From what I am reading I am inclined to say that your friend should be looking at the ES vs. Avalon, rather than a GS.

ES is front wheel drive. Even though I would go for the GS the ES has come a long way and is very luxurious.

I think either ways he can't go wrong (its all in the family). But Lexus should be more reliable...due to better parts (hearsay of course).

I like the Avalon design. Much better than the previous years. However, I do, like others, dislike the dash. Don't try too hard to convince your friend, all you can do is try and if he is happy with the Avalon...then that is all that matters. Remember it will be his car and you will still be driving your Lex.

 

I'm thinking the Avalon is a better good value than the GS300. If he needs FWD than it's a no brainer

 

Let him check out the new ES3. It's sweet, The Avalon is for retirement folks.....

 

The ES300 interior isn't as nice, according to him. It's not the dash that he's impressed with. It's the supple door panels vs the ES hard panels.. And the dash that swoopes down onto the armrest that he loved so much...

 

Sounds like your friend is a conservative type of a guy. Being married and possible with kids, the Avalon would offer more room in the back because of the seating arrangement and drivetrain. We have two car seats in our GS and it's crowded, not much can be sqeezed between the two baby seats, except for their diaper bag. The Avalon is more plush and luxurious in a different sense since it was designed to be driven gently and to compete with the Buicks/Oldsmobile crowds. In terms of insurance cost, I think the Avalon is lower than the GS.

I think someone has already suggested a test drive with both the GS and the Avalon. They really are both different animals that cater to different types of personalities and he can't go wrong with either one. They both are reliable and will last well over 100k miles.

HIS WIFE MAY BE THE ONE THAT WANTS HIM TO BUY THE AVALON SINCE SHE PROBABLY WOULDN'T WANT OTHER WOMEN TO BE CHECKING HIM OUT IN THE GS!!!!!!

 

First of all, the Avalon is a fwd car the GS is RWD, 2nd the GS has an inline torquey 6 cylinder which gives the GS its fun factor. The Avalon has the V6 motor. Now as to creature comforts, both nice cars but the Avalon is in a different league it competes with the domestic boats, Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac, Mercury,etc.etc. The GS has a much nicer sound system not including the Mark Levinson upgrade and has HID option, memory seats w/ variable speed steering and programmable features. The Avalon does not even have an option for the manual shifting, the GS does. Now if you throw in the design features of the GS eg: Optitronic gauges,sporty layout, higher quality grade I leather and the Avalon having an average age driver (according to demographic facts is 55.) I think your friend has about 11 solid , substantial, reasons to buy the GS. It also proves that you get what you pay for. I am pretty familiar with the two products, I have to be since I train new and exp. salespeople in the sales of the Toyota products. Hope this helps you convince him.. Salon Boy

 

Avalon made to compete with Buick and Oldsmobile.
GS made to compete with 5 and E-class

Nuff said. The Avalon is a damn fine car but the GS 300 is a 42-45k car new.

 

I don't like your friend! He has very bad taste in cars... Does that also go for women also?

 

It sounds like the Avalon is the car for your friend. Not everyone is interested in sport. There are plenty of people who by Buick's everyday and are very pleased with their purchase. Your friend sounds like one of them, and the qualities that we like in the GS do not sound like they are important qualities to him.

I also just heard a commercial on the radio that Toyota is have 0% financing on the Avalon. There is no chance of getting that on the GS, so there is another reason for him to save cash and get the car he wants...

 

Yeah, my wife's boss just got a brand new '02 Avalon top of the line with all options out the door for $28k!!!

 

$28l for a fully loaded '02 XLS? That's pretty amazing.. For the price, you just can't beat that.. The deal with this guy is he's got a really nice house and finds less emphasis on his life being to do with driving. So.. Who knows.. One annoying thing I find about the Avalon is its navigation system. When I went into the dealer to look, I saw this control kinda velcro'd to the console.. What's with that?

 

My wife's boss did not get the Navigation system, it has everything but the Navigation (leather, sunroof, power everything, CD/changer, etc.). She wasn't interested in the system because of the price. She bought it here is San Jose last weekend at Piercy Toyota on First Street.

 

The funny-looking front bumper is certainly offset with a price like that.. The front is the only part I don't find appealing.. Otherwise, the car looks fine and I would have considered it for myself...

 

Sal, if you are coming from an Eldo with the Northstar engine, you are not going to want to step down to an Avalon, or even a GS300 for that matter. I myself came from an SLS, and I couldn't see myself driving anything other then another V8 powered luxury sedan (GS/LS430, Audi A6 4.2, LX/GX470, etc)

 

Oh, I hear ya.. But this isn't for me.. But, I've been driving around in an '01 Jetta 2.0 and it's been getting the job done. It has no power at all but I haven't been giving it much thought.. It does suck to have no power ALL the time, though...