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2010 Toyota Venza

94 messages,  Last post on Jan 11, 2012 at 9:46 AM

You are in the Toyota Venza Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Venza, SUV

Messages Page 5 of 10

#34 of 94 Re: A mistake called Venza [dave139] by bearlover

Nov 20, 2009 (6:03 am)

Replying to: dave139 (Nov 20, 2009 5:45 am)
Neither my wife nor I are "picky" people. We have owned more than a dozen cars in our lifetime and never had a problem with any of them--both foreign and domestic. Our 2009 Venza has more shortcomings than any vehicle we have ever owned. Its strong points (and there are several) are outweighed by the discomfort of their seats (cost cutting vs the Highlander's, for example?), limited seat adjustment (especially on passenger side), no memory seats/mirrors, no extenders on sun visors, arm rests so low that after a short distance our arms ache, no battery or oil pressure gauges, etc. Some of these we noticed when we test drove, but most surfaced after a short period of ownership. My caution to anyone looking at the Venza is make very sure that the seats are okay for you. They are so bad for us that my wife, who has never had back problem or had a problem in any other vehicle (owned or rented), cannot sit longer than thirty minutes without pain. Otherwise, "'Mrs. Lincoln' the play was great!" We are trading our Venza in after less than 2,000 miles and will gladly take the huge depreciation hit just to get rid of it! Sorry to be a "Debbie Downer." It is not my nature, but I have to share our experience for what it is. This experience with Toyota has been a huge disappointment.

#35 of 94 Re: A mistake called Venza [bearlover] by roho1

Nov 20, 2009 (6:36 am)

Replying to: bearlover (Nov 20, 2009 6:03 am)
I can't help but note you told us back in September you were trading in your Venza, why the delay?
 
Just for reference what was the vehicle you owned prior to the Venza and what will you be trading to?

#36 of 94 Re: A mistake called Venza [roho1] by bearlover

Nov 20, 2009 (12:36 pm)

Replying to: roho1 (Nov 20, 2009 6:36 am)
For a replacement, we had to special order a Highlander Limited without the moonroof since that's mandatory with the "package" items that we wanted. In the meantime, Toyota shifts manufacturing from Japan to Indiana. Add to that the cumbersomeness of our dealer having to go through the middleman of Gulf States Region and you might understand our frustration. Our Venza has been parked in our garage and driven only enough to keep the battery charged. Our Highlander is scheduled to arrive in December but since all the info has to be filtered by Gulf States before the dealer gets it, we are not confident we'll see it before January.
 
Were it not for pre-paid maintenance and extended warranty that we can transfer to the Highlander, we would have traded the Venza in on another brand. In the meantime, we travel around in our F-350. It's a bummer, but we caused this by not being more discriminating at the beginning.

#37 of 94 Re: A mistake called Venza [bearlover] by roho1

Nov 20, 2009 (12:59 pm)

Replying to: bearlover (Nov 20, 2009 12:36 pm)
Thanks for the feedback, I understand now. Sorry to hear about the Gulf States region. Sounds like he one I'm in, Southeast Toyota(SET).
Interesting you find the new HL more comfortable. I have a 1st gen HL and I find as a tall person the seats are really too small for me with short leg support. Although there aren't many cars out there that seem to have good seats. If you are not the standard size person they design for you're doomed to make do.
Seats should be an option like shoes, Small, medium and large would be nice.

#38 of 94 MY Mistake in Buying a Venza by bearlover

Nov 20, 2009 (3:13 pm)

I'm 6'6" and my wife is 5'4". Until we got our Venza, we have never had a problem with seating, hence the reason it didn't occur to us that we would soon have to trade it off due to seat problems. The reason I had to special order a Highlander Limited is that all the packages that we want include a moonroof and there are virtually none on dealers' inventories without the moonroof. Due to my height, there is simply not enough headroom with the moonroof.

#40 of 94 Re: A mistake called Venza [robfile] by vrm

Nov 22, 2009 (8:40 pm)

Replying to: robfile (Nov 20, 2009 1:43 am)
Just because Venza is a Toyota does not mean that the media has to sing its praises.
 
Pacifica and Taurus X are in the same "class" as Venza. The definition of Class here is 4 door wagon/crossover vehicle.

#41 of 94 Re: A mistake called Venza [vrm] by robfile

Nov 22, 2009 (9:12 pm)

Replying to: vrm (Nov 22, 2009 8:40 pm)
I would check again if I were you.
 
1. The 2009 Chrysler Pacifica was discontinued.
 
2. The Taurus X is a 7 Passenger Vehicle.
 
This has nothing to do weather the car is a Toyota or not. Instead compare apples to apples in size as well as class.

#42 of 94 Carney Strikes Out by michiganmike1

Nov 23, 2009 (12:14 pm)

If you read the comments on the MSNBC review of the Venza, you will find a number of reasons to question Mr. Carney's objectivity, fact-checking and honesty in his Venza review. He appears to have an axe to grind with Toyota. Compare his earlier review of the Toyota Matrix where he made several of the same points. He praised the quality of materials in a recent Chevy Equinox review in contrast to the Venza review that discusses at length the cheap plastic used by Toyota. Based on my own observations of these materials in these two vehicles there seems to be a double standard employed by Mr. Carney in evaluating plastic interior components.
 
Let's put the reference to the Pacifica and Taurus X in context with the following quote from Mr. Carney's review:
"It's unknown whether this was the result of a genuine belief that the company should offer a product in every imaginable category, or because hubris led Toyota to believe that the Venza would find buyers who eluded the very similar (and discontinued due to lack of interest) Chrysler Pacifica and Ford Taurus X crossovers."
 
His point was to question whether the Venza would find a market. A little research would have shown Mr. Carney that Toyota targeted first year sales of 60,000 Venzas in press releases in the 4th quarter of 2008. Venza is on track to sell 90% of its target in 2009, despite the headwinds of the worst new car sales market in many years. Note that Honda has only targeted 40,000 for sales of its Crosstour, but apparently concluded this was a market segment deserving a product.
 
Consider another irrelevant aside by Mr. Carney at the end of the Venza review where he goes out of his way to praise Volkswagen as closing on the leaders where only quality products need apply. VW has a poor reputation for quality based on several sources. In addition, VW does not have a car that competes directly with the Venza, so why is it mentioned in this Venza review? Was this gratuitous compliment in appreciation of Mr. Carney being selected as one of three guest drivers earlier in the year in a VW sponsored race? Is this why he cites the hubris of Toyota in bringing the Venza to market, while praising the leadership of VW. Keep in mind this is the same VW that brought us the Phaeton, the embodiment of hubris and a car that sold 6,000 units per year from a factory built to produce 20,000 Phaetons. VW's leadership is currently exemplified in its re-badged Chrysler minivan, the Routan. However, do not bother Mr. Carney with such facts.

#43 of 94 Re: Carney Strikes Out [michiganmike1] by md_outback

Nov 24, 2009 (7:10 am)

Replying to: michiganmike1 (Nov 23, 2009 12:14 pm)
A careful read of Carney's review shows little evidence that he actually drove a Venza, except maybe one or two circles around the dealer's parking lot. He offers no objective or even subjective info about ride comfort, engine/transmission feel and performance, handling, etc. It's almost like he wrote the review based upon reading a brochure and sitting in the vehicle in a Toyota showroom. Mr. Carney should have published his document in the opinion pages, rather than pushing it as an objective review of the Venza.
 
MD

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