Avalon was Toyota’s very successful project to create a full-sized American car, much like the ones that Boomers grew up with — like the 1977 Impala that I had. When it showed up on the marketplace, I was already in the Camry camp, so this new, bigger Toyota entry had a natural appeal to me; it was the best of both worlds.
The “Avalon” name sounded to me — and still does — like a senior retirement community. And it also reminded me of the 1990 film Avalon, directed by Barry Levinson. (My wife and I love movies like that: Driving Miss Daisy, Fried Green Tomatoes, Tender Mercies, The Fabelmans and To Kill a Mockingbird.)
The ad agencies can spend big bucks on subliminal marketing. Look at this ad!
Introductory ad of 1995 Toyota Avalon driving through the clouds
Some of us had been waiting for the Avalon. The US Camry had gotten bigger with the third generation, but Toyota had announced — and their PR department had leaked — that the company was planning to introduce an even larger full-sized model, built on a stretched Camry platform and assembled at their Georgetown, Kentucky, assembly plant.
The 1990s were “boom times in America.” Our town of Akron, Ohio, had recovered from the loss of tire industry jobs, and there was a lot of entrepreneurial energy unleashed. My sole proprietorship business had moved out of my basement, then into a creative consortium, and then into a newly constructed office in a renovated former grocery store bakery close to downtown Akron.
My business was the final step in desktop publishing — typesetting completely done by personal computers (Windows and Macintosh) — and we had a good run, my bride and I, providing finished negatives that were ready for stripping at local print shops. I had a niche in typesetting large technical manuals — capturing keystrokes and following the art director’s instructions — as well as belt catalogues for rubber companies, charts and tables for annual reports, business cards, letterheads, and forms.
Life was good, and by the spring of 1998, we were ready for a bigger and newer car; our Camry was starting to rust. We had done all right with the Camry on a lease/purchase (see my earlier post), so we considered either a RAV4 or an Avalon. Curiously, the third-generation Camry didn’t appeal to us, as I felt they had turned into Japanese Buicks, especially with the gold logo trim package (though you could get black logos installed as a modest additional “add-on.”)
We went to the local Toyota dealer in Kent to test-drive some Toyotas. The RAV4 was an interesting prospect. The Ford Explorer and similar models were starting to be very popular, but we were not quite ready for what my son and I jokingly called a “Suburban Assault Vehicles” — SAV I know, but S(port) U(tility) V(ehicle) makes as much sense. However, during testing, my 12-year-old son’s knees were hitting the back of the front seat in the four-door RAV4, so the Avalon was our next choice.
It seemed like a good option — it was bigger than a Camry, but not TOO big. Honda and Nissan had no equivalent models, and overall, we were not willing to buy from the Big 3.
We had a lease proposal from the Kent Toyota dealer, but we checked other dealers and found a 1995 Avalon XL in North Canton, just 20 miles south of us, where a three-year-old Avalon was available. We drove it, liked it, and bought it. My salesman at Cain Toyota, Dale, was a retired Texas State Policeman who told me about the time he padlocked the motorcycle that his son had bought. He was my favorite car salesman of all time.
My Ohio State University marketing professor had written a book on consumer behavior that introduced a concept called “post purchase dissonance” — buyer’s remorse. In my case, to confirm that we had made a good decision, I searched for the Consumer Reports test comparison from when the Avalon was introduced. According to CR’s classification, we had bought an “upscale sedan.”
The Avalon had just 32,000 miles and still had the original tires, and the dealer installed new tires upon our purchase. It had a sunroof, but it was the cheaper XL model; most Avalons I would see on the street were XLS models with leather. Unfortunately, the sunroof was situated in such a way that I had to tilt my head to the side for headroom. Another annoyance: At expressway speeds, you could hear wind noise, which Consumer Reports also had noted (“…wind noise intrudes at highway speeds”).
The Avalon was one of the last new sedans available with a bench seat and column shifter, but ours had bucket seats and a console with the optional passenger power seat. It was very roomy in the back seat — I could sit very comfortably back there. This was the car my son learned to drive in.
An insurance territory manager and a manufacturer’s representative I knew owned Avalons. They were great cars for turnpike cruising and had a big trunk to hold the samples.
On a road trip to Florida, the dual cigarette lighter adapter (accessory CD player) kept blowing fuses. An Atlanta Toyota dealer did a complimentary fuse replacement for us. On another trip to Florida, I had a bike rack on the trunk — I was able to ride from Flagler Beach to Daytona Beach along A1A and inland through Florida ranch country back to Flagler Beach. There were no issues on that drive, and the Avalon did its full-size job well.
The Avalon wasn’t the cheapest car to maintain, but our only really big-ticket repair was a power steering issue that ended up cost us almost $1,300. Otherwise, it was mechanically sound and the body was in good shape even approaching 100,000 miles.
My son had been driving since 2002 — starting with an early 1990s GMC pickup and a vintage Ford Crown Victoria — so this car seemed like a good one to give him as a daily driver. Sadly, the Avalon was totaled after being hit on the passenger side; my son was driving and my daughter was a passenger at the time. Thus, the car came to a premature end. The insurance proceeds were enough to pay for cars for both my son and my daughter: two stick-shift Corollas.
Meanwhile, I didn’t need to trade in our Previa, but I’d always wanted a small station wagon. So, what did I buy? Tune in next time.
I still see first-gen Avalons chugging along almost every day. Almost as many as similar generation Camrys. The tech company I worked for most of my career used codenames for products under development, usually chosen by one of the design team. Occasionally car names were used; I remember Sting Ray and Carrera. One young engineer chose the name Avalon for his project sometime in the late 90’s. And it was not the mythological island, nor the movie, nor the Roxie Music song. He named it after the car he aspired to own.
Few years ago, at the height of used car prices, I was on the market for a car for my son who soon got his license and started driving. I looked for a Toyota and Honda, as we know, they were and are expensive. However I found the 10 years old Avalon was quite reasonable, it most times was cheaper than Camry and Accord. It all has a v6 engine, that may be less fuel efficient but its larger physical size would be safer for new driver. One minor thing people don’t know is that car has knee airbags for the front passenger and driver, an extra safety feature even most today vehicles have. One drawback for Toyota V6 engine front drive vehicles is the water pump change, my mechanic said it is a big job, he normally charges two day job. He normally recommends his clients leave it alone except it is really bad.
Remarkable cars. I felt like 90% of people who bought them had traded in an 8-10 year old Park Avenue or Ninety-Eight.
Ironic that Toyota models like these wound up outlasting the Big Three in their last refuge, the Yank Tank market segment. No doubt superior fuel economy, space efficiency, and (to a lesser extent) reliability helped.
Interesting choice. I never really saw the point of these, as I guess I felt that the Camry was certainly big enough and so I didn’t see the point in a somewhat larger Camry. But you make a good case for why it worked for you; and furthermore, my feeling about “big enough” Camrys may have been based more on the size that Camrys became and not so much about the size they actually were in 1995.
It sounds like yours did its job well…particularly in standing up to a side collision with both of your kids on-board. Plus, they probably enjoyed the manual transmission Corollas more than being Avalon drivers. Seems like a win all around.
The name? Well, I’ve never read or said the name without hearing that Roxy Music song in my mind…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpA_5a0miWk
The official video is directed by Ridley Scott…the same year he directed Blade Runner. (except here we get birds instead of Replicants)
I liked these Avalons – kind of what a well-made Buick Century would be like in an alternate universe. Comfortable, plush, but not overly showy. I had a coworker who had one; he wasn’t a car guy at all, but he liked being able to combine Japanese reliability with a car he could stretch out in.
Regarding the name, since I’m originally from Philadelphia, I associated Avalon with the New Jersey shore community. Now, I associate “Avalon” with the Toyota.
Avalon…Cooler by a Mile.
Having spent many many summers in Sea Isle City (one town north of Avalon), I was always fascinated by that slogan for Avalon, on signs entering the town, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc.
For those not from Philly and/or the mid-Atlantic and therefor unfamiliar with the geography down the shore, the slogan references the fact that Avalon is approximately one mile further east (out to sea) than Sea Isle to the North.
My 2001 XLS was a stone cold turd. Floppy, rolly, and had super slippery hard and cheap leather. I despised it after only a year. Oh and I had all kinds of problems with mine at only 70K miles. My neighbor bought a same year LeSabre and it rode better, handles better and was far more comfortable to ride in. The GM 3.8 may have been a touch less smooth but had far better TQ down low.
Mainstream American midsize and full size sedans generally still were available with bench seats and column shift in 1995. Sport package cars might be bucket only. The Avalon was reaching out to those holdouts who weren’t ready to change.
An older co-worker bought one for his wife following a series of big Buicks. It was an excellent car for them, and I found it comfortable when I rode in it. They did pop for the “gold package” – it didn’t look terrible on the dark green car. I always thought one of these would make a great purchase coming from an elderly first owner.
My father-in-law loved Toyotas—until he suddenly didn’t. He grew up in a GM family, owned several Camrys and pickups, and I always assumed the Avalon would be his dream car. But after his 1997 Camry, something soured him on Toyota for good. He never explained why, which was strange for someone who once adored the brand.
From then on, he switched to Panther-platform Fords: Crown Vics, Grand Marquis, and eventually a Mercury Monterey minivan after his wife’s stroke made the sedan impractical. He stayed loyal to Ford for the rest of his life.
And like many here, I can’t see an Avalon without hearing that Roxy Music song in my head.
Being taller than average (6’4″) headroom is the one thing that I won’t compromise on. Having to tilt one’s head sideways would not be a “minor” irritant!
Currently driving a 2018 Avalon Hybrid. Love the car; loads better than my ’07 Buick Lucerne, which I bought from my mother-In-Law when she bought her 2016 Buick Lacrosse. Unfortunately, the Lucerne ate its transmission at 172K miles.
The Lucerne was the last real Buick boat, IMHO. Floppy suspension, antiquated 4-sp automatic, and underpowered. For some reason, the interior door pull on the driver’s door kept failing. Still, a great highway cruiser. Quiet, smooth, and comfortable. Back roads would give you motion sickness, however.
The Avalon is a better car in every respect, but one. The interior vinyl, especially on the door armrests, is falling apart. Still, it gets 36 MPG all-around and is acceptably quick when needed. If I needed to replace it, would probably go with a Lexus ES300 Hybrid. Toyota just knows hybrids better than anyone.
I associate Avalon with Roxy Music and the fantasy book The Guns Of Avalon by Roger Zelazny. My take on the Toyota Avalon has always been a larger, slightly softer Camry that is the elevated form of a Buick LeSabre or Oldsmobile 98. It’s not a car I would buy but I understand why people buy them and had a colleague who drove one because a Camry felt cramped.