrysler and GM, did not meet my standards of reliability. EFI, car-based AWD, clearcoat paint, disc brakes, radial tires, breakerless electronic ignition, rack-and-pinion steering, and overdrive-transmissions were, IMO, the main improvements....along with Japanese-levels of quality-control.

Oh....and properly-balanced/round wheels/tires. Before the last couple of decades, many of the mounting/balancing machines (and skill levels of their operators) were crap, and it could be very difficult to get shimmies out, particularly with FWD. Crap-quality out-of-round tires/wheels made it even more difficult until the precision-cast alloy wheels came along.

 

I think one thing you have to understand when comparing cars from this era to cars of today is the huge amount of features and technology and safety and performance that cars today have that these didn't have, all while basically holding the line on price adjusted for inflation. The modern Toyota Avalon may have somewhat harder interior materials, but think of all the tech they have that these very simple cars didnt have...its all a tradeoff.

 

In my book, a 90s vintage Avalon was far from simple. The (used) 1963 Plymouth Valiant that first introduced me to the world behind the steering wheel...now, THAT car was simple LOL. Simple but durable.

 

Its extremely simple compared to a 2020 Avalon.

 

The first generation Avalon was my favorite Hertz rental at the time. For the price of a Taurus I got a nicer car with a really smooth V-6 and decent performance. The Hertz version even had leather seats. It was not something I wanted to own, but it was a great rental.

 

Welcome back. Haven't seen you post much for a while....at least in Car Chat.

Yes, the 1Gen Avalon was definitely nicer than the pre-1996 Taurus....and a LOT nicer than the (IMO) ridiculous 1996 redesign.

 

Yeah no kidding.


I kinda of get tired about the constant reminiscing about older Lexus and Toyota’s....new modern Toyota Avalon is leap and bounds a superior product. Old ones are nice too but they never really had the horsepower or anything dynamic handling and new modern features are quite nice.

I often compare the different between my 04 and 21 4Runner...and so much of it is a trade off...the V8 in my 4Runner and air rear suspension is off set by more power in my new one and so many more features of my 21. Now have memory seats. Embedded nav. Apple Car Play....safety sense tech. ***LED*** head lights and even LED fog lights.

IMO, the quality is better in my new one in some areas. For example...the leather seats in my 21 are cool and heated and are the same leather as an ES350...my 04 is super crappy quality that feels like vinyl. New one gets more seat adjustments but loses the four way headrests.

Paint job in blue is about the same. The little things here and there of my 04 are gone on my 21, but they are made up for it in other ways with new little things here and there....my 04 has little LED speedometer and rpm pointers but my new one has the classic Lexus optitron.

I dunno....people just have to move on from the past sometimes....I like the older stuff...but I like the new stuff too. It’s all relative and different.

the rear hatch door pull on my 04 is real vinyl/leather....but my 21 is cloth....but the new one has two lights embedded in the hatch that shines down when it is open....and gains the 120V plug in the rear where my 04 just has it in the centre console.

 

Totally agree, its all about tradeoffs. Whenever you have a product that is built to a price those tradeoffs are going to be there.

 

I agree. Would I have liked a new V8...sure...however I don’t really mind my 5 speed....I don’t have any gear hunting changes or anything...I also got 60 series tires with 20” wheels that also has a matching spare for a 5 tire rotation. Difference in MSRP was $5K 16 years later. I am stuck with a fixed 3rd row unfortunately

I personally would trade the rear window slide down for a heads up display....and I would much rather a key instead of push button but I wish it would have the entry system it currently has. These are just personal preferences

 

Bear in mind that Avalon doesn’t even have a trip computer or a DTE readout lol

 

The new one? Or you mean the first gen?

 

Nobody was trying to kid anybody in the first place. I admit if I think maybe I should have done something different in the past....many people don't, and/or live a false-facade.




Not just from me. One simply has to get used to it if they are going to stay in Car Chat. I've learned, particularly in the last few years, to overlook some things that irk me....and/or simply not reply to them, although I know that's difficult to believe from my large number of posts.

The 2013-2015 version was awful, but the current one is much better in execution and materials, though I'm not a fan of the whale-size grille up front or the ski-jump control-stack.





The 1Gen Avalon had all the power it needed for normal driving. No, it didn't handle like a Miata....but it was not intended to.

 

The first gen

 

Yeah. I wouldn’t expect it. I think there as a low fuel light only and the dash had rolling trip odometer. I’d have to look but I think there was a lot of features missing compared the Buick LeSaber and Park Avenue which was the intended competition

 

Oh for sure, even the LS400 didnt have any electronic readouts until 1998. Just an example of how simple those old cars were and how much content you get with the new ones for the same money