Let's get something straight. I have never driven a Toyota with any kind of sticky gas pedal, unless you count the ones where I purposefully kept my foot stuck to the floor. On the other hand, there have been Toyota's where my hands were stuck to the wheel, so much so that the sales rep had to pry my paws off it.
And this happened again this week. By the time I got back to the dealership, sales representative Mike Maslen had to physically pry my mitts one finger at a time from the steering wheel of the new Toyota Avalon.
"It's my car," I told him. "You gave it to me."
"It was just for a test drive," he said, as he yanked on my white-knuckled death grip.
"But it's mine," I pleaded.
"Get out or I'm gonna' call your ma," he said.
That was all it took, but I was still mad that I couldn't take it for longer.
You see, the Avalon is Toyota's sleeper.
It sits in the same aisle as all the other Toyota's. Mixed in with the Camrys, the Matrixs, the Corollas and so on, yet it doesn't get much of a look from the generation on the low side of 50. This is a shame, because with a nice set of 20-inch rims to fill out the wheel arches and a little tint on the windows, this could turn a whole new generation on. It is like taking the glasses and sweater off the cute girl next door and adding heels and some makeup. She transforms from a nice girl into a real head-turner.
It was like when Sophia Loren turned up in Grumpier Old Men. A whole new generation were turned on. A generation that didn't know she had already been a sex symbol for 30 years.
Anyway, the Avalon is not what you might have thought it was. Unless you are specifically looking for an Avalon you may pass it by, and that would be your loss. The Avalon is definitely a luxury sedan and one of note. The first thing I noticed was the room. Whether in the back or the front there is ton of it. In the back there is so much room I felt like I could almost lie down and go to sleep, but the dealership might have been a little peeved if that happened.
Sitting in the back there was at least 10 inches between my knee and the front seat. That is huge room. The seats also reclined. They did this with the handle in the same place as it is when you want to recline the front seats. Makes sense doesn't it. Put the reclining handle where it should be, not behind your head where only the very limber can actually reach back without pulling something other than the handle.
The Avalon is also a very fast car. The 268 horsepower it puts out are buttery smooth and actually quite surprising. When I first set out for my drive I knew this was a car generally older people bought, but after hammering the gas a few times I thought, "those sneaky old devils." All this time they have been hiding this machine from the rest of us. It is like discovering dad's collection of girlie magazines. At first you are a bit shocked because you never thought he would have something like this, but the more you experience it the more you grin and laugh to yourself and think that the reason he told you to stay away from this sort of thing was because he wanted to keep it all for himself.
That's why people won't go shouting that they drive a Toyota Avalon, they want to keep it all to themselves.
Anyway, it is the level of trim and the smoothness of the six-speed manumatic transmission that will have people coming back for more.
Wood trim on the wheel, dash and console and a navigation system and backup camera only add to the luxury quotient.
Toyota has also included all the synonyms including, ABS, EBD, BA, AUX, USB, VSC, TSC and ESC. All the windows are one-touch power up and down and when you include the heated, powered front seats the Avalon indeed looks, feels and drives like a luxury sedan. Some people would prefer to spend more time in the interior comfort of the Avalon rather than in their own living rooms, after all, there isn't a recliner that I know of that has several memory settings on it.
The Toyota Avalon is indeed something worth more than a glancing look. Like Sophia Loren in her heyday, it is a smooth, silky, sexy seductress, one that you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off. And like your dad's girlie magazine collection it will have you coming back for more, just don't tell your dad you found his collection or his Avalon, or he may move it to avoid having to pry your fingers off it.
Toyota Avalon
4-door sedan
6-speed manumatic
3.5 litre 6 cylinder
Horsepower 268 @ 6,200
Torque 248 @ 4,700
Mileage: 10.6 l/100 km 27 mpg City 6.8 l/100km 42 mpg Hwy
Price $43,500
