Topic: Disapointing venza test drive

[articsteve]

The silver paint on the center stack of the new 4Runner looks awful.

I'm sure that the Japanese homeless that hand paint those stacks for food, would disagree.

[Navel_gazer]

Well, I have had my 2010 Venza V6 AWD since May and I'd trade it for a new Equinox in a hear beat. The car is "ok" but I really don't like it as it doesn't really have any character to it, the seats are horrible (for me), the ride cushy, steering bland (and uncomfortable to me), and now I'm looking at serious coin for winter tires (I know, I know, I knew this was coming). I previously had an FJ cruiser for 3 yrs, so that might explain the cushy ride but it's the seats that get me most PO'd. On anything longer than a trip to the corner store they are just plain unsupportive and to me feel like I'm sitting in a lazy boy chair that can't be adjusted right.

I recently drove it from Calgary to Las Vegas and back and again the car was "ok", but the seats were awful. I did the same trip again a few weeks later in a Ford F250 Super Duty pickup truck, pulling a race car in a 24' trailer and it was WAY better seat wise. (Ok, the Venza killed it on gas mileage though!). When I test drove it, I really wanted to like the car and on paper (as someone else mentioned) it seems to have everything I needed - AWD, stylong, lots of Cargo space in the back to throw sports equipment/gear, better mileage than the FJ, adequate power, yadda yadda, but I couldn't relaly tell how lack the seats were in a 15 minute test drive.  I drove the Equinox at the same time and quite liked it but GN wasn't offering any leasing or decent monthly payment plans (they are now), and thee local Toyota dealer saif the Venza's were on a lease special which translated into some decenet monthly payments.

So all in all, its "ok". But I'd trade it. :-)

[Turbo Bob]

Thanks for being so honest! Welcome to the forum! 

[TopGun]

Thanks for being so honest! Welcome to the forum! 

Ditto dude.  I had heard that about the seats from the AutoBog Podcast.

[articsteve]

Well, I have had my 2010 Venza V6 AWD since May and I'd trade it for a new Equinox in a hear beat. The car is "ok" but I really don't like it as it doesn't really have any character to it, the seats are horrible (for me), the ride cushy, steering bland (and uncomfortable to me), and now I'm looking at serious coin for winter tires (I know, I know, I knew this was coming). I previously had an FJ cruiser for 3 yrs, so that might explain the cushy ride but it's the seats that get me most PO'd. On anything longer than a trip to the corner store they are just plain unsupportive and to me feel like I'm sitting in a lazy boy chair that can't be adjusted right.

I recently drove it from Calgary to Las Vegas and back and again the car was "ok", but the seats were awful. I did the same trip again a few weeks later in a Ford F250 Super Duty pickup truck, pulling a race car in a 24' trailer and it was WAY better seat wise. (Ok, the Venza killed it on gas mileage though!). When I test drove it, I really wanted to like the car and on paper (as someone else mentioned) it seems to have everything I needed - AWD, stylong, lots of Cargo space in the back to throw sports equipment/gear, better mileage than the FJ, adequate power, yadda yadda, but I couldn't relaly tell how lack the seats were in a 15 minute test drive.  I drove the Equinox at the same time and quite liked it but GN wasn't offering any leasing or decent monthly payment plans (they are now), and thee local Toyota dealer saif the Venza's were on a lease special which translated into some decenet monthly payments.

So all in all, its "ok". But I'd trade it. :-)

 

[Juke1]

Poor seats, cheap poorly fitted plastic interior, bland.......not the first time I hear this on the Venza....actually read a few poor reviews on that thing....

I was impressed with the Equinox and Terrain test drive I had lately.....nice!

A/S you can shove your pics where the sun don't shine....you are getting pretty pathetic with that sorry line.

[99 Silver]

I went with a friend a couple weeks ago for a couple of test drives.

We first took a Venza out.  Both of us wanted to like the car because of it's overall design.  The overall driving impression was just OK for me.  The engine was great, transmission seemed good, but the car felt numb to me.  Part of the problem is that I drive an Infiniti M35 and it feels better connected to the road and handles pretty well for it's size.  So my bar is set pretty high.  I liked the overall design of the car and interior, but thought the execution of the interior was poor.  We had the top of the line model with leather and nav, but the materials felt mediocre.  The nav screen was small, but I was really put off by the leather used on the seats.  Overall it didn't live up to my expectations.

We then went down the street and took out a top of the line Sonata.  It's interior and driving experience were far superior, with the exception of the engine.  The Sonata's engine was fine and moved the car well with it's 6 speed transmission, but it was no match for the Toyota V6.  It will be interesting to see what the upcoming turbo is like.  I have always liked turbos in Saabs and VWs as I enjoy the feeling of the wave of torque under part throttle that pulls the car down the road.  My Miata is a turbo also but is a lot peakier (SP?) than the VW and Saab as the torque comes on quite strongly at 2800 rpm and is not as linear as the others.

It will be interesting to see if the Sonata will ever come out with a body style similar to the Venza.  It could be a real winner with the turbo.

[articsteve]

Poor seats, cheap poorly fitted plastic interior, bland.......not the first time I hear this on the Venza....actually read a few poor reviews on that thing....

I was impressed with the Equinox and Terrain test drive I had lately.....nice!

A/S you can shove your pics where the sun don't shine....you are getting pretty pathetic with that sorry line.

 

[ktm525]

Starting to see more Venzas on the road. Havn't sat behind the wheel of one though. Why Toyota insists on 20" wheels? Goofy. The 4Runner Limited 20" wheels are extra goofy. Tall thin tires look horrible on that vehicle.

[Winklovic]

I recently drove it from Calgary to Las Vegas and back and again the car was "ok", but the seats were awful. I did the same trip again a few weeks later in a Ford F250 Super Duty pickup truck, pulling a race car in a 24' trailer and it was WAY better seat wise.

I want to hear more about the race car!

[ktm525]

Passed a Venza today going they other way. The shiny chrome grill on that thing was nasty. Almost as bad as the Acura buck-tooth.

[TopGun]

.....

A/S you can shove your pics where the sun don't shine....you are getting pretty pathetic with that sorry line.

Don't worry about it Altima1, he only asks it in certain situations as we've all seen.  Your opinions are obviously not valid in his mind...so I'll post an appropriate picture for him:

[CatsEye68]

Well, at least he didn't call him a GM slappy the way he usually does. The artics have all been a little less Toyobnoxious of late as the company's problems continue to mount, and their products keep showing customers how the company has lost its way.

[Baron von Raschke]

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

Love my Rav4's power, fuel economy and handling....but I hate to admit that you're right about the interior.  As someone who's held Toyota in high esteem for so long, I was disappointed in the quality of materials used for the interior of the Rav4 and my wife's Corolla.

Would I buy it again? Maybe, as the pros I listed above are very important to me, but I certainly don't hold Toyota in the same regard as I did before. 

Am I a GM slappy? No far from it.  I owned an awful 1997 Grand Am and my wife had a 2004 Cavalier and a 2006 G6 that were terrible lemons.  I am a slappy of a car manufacturer that can sell me an exciting, safe, reliable, quality-made car inside and out.  Sort of like the cars Toyota used make.

[javedjee84]

I am newbie in this forum and glad to join