Not particularly. A little out of the ordinary, but it is right there, basically in front of you, only a short distance down, and relatively easy to reach.



Though Steve disagreed with me, I found what I thought was probably the worst button-setup (shown below) to be in the new Ford Explorer, where the designers stuck it in a narrow space between the air vent and the dash-lid, pointing down. Very awkward.



Not sure what you are referring to ...on the dash itself, apparantly the designers decided to chisel-angle off that part of the dash for styling reasons, just to be different.

There are several color-options available inside, including dark monotone.

Agreed.....but IMO it's probably the only real weak point inside, besides tall people bumping their head on the upper-door-frame getting in and out of the rear seat.

Disagree. Many people still like analog (or analog-style electronic) gauges. And one certainly cannot argue with the sales figures of a number of vehicles that do.

I respect your view, but I found it a real pleasure to use....and the amount of space that modern fore-aft shifters take up is less than the hype would have one believe. And, unless on a longer trip or other circumstance where is no choice, I drink my coffee and recharge my phone at home.

Some of them (fan-speed and defrost buttons) are on the lower-dash, the heated/cooled-seat controls are on the console (with red/blue lights) just ahead of the console-storage-lid, and many of the rest of them are in the screen. The screen itself seems easier to use than in previous Toyota products. The dual-temperature hot/cold controls are either on the console or on the screen...take your choice. The master ON/OFF button is on the lower-dash, with the fan/defrost buttons.

 

I find nothing awkward about it at all. You just reach out and push down.

People aren't buying vehicles because they have old style gauges lol. Most vehicles just don't have LCD gauge clusters yet. I think you will find when asked most people prefer the LCD clusters, or don't care.

 

I know you don't.....you've said that before. I, for one, have big heavy fingers, and, with that design, you have to stick one of them in that narrow open space and push down at an awkward angle. We'll just agree to disagree on that one.

When the designers did the Lincoln Aviator version (on the same platform), they came up with a somewhat better position for the button.....I didn't complain about it.

Anyhow, probably doesn't matter what we think. Bitkahuna asked the question....if he looks at a Venza (or Explorer), he's the one who will have to decide.



Analog-style done on an electronic-background is probably the best of both the old and new. That is the way many vehicles do it today....for good reason.

 

I agree..."for me," the Germans do the best auto styling: the Asians do the worst. However, I'd still buy the Venza over the MB GLC.

 

A Venza over a GLC?! Not me lol. The GLC is a great looking and really nice little SUV.

 

As great as they look, German cars are not easy to work on. Since I do all my own work, I must factor this in.

 

A hybrid Toyota isn’t exactly easy to work on yourself either lol.

GLC is in another league compared to a Venza, nobody is going to cross shop the two.

 

This. Someone with a Venza is worried if the batteries will be reliable enough in 10 years, while the GLC owner cares more about the techy features and won't care about it after the lease period is up.

 

it's not always done badly imo, but what can i say, the aesthetics of some implementations leave a lot to be desired, again imo.

can't follow that, but in particular not sure how fwd brings "a lower percenter of unsprung weight UNDER the suspension"

again, i'm not opposed to all fwd at all.

i agree that's about the worst implementation i've seen.

would you get a cell phone with a mechanical 'analog' display? the world is moving rapidly to screens. they're flexible, stylish, not expensive any longer, have proven to be reliable, etc.

and i'm not 'arguiing' against the fact that millions of cheaper vehicles are still sold with analog gauges. there may still be millions of stick shift vehicles sold worldwide, but the numbers keep dropping with autos and cvts (and EVs) replacing.

the bold part may be what you do, but a huge percentage of others DO drink drinks in the car and charge their phones.

my point/question was are they actual buttons, or just backlit words you can touch?

 

on all modern vehicles, there's very little 'work' to do. in 2.5 years i've only put up the hood twice on my car to add washer fluid
for maintenance (oil change and rotation) the dealer comes and gets the car, i don't have to lift a finger.

 

Simple physics. Having more weight up front (and, in some cases, longer overhangs) places a higher percentage of the car's weight over the front axle, which means more percentage of weight pushing down on the front suspension, and less percentage of weight (percentage, nor actual number of pounds) pushing the suspension up when a bump is encountered. That is also why pickup trucks tend to ride better when they are fully-loaded...it makes the suspension more stable, front and rear.



That, I'll take from the fact that you had a FWD-platform Explorer of the last generation.

Traffic density is what is killing off clutch-pedal transmissions, not electronics.


Well, it's a free world. They can complain about lack of console-space if they want. As for me.....I'll keep my eyes on the road and shift with a lever.



From what recall, they were not mechanical buttons, but operated more or less like buttons.

 

He had a 2006. That is the 4th Generation. Only the 5th generation was ever FWD based.

 

respectfully i don't buy any of that, or maybe i just don't understand what you've written. especially the part about trucks... they ride better with full load because the springs are designed (stiff enough) to hold up the load, and when empty they're often simply too stiff. and that's also why i hate 'dumb' suspensions, for me it must be adaptive and air if possible.

mine was 2 generations ago and thus rwd.

 

Sounds like you lead a blessed life! In my case, I do all scheduled maintenance and repairs for a family of three, with five vehicles. My newest vehicle is a 2011 and the oldest is a 1985. So having all Toyota/Lexus vehicles is one way to minimize my time in the garage. Too, when working on Japanese vehicles, I find the engineers have put effort into designing them to be maintained with a minimum of special tools and specialized knowledge. If I had five MB's, I'd shoot myself!

 

OK, perhaps this article will explain it better than I can.

https://itstillruns.com/do-ford-rang...r-7887342.html



OK, Sorry, I thought you had one of the newly-designed unibody/FWD models. That one stuck in my mind because that-generation Explorer was brand-new back around 2010 or 2011, and it was the first full-review, I think, that I did after my December 2010 heart-surgery. I thought I remembered (perhaps not) you said you were looking at one back then, after the Miata, and that was one reason I did the review. I don't remember exactly when you replaced it with the JGC....but it was a few years later.