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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: jwag2 (Dec 08, 2008 3:09 pm) That being said, for a vehicle the size that the Venza is, the MPG is pretty impressive, whether you choose the 4 or 6cyl models. |
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Big blizzard yesterday in N Wisconsin - about 5 or 6 inches of heavy wet snow when I went out and there were drifts. Took the Venza to get the papers on some unplowed, some hilly, some partially driven on roads, about 10 miles altogether. Have the following comments: The car handled well in the snow altho it was difficult to 'feel' the road and the engine. The AWD, weight and wide tires seemed to plow through just fine. Maybe just a bit 'boggy' feeling at times due to the tire tracks of others and the wide tires pushing the snow out of the way. The transmission seemed to be searching for the right gear but downshifting helped considerably. On the plowed roads (about 2-3 inches of snow on top of a glaze) the car handled perfectly - no slipping or sliding even at 40mph. Car handled well on the unplowed driveway hills in second. With the smooth rear end (lack of corners and indentations) the car did not accumulate snow on driving like our Subaru Outback. The backup camera does need frequent cleaning. So far the wheel wells seem to clear OK compared to the Subaru, which has to be cleaned out periodically due to lack of clearance and rough edges. Driving the Subaru with a 5 speed manual in the same conditions doesn't have the 'boggy' feel since you can select the correct gear and feel the engine. Now, about the front headlights. Like the automatic brights on the highway, hate them on our drive (a bit more than third of a mile). The brights go off at under 20mph and when on the drive negotiating turns and hills going faster and slower than 20mph, they were going on and off about every 20 seconds. When off the regular lights do not illuminate the top of the next hill due to the design of the lights. It is as if the highest the regular lights will illuminate ahead is about the equivalent of the bottom/middle of the windshield - in a straight line across the total field of vision - perhaps to keep the high intensity lights out of other drivers' eyes. I know, turn on the manual brights. I did and then everything was fine. I'll keep you-all updated on other things as they come up. Still enjoy the car, especially the climate control system. On high you can fry a butt on those front seat warmers. PS: I still think I'll take the sleigh on the night of the 24th.
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Replying to: santa3 (Dec 15, 2008 7:53 am) Does your Venza have the heated windshield wipers? If so, did you get a chance to try them during the snow storm? Please keep us updated on your experiences. Thanks. MD
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Replying to: md_outback (Dec 15, 2008 10:46 am) I have the heated windshield wipers along with heated mirrors. They work great, in my limited experience. -- James |
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Replying to: md_outback (Dec 15, 2008 10:46 am) Yes we have heated WWs. One button turns on all defogging - rear window, side mirrors and WW. I guess the WW one worked fine - but I was going fast enough that there wasn't much of a build-up on the winshield. The snow mostly blew over the car and did not settle except at stop signs. Yesterday I put the car in the attached, unheated garage and closed the door. It was 30F out. About 10PM it got to 37F out and then plunged to below -10F overnight. Today drove to town at -2F to mail something and felt like I was driving (at 40mph) on the roughest road imaginable. As if all the tire balancing weights had fallen off. The faster I went, the worse it got. All roads including the drive had been well plowed and are generally smooth. When I got to town I looked at the rims and noticed all kinds of ice and snow built up all around the inside of the rim on all 4 rims. Built up fully side to side and all the way around, perhaps a few inches thick in spots. If you've seen Venza in person you know how wide the rims are. Well, they also are pretty flat so they don't self clean. So I got the watering can, filled it with hot water and melted the ice away. This is the same problem we have on the Subaru and the same solution. Tonite when we go out to dinner we'll see if I fixed it. I'll also try to keep up with snow removal when I return from an expedition rather than waiting - but hey, why not try the lazy man's approach first. |
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Checking the Toyota Georgetown, KY production plan and some news alerts, it looks like there will be no additional Venzas produced until about Jan. 12, 2009. Thus far 6348 Venzas have been assembled through Dec. 17 when the plant shutdown for an extended period (usually they just shutdown for the week from Christmas to New Years Day). So if you are hoping your local dealer may have some additional Venzas arriving soon (beyond their current allocation), it may take another month to rebuild the pipeline. MD
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Replying to: rexf (Nov 29, 2008 7:13 pm) Honda Accord Tourer CUV There are some spy shots out there but I haven't been able to find out if it's really coming to the US or not.
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Replying to: md_outback (Dec 22, 2008 7:24 am)
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Replying to: steve_ (Dec 22, 2008 7:52 am) I hope they bring it over. |
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Replying to: md_outback (Dec 22, 2008 7:24 am) |
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