Topic: Test Drive: 2013 Toyota Venza

[JRM]

There is much better Toyota choice when you look for...VW Golf - of course, the venerable Matrix. I know it's a size smaller and so on, but again the point is why Golf? Matrix is much more reliable, fuel efficiency is decent and ...is really just fine for 6 footers plus. And the resale value is simply the best in this class!

Except that the Matrix drives and handles like the cheaply built car that it is and the Golf like the European car that it is.  I'm 6'3' and I don't fit well in my wife's Matrix/Vibe, whereas I have plenty of room in my Golf, which, by the way has much more comfortable seats, better stereo, heated seats standard and is much quieter in every respect and on and on.  It also has lower fuel consumption.

[Snowman]

I liked this vehicle when it first came out, but found it way too big with awkward handling.  A year and a half later we bought a right sized Golf wagon, which actually has more cargo space than the Venza and it shines in the handling and parking departments. It is rated at and actually gets 9.3 and 6.9 l/100km.

Also I wonder how safe the Venza is with all the Toyota recalls in the past few years.

Toyota Venza has 33 vs. the Golf Wagon at 31.5 cu. ft. Toyota quality and reliability vs. VW? are you serious?

According to The Autos.ca buyers guide, the Venza has 869L/30.7cu in and the Golf has 928L/32.8 cu in

Autos.ca  there is the problem 

[JRM]

I liked this vehicle when it first came out, but found it way too big with awkward handling.  A year and a half later we bought a right sized Golf wagon, which actually has more cargo space than the Venza and it shines in the handling and parking departments. It is rated at and actually gets 9.3 and 6.9 l/100km.

Also I wonder how safe the Venza is with all the Toyota recalls in the past few years.

Toyota Venza has 33 vs. the Golf Wagon at 31.5 cu. ft. Toyota quality and reliability vs. VW? are you serious?

According to The Autos.ca buyers guide, the Venza has 869L/30.7cu in and the Golf has 928L/32.8 cu in

Autos.ca  there is the problem 

Same cargo volume as cited on the VW site.  Whta's your problem. 

[Snowman]

I liked this vehicle when it first came out, but found it way too big with awkward handling.  A year and a half later we bought a right sized Golf wagon, which actually has more cargo space than the Venza and it shines in the handling and parking departments. It is rated at and actually gets 9.3 and 6.9 l/100km.

Also I wonder how safe the Venza is with all the Toyota recalls in the past few years.

Toyota Venza has 33 vs. the Golf Wagon at 31.5 cu. ft. Toyota quality and reliability vs. VW? are you serious?

According to The Autos.ca buyers guide, the Venza has 869L/30.7cu in and the Golf has 928L/32.8 cu in

Autos.ca  there is the problem 

Same cargo volume as cited on the VW site.  Whta's your problem.

I don't have problem. You came into a Venza thread with your VW Fanboi post. 

[Ex-airbalancer]

I liked this vehicle when it first came out, but found it way too big with awkward handling.  A year and a half later we bought a right sized Golf wagon, which actually has more cargo space than the Venza and it shines in the handling and parking departments. It is rated at and actually gets 9.3 and 6.9 l/100km.

Also I wonder how safe the Venza is with all the Toyota recalls in the past few years.

Toyota Venza has 33 vs. the Golf Wagon at 31.5 cu. ft. Toyota quality and reliability vs. VW? are you serious?

According to The Autos.ca buyers guide, the Venza has 869L/30.7cu in and the Golf has 928L/32.8 cu in

Autos.ca  there is the problem 

Same cargo volume as cited on the VW site.  Whta's your problem.

I don't have problem. You came into a Venza thread with your VW Fanboi post. 

I look at a golf wagon tdi, and it came down to a Prius and a Venza
Golf was to small in side, not enough driver room and no room in the rear seat at all
I got the Prius since my drives it 90% of the time around town
I did not like golf wagon

[safristi]

Venza this gonna end...i needs ta get the spaghetti  fungali going and the kiddies they are bored................why u needa BIG SUV with uno bambino....capice!!!   backa seat no working

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I don't get steelies. Sure if you have an old POS,whatever, but I don't know how many people I saw who just blew 40-50-60 grand on a car and are rolling around on POS looking steelies for half the year. Christ, pony up the extra hundred bucks and get something that looks half decent FFS.

I do not want alloys in winter. Out here, the finish might hold up a bit longer, but they are much more prone to leak when the temperature dips. On cold nights before Christmas, when the mall parking lots are full, I'm pretty much guaranteed to see at least one flat just walking to the car and back. Back home, it only took a couple of winters before the clearcoat finish started to peal and the aluminum corroded. I've tried it when money was tight, it sucks. With steelies, wire brush the rust and rattle can the black back to life.

Hit a steel wheel and it'll bend. You may or may not be able to bring it back to true. Hit an aluminum wheel and it's much more likely to fracture, especially with tire sections under 50. The local tire shop back home had a room that they'd dump broken wheels in for recycling. It was never empty for long according to one of the shop guys.

[Snowman]

I liked this vehicle when it first came out, but found it way too big with awkward handling.  A year and a half later we bought a right sized Golf wagon, which actually has more cargo space than the Venza and it shines in the handling and parking departments. It is rated at and actually gets 9.3 and 6.9 l/100km.

Also I wonder how safe the Venza is with all the Toyota recalls in the past few years.

Toyota Venza has 33 vs. the Golf Wagon at 31.5 cu. ft. Toyota quality and reliability vs. VW? are you serious?

According to The Autos.ca buyers guide, the Venza has 869L/30.7cu in and the Golf has 928L/32.8 cu in

Autos.ca  there is the problem 

Same cargo volume as cited on the VW site.  Whta's your problem.

I don't have problem. You came into a Venza thread with your VW Fanboi post. 

I look at a golf wagon tdi, and it came down to a Prius and a Venza
Golf was to small in side, not enough driver room and no room in the rear seat at all
I got the Prius since my drives it 90% of the time around town
I did not like golf wagon

I tried one and liked it for what is was, a nice and well equipped small wagon. It is not a competitor to mid sized crossovers especially the Venza.

[johngenx]

One of the only cars we drove in the winter that didn't have steel wheels was the C36.  Oddly, a stock 16" alloy would fit, but I couldn't find any steels that would clear the brakes.  I bought some OE Mercedes wheels from an E-Class owner, and hated running such nice wheels in the winter, but I got them cheap used.  Even on such a high quality wheel and trying to maintain them, the finish was getting destroyed.  No way I'd have subjected the AMG wheels to that.

[dragonfly]

1900$ for winter wheels / tires is just crazy money to me. I paid around 1100$ for my Sonata's winter package, and that was already pretty expensive. Even ignoring the steelies that you probably just purchase once over the life of the vehicle, I'd be terribly bummed having to pay roughly ~1,500$ for sets of winter and A/S tires every 3-4 years, that's pretty much double what it costs for 16" tires on our Sportage. That just seems like a huge waste of money for no actual benefit considering the type of vehicle.

Interesting..Last year I bought four new 18 inch tires and rims...225/50-18s mounted , balanced and delivered for $1400..
  Nice black rims..Really makes the Sonata shine..This might be the nicest vehicle Toyota makes, but still...2.7 liters, and only 182 HP?....Jack

[Solstice2006]

I don't get steelies. Sure if you have an old POS,whatever, but I don't know how many people I saw who just blew 40-50-60 grand on a car and are rolling around on POS looking steelies for half the year. Christ, pony up the extra hundred bucks and get something that looks half decent FFS.

I do not want alloys in winter. Out here, the finish might hold up a bit longer, but they are much more prone to leak when the temperature dips. On cold nights before Christmas, when the mall parking lots are full, I'm pretty much guaranteed to see at least one flat just walking to the car and back. Back home, it only took a couple of winters before the clearcoat finish started to peal and the aluminum corroded. I've tried it when money was tight, it sucks. With steelies, wire brush the rust and rattle can the black back to life.

Hit a steel wheel and it'll bend. You may or may not be able to bring it back to true. Hit an aluminum wheel and it's much more likely to fracture, especially with tire sections under 50. The local tire shop back home had a room that they'd dump broken wheels in for recycling. It was never empty for long according to one of the shop guys.

I guess it depends where you live.  I hate buying winter tires, but I do, because I know they offer better performance, and safety, but never have enough money to get steelies and snow tires.  So after 4 cars and going, still have never had steelies, nor have I ever had to leak in the alloy rim, just the odd scuff from parallel parking with the Mazda5, not used to sitting higher, I miss cars..

BTW, I agree that you can't compare the VW Golf wagon to the Venza, because it's not a mid size.  But it does offer decent room, for 4 people.  It blows the Matrix out of the water, not sure what Toyota is waiting for, that car needs an interior update, and some sound insulation would be nice!

I was considering the Venza with 4 cylinder FWD in mind, but decided it was too heavy and slow for a 4 cylinder.  My Mazda5 out handles it, and is faster (not a major reason), but it has sliding doors, :-(
Also, the price, and cost of tires was another detterent.

[Solstice2006]

Good Review, I see the exterior changes, and you mentioned the centre stack with the touchscreen, but have the interior materials changed?  Softer materials? Did the rear seats always recline 14 degrees?

[Danno001]

I put 17" wheels and winter tires on my Venza for $850 using RAV4 steels.  TPM - piece of black tape takes care of that light. 
Fuel economy - my Venza gets about 13 - 14 L/100, about the same as the dealer 2013 Santa Fe AWD 2.0 Turbo that gave me a lift when the Sonata was in for service a week ago. The Santa Fe reading was 13.1 L/100km. So much for new technology cr@p giving us better fuel economy. Spent quite a bit of time riding around town and the Hyundai driver was not in a rush and didn't idle excessively. Give me a Toyota V6 any day over a 2.0 Turbo if the gas mileage is the same. As for power, 6.9 seconds  to 60 should be enough for 99.99% of most folks driving. As for room for folks over 6', are you sure you sat in the back of a Venza It is huge back there and tons of headroom.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Here's what CR measured. Headroom is inches above a 5'9" person. Cargo area is measured with an adjustable pipe frame.

[rvanbo]

I bought a Venza 4 cyl AWD loaded in 2009.  First model year with pretty much no issues with the exception of a creaking in the steering column during hot weather. Dealer has been great but can't seem to find the fix.  This car is a great highway cruiser, holds tons of stuff going to the lake.  I use it for work so I cram allot of stuff in the back.  I have 17" RAV 4 rims with Michelin Latitude winter tires.  Not the greatest snow tires, but this car is unstoppable in the snow.  I really enjoy this car...especially the metallic bronze mica colour.

[Northernridge]

I bought a Venza 4 cyl AWD loaded in 2009.  First model year with pretty much no issues with the exception of a creaking in the steering column during hot weather. Dealer has been great but can't seem to find the fix.  This car is a great highway cruiser, holds tons of stuff going to the lake.  I use it for work so I cram allot of stuff in the back.  I have 17" RAV 4 rims with Michelin Latitude winter tires.  Not the greatest snow tires, but this car is unstoppable in the snow.  I really enjoy this car...especially the metallic bronze mica colour.

That's my favourite.

[Shnak]

I don't get steelies. Sure if you have an old POS,whatever, but I don't know how many people I saw who just blew 40-50-60 grand on a car and are rolling around on POS looking steelies for half the year. Christ, pony up the extra hundred bucks and get something that looks half decent FFS.

I'm a firm believer that cars look better in the winter with black steelies on. Always thought so, always will. It's just a "Canadian thing", to me.

[pcsp]

Not so sure if cars look better with steels, but a main reason for them is that they will allow your original rims on your $40,000 vehicle NOT to look like a POS after a few years. Anyone who buys a Venza factors in appearance and is willing to compromise on other areas in order to get a very attractive SUV. In the winter, appearance goes out the window with the salt, slush, etc. I personally look forward to the coming of spring so I can remove the steels and restore my car's original appearance with the alloy rims. My alloys are in perfect shape (make sure you clean AND wax them PRIOR to storage).

[Shnak]

Not so sure if cars look better with steels, but a main reason for them is that they will allow your original rims on your $40,000 vehicle NOT to look like a POS after a few years. Anyone who buys a Venza factors in appearance and is willing to compromise on other areas in order to get a very attractive SUV. In the winter, appearance goes out the window with the salt, slush, etc. I personally look forward to the coming of spring so I can remove the steels and restore my car's original appearance with the alloy rims. My alloys are in perfect shape (make sure you clean AND wax them PRIOR to storage).

I absolutely do. Vehicles look better with black steelies during the winter, and with nice non-chromed alloys the rest of the year. Not sure why, but that's my personal preference.

[sacrat]

I don't get steelies. Sure if you have an old POS,whatever, but I don't know how many people I saw who just blew 40-50-60 grand on a car and are rolling around on POS looking steelies for half the year. Christ, pony up the extra hundred bucks and get something that looks half decent FFS.

I agree. I was able to find a set of 10 spoke Hyundai Sonata Limited alloys with good tires for $400 on Kijiji (same as Shnak's picture in post above). I then mounted winter tires on my factory 5 spoke alloys.  I do understand why most Venza owners will not downsize to smaller winter tires as the large rims are what gives character to the Venza's "stance".  I've always liked the look of this vehicle inside and out but have no need for something this size...