by J.T. Hills
SGN Contributing Writer

Top:
• Full sized sedan that gets
  28 mpg highway
• Excellent reliability
• Spacious interior

 Bottom:
• Tilt/ telescopic steering wheel
  is funky to use
• Bluetooth phone feature
  is difficult to figure out
• Rear seat reclines but doesn’t fold down

First introduced in 1995, the Avalon, the flagship of Toyota’s passenger car line, is designed exclusively for the North American market and is built in Georgetown, Kentucky. For 2008, the third-generation Avalon receives revised exterior styling, a new six-speed automatic transmission, interior upgrades, a standard CD changer, and optional remote engine start.  After spending a week with the 2008 Toyota Avalon Limited Sedan, I’ve compiled a brass-tacks list of observations, experimentations, tabulations, inspections, and so forth. So here we go:

Is bigger always better? Um, yep!
The Toyota Avalon is a big car, almost 16 and a-half feet long big! It’s a big bear of a car, perfect for road trips. There’s plenty of room for you and three of your friends (well, four, if one’s on the shorter side) to spread out and hit the highway. The interior features big comfortable front seats, and a spacious rear bench seat that reclines. The trunk is huge, too. It’s a big car perfect for big people and big luggage, which – being that I’m on the tall side – is something that I can appreciate.
 The Avalon comes with a 3.5-liter 268 horsepower V-6 engine with 248 lb-ft of torque at 4,700 rpms. It has a big 18.5-gallon gas tank for long-distance driving and gets a fairly impressive 19 mpg city and 28 mpg highway.  I took the Avalon on a day trip up to Bellingham to visit a friend and hit a casino. Out on the freeway, the Avalon drives like a big American car. Well, let me preface that; a modern American car. It’s not a sport sedan, and it doesn’t pretend to be. The engine is more than adequate for its size, and the gas mileage is much appreciated. I found my favorite feature to be the optional dynamic laser cruise control ($600), which works amazingly. You just set it and cruise along. If a car pulls in front of you, it automatically applies the brakes and slows the car down. If you pull out of the lane or the car in front of you speeds up, you return to your preset speed. It’s brilliant for road trips. In the city, the Avalon size can be a bit of a disadvantage. Parking spaces are a bit harder to find, parking lots are a little harder to navigate, and the high trunk lid makes it a littler harder to see out when backing up.
 The interior of the Avalon is not only spacious, but high-end and elegantly done; it’s Lexus fit and finish with a Toyota price tag. The eight-way power front seats have plenty of support and are extremely comfortable. The heat and cooling option is also greatly appreciated. The navigation system is simple to use and the controls disappear smartly into the console. There are some minor misses. For instance the Bluetooth option is a bit complicated to figure out how to link your phone, and the owner’s manual doesn’t make it any easier. Also, concerning the tilt telescopic steering wheel, while you can find the perfect driving position, but the two levers to find it are a bit low-rent and awkward to use. I was a bit surprised it wasn’t automatic. Oh, I was also a bit dumbfounded that the rear seats don’t fold down for extra cargo capability, although it does have a pass through for skis. I love the fact that they recline, but I just had an instance where I needed them to fold down. Maybe from a engineering perspective, the two options are mutually exclusive.

OK, for a before-tax price of $39,547, what do you get?
The base Toyota Avalon Limited Sedan comes with a long list of standard options, and upgrades are reasonably priced. A quick look at the favorites includes:

Performance
• 3.5-liter 268hp DOHC 24 valve
  dual VVT-i engine
• Six-speed sequential shift transmission
• 17” alloy wheels and tires

Safety
• Driver and front passenger airbags,
  seat-mounted airbags, driver’s knee
  airbags, and front and rear
  side curtain airbags
• Four-wheel ABS brakes
• Tire pressure monitor system
• Daytime running lights and fog lights
• Anti-theft system
  with engine immobilizer
• Full size alloy spare tire

Comfort and Convenience
• Dual zone climate control
• Heated and ventilated
  multi-adjustable front seats
• Smart key system with push-button start
• 360 watt JBL Synthesis AM/FM
  six-disc CD changer with 12 speakers
• Power rear sunshade
• Power front seats
  with rear reclining seats
• Steering wheel audio controls

Options
• Dynamic laser cruise control ($600)
• Voice activated DVD
  navigation system ($2,000)
• Eight-way adjustable power
  front passenger seat ($300)
• Vehicle stability control with
  traction control and brake assist ($650)
• Preferred accessory package with
  carpet floor mats/ trunk mat, first aid kit,
  V.I.P. glass breakage sensor ($393)
• Remote engine start ($529)