Am I older or is this car getting younger?
Toyota Avalon makeover is a startling success
The old grey mare ain’t what she used to be. That’s a good thing, considering how assiduously automotive marketers court the young (and, of course, the young at heart). Ever increasingly, the automotive industry eats its old and infirm with new ever-shorter model cycles and the gradual obsolescence of models specifically tailored to the retirees. In short, sprightly and new are adjectives that resonate; old and grey, well, they ain’t what they used to be.
We’re talking about Toyota’s Avalon, and you really don’t need to be an auto journalist to know sprightly or youthful were ever used to describe it. Geriatric, grizzled or perhaps even doddering might have all been apt descriptors, but nothing about previous Avalons were even remotely exciting or enticing. As one young enough — in spirit if not quite in years — to still consider himself a man about town, Avalon ownership would have been the furthest thing from my mind.
So imagine my reaction when I got into the all-new 2013 version to find myself admiring, nay loving, the Avalon’s new interior. Since I had no advance warning of its newly spry alteration, it took a few seconds for my subconscious to rocket from a simple “Oh my, isn’t this nice” to a full paranoid “Oh crap, now I know I’m really getting old.”
Thankfully, it had less to do with Methuselah wreaking havoc than Toyota completely revamping the Avalon’s DNA. The interior, for instance, is more (and I suspect Toyota’s bosses might not appreciate this compliment) Infiniti than Toyota. The cabin is more luxurious, with better quality leather, hedonistic wood grains and subtle aluminum trims. Gone is the wide expanse of uni-dimensional dashboard, replaced with a more cocoonlike cockpit feel of a sports sedan. If the major-domos over at Toyota don’t appreciate that previous reference to Nissan’s luxury brand, then perhaps a comparison to Audi’s sumptuous interiors might placate them.
Some of the ancillaries also bear mention. The on-board navigation system is a doddle to use because the touchscreen is so intuitive. The radio controls are not only attractive but also equally easy to use. If one of the mandates of catering to technophobic retirees is easily manipulated controls, perhaps more automakers should tailor their interior design to the blue-rinse set.
One aspect of the revamp may not play well with loyal Avalon owners. Previous generations of the big Toyota have been positively expansive in their rear seat accommodations but the Avalon’s exterior has been restyled with a dramatically sloping roofline, which reduces headroom. Toyota compensated by moving the rear seats forward, reducing rear-seat legroom. It’s still spacious, but it is a little less limousine-like than previous generations.
The other thing that’s changed with the Avalon is over-the-road comportment. Toyota has set the suspension to a shocking-for-an-Avalon quite firmish. No one will mistake the Avalon for a BMW 3 Series, but it handles less like a porpoise out of water than any previous big front-wheel-drive Toyota.
The Avalon’s metamorphosis, especially for one not following its progress, is remarkable. What was once a dated anachronism is now a thoroughly modern automobile, albeit one still skewed to a traditional clientele. Its closest competitor is now Cadillac’s XTS and even if Toyota’s bigwigs don’t appreciate that comparison either, it is a compliment.