Man, I miss the Toyotas I used to drive. I don't mean the actual cars themselves, but what drew me to Toyota in the first place; an inexpensive little car that would run all week for $5 in gas, didn't have a lot of refinement but was a blast to drive.
Those cars are gone, I guess. The current crop just doens't meet my expectations.
I haven't had a chance to drive too many Echos; they seem nice and are roomy and still maintain that 'cheap' quality I love so much...they kind of feel cheap (by this i mean the seat-of-the-pants ride; calm down, Nat!) The Corollas are OK, the Matrix is a nice little wagon. I only have had a chance to drive one Solara, and it was an auto. Nice, but not buzzy enough...
The Camry trying to compete with the Taurus in particular has lost it's soul. Very nice car, but too plush for my liking. The Camry XLE has all the bells and whistles, leather interior only, V6, etc and has a sticker of $28,880. Not a bargain at all.
We won't even talk about the Avalon. My 83YO mom loves them...
The rest are SUV's. The RAV is a riot! I love it, as much as I hate SUV's. The Highlander surprised me; I had one in the shop parked next to a
4Runner. The 4Runner seemed bloated and out of proportion next to the sleeker Highlander. Both of these are made solely in Japan, BTW.The Sequoia? UGH! Bloat to the max. Not at all like the Land Cruiser it replaced in the US. The LC had a sportier feel, the Sequoia is just a lard-ass SUV for people who will never click 4Lo (or if they do it will be to take them to the ski lodge...)
The Celica; still a bit of what it was and a blast to drive; soon to be gone at least in the US; see Scion tC.
The only pleasure I have had driving a recent Toyota? A 'lavender' '95 Corolla wagon. The 'spirit' was still alive in '95; car had 57,000 miles on it. Only two problems: it was already purchased by the time I saw it, and it was Lavender (I'm not sure the official color name; "Ashes of Roses" comes to mind...). But the old Toyota seat-of-the-pants feel was there; that's what I miss...
I miss my buzzy little Jap cars...