sucks that the ES has the circular/oval tail pipes when the industry is moving towards square

 

really? I prefer exposed pipes rather than those silly fake outlets. If I ever got a 4GS they would be the first to go

 

I still prefer the new ES over all these new RLX, Azera, & Avalon......the new ES looks much more smooth but also sport & aggressive!!

 

I assume the Avalon has cupholders where the ES has remote touch. I never was a fan of exposed cupholders, just comes off as cheap. I prefer the covers Lexus has except in the CT.

MP, I see you, thanks for the chat brother.

 

Liking it more and more as I look at it.

One comment about the lower grill though. It uses the Aston Martin shape that Ford has now adopted. Anyone else find this troublesome? This shape is now becoming the face of Ford, at least on numerous models. Do we need Toyota using it too?

Also, with such a departure in design to previous models, anyone else think it was time to replace the Avalon nameplate? Never cared much for the name anyway. It would have helped shed the senior citizen image of the car.

 

Yes the Avalon is identified with older buyers. Maybe they didn't want to shake things up too much and potentially alienate those buyers. Not sure, just a guess.

 

True.
Same with the ES but younger buyers will get the sales numbers up.

 

I feel the same way and have posted that a couple times here.

 

The same goes for me too. I just like the look of them better. As more and more cars add the ingetrated tips they're not so unique anymore.

 

I like most of it but the front will have to grow on me.

 

oh wow I feel silly then

I had to go digging through the 4GS new body kit thread to find it lol

 

I agree with you and have posted I'm not a fan of the integrated exhaust tips.
No pics,though..

 

Toyota finally hits a HR with this one.

 

I just noticed this. The interior of the new Avalon has all this leather, wood trim, navigation, and it all looks fantastic. Assuming that this is the fully loaded model that they displayed..

But why no wood on the steering wheel?

 

There is only leather on the seats and door panel inserts. All the other stitching is just soft touch plastics with stitching accents, which has recently become an interior design craze. If it's anything like the new Camry, it may even have stitching imprints on rock hard super cheap plastic. The wood is also not genuine, just imitation wood like every other car in its segment. If you want genuine wood, buy an ES.

Exterior design is questionable, the front end is just horrid. Inelegant and unattractive. The side profile is decent, and the rear is the strong point. But the rear also looks too much like a Lexus, though still not as refined. You can tell the Avalon is positioned directly on the line where Toyota ends and Lexus begins, and is straddling the boundary. Not sure if this is wise as I believe the boundary between Toyota and Lexus should be sharp and clearly defined, without cars like the Avalon blurring it.

I think the Impala has the Avalon beat inside and out, but watching the autoshow videos, GM still has huge build quality issues with clearly misaligned interior panels on their preproduction models. Honestly I think out of all automakers these days, GM is still the only one left with that problem.