Toyota
What is it with Toyota? Do they deliberately TRY and make the most unresponsive, cumbersome web sites in the industry? They certainly seem to. God knows how many more cars they would sell if they ever had a user friendly portal. I truly HATE preparing Toyota data because I know it will take 3x as long as anyone else. And the silly pricing games they play are insulting. Really... Consider taking your business elsewhere.
Last year, I visited about 5 dealerships looking for a used car. The worst experience I had was at a Toyota dealership. I had decent, respectful experiences at Ford, Honda and GMC. Toyota seems to have adopted all the worst practices of used car dealerships and trys them all. Keep one hand on your wallet at all times when shopping for a Toyota. PS - I bought a 2004Chevy Avalanche with 4WD. And I LOVE it. But it's not without problems - I bought it because it was right for ME. You need to think about what's right for YOU, and then find the vehicle that meets that definition at the best price you can find.
Toyota AWD Choices
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The Base Matrix and its XRS upscale brother, are not available with AWD. AWD is only available for the Matrix S version. For some reason, the Toyota website refers to the car as the Matrix 10. (It took me a week to figure out it meant 2010 Matrix - duh! Sometimes our prejudices get in our way. Like mine with Toyota. Learn from that. Make sure your prejudices don't get in YOUR way.) In terms of visual appeal, it is about a 3; not a 10. Selecting the "build-it" option for the $20,760 Matrix S with the 2.4 liter motor and the automatic transmission delivers a page that has in its heading, "Starting at $16,550". No, it doesn't!!!! IT STARTS AT $20,760!!!!!!!!! |
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The 2010 Toyota RAV4 seems unchanged from last year's version. The internal designators are gone, thank god, and we are presented with simply the Base, Sport and Limited versions. Nice and clean.The 4wd implementation in the RAV4 is a bit different, in that it DISENGAGES at speeds above 25mph. Hmmm... So if slow, low traction environments (ice, snow, mud) are of frequent concern to you, by all means consider the well regarded RAV4. But if you are looking for a more cummuter oriented sysytem, you may be better served with a conventional AWD vehicle. The 2.5 liter 4 cylinder BASE 4wd version starts unchanged at
$22,900. |
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The 2010 Toyota Sienna minivanalso appears unchanged for this year. It is hard to get a good profile view of Sienna and that may be because the car always appears to be a bit overloaded in the back... The Sienna is a true minivan, but is also available with AWD. If a traditional minivan is more your style than a flashier crossover, this is about the only game in town. You need to step up to the 3.5 liter V-6 powered LE version to get AWD on the Sienna, and this runs the cost up. Figure on shelling out
$29,235 and up. |
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There are 5 Toyota Highlander trim levels; Base, Sport, Limited, Hybrid and Hybrid Limited. It too is mostly unchanged for 2010. Std equipment is the 3.5-liter V6 that delivers an impressive 270 horsepower. Full-time 4-wheel drive is also an option; it is not standard equipment on any Highlander. Hybrid drive versions are also available with hybrid 4wd, but it is NOT an off-road oriented version. The base AWD equipped 2009 Highlander, which rides on the Camry/Avalon chassis, comes equipped with the 3.5L V6 motor. Highlander's second-row seating features captain's chairs with armrests that can be converted to a bench seat for 3 passengers. A "Center Stow" seat, when not in use, is hidden in a compartment under the front center console. You can snap in the provided center stow console or leave the area open as a walk-through to the third row. The second row also slides forward and back 4.7 inches and reclines. Now THAT's smart. Prices for the entry level 2009 AWD Highlander start at
$29,050 |
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The 2009 -2010 Toyota Venza is a "crossover sedan". That's right, Toyota has decided to create a whole new automotive niche rather than call Venza any kind of a "utility vehicle". That's a shame. It is a very sharp looking product, tainted by the foolhardy suits at Toyota who never got grease under their fingernails. If that was their intention, why did they raise the profile some 4 or 5 inches? Drop it back down and call it a sportwagon, and I'm fine with that. Have a LITTLE integrity...You can get an AWD Venza with a 4 or a 6. Initial reports find fault with mushy brakes and steering, but that's about all. The 4 cylinder version comes with a 6 speed automatic transmission and starts st $27,425 |
