I haven't explored closely enough to answer about the warning light. I know my '98 XLS doesn't have it. My lamented '89 Scorpio warned about an open liftgate and *which* of the side doors was open.
And wow, are you ever right about the seatbelt retractor. It's more of a seatbelt dangler. I'm content with the climate control, though.
I love the interior space. There are only my wife and myself; but with all the inside-packed gear for a 9K-mile motoring vacation we still had room behind the front passenger's seat for a sudden wheelchair when she injured her leg.
What would you consider in lieu of the Avalon? I've decided against the '05 Avalon because of the lack of a trunklid keyhole. Making the latch all-electric was just a designer's conceit, unworthy of a luxury car and most assuredly unworthy of the designer's boss.
Brent "Advertising may be described as the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it." -- Stephen Leacock
Maybe not. I can't remember the last time I used a key to open a trunk, a door, or start the car. My last three cars did not have a key access on the passenger door. With some cars the driver need not even insert a key to run the car, just have it in his possession
Yes, I'm fob-puncher myself. OTOH, I discovered the no-keyhole problem while examining a car on the showroom floor. With full battery power available, the lid latch never responded to the dash or fob button. There literally was no owner-accessible way to open the trunk. When everything's working, it's got sex-appeal. When it fails, it's a never-again frustration.
Brent "Enough small empty boxes thrown into a big empty box fill it full."
For my 2 cents worth... I'd prefer a key hole myself, but with the pass-through in the back seat, I'd tie strong string around the emergency trunk release and route the string so that you can reach through the pass-through and pop the trunk that way. Rock climber's accessory cord is very strong and would work well for this application.
Of course, unless the pass-through locks, that allows a valet driver access to the truck. He would have to know about the string, however. Come to think of it, he has access to the truck through the pass-through anyway.
But I find it hard to believe that Toyota did not provide a backup means of getting into the trunk in case of electrical failure.
Has someone actually checked the manual for the '05 Avalon and determined that there is no backup to the electronic actuation?
The manual, no. I did confirm it with my dealer's service manager. He disappeared into the office and came back with, "It can't be done." I don't know what or whom he'd consulted in the interim.
The showroom car on which I discovered this problem was due to be delivered to its buyer an hour thence. I wish I could have stayed to seen how/whether they solved the problem in time. I emphasise: the battery was fully charged; the failure lay somewhere in the system on a brand-new car. That is disquieting IMO.
Neither I nor anyone at my dealer's store nor any sources they consulted have found any backup system or any reference to one.
In this thread there have been suggestions for work-arounds such as stringing a stout cord from the pass-through to the interior emergency lid release, but hey -- that's as tacky as a coat hanger in an antenna socket. This is a luxury car. It shouldn't be the owner's task to correct the builder's mistakes.
It will be interesting to read Consumer Reports' comments in their forthcoming review of the car.
Dodge Charger. Only thing stopping us is lack of memory seats as an option. I agree that it will probably not be as reliable as Toyota but I have a 99
300M and a 2001 Avalon and the 300M is almost as reliable and much better car overall. We are seriously considering a Charger to replace the Avalon. Only thing making us hesitate is the lack of memory seats. Buy a Chyrsler extended service agreement if you are concerned about reliability. You will still be thousands of dollars ahead.
Mazda 6 is another one to consider.
Ford 500 with an extended warranty would be OK if it had an engine.
Better do a bit of research, because of the superior use of the torque range with its six speed and CVT transmissions, the 500
3.0 V6 easily outperforms the larger 3.5 V6 in the Chrysler 300 with only a 4 speed tranny.
However one would be wise, in my opinion, to consider the V8 RWD
300 or V8 Charger if they want a safer, better handling vehicle than the Avalon or the 500. As to reliability all manufactories are building high quality vehicles, with long term reliability, today. The only real difference is style and price. Anyone paying 20% t0 30% more to buy a particular brand, thinking one will significantly outlast another, is wasting their money.
Ever seen the automotive "frequency of repair" and reliability records in Consumer Reports which is based on real world data from hundreds of thousand of vehicles?
If you had, you'd realize how silly your post is;-)
Mike, I have the 3.5 in my 300M. I have driven the Ford 500. No way the Ford 500 will keep up with the 3.5. You might be thinking of the 2.7 which was available in the 2005 Chrysler 300. That might be as slow as the Ford 500. I think it was discontinued for 2006 because everyone bought the 3.5 or Hemi.
I read Consumer Reports. I had a 94 LHS and a 99 300M and a 2001 Avalon. The Avalon is slightly more reliable but thousands of dollars more and has fewer features and many annoyances which can never be fixed because they are designed in. But if you believe the surveys, the Toyota Avalon is the world's best car and the chryslers are junk. The problem with the surveys is that the failure rates they use are too close together so they don't point out the real lemons. They use the following %: less that 2 % much more reliable than average
2-5% more reliable than average
5-9% Average
9-15% less reliable than average
Do you really believe they are getting accurate numbers to separate the top
3 categories? I doubt it. By the way, Chyrsler cars are in the average category overall.
In addition, real problems are missed by the survey. COnsumer Reports just had an article about sludge problems in certain Toyota, Volkswagon and Chrysler engines. They said it was a very bad problem for owners but admitted that their surveys did not pick up on the issue. Clearly their surveys are not getting the job done.
That may be your opinion but that is all that you get from CR as well, the opinion of their subscriber who happen to reply to their surveys. It is NOT based on data from hundreds of thousand of vehicles, for from it. Their subscriber base is most likely less than 150,000 and 17,000,000 new vehicles are sold annually in the US.
On the other hand what I see is the maintenance records of the thousands of vehicles, from about every brand you can name, that we service in our sixteen fleet service shops in six eastern states, every month. Fleets generally keep their vehicles in service for five years or 300K WOF, because of federal corporate depreciation tax laws. Therefor they keep meticulous records of the total cost of ownership including acquisition, insurance, maintenance, repairs and part cost as well as the cost of replacement. The difference in the frequency of repairs among them is relatively minor. The repair frequency for Toyota is going up now that they are selling cars in the millions, rather than hundreds of thousands, Murphy's law.
One should be more concerned about the cost of maintenance and repair than the frequency. FWD vehicles cost far more to maintain and repair than RWD vehicles and the parts cost of imports are much greater than domestics. The cost of a new power steering pomp for a Lexus is around three times the price of one for a Cadillac, for instance.
ALL manufactures offer a warranty because they all make some that are not up to snuff on occasion. The failure ratio averages between 2% to 3% for ALL of them. Trust me the only real difference among them is style and price. It is foolish to spend 20% to 30% more to buy one brand because you think the one you get will not be one of the 2% to 3%, when the odds are you will get on of the 97%, regardless of brand. Buy the one that best suits your needs and budget. Do the proper preventive maintenance and it will run, trouble free, for a long time. Don't worry about it breaking down, IT WILL at some point, worry about the cost when it does if you are the type that keeps your vehicles a long time.
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