pagemaster

Finally had a chance to sit in the Venza for the first time. First impressions are that the Venza was originally a Lexus and Toyota figured the economy is going to sink so lets make it a cheaper Toyota.

Pros:
Very high quality interior with excellent interior materials. Materials remind very much of the Cadillac Esalade materials.
Excellent faux wood however I still like the faux wood in the Highlander.
Rear seats recline
Excellent controls.
Auto up/down on all windows...A LEXUS feature
Nice colored piping for the seats
Excellent second room sun roof.
Rear roof air conditioning (nice touch)
Excellent details on dash open/close smybols are paited white (A Lexus touch)
Nice crome fitting on the HVAC vents


Cons
Fit and finish was poor in some areas..perhaps an early production model.
Seat achors are exposed...please Toyota cover them up.
No power steering column.
Second row door upper door trim is not soft like the front doors. The front and rear match in apperance but the front is soft material while that back is hard. Toyota matches this on Land Cruiser and 4runner. Why not venza?
Double stitching on the doors does not match single stitching on the seats.
Paint the seat controls arrows like you do Highlande, Land Cruiser and Lexus models. Or like you used to when virtually all American made Toyotas had painted seat arrows.

I would like to add that I am happy to report that the Toyota Venza comes equipped with premium Michelin Lattitude tires....the same ones (an inch smaller) as the LX570 (a Lexus feature)

Michelin Lattitudes are classified as light truck/SUV tires. Perhaps the Venza is an SUV?

Overall it seems Toyota is taking the critisism on the interior well. The dash and materials are excellent.

I disagree with mmarshall. The Venza is not the Subaru competition. Also, it is more SUV than it is car.

mmarshall

I'll respect your opinion, but why do you say that it is not Subaru Competition?

It is in roughly the same size, price, and (in AWD form) chassis/drivetrain class as upper-level Outbacks. Like the Outback, it also comes in a 4 or 6-cylinder.

Conversely, the smaller Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, in AWD form, competes with the Subaru Impreza Sportwagon.

More SUV than car? Yes and no. Like the Outback, it combines car and SUV features....but sits lower, more carlike, than typical car-based SUV's like the RAV4, CR-V, Lexus RX, Honda Pilot, etc.....

pbm317

Are you serious?? Hahaha you can't even SEE the controls when you're seated. I don't see why this is a "con." If you have to get that nitpicky to criticize the car I'd say the car is fine.

Do you see arrows on the Mercedes Seat controls that sit high up on the door panel??

It's INTUITIVE that you move the control (that is shaped like a seat, in case you didn't notice that) the way you want the seat to move.

pagemaster

Just not convinced that the Venza is a wagon. It is more of Ford Edge or that long vehcile they have, Cadillac SRX, Pacifica.

To me, the Venza is way to bulky or beefy to be a car. Only thing car like is its short wheelbase. It really appears to a be cross over. Or a hatchback crossover.

Also, it carries SUV tires and it has SUV ground clearance. Wouldn't you think it is cross over because of this at least?

IS-SV

It is a crossover SUV. It's relatively big and heavy which takes it's toll on gas mileage and acceleration. The 4 cylinder version (available later) will end up being a small percentage of sales, it will be pretty slow.

mmarshall

That doesn't mean it necessarily will sell poorly. Not everyone wants a dragster. And it's all the more reason, as I see it, as competition for the Outback. Non-turbo, 4-cylinder Outbacks are sluggish, too, by modern standards....and yet sell well.

IS-SV

Doesn't mean it will sell well either. Based on Toyota's sales of 4 cylinder Highlanders, not very promising. This is a much heavier vehicle with a lot more frontal area than a Subaru Outback.

I agree, an 4 cylinder Outback has less than stellar performance despite the light weight, no thanks not my kind of car, caters to a different kind of buyer. My mother has an Impreza, she likes it, cool.

None of these cars compete against performance cars.

pbm317

Interesting, because Toyota is brought back the 4 cylinder Highlander due to demand for it from consumers.

IS-SV

That's expected, I see about 20% of the Highlanders around here with 4 cylinder engines.

Agreed, it certainly generates enough revenue to justify its place in the lineup, it just sells less than the V6. Venza will have a 4 banger shortly too.

We are not talking about a sliver of sales like in the case of manual trannys in IS250's. A 4 banger will have significant sales, just not the majority of sales.

juice14

im not sure if id pay 36 grand for that. i mean its nice and its a toyota but...

spwolf

it might help that Venza is 400lbs lighter than Highlander :-).

spwolf

easy, dont get the fully optioned version.... well optioned starts at 26k.

IS-SV

It might really help if the Venza with a 4 cylinder motor weighed less than 3760 pounds., then it would have a chance of being called peppy.

btw - the 4 cylinder Venza is only 200 pounds lighter than the 4 cylinder Highlander.