Disapointing venza test drive

[Careener]

There's a guy at my work who bought the Venza BECAUSE of the huge wheels. It takes all kinds I suppose.

[articsteve]

The smarter older folks who don't buy these overpriced Toyota machines all head down to the Buick dealershiop and get a much smoother riding vehicle with higher ratings on them for less money as well. They are not all as stupid as you think. 

Utterly brilliant advice; to buy a brand that will be discontinued by years end.   

[articsteve]

There's a guy at my work who bought the Venza BECAUSE of the huge wheels. It takes all kinds I suppose.

Can't make them fast enough at 5.9% and superficial discounts.  Go figure. 

[ovr50]

The smarter older folks who don't buy these overpriced Toyota machines all head down to the Buick dealershiop and get a much smoother riding vehicle with higher ratings on them for less money as well. They are not all as stupid as you think. 

I consider myself one of the those types, and I would NEVER consider a Buick - a Corvette, and new Camaro, the Pontiac G8 V8, or the new GM trucks like a Tahoe BUT never a Buick. Some of us don't want to drive an "old person's" brand.

 

[airbalancer]

The smarter older folks who don't buy these overpriced Toyota machines all head down to the Buick dealershiop and get a much smoother riding vehicle with higher ratings on them for less money as well. They are not all as stupid as you think. 

I consider myself one of the those types, and I would NEVER consider a Buick - a Corvette, and new Camaro, the Pontiac G8 V8, or the new GM trucks like a Tahoe BUT never a Buick. Some of us don't want to drive an "old person's" brand.

 

I have a hard time calling Buick a brand, it has only 3 vehicles
Enclave is  need a diet, also has any been in the rear seat , I find the seat is to low to seat in comfortable
I like the Venza shape, but have not drove it yet

[Leviathan]

Toyota Venza leaves a lot to be desired

Bottom Line: 2009 Toyota Venza
Pros: Comfortable ride, superlative fuel economy for its size, the brand name that makes grizzled baby boomers behave like irrational adolescents

Cons: Insultingly cheap interior, lousy steering, useless automatic headlights

Verdict: Toyota is off its game and needs to refocus on giving customers more than they expect rather than thinking they won’t notice that they are being shortchanged.

[Juke1]

The interiors in particular are awash in cheap-looking, shiny plastic. Likening the Venza’s apparently ready-to-hose-clean, plastic door panels to something from the toy aisle would insult Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

Worse yet, the plastic bits in the test model weren’t installed correctly, so the cut lines between pieces were misaligned in places and the dashboard air vents had shockingly large, irregular gaps around them. These are the things that killed GM’s image. Now Toyota is making the same inexcusable mistakes. Chronic problem accross the board

On one of my trips last year to DC, my choice of rental at Dulles was a Toyota or Toyota or Toyota, since I had a lot of crap to haul I took a Highlander.  I did not expect so much rock hard plastics and definitely not on the top portion of the dash panel for a vehicle in this price range.  Yes Toyota have good engines, their trannies not so sure, I can echo many of those comments from the author that would apply to the Highlander and the Camry.  It blows me away why a company with such a good reputation would take such a direction, when all the other asian carmakers are striving for the top by actually listening to their clients and correcting the problems.  As I said many times before, Toyota is riding on a wave they created back in the late 90's, not much different than the wave GM rode for the past 30 years

[articsteve]

You two GM slappies can only hope. 



On one of my trips last year to DC, my choice of rental at Dulles was a Toyota or Toyota or Toyota, since I had a lot of crap to haul I took a Highlander

 

[Leviathan]

You two GM slappies can only hope. 

  You are calling me a GM slappy? You really need to step away from the recreational pharmaceuticals there articsteve.

[Juke1]

You two GM slappies can only hope. 



On one of my trips last year to DC, my choice of rental at Dulles was a Toyota or Toyota or Toyota, since I had a lot of crap to haul I took a Highlander

 

 :laugh:Pics, that one is getting old, as is your bashing of non-Toyonda brands.  But hey, we know it's been a rough past couple of months for you.  BTW we're all waiting for Fords failure, when? 

[articsteve]

You really need to step away from the recreational pharmaceuticals there articsteve.

I've tried.  Situation hopeless. 

[carsncars]

I didn't like the Venza, either. On paper it looks fantastic, but failed to impress on the test drive.

The interior is a vast expanse of grey, grey, and more grey. And it wasn't the good kind of warm grey, like Audi uses. The plastics were hard and cheap feeling, the texture they used was questionable at best, and the seats were swathed in a mousefur-type textile that must've been overstock from the early 90's.

The driving position is alright, but the windshield is quite steeply raked, requiring a vast expanse of dashboard in front of the driver. From the rear, the Venza was quite claustrophobic, with short windows, depriving rear passengers of the SUV-type visibility the Venza's exterior would suggest.

I sampled the V6 variant. The driving experience was typically Toyota: devoid of most feeling. Not really a surprise. You turn the steering wheel, then something happens... somewhere, and then the vehicle moves. It's effortless enough. But that, combined with the soft suspension (no doubt to compensate for the dubs) and limited visibility from the interior, meant my mother got nauseous on anything other than the highway.

Oh, it'll sell for sure. It's fairly fuel efficient, practical, and looks the part of a crossover. And it's a Toyota. But I'll take a Legacy wagon/Outback or maybe even a Crosstour over this anyday.

[articsteve]

meant my mother got nauseous on anything other than the highway.


 

[Guy]

meant my mother got nauseous on anything other than the highway.


 

He's taking his mother on test drives? I once got a salesmen sick when testing a Celica Turbo AWD during a blizzard. But that's a long time ago.

[Greg B.]

One good thing you can say about Toyos though: they have great acceleration. Even though it is not always the desired type and even though it cannot often be stopped until it runs into something.

 

[carsncars]

meant my mother got nauseous on anything other than the highway.


 

He's taking his mother on test drives? I once got a salesmen sick when testing a Celica Turbo AWD during a blizzard. But that's a long time ago.

Well, we were shopping for me dad. That would explain it. I don't have the cash for a Venza and even if I did I wouldn't be considering it.

[Patate]

One good thing you can say about Toyos though: they have great acceleration. Even though it is not always the desired type and even though it cannot often be stopped until it runs into something.

 

Well you know those traitors that died from that crash in their Lexus had the time to call the police to tell them the car can't stop "accelerating"..

Those cars really ARE fast

[Patate]

As for the Venza, I haven't driven it but I consider it as one of the only, if not the only (with perhaps the Tacoma), interesting Toyota product out there.  Would I consider it? No.  Would I consider it even if I was in the market for that kind of vehicle? No.  But it has some highlights.

I4 AWD Venza vs I4 AWD Equinox? No contest here, The Chevy is clearly the best one, even if they're not really in the same price range.  Anyway in a Chevy vs Toyota contest, The Japanese never wins (except Yaris vs Aveo, but it's like comparing the neighbor's garbage can to yours.. it's still garbage)

[Patate]

The smarter older folks who don't buy these overpriced Toyota machines all head down to the Buick dealershiop and get a much smoother riding vehicle with higher ratings on them for less money as well. They are not all as stupid as you think. 

I consider myself one of the those types, and I would NEVER consider a Buick - a Corvette, and new Camaro, the Pontiac G8 V8, or the new GM trucks like a Tahoe BUT never a Buick. Some of us don't want to drive an "old person's" brand.

 

Stay away from Toyota or Lexus then

[articsteve]

Anyway in a Chevy vs Toyota contest, The Japanese never wins

If bankrutcy is the goal then so true.