I'm sure you can special order. You just have to find a dealer that's willing to do it for you. And of course it'll take a while to arrive but hey, you'll be the only one with a white/black Avalon!

 

Actually, the Limited does not get a black leather interior, but a dark grey one.

You can get a black interior with the Touring, but not the Limited.

My dad just Special Ordered one earlier this month, and he wanted black leather, but it wasn't gonna happen. He compromised with the dark grey.

 

dang, scratch the special order idea then. That sucks.

Well is the dark grey dark enough? lol. Like.. Stone grey on the Camry or darker?

The Limited does look nice and it has quite a bit of luxury - heated/cooled seats, puddle lights, SKS, opt. laser CC, reclining rear seats, power rear sunshade, memory seats etc.

But with gas expected to go to $1.50/litre soon (here in BC), the TCH is looking more and more inviting. Gotta see what the 2009 version brings in February (supposedly Toyota will bring out the 2009s early.. hopefully it's in response to the new Accord)

 

Is this Graphite leather dark enough? (as seen on Toyota.com)

 

For me, no. The Graphite (Dark Gray) leather color is not dark enough. Sure, my RX330 was light gray, the BMW 330i I have now is light gray, but all these were compromises. I have owned black interior cars before that that is my first choice, with the gray or dark gray being second. However, now I have realized that I have never been 100% satisfied with all the other interior colors (Espeically my tan ones) and I have made up my mind that I will never compromise on interior color again. I can compromise wood trim vs aluminum, or exterior color within a certain range of colors, evem sports suspension or no sports suspension since I generally add after market parts anyway. If the Touing model came with a push button start, I could comprimise the lack of LED/Puddle light mirrors, no perferated leather seats, no rain sensing wipers (That is for my wife anyway), but no black interior is a no deal unfortunately. Too bad because I like what Toyota has done with the minor updates for the 08 model.

All is not lost though. As ex Lexus RX330 owners, we are going to wait to see what the new 09 RX350 looks like. We might end up with another Lexus RX.

 

Excuse me for saying this, but I think this statement is a little ridiculous. You could do without all of these things, but it's the PUSH BUTTON START that is keeping you from getting the touring model?

Is turning a key just too much effort for you that you would give up the opportunity to own a great car over something like this? I understand you wanting the black interior and all, but if you can do without LED/Puddle light mirrors, no perforated leather, & no rain sending wipers, I'm sure you could live without the push button start.

 

The reason why I can do without the LED mirror/puddle lights is because I can install them myself at a later date. I just have to buy the new mirrors myself. The perforated leather is nice to have. I had cars with them, but also have cars without them so while I prefer it, it is not a deal breaker. I never liked the rain sensing wipers in our Lexus or BMW, but my wife liked it. That option is basically for the wife, but she doesn't need it either. The Push button start is something I wanted in my next new car for a while. If it is available in a car I want it. If it were not available all together in that model I'd think differently. I mean, if the model comes with Comfort Access, or as Toyota/Lexus calls it Smart Access why wouldn't you not want it? The push button start is something I can't retrofit myself at a later date, so it needs to have it if available.

The Avalon is a really nice car, but there are other cars out there that I like as well. Like I said, I've compromised too much in the past, so I decided if/when I get a new car I'll have it my way. We will wait to see how the new 09 RX350 is. If it offers what I want we might get that car. If not, I almost bought the 08 Infiniti G35 Sedan with sports package and maybe I'll get that. While it doesn't offer the White/Black, it does offer my secondary exterior color choices with black interior. The BMW 335i Sedan or Coupe is also on the list. You'll notice all those cars have push start buttons. That is one of the reasons they are on the list to begin with. It is basically this. I know what I want. If one manufacture doesn't offer what I want, I'll just go to another manufacture until I find one that meets my wants. I have no problem owning BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, and in this case the Toyota Avalon if it meet my wants and desires. If you are going to spend $30K-$50K on a car, you might as well have no regrets about it.

All in all, instead of asking why I as a customer would turn down a car for a lack of certain features, why don't we ask Toyota why they simply don't offer black interiors in the Limited trim but only in the Touring trim? It is not like it is a different design. It is the same car.

 

No, I understand what you're saying. If you're going to spend that much money on a new car, you should be able to get it how you want it. I just thought since you were willing to give up those other options, the push button start didn't seem like it would be such a big deal to give up as well.

The one thing about the Avalon that I think they should offer on the Limited is the electronic telescopic steering wheel. If they're going to offer the push button start, they might as well offer the electronic wheel as well, but yet for some odd reason, they do not. For me, having that steering wheel is a tough thing to give up, having had it now on 4 Lexus models over the past 6 years. But I would probably make the compromise for the Avalon, considering you end up getting so many other features instead.

Ultimately, it is very hard to find a car that has everything you want, so I think you must compromise here and there. I've never had push button start, so it's not a requirement for me. But if I were in the market for a new car, I would probably want it to have it as well. Though if it were a choice between the Limited (any Limited in any color combination) or a Touring with the right color combo, I personally would take the Limited hands down - more luxury, more features, top of the line model.

You should make a list of potential cars you would like and then an alternate list of features & requirements. Assign a number from 1-5 of how important each feature is to you. Whichever car ends up with the highest total is usually the one that is best suited for you and the one you will be happiest with. I've done this a few times and it works. Good luck.

 

^^^Dude, Chris knows A LOT about cars.

 

I hope you don't mean touch screen NAV? I wish that the Avalon did have the touch screen option because after playing with Infiniti's NAV I find that anything driven by ***** to be .. well, harder to use! But with that I suppose comes preference. I find it easer to poke around with the NAV in my IS than with playing with NAV ***** and buttons.. Too bad the Avalon won't have it. That means I'll have to teach my mom how to use it!

That is definately a beautiful car. But waaaay too much silver plastic.

 

It might be hard to have touch screen in the Avalon though because if the position of the nav screen. It is high up like where I like it, but it also is fairly deep at the top of the dash. I know I can't reach it myself unless I lean forward from my driving position. Touch screen navs need to be within arms reach for the majority of people. I know I'm a short guy, but I still don't think the majority of people would easily be able to reach the Avalon nav screen if it were touch.

 

Yup, it's similar to an S-Class in this way.

 

The front kinda looks like an Altima to me. Seems like there is too much silver plastic on the inside though. I like the overall roominess of the car though.

 

Id love to have this Avalon as a DD. I have a sweet spot for big comfortable sedans.

 

Nope, not to me. Although that should be the "standard" grey interior anyway. The Light Grey really is quite light.

hehe. Once you have the Smart Key System (SmartAccess for Lexus), you won't want a car without it. Sure people complain about not having a place to keep their keys but isn't the pocket better than having the keys clang and swing around hanging by the ignition hole?