Overview & Reviews

For 2014, the Toyota Avalon sees no changes other than a minor shuffling of standard and optional features.

• Large trunk
• Quiet and upscale interior with roomy seating front and rear
• Above-average fuel economy.

• Ride quality might be too firm for traditional Avalon buyers
• Cumbersome setup process for Entune.

User Reviews:

Showing 21 through 30 of 36.00

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  Hybrid Avalon Touring 2014 - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By Hybrid Avalon 2014 Touring - July 3 - 8:01 am

  For some reason Edmonds doesnt know theres a Hybrid version of this car so I selected the V6 version. I Really like the Avalon now that I got rid of the OEM Toyota chosen Bridgestone Turanzas. DO NOT get an Avalon with Bridgestone (rocks) tires. I test drove the care with Michelin tires and the ride was firm but comfortable. My located Avalon came with Bridgestone Turanzas and the car rode brittle and handled terribly. I did some investigation and found others had Bridgestone Turanzas and hated them and got rid of them. At 16k miles they were getting so loud I couldnt bear it any more. I went to Toyota and they did not care or help. So I was on my own and put Pirelli P7s on the car and it rides, handles, stops, goes through rain great and is very quiet and is a LRR tire that gets great MPG. My headliner behind my sunroof fell down and the Toyota dealer fixed it once (including nasty fingerprints all over the headliner that I had to argue with the dealer to clean) and it fell down again. Toyota came up with a second headliner fix and they got it right. The radio every once in a while goes dead on AM or FM. It works fine through Bluetooth or other sound inputs, radio just dies. Its intermittent so of course the Dealer cant fix it. Poor quality radio though buyer be ware. The NAV system that Toyota provides would have been outdated in 2008. It has no speed limit and updates are horribly expensive and dont come out very often. My $100 Tom-Tom Nav or my apple phone do a far superior job than the one Toyota sticks you with. Regular free updates and speed limit display on the Tom-Tom. So after my flawless 2012 Camry XLE Hybrid, this Avalon has come with some issues and Toyota has not been much help. What I do like is the MPG for a car this size. Comfort is pretty good. Ive gone on some long trips and the seats are firm but not fatiguing. I would expect more padding in the seats for a car like this. Overall I like the interior layout. The armrest on the driver side at 17k is starting to wear through. Not too happy with the lack of durability of the arm rest vinyl. The steering is great. very low effort and accurate with decent road feel for a big car. The styling is pretty nice for a car in this price range. Over all a pretty nice car that I enjoy driving now that I prematurely had to get rid of the Toyota OEM Bridgestones. I have always owned Toyotas, and I still like this Avalon, but the quality and customer care is sadly slipping from Toyota and the dealers.

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  Avalon No More - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By healthylady - April 11 - 9:59 am

  This Avalon has a terrible design flaw. The interior chrome trim around the controls, air conditioner vents, and doors cause a blinding glare when driving in the sunlight. I have had many Toyota vehicle and have always been very pleased until now. I have written and called Toyota, called and written AutoNation and offered solutions but have not been offered any solutions from these companies. Before you purchase search the internet for Avalon glare problem! I wish that I knew before I purchased.

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  Loving my Es, Um I mean Avalon! - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By New Southerner - March 23 - 3:05 am

  If you like a touch of class, style, performance and panache from an automobile, this is the one for you. Several weeks ago I purchased a used 2014 Toyota Avalon. Having recently moved south from the Midwest, I wanted to shed my 4-wheel drive veh for something smaller. Initially I went looking for a gently used Lexus ES350. My reasons were simple: I’m getting closer to 40 and my automobile needs are starting to bend more toward function and less form. This meant arguing my ego down from the thought that I needed to ‘sit high’ or that I need 3 rows for the few times a year we use the 3rd one. So on to the car; I initially drove 3 or 4 ES’s and on one return test drive I ended up parking next to an Avalon. “What’s this?” I asked the salesman. He responded ‘the Avalon’ and proceeded to tell me of how the car rides a variation of the same platform as the ES. Really? Also that the engine and powertrain were virtually Identical. Really?? So I gave this car –which I had never even glanced at, much less considered before- a good once over. Lowered front end profile w/quadra-beam headlights, Aston-Marton inspired lower intake grill flanked by chrome enveloped fog lamps. A clean and handsome profile with a slightly ‘windswept’ greenhouse profile and a beautiful tail end w/LED lights and dual, trapezoidal exhaust…. “Hmm, will you get the keys for this”??? I asked. Got inside. ‘Whoa, seriously, nice!’ A 6 inch touch screen w/digital readouts for the HVAC just below. Mine has the lighter interior w/contrasting taupe, brown and black color scheme. It’s a very rich look accented by liberal swaths of chrome. On to the drive. The ride was the final deal cincher. The engine is buttery-smooth with plenty of power for passing. In fact, I had to learn how to properly finesse the engine when I am passing because stepping down to hard gives way more power than you probably were looking for. I want to address the ride quality itself though. Many have written that the car thunks or crashes over bumps. Honestly, I hadn’t noticed it at all. I think the ride is quite appropriate honestly and I have to believe those that don’t care for it are not the younger buyers Toyota had in mind with this departure from the traditional Avalon. The only places I have to give the car less than stellar marks are the sound system and touch screen. The base unit’s graphics seem a generation behind the two vehicles I have most recently owned and it suffers mightily from sun glare. You literally cannot see a thing it certain situations and that is with dealer placed tint on all windows. . Also, the basic sound system sounds very tinny and has very little bass. They are merely adequate and I have been accustomed to far better utility. (the unit in the base XLE doesn’t even show album artwork for ipod songs) All told, this car is a serious sleeper for most. For some, the prestige of that L in the Lexus nameplate is worth the extra money for what is in many important respects the same car. After spending days if not weeks looking for the perfect gently used Lexus ES, I finally found it. Just so happened that it wears a Toyota badge and prefers to be called Avalon.

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  2014 Avalon Limited - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By Bruce Colman - September 8 - 11:46 am

  Bought it new last fall, should have been an amazing product. This winter the battery died, discovered it was a known problem with the Canadian dealer, lots of cars coming in on tow trucks with a battery with a bad cell. GPS system is useless, a five year old $150 Garmin has more features and is easier to use. I actually use a Gamin window mount GPS on road trips. The most discouraging part is the rattles in the roof, dealer has tried to fix them, several times over a year, turns out the problem was common to many Camry/Avalons with a sunroof, the inner support binds with the outer roof at times, poorly engineered. Toyota has a maintenance bulletin, which required stripping the interior to add a kit, took over a year to sort it out. The rain sensing wipers would start normally, it heavy rain of wet sow, go on high and lock on high. Spoke to other owners, same problem, required turning the wipers on and off to reset. My year 2000 BMW 528 never had these problems. Ended up trading the car in, definitely not recommended. Side mirrors do not always return to normal after backing up and going forward.

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  Couldve been the best - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By Garth McBride Sr - May 20 - 1:18 am

  Love the car, but, couldve really been better. For driving modes, why cant the driving mode remain in the position you push it in even after you leave the car and return. Only remains in the position for "normal", for sport and eco you have to punch it every time you enter the car and start the engine. I like sport cant it just stay there. After 36,000 miles brakes are a little jittery at stops. Should be smooth. Doesnt ride smooth like my 2006 Avalon but thats OK we were warned and the 2006 was too cushy. If you want the 2006 ride buy a Buick. LED headlights and daytime running lights should be standard on all except the Premium. Add a spoiler to the "Touring" as the 2006 thru 10 had!!! Bluetooth sometimes goes from on mode to off mode for some reason, just once in a while but cant figure that out just annoying when it goes into Bluetooth off in the middle of a call on I-95 or 76! Pretty good car for the money but couldve been great. It better stay reliable though. A lot of other choices out there for similar money. I am a Toyota/Lexus guy but can you say, Hyundai Genesis Sedan 3.6!! This is a 2013 and this model is about halfway thru the cycle before the new version. Enough facts are in so they should be able to straighten out the kinks if they (Toyota) is willing.

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  Non-folding back seat - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By Nyeye - March 24 - 7:21 pm

  Our dealer did not tell us about the back seat. It does not fold down. My ladee and I wanted to take it to big bear for snowboarding but was unable to put our gear in the trunk. We never thought Toyota would come up with such a design flaw.

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  Disappointed After One Year - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By oldgoldtop - January 25 - 4:23 am

  Thankfully I only have one more year on a two year lease. This is my first and last Toyota. The Entune was originally great but updates have rendered it very unreliable and nearly useless. Bluetooth is now constantly disconnecting and reconnecting which drops calls and streaming music. Phone text messages rarely will download anymore since recent automatic updates to the software. Navigation is cumbersome and voice recognition on search function is pathetic. The touch controls can often be activated by mistake if you are not careful. In fact that ugly dash touch panel was almost a deal killer for me. The climate display can be impossible to read in the sunlight. Just too many things not implemented well. Dealer service seems uninterested in dealing with the unreliable Entune. Seat heater controls are located on the center console which I find inconvenient and poorly designed. Prefer they be on dash. Exterior styling is appealing to my eyes but so are many other sedans these days. Ride and handling is acceptable for my conservative driving style. I do lie the active backup camera system but would lie some front sensors. The front is very low and easy to scrape on the sidewalk when parking. The lane change sensors work well and a nice feature although unlike my previous car, there is no audible warning .

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  GOOD BUY - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By Gracie - December 28 - 11:09 am

  Overall the Avalon is a big roomy vehicle. I just wish the finishes where a little more high end. A good example would be the floor mats - at first i thought they were some cheap mats someone just put in there but when i went to purchase new ones they were the exact same thing that was in my vehicle (I was not happy). The other issue i have with my vehicle is that Im 5 tall & its difficult for me to see over the side mirrors without something to lift me a little higher in the seat which of course I already have it set at its max height. The navigation is just ok - it takes too long to get the information I need therefore making it easier to use my iphone. Other issue with navigation is that the way it sits on the dash when the sun hits it you cant really see anything on the screen. The ride is not as smooth as I had expected. If I sound picky its because i previously owned a Lexus GS300 and got spoiled. Other than that it’s a good purchase.

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  2014 Avalon Hybrid XLE Touring - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By kadena - December 17 - 7:28 am

  I have had my Avalon for about three weeks. It came equipped with Michelin tires. I really like this car. I bought the Touring especially to get the Blind Spot Monitoring in the outside rear view mirrors and the Rear Cross Traffic Monitoring. I had to buy a lot of options that I will never use just to get these and to my opinion they are safety features that are well worth it and they work real well. The car rides nice, handles good with little or no road noise. Really plush and comfortable seats and interior. Great choice for me

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  Never needed a fix - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By Toyota Owner - October 30 - 3:56 am

  In a few months, I will have had this car for 4 years, and have had ZERO repairs outside of normal maintanence.