2012 Toyota Avalon Review and Prices
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Price: $33,500 - $36,900
MPG: 20 / 29 /
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2012 Toyota Avalon Buying Advice
The 2012 Toyota Avalon is the best car for you if your concerns are comfort and refinement and you don’t give a whit about impressing the neighbors.
The 2012 Toyota Avalon will carry over virtually unchanged major revisions given the 2011 Toyota Avalon. Those revisions raised the curtain on the fourth design generation of this roomy five-passenger sedan. They were highlighted by subtly updated styling and more standard luxury features. The 2011 Avalon also was the first Toyota car built with the brake-override system and modified gas pedal designed to mitigate unintended acceleration.
Should you wait for the 2012 Toyota Avalon or buy a 2011 Toyota Avalon? Buy a 2011 Toyota Avalon. The 2012 Avalon won’t be substantively changed, and the 2011 Avalon benefits from the liberal factory incentives helping Toyota win back buyers after the safety-recall controversy. Those spiffs may not be quite so generous when the 2012 Avalon hits showrooms.
2012 Toyota Avalon Changes back to top
Styling: The 2012 Avalon will be a mirror image of the 2011 Avalon, which means a careful evolution of the 2005-2010 generation design. This is styling in the service of civility – conservative, upright lines that maximize interior space and create the impression of road-hugging weight. The 2012 Avalon’s gently drawn-back grille/headlight ensemble and its trendy “light pipe” detail illumination update the look without violating its traditions. The 2012 Avalon is exactly the same size as the previous-generation model and is roughly as long as its primary competition in the full-size-sedan class. Avalon’s wheelbase, however, is among the shortest in the class. Wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear axles and a primary factor in how much space a vehicle can allot to the passenger compartment. Avalon overcomes its wheelbase deficit with smart packaging and in fact has as much usable interior room as any rival -- and seating more comfortable than most. The 2012 Avalon lineup will return with two models, the nicely equipped base Avalon and the top-line Limited. There seems little incentive for Toyota to restore the entry-level version or the “sporty” Touring model from the third-generation lineup.
Mechanical: The 2012 Avalon retains essentially the same internal structure as the third-generation Avalon. That means it’s again basically a stretched version of Toyota’s midsize Camry sedan. Like that car, Avalon employs front-wheel drive. This locates the mass of the engine over the tires that also propel the car. The pay-off is efficient packaging and enhanced grip on wet or snowy surfaces. The penalty is a nose-heavy car that isn’t sporty to drive. Rear-wheel-drive designs more equitably distribute the drivetrain’s weight for better-balanced handling, but sacrifice some traction on slippery pavement. Handling prowess isn’t Avalon’s prime objective, though its road manners are predictable and consistent – virtues not to be undervalued. Rather, its suspension is tuned to deliver a soft, isolating ride and that it achieves without excessive float or wallow. The 2012 Avalon’s only powertrain consists of a 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission. It’s a smooth, responsive combo and an ideal match for this car. Toyota’s Star Safety System will again be standard on every 2012 Avalon. It integrates Toyota’s Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) antiskid system that combats sideways slides, an anti-lock braking system (ABS) that aids control in emergency stops, and traction control that reduces wheel spin on take-offs. Both 2012 Avalon models will continue with 17-inch alloy wheels and a full-size spare tire.
Features: To roominess and refinement the 2012 Avalon adds a long list of standard and optional amenities. These include a standard rear seatback that manually reclines a few degrees – an exclusive in Avalon’s class. The 2012 Avalon also leans toward luxury with standard leather upholstery, a power tilt/slide moonroof, and steering-wheel audio and phone controls. Audio and communications equipment is in fact quite advanced for a car that appeals mainly to older drivers. Every 2012 Avalon will come with Bluetooth hands-free phone and music streaming to the audio system, XM satellite radio (subscription required), and both USB and auxiliary connections for iPods and other digital audio devices. The 2012 Avalon base model will return with a nine-speaker stereo while the 2012 Avalon Limited uses a 12-speaker, 660-watt JBL Premium Synthesis audio system with a sub-woofer and a 12-channel digital amplifier. Among standard features on both 2012 Avalon models is an automatic-dimming electrochromic rearview mirror that incorporates a rear-view monitor that displays on the mirror’s face when the transmission is shifted into reverse. The image includes on-screen back-up guides to help the driver maneuver. Optional on both 2012 Avalon models will be a voice-activated/touch-screen DVD navigation system that displays the rearview camera on its dashboard screen. While the quality of Avalon’s cabin materials matches those of many genuine luxury cars, the absence of some features keeps Toyota’s biggest sedan from edging into the premium class. It doesn’t offer real wood interior trim, for example, or such advanced driving aids as lane-departure warning, active cruise control, or automatic parallel parking.
2012 Toyota Avalon Prices back to top
Pricing for the 2012 Toyota Avalon won’t be announced until shortly before the car goes on sale but it isn’t expected to change much from that of the 2011 Avalon. That means the 2012 Avalon base model would start around $33,500 and the 2012 Toyota Avalon Limited would be priced from around at $36,900. Prices in this review include the manufacturer’s destination fee; Toyota’s fee for the 2011 Avalon was $750.
In addition to the features listed earlier, the 2012 Avalon base model will include among its standard equipment power windows, locks, and mirrors, remote keyless entry, dual zone automatic climate control, cruise control, 60/40 split folding rear seatbacks, and a trunk cargo net.
The 2012 Avalon Limited’s standard equipment expands on the base model’s to include upgraded perforated leather upholstery, heated front seats, a power passenger’s seat with lumbar support, and a power driver’s-seat cushion extension. A power rear sunshade that automatically retracts with the transmission in reverse is included, as well. The Limited also comes with Toyota’s Smart Key. It incorporates remote entry and pushbutton ignition that allows starting the car without removing the keyfob from briefcase, purse, or pocket. Xenon headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, and fancier alloy wheels also are part of the Limited’s standard upgrades.
2012 Toyota Avalon Fuel Economy back to top
Mileage ratings for 2012 models were not released in time for this review but the 2012 Avalon’s fuel-economy numbers are unlikely to differ from those of the 2011 model.
That means the 2012 Avalon will continue among the most fuel-efficient V-6-powered cars of its size and price, with a rating of 20/29 mpg (city/highway). The 2012 Avalon uses regular-octane gas.
2012 Toyota Avalon Release Date back to top
The 2012 Toyota Avalon will be in showrooms by autumn 2011.
What's next for the 2012 Toyota Avalon back to top
This fourth-generation Avalon’s basic design and engineering won’t change for the duration of its life cycle, which likely will end with the 2016 model year. Before that, perhaps for model-year, 2014 or ’15, Toyota will freshen the car with tweaks to styling and features. No significant mechanical changes are anticipated, and the car’s basic shape or dimensions won’t change. Toyota has promised to offer a gas-electric hybrid model within each of its model lines by the early 2020s. Adapting the electric-motor/gas V-6 powertrain from the Toyota Highlander Hybrid wouldn’t seem much of a stretch, but whether an Avalon Hybrid will arrive during this fourth-generation model’s run is uncertain.
Avalon has a place in automotive history as the first Japanese-brand car with six-passenger seating, a distinction it earned by replacing the Toyota Cressida for model-year 1995. Avalon always has been smaller on the outside than such six-passenger American-brand stalwarts as the Ford Crown Victoria and Chevrolet Caprice. But like those cars, it was available with a three-passenger front bench seat. Avalon remained available with six-passenger seating through the close of its second design generation, in model-year 2004. Since then, Avalons have come only with two front bucket seats and have been strictly five-passenger sedans.
2012 Toyota Avalon Competition back to top
Buick LaCrosse: Redesigned for 2010 and gracefully styled inside and out, LaCrosse is Avalon’s closest domestic-brand rival in exterior size. The Toyota boasts marginally more passenger room and can arguably claim higher-quality interior materials. But LaCrosse has a sportier character that holds more appeal to a slightly younger buyer. The Buick has a wider spread of pricing and powertrains, too. Base prices span roughly $24,000-$34,000 and LaCrosse is available with a 182-horsepower four-cylinder (20/30 mpg) and V-6s of 255 and 280 horsepower (both rated 17/27 mpg). As an alternative to front-wheel drive, LaCrosse offers the 255-horse V-6 with all-wheel drive (AWD); it’s rated at 16/26 mpg.
Lincoln MKS: Lincoln positions its big sedan as a premium-class car, but in reality, this gussied-up Ford Taurus is entirely appropriate as an Avalon alternative. That’s valid mostly if you hew to the base-level MKS, which has Avalon-like specs that include front-wheel drive and a 275-horsepower 3.7-liter V-6 (17/24 mpg). It starts around $42,000, not too far above an Avalon Limited optioned with the navigation system. The 3.7-liter MKS is also available with AWD (16/23 mpg) for about $44,000 and with a 355-horspower turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 and AWD (17/25), starting around $49,000. The Lincoln handles with more precision than the Avalon, but is no more refined, solidly built, or opulently outfitted.
Hyundai Genesis Sedan: This five-seat sedan from the rapidly expanding South Korean brand speaks to the Avalon buyers’ sense of understated value. It’s conservatively styled, very solidly built, beats the Toyota for cabin-materials quality, and has one of the industry’s most generous warranties. It also benefits from the handling balance of rear-wheel drive, though the all-weather security of AWD isn’t available. As with the MKS, stick with the base V-6 version as the most appropriate Avalon avatar. It has 290 horsepower, rates 18/27 mpg, and starts at an appealing $34,000 or so. The 375-horsepower V-8 model (17/25 mpg) tops $40,000 to start.