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SUVs Toyota Venza 2009 Toyota Venza Crossover
1078 messages, Last post on Nov 17, 2009 at 1:50 PM
You are in the Toyota Venza Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Replying to: qs933 (Nov 30, 2008 10:45 pm) |
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This is one of the better Venza "first drive" articles I have seen. The Gallery has lots of good pics, including some closeups (I think one shows those door handle hash marks for locking the vehicle). http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/11/first-drive-2009-toyota-venza/ |
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Replying to: qs933 (Dec 01, 2008 1:07 am) 
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| I love earthtones, so glad to see browns returning instead of just a choice of black, white, silver, or peanut M&Ms. I can't wait until they are two years old and off-lease, so that I can buy one for under $20K! | |
| I took my wife's Corolla in for service and they had the new Venza on display in the showroom. It was the only one they had so I couldn't test drive it. Nice looking vehicle, and seems very functional. It was loaded to the gills with a sticker price of a little over 38K. For that price I could replace my ES 300 or for about $1500 to $2000 more I could buy the RX 350. Both proven vehicles and much nicer in my opinion. The salesman told me it will be sometime in late January before they start producing the scaled down version, and he didn't have a clue on the pricing or options they will offer | |
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This evening went for a Venza test drive in MKE, WI. (AWD, V6, Nav, fully loaded). When I got in it had 8 miles on it. I will preface everything by saying we have an '01 Subaru Outback (leather) wagon and 2 much much older cars. (We hold them until just before they croak). On Venza: Seats - comfortable all the way back. Pickup while ripping onto the freeway - excellent. Legroom in the back with front seat all the way back - very good, love the recline feature. Two rear seat (face) vents in the back of the console and Two foot warmers under the front seats. So far everything better than the Subaru. 'Trunk' area - about the same size as our Subaru (L, W, H max to 2') in normal loading (so you can still see out). Hard to tell visibility as the car is black, it was night and there are those tinted rear windows. Could hardly read the window dealer sticker in the service area's bright lights. Negatives: You can't exactly get in it and drive away if you are unfamiliar with the car. With all the stuff on the Nav touch screen you have to take your eyes off the road to switch something (like the temperature) on the fly. Even flipping the nav open so you can put in a disc is intitally a challenge. The door locks will take some getting used to, especially when considering that the car auto-locks the doors when standing more than (literally) 5 minutes. If you have something in the car in your garage, you have to get the fob in order to unlock to get in. The fob does have a weird key in it so if the power fails you can still get in to release the hood latch. Overall I'd say it is roomy and will just about meet our needs, altho getting to know the electronics will be a challenge for both of us. I'll have to sit in it again in daylight to learn more about curb distance as the high hood and dark windows may be a problem. The dealer is pushing sticker price and is even a little leery about honoring their internet $300 off coupon. Wonder what he'll do when I shoot another dealer's no haggle (no salesman commission) price at him. I'll call no haggle tomorrow. Overall, a good experience, a good car. We'll see what the co-driver says when she checks it out. Overall Venza holds up well against our Outback 5 speed manual 4 cyl, especially in the mileage. Oh, and wait until you see the engine compartment! Crammed to the gills with stuff. For example they're going electric for power steering to eliminate one of the belts and buy more space for the passenger compartment. |
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Replying to: santa3 (Dec 02, 2008 8:07 pm)
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Replying to: santa3 (Dec 02, 2008 8:21 pm) |
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Replying to: santa3 (Dec 02, 2008 8:07 pm) We were both impressed with the leg room and also build quality. We both drive Lexus vehicles now, but are considering the Venza. Not really excited about the new RX350, although in all fairness we have not seen it in person, just pictures. Since our current vehicles have NAV, the Venza's NAV features were pretty familiar and took no time to get used to, but I could see if you don't have NAV now, it can take some time to get familiar with the all the features. The Venza has 6th generation NAV. I agree the dark rear windows and very large sticker on the rear passenger window made it a little challenging at night, but once the sticker is removed, I'm sure it will be much easier. Bottom Line: We both loved just about everything about the Venza and will be purchasing one. |
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Replying to: santa3 (Dec 02, 2008 8:07 pm) The climate settings are not controlled via the touch screen. This is handled the old fashioned way, with buttons/knobs in the console (below the nav screen). |
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