Our Grand Voyager was good while we had it. But 2004 was a transition year for us, our son was going off to Akron U, so we had college tuition and expenses to pay, and were looking at “double tuition” in three years when our daughter was going off to college also. (It all ended well for them — they both graduated, both were offered graduate assistantships, and both decided to drop out of the rat race that is American higher education.)
Grand Voyager aside, we were turning into a Toyota family, my kids had Corollas, and my wife a Camry. I had never fully enjoyed the Grand Voyager and when the time came to look for a new car to be my daily, the second generation was a very attractive proposition. Furthermore, I had already owned an earlier Avalon and the newer ones had grown in accordance with my adult family life needs.
I started looking for a pre-owned vehicle. The Avalon for North America was in its second generation, our friend Jean had bought one and it was a nice car. To my eyes, it had “presence” — I felt that if you drove a new generation Avalon, you “belonged at the country club” — without being ostentatious (However, I’m not a country club member). It was a vehicle fit for my age, a Japanese Buick! As a young man I aspired to drive Oldsmobile 98s, Continental Mark IIIs, and Thunderbirds, but instead drove my share of smaller cars through the years, many being Toyotas.
And Toyotas had grown with me. The Avalon actually grew longer and wider than the 1st generation I owned, which I documented here. And it was definitely quieter. A previous CC post is a good summation of this second generation Avalon.
We wanted a car we could take trips in, we understood the strengths and weaknesses of Toyota — the cruise control worked the same, the steering wheel didn’t move out of the way easily, that sound means something is loose in the back, etc.
I still had my business and considered buying a 1st generation Scion xB and putting a vehicle wrap on it emblazoned with “typopete,” but my test drive in a Scion xB was disappointing. And if we were a Honda family, would have considered an Element.
Didn’t want another van, and settled on finding another Avalon. Drove to several Lexus/Toyota dealers. One Lexus salesman rode with me as I test drove a used Avalon and when I mentioned Lexus was just a glorified Toyota, he informed me that Lexii had “thicker sheet metal” — my son and I joke about that still. He also told me about working at a local Chevrolet franchise where the dealership principal had decided to base commission on the “value added” to a sale. (Knew a lot of salespersons in printing, and this was not the first time I had heard about gimmicks like this. A graphic arts salesperson I knew was told by his boss that when the commission rate was cut by 50%; he just needed to sell twice as much.)
I looked online and discovered an Avalon at a dealership we had bought from before and found the same salesman who sold us the 1999 stick shift Corolla. An AutoCheck report was found for 4T1BF28B6YU111709; it was leased and titled in the area. It had been driven about 15,000 miles a year and the first owner had it for four years. This was an XL; it was built on my birthday towards the end of the first model year for the second generation Avalon, and delivered to the dealer five days later. We had done OK with our “high mileage” Camry so far, so 60,000 miles with certified pre-owned status seemed to be a good buy. And there was a good APR when financed through Toyota Motor Credit.
The Avalon was a good road trip car, no sunroof, so plenty of headroom, played CDs, good sound system. Had a V-6, so it could accelerate very nicely. Ride was prioritized over handling.
Our Avalon didn’t have a fold down rear seat but did have a pass-through for skis or long fluorescent tubes. A cashier at Lowe’s has my eternal gratitude for letting me purchase a new set of fluorescent tubes, no charge, when I broke them trying to get them through the pass-through.
We drove it to Massachusetts in 2008, with a side trip to New Jersey, Iowa in 2009. Trips to Atlanta and regular trips to Athens, where both progeny were enrolled at Harvard on the Hocking, my alma mater.
An on a trip to Philadelphia in 2011, my right leg was driving me crazy and the seat was very uncomfortable. At that time the car had about 150,000 miles on it and was 11 years old. My friend Steve has told me about driving delivery trucks with 250,000+ miles that are mechanically sound, but the seats are broken down and kill your back.
But…
When they stretched the Camry to make Avalons, did they beef up the suspension components to handle the extra stresses, weight, etc.? Also used the car for deliveries and I drove over a lot of rough roads because my dad, my brother, and I never met a shortcut we wouldn’t use.
On maintenance matters, I was a vendor to Goodyear, so buying Goodyear tires was buying “local.” But I could never get any tires that were satisfactory. Actually got a competitive allowance to put Firestone tires on the car, which were OK, but finally got Michelins that were good. (A tire dealer, who was the closest dealer to Goodyear World HQ, told me that Goodyear employees who bought Goodyear tires for their Avalons were disappointed, and finally someone at Toyota admitted that those generation Avalons were “suspension tuned” for either Michelin or Bridgestone tires.)
I never had any engine issues, but I did get the timing belt changed for preventative maintenance. And I did a lot of radiator flushes because one of the Corollas we owned had persistent cooling system issues. Over 100,000 miles on the car, and it never failed to start. So, which is better — buying it new and driving it into the ground or buying it used after it has depreciated, and crossing your fingers that nothing major will go wrong before the last payment is made?
Suddenly, the front end didn’t seem right. At first, I thought I needed new front struts and bought them at Summit Racing (buying “local” again); had them installed at their affiliated mechanic, but while installing the struts, they determined I had a cracked coil spring, which they were able to source for me. They did a great job on this repair.
By 2013, looking at an estimate of $600 for more front suspension work and starting to see rust at the rear wheel wells, I figured I had gotten my money’s worth out of this car.
We no longer needed a family cruiser, but we were taking regular trips to Atlanta and Lynchburg, Virginia, so what should I buy next?
Wow, I have been reading your name as “Toyopete” the whole time and only after reading about the wrap you considered can I now see “Typopete”. With so many Toyotas in your story my misread is at least a little understandable. 😛
I never found these quite as attractive as the 1st generation, but they have grown on me to the point that these are now my favorite Avalons.
toyopete is probably available, but I see some videos on YouTube that are 15 years old. Very close to toyopet so might get sued by Toyota! typopete is actually the invention of one of my customers. There were four Petes in Akron that were all involved in the Graphic Arts. The customer married Star Pete, so named because he worked for Star Printing, as I did. I was a vendor for typesetting services so I was typopete. And there was a Litho Pete who had a print shop called Litho Print. And to keep the streak going we called the Pete who worked on our copiers Copier Pete.
That is pretty funny that so many people were named Pete in that relatively small circle.
Personally I’m involved with a non-profit where of the 14 people responsible for operations there are 2 Natallies, 2 Erics and 2 Kevins but the second one is not the same Kevin it was when I got involved.
Sometimes I wonder if our names predisposed our personalities and interests.
I have experience on slightly different Toyotas, but same here so far as what may ultimately cause one to move on…suspension work and rust. I’d imagine that if one were driving one of these in rust-free areas (i.e., not where you or I live), they could go on pretty much indefinitely. The hardest part about doing the suspension work in the rust belt is that heroic efforts are often required to change those struts. I just had the rear ones done in my Highlander (yes, “that sound means something is loose in the back”. It’s usually rear struts.) and actually paid someone to do the job since I wasn’t up for removing thoroughly rusted on parts in the dead of winter. Hopefully by the time the fronts go (which I will replace with the springs as well…why not?) I can do it in reasonable weather and DIY.
Your shot of the family in your Avalon shows a pretty impressive amount of room. Looks like a good road trip car!
Avalon-one of my favorite films. The car? Not so much
I prefer the 3rd generation of Avalon, it for sure is not a sporty car, but it is reliable as other Toyota products, it has a unique feature, knees air bags for front seats. I noticed your cost for time belt and water pump replacement was quite reasonable for dealer price, I have been told it was a big job for all front drive Toyota V6 engines. According to Toyota shop manual, the engine needs to lift up to do the job, but some skillful mechanics do that without lifting the engine. I believe later versions of Toyota V6 used timing chain such as the V6 on our 2011 Venza front wheel drive.
About the Avalon, I often find the 3 generation is relatively affordable in comparison of Camry and Accord of the same vintage. So if I need a vehicle for my children I would definitely consider it.
And I almost became the owner of Avalon, my sister in LA had an off lease 2018 Avalon hybrid with 30 k miles, I could take over for around $25k. Then timing was wrong, at the height of post pandemic used car prices, sister was able to sell that car for $32k in Carvana.
Ten years ago, when a lost my company car to an involuntary job change, I sought something cheap to replace it. A “high end” used car dealer had a few choices. Showroom had a full size grand prix car mounted on the wall with bull and horse logos plastered everywhere.Salesman showed me a Nissan Sentra with low miles and a swimming pool for a trunk that was in my price range of $4,500. I spotted a mint green metallic first gen Avalon a few cars over with a “LOADED-LIKE NEW ! ONLY $5500!! sign in the windshield. I figured if I showed interest maybe he would go $4,800. Odo read 110K and my FIL loved his till it expired at 243K. During the test drive the salesman related that an Avalon is really just a Lexus and what a great deal it made this car. Nice driving, handling, comfortable car with plenty of room for my wife and young children to be transported around it. When we sat down to close the deal i found the cost to repair the a/c, detail it, and fix the broken dash vent would be added to the $5500 -no negotiation -plus their $495 doc fee, $295 registration fee (DMV was a mile away – real cost $175) and sales tax. Out the door cost without any warranty was north of $7900 (less the sales tax which everybody pays). I spun around in my chair so quick I gave him vertigo. Through the door, back on my motorcycle I went, on to my next adventure.
I always found this generation of Avalon to have a rather awkward face and back side.
It was funny looking through your records and seeing Sears for the tires, of course I looked over at the date which was back when Sears stores were still very common and they were still a popular and respected choice for tires and of course Die Hard batteries.
Seeing so much brake works seems so foreign to me since we have been using HEV and PHEV cars as our daily drivers. Out of the 6 only one needed brake work the rears on the 08 Escape. The 10 Fusion went to scrap with the OE brakes at 175k after being totaled in a collision. I expect the 13 C-Max my daughter now owns will cross 200k with its OE brakes based on what they looked like the last time I checked them and the current mileage.
I appreciate these for being a very rare modern car to offer (split) front bench seats, allowing an open feel in the front compartment, the ability to slide in or out from the passenger side in tight parking lots, and seating the occasional front center passenger. Toyota equipped only a few Avalons this way, but both XL and XLS trim can be bought that way, with either soft cloth or leather upholstery. The rest of the Avalon is nice too – huge back seat, good trunk room, quiet, decent ride (but not up to Buick LeSabre/Park Ave levels), and good ergonomics. And the usual Toyota reliability and high residuals. When new in 2000, we compared a loaded Avalon to a stripped Audi A6, which were remarkably similar cars, but identical in size, nearly in price, and in features and persona (the light steering, 3.0:L V6, etc.). Both were good choices.
I’m looking at a 2018-2020 Avalon to buy. i don’t understand saying you’re a toyota or honda family, as I don’t understand being a GM guy, or a ford guy. These companies could care less about you, I go to what I fins to be a reliable vehicle when I do my homework on whatever I’m looking at buying, and the right price, i don’t care what that brand is.
The family idea comes from living in Akron, Ohio and places like the https://akronhistorycenter.org. Visitors to this museum will tell you that grandpa worked for Goodyear, Firestone, etc. And so many people in the area are retired from Ford, GM, Chrysler and family members are eligible for discounts. I married into a Firestone family but we have Michelin tires on our car, so my brand loyalty will not blind me to the long-term costs of something.
Thank you for that link. I will make a point of stopping at the Akron History Center next time I’m passing through Cleveland. Cleveland being a city that has so much going for it (aside from being on I-90, my favorite East-West route as far as Chicago at least).
My dad thought I-90 was great when the NY Thruway was complete, then he liked I-80. My favorite is the Southern Tier expressway.