Hello everyone, new member as of today. I am in the market for a new car and I have narrowed my choice down to the Avalon and the ES350. I am having a tough time deciding between the the two. I don't need a large car like the Avalon, but I like having the extra room. I think the ES is a better looking car overall, but headroom is at a premium. The big question is, is the ES worth 3-5 thousand more than the Avalon? I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Have a good day.

 

Thadeus,

I am kinda in the same situation as you and have come to these (opinionated) conclusions:
1. If interior space is your priority, go for the Avalon - that back seat is like a limo and the front is roomier than my Maxima...almost too much so.
2. If a decent NAV system is a must, go for the ES. The Toyota (non-Lexus) NAV's are a joke.
3. The 5-spd. auto, while far from perfect, has apparently had fewer problems than the 6 spd. ES/Camry transmissions.
4. The ES wins for me in the styling dept.
5. Interior appointments slightly more luxurious in the ES.
6. Overall and service costs, of course, should be lower for the Avalon, but you only have a 3 year warranty.

I think this topic has been kicked around before on this board. You might want to do a search.

There also is a pretty good discussion on this topic at Edmunds. There are "only" 92 replies, so it shouldn't take too long to read thru them:
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0d500d/0

 

When we bought our ES in May '06, we also considered the Avalon. They are comparable to each other but we preferred both the interior and exterior styling of the ES. Strictly a personal choice. The extra warranty was nice but wouldn't have been a deal breaker. Initially we saw a lot more Avalons on the road, but that seems to be changing as I'm seeing more and more ES350's every day. We've been quite satisfied with the Lexus and have had no problems or issues with the car. I'd buy another one.

 

I'll second LexBob2's statement. We looked at the Avalon and the ES350 (and the Acura TL) and eventually decided that the size and styling of the ES was worth the price differential between the two.

I love the features and haven't had any issues other than the climate control voice recognition problem found on some older models (mine is a 5/06 build). This was corrected by a warranty TSIB fix and all has been good since then.

 

The ES won their hearts because of a couple of things: they wanted the extra luxury, better technology, a quieter and smoother ride, and a little more flash/design (they chose the Ultra Lux package).

The Avalon has bigger rear seats, but since they were retiring, they did not need to tow anyone behind most of the time anyways. Also, although the Avalon would have been a better value (about $10k less), they just wanted to splurge a little since it was their retirement car.

 

Another view that many people don't look at is resale value. If you can afford the ES, it is going to be worth more at resale value. So, you will get back some of the money you put into it.

 

I have been driving an Avalon XLS all week and I am very impressed. It's not going to make my decision any easier. What is your opinion on the headroom in the ES? I am 6ft tall and headroom is adequate, but not ample.

 

I am 6'2" and have no issues. But, this area is subjective. You must be comfortable with whatever you purchase.

 

I'm 6' 1" and agree with MD on all counts.

 

I would review owner websites like this on both vehicles and look for discussions on any defect issues pertaining to both, take serious note of any issues reported by actual owners, consider them, and make your decision on that basis.

 

I am 6'1 and have no problems with the size of the car. I do keep the front seats in the lowest and rear most position. I remember a neighbor, when we were discussing Corvettes etc and he looked and was built almost the size of Andre the Giant (pro wrestler). He told me his idea of a sports car was a 1974 Eldorado convertible. I still laugh about his comment to this day.

 

Funny... I know a couple of guys like that. Both have never gotten over the fact that they can no longer get a "full size" Lincoln or Caddy. The new ones are "just too small". And they're regular size, not Andre size.

 

There are some of the huge cars with low miles left (1979 Town Car, 1976 Sedan De Ville) on ebay motors left, some are junk but some are still in decent shape. The 1976 Eldorado convertibles, with no or few miles, are selling in the $30,000 range.

 

As MD350 pointed out, that question is somewhat subjective; consider this scenario--even though two people may have the exact same height, one person may have headroom issues while the other one may not encounter any at all. Yes, this is quite possible--one may have longer legs than the other...so such a person may not have to deal w/ headroom issues...but OTOH might have to deal w/ legroom issues.

 

Depends on the height of the hairdo. There was a young woman who rushed late into mass every Saturday night, her hair was always smooshed down. When I saw her leave church, I understood why. She was tall and driving a Chevrolet Cavalier, hence we nicknamed her "bad hair day"