It was kind of cool back in the day, but ratcheting from park to reverse to neutral to drive just to move forward now seems absurd to me. In my car, while holding the side button, i pull the lever back to D, and go.

It's a bit of chicken and egg... mechanical column shifters are so crude they pretty much have to be manhandled to get from P to D, etc. there's also so much slop between positions it's easy to under/overshoot.

I've never heard of one being broken, but if you can do it with your pinkie then i guess it's not for you.

 

Can’t speak for other Toyota models. But the shifter in my 4Runner is gated and uses a cable. Attached directly to the transmission. There is tension and pressure when going from P through R and N and then into D where it loses the tension and thus goes into 4 and 3 then 2 and L.

Nobody needs a degree to shift it and there is a color coded dash map works so well. The Avalon 2019 has a button and it sucks. Feels cheap. And it feels like it is from the 90s. I wish Toyota TNGA never went to buttons

My Matrix is gated and is similar to my 4Runner. Even my Corolla is gated but has a faux leather boot. Our LX450 has the dumb button. Did I mention the 90s already?

 

I'm really happy with both of them. It's been a good ownership experience with both. The 5 Series is hands down the better of the two but considering the price, segment etc. it should be. I really liked our A6 and thought I'd miss it, but that hasn't been the case at all.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

To me it doesn’t matter what shifter is in a car (besides the mechanical truck shifter on the column). Whatever it is I can get used to it and the shifter wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me if the overall package of a car is good. I loved the zig zag shifter in my prior Lexus cars/SUVs. They looked complicated but all you do is pull down in a diagonal way and the shifter bounces into the gear you want. I never had to go down, left, down, left, etc.

As for the shifter in my BMW, it took a little while getting used to but it is like second nature now and I actually like it. In my Durango the shifter is a normal one that is just up and down and I really like that as well since it is the perfect height to rest my hand on.

 

I believe the Avalon shifter just goes forward and back, is that right? As for the button to take it out of park, I believe that's a safety requirement your older cars didn't have to comply with.

 

There are actually two safety requirements today to get it out of Park (or into any drive gear)......one with your foot on the brake, and the other with your thumb releasing a button. I suspect (but am not positive) that we may eventually see a third one......alcohol detection.

 

um, what? You realize you're driving an automatic right? In those 2-4 shifts you have to make each drive, you are allowed to look down. I never thought people could be so fussy about the shifter position and shift feel of an automatic. Maybe you should have bought a manual if you love playing with the lever so much?

 

[/QUOTE]
really? That much of an eyesore?

 

Why the attitude? Relax.

I like the way it feels when I shift the gearshift. So sue me. Little sensory things like this are what make a high quality item high quality. Someone took the time to engineer how that shifter feels when it goes through it’s selections, I appreciate that. I never have to look down to shift, I never have to even think about it. One less thing to have to pay attention to.

 

Don't blame the poster......Tell that to the automakers. Except for a few sports cars and maybe one or two entry-level subcompacts, manuals are all but extinct.

 

what it looks like in the 2500. If you get the cummins diesel you have to get a column shifter for the cable controlled transmission

 

That tranny stalk is ridiculously big especially because its electronically controlled. A much smaller one will be just as functional and probably look 100x better

 

Because nobody wants them. Carmakers build what people want, if enough people wanted manuals, we'd have manuals.

 

What if we all just agreed to disagree?