Toyota Venza Forum

Hi There,

I would like to ask for some help in buying a Venza later this year. I am absolutely in love with the concept of the car as I like the combination of luxury and utility at more reasonable prices. Despite that reasonableness, my budget is at the low end of the Venza MSRP range. So I need to be very careful about how I spec this car out and balance price with desired features. I would like to hear from people on some of the things I am trying to decide on:

1) V4 vs V6. I am currently used to my 5 cylinder 2.4L Turbo volvo s60 sedan when it comes to performance. I know I won't get that out of a V4 but am willing to sacrifice some performance to save costs. Do people who own the V4 find they have enough highway passing power? My wife has a 2006 Toyota Matrix AWD and I can tell you I am not happy with its acceleration performance. Does the V4 Venza perform better than the Matrix?

2) AWD vs FWD. I live in New England, we get some pretty bad snow, but its never been an insurmountable problem in my FWD Volvo, but naturally our Matrix does better. Any feedback on AWD vs FWD in New England?

3) Packages/Features. What features or packages do you find to be the best value? Maybe if people listed their top 3 favorite features? Are there any features people consider "must haves"? Any that should be avoided?

4) MSRP. How much below MSRP did folks end up buying their cars for, if you don't mind sharing this info.

5) 2009 vs 2010? Since I am going to wait until the end of the year, should I get a 2010 in the hopes that the quality issues have been worked out?

Thanks for all your advice in advance.

My advice would be to definetly go for the V6 over the L4 and since you live in New England (I am originally from NJ) go for the AWD. I have the V6 AWD and although I live in NC now, we do get snow/messy weather in the winter and I didn't want to worry. It is completely automatic and engages quickly along with the VSC and TRAC if needed.

The mileage penalty with the V6 over the L4 with AWD is not that much, and the V6 AWD is 18 City/25 Hwy. I have been averaging (two tanks so far) over 20 mpg combined driving. The V6 is very smooth and powerful, so if you like the Volvo's turbo power and don't like a 0-60 time of over 9 seconds with the 4, get the V6. If you want great MPG, get a Hybrid (been there, didn't really like that Camry) and give up the space and the power.

As for options, you can go nuts like with the Premium Package #2 and spend $4300 (MSRP) just on that alone, jacking the MSRP on the Venza near $40K. Yeah, you get leather, back up camera, etc. but I opted to get the most important options, IMHO:

AWD, Panoramic sunroof, JBL Synthesis system (pairs with phone via Bluetooth), Convenience Pkg (Push button start, key fob, power rear hatch, chrome door handles), floor mats, Tow pkg (for better cooling, HD alternator)

This kept my MSRP under $34K and then I struck a hard bargain and got a dealer to go below $30K. Nothing like desperate dealers in the last week of July dying for sales!!

Save some $$ and get the accessories (wheel locks, bumper protector, cargo net) online, NOT from the dealer. And don't fall for the ToyoGuard package or Nitrogen and Wax package...they are almost PURE profit..bad enough these dealers charge up to a $699 Doc fee...which I consider their profit and nothing else.

You can get the leather and the seat heaters separately or dealer installed, but if you go DI you lose the pwr passenger seat. I felt the AWD was $1400 better spent.

Good luck, sharpen the pencils, deal hard...and let us know if you got that shiny Venza in your garage. I am impartial to Classic Silver Metallic with Grey cloth...that's my ride!!

Thank you that was very informative. I just wish I could afford all those recommendations lol. Anyway, I couldn't resist so I went and saw one in a showroom last night for the first time. It was the Sea Blue which I thought was actually pretty nice, with ivory cloth interior. I was suprisingly impressed with the cloth interior, so I no longer feel I need a fancy leather one.

My big problem is that I believe my budget to for a car to be at about the $25K-27k area, which puts me in the base model area. I'd love to have a V6 AWD but I think at best I can either have V6 or AWD but not both. I agree the mileage penalty of a V6 is negligble, im just more concerned about price right now. I think my target Venza would probably be something like this:

-I4 w/AWD. I think the AWD is more important for safety than a V6 (though I do like to gun it sometimes in my turbo S60 which I will be selling to get a downpayment on the Venza lol).
-Sunset Bronze exterior, Ivory cloth interior
-Panoramic Sunroof, Backup Camera, anti-theft system, chrome handles, power lift gate, cargo mats, smart key, push button start

That'd put the invoice price at $27,552 and MSRP around $30,000. I've heard of people getting Venza'=s under invoice price (sounds like you did as well, I think invoice for yours would have been around $30,600). I'm hoping for 0% financing events and some clearance breaks at the end of the year, too. Maybe I'm hoping for too much lol.

Check out Motor Trend June 2009 for a comparison of the Venza and Murano and Edge. They also discuss the 4 cylinder Venza AWD (The article pits all three FWD vehicles with V6s). The 0-60 on the AWD L4 is around 9 seconds, so if you can live with that, go for it. FYI, the V6 AWD 0-60 is around 6.7 seconds, quite a difference! Remember the 4 also has the smaller 19" wheels and a few less features. I agree with most of your options, but remember the back up camera is in a small 3.5" TFT screen rather than the big NAV screen when you don't get the NAV system. The blind spots take some time getting used to, and I was backing up the Venza today in the rain and I was VERY cautious until I got my bearings.

I agree the cloth is a good quality feel and am fine without the leather. Since your budget is tight, stick to your guns and drive a hard bargain. I don't expect 0% financing or rebates on Venzas, just try to find a desperate dealer with a large inventory. Not much change (if any) expected for 2010, so not penalty for getting an '09.

Good luck and keep us posted!!

My wife get a V4 AWD and it is wonderful ride.

Thanks, I was wondering how they did the camera display in the non-navigation ones. I wouldn't get the backup camera except for that its packaged with the anti-theft system. I'm wondering if it'd just be smarter to get the most base of options and do a bunch of after market stuff to it.

We have had the 4 cyl. for several months now. Lots of city travel, towed my boat, long trips in Canada and the US. Have had no issues with power or acelaration. So, I'm really pleased with the gas mileage. I'm really glad I went with the 4 cyl.

My movie plans last night fell through so I went and test drove the 4 cyl., I was satisfied with the performance. I imagine the AWD may perform slightly worse but I think I'll be okay with it.

Yeah, it's not nearly as slow as the Matrix. I found it adequate but not thrilling in my own test drive.

Since you own both FWD and AWD already, you're the best judge of whether or not you need AWD.

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