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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
| 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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It doesn't look like the I4 will be offered with 4WD and leather in many locations. I plugged in lots of zip codes all over the country and finally found Minnesota as unique in offering this combination. The other unfortunate thing is that you have to buy lots of other options along with it. I'm thinking now that I might as well get a newer Chevrolet Equinox used, with about 50% depreciation, and invest the rest of the money.
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Replying to: joeblack1 (Dec 04, 2008 6:37 pm) |
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Finaly test drove a Venza today. My dealer had a Blizzard White FWD V6 w/ Premium Package #2, pana roof, navi, and floor mats with a sticker of just north of $35K. Pretty pricey for a wagon/CUV, but about as loaded as you could get in a FWD. Interior was very upscale. Front seats were wonderful. Nice stitching and piping in the leather. Much of the leather seating surface had a nice grainy texture to it - as opposed to simply smooth as in a Highlander. Some of the professional reviewers who complained about the lack of side thigh support must have wanted this car to perform quick side maneuvers like a sports car. I liked the flatter thigh bolstering. Made the seat feel much wider than most and my rather large thighs didn't feel like the bolstering was digging into the side of my thighs. The car is the perfect height for easy entering and exiting. Console is simply enormous. I had early doubts about the transmission shift lever positioning, but it really fell into position just fine. I took it on a 30 mile test drive and felt it drove silky smooth. I like the drive height. I don't think it needs the 20" wheels and low profile tires. They did make a bit of chatter on anything but the smoothest of roads. Other than that, I didn't experience any undue road or wind noise. All the power you'll need and very smooth 6 speed tranny. The engine and tranny work very well together with almost unnoticable downshifts. I don't want navi, but do want the JBL ($1,090) for the better radio, Bluetooth, and XM. By the way, the XM reciever is included in this package. Just initiate the subscription and go. On this Toyota vehicle (with JBL) you don't have to pay the dealer an additional $400 or so for the XM receiver to be installed. About time, Toyota! I don't really need the pana roof for $1,050 - I like a moon/sun roof but it's not worth $1,050 to me. However, my salesman said that with a fairly loaded Venza they will ALL have the pana roof because it's easier on the production line that way. Sounds like if I want a fairly loaded Venza but without the pana roof, a special order would be necessary. He said that would easily be 3-6 months leadtime. So, I guess if I spring on a Venza, Toyota will get into my pocketbook for the additional $1,050. Nice vehicle but a little pricey. As loaded as most of the early ones will be the price gets into Highlander territory. I may wait and try out the I4 version earlier next year (almost $2,000 less). Then again, I like the available power of the very smooth V6. Time will tell. I like it!
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