It’s Big as All Indoors.

If you see something described in an advertisement as being bright and airy, spacious, and having a great view, it's usually a house.  But you can say the same things about the Toyota Avalon.

Avalon is Toyota's largest car.  Designed and engineered in the U.S., for the U.S., the Avalon was developed from the Camry.  It has true room for five, decent power, a long option list, and lots of glass so you don't feel cramped.

The Avalon is also quite light on its feet, certainly more so than you expect from a car its size. But the ride is still smooth. It’s screwed together impeccably, in the Toyota manner, and if it is a passionless drive, well, some unusual styling helps keep your interest.

In many ways, the Avalon is good old Toyota.  In the next couple of weeks we’ll bring you up to date on new Toyota.



Life is a Matter of Choosing One's Moments.

Car companies move cautiously into new markets.  The Toyota Avalon we drove last week represented a departure for Toyota; it was a larger car than they were used to building; it was designed in United States; and was intended to sell only on this side of the ocean.

So Toyota stayed with its strengths, designing a competent, well-made car, and excitement wasn't the point.  By contrast, when Nissan decided to make a larger car, it went with the Maxima.  You may remember the ads calling the Maxima the four-door sports car.  And even today, the feel of the two cars is completely different.  The Toyota is larger inside and feels even larger than that, and is optimized for ride.  The Maxima feels much heavier and more solid, and puts a lot more performance into the equation.

Two companies; two approaches to the same market.  And you get to vote with your dollars.