Toyota is introducing a new crossover vehicle, I think it is a nice looking crossover, Clean and stylish, Simple yet elegant and somewhat sporty looking. What do you think ?

http://www.toyotamail.com/r?xJlqvJvElTTlJEcqJnWPWPc

It is simply knock-off of the RX. Details of the dimensions will be interesting. It looks a bit more compact than the RX. Maybe a good car for your teenager.

From the photo it appears the roofline is the smashed-down style introduced by Dodge.

I'm actually quite impressed with the looks of the Venza.....and more importantly.....the Wife likes it too! Not sure if a vehicle like that really needs 19 or 20" wheels/tires though......I think that's overkill & expensive down the road But we'll take the V6 & AWD for us please.....here's to hoping it will be reasonably priced too......come 2010, I think we will replace her 2003 Forester with something a little bigger & it appears that this fits the bill nicely.

I will check them out a little closer when they are available (I'm hoping they will have at least one at the Canadian International Auto Show in a little over a week).

It's pretty nice! A lot more "agressive-looking" than the usual little crossovers these days.

Speaking of Subaru, Lexusfreak, I honestly think Subaru gets screwed out of credit for their vehicles. Honestly, how long have they been building the "crossover" vehicle to begin with? That funky Tibecca thing they've had out for a few years, looks like what these new "crossovers" look like now. The Outback...led the way in my opinion. Even further back to the old Legacy and that truck thing they had. If my wife wasn't so concerned over my "image", my 4runner would actually be a turbo outback. But the amount of flack I got from her, and even a fight or two "a business man doesn't need to drive a station wagon.."yada yada yada crap. I simply caved. But everytime I see an outback roaming the streets, a little part of me turns green with envy. Especially the turbo's. I'd have one tomorrow, if my southern-stubborn wife wouldn't give me hell for it 24/7. Maybe now with a baby on the way, the 4runner soon to be hers, she'll see the wisdom

Just a rant...

Agreed nc! I wanted an Outback Turbo before I bought my Forester XT Turbo......I was impatient at the time & the OB was out of my price range. Subaru does not get the credit for their vehicles, but I can't stress enough how good these things are in the bad weather....especially the winter. The wife like the Tribeca too.....the dash on that thing is a piece of art it looks so nice! So that's also on our short list (the 2008 model was redesigned with a larger 3.6 H6 engine.....to now run on regular fuel too).

Do I regret my decision? Nah.......I'm back behind the wheel of a Lexus....so it's all good. I still have a Subi to drive when the weather get's nasty.

I agree too. In bad weather, nothing beats a Subaru, hands down, no doubt about it. Audi is good too, but something about Subaru inspires the proper level of confidence. You ever heard my story about evacuating the coast during hurricane Floyd back in 99'? That hurricane flooded the entire eastern portion of north carolina. After it had been raining for about 6 hours straight and roads started to flood down in Wilmington "where I lived, along the coast", I decided to go to Charlotte and stay with some friends. Honest to goodness, my 99' outback was nothing less than and god blessed water-spider. When all others were going with thier hazzards blinking at 35 mph, I was throwing a rooster tail at 65mph. In fact, the only time I went below 60 was at the gas station, where more than one big ole' suv owner asked me what in the hell I was driving. Just hold the wheel straight, don't get spooked by the AWD kicking power around to the wheels, and you'll be in complete control. Just amazing.
My 4runner? I have maybe 1/3 the comfort in that vehicle in bad weather, specifically cruising at highway speeds in the rain, as I had in the Subaru, and it too is permanent AWD. The roll-over fear is bad for me, having been in one that did flip as a stupid teenager. Getting more comfortable with it though, but taking a long time.

Yup, I remember you sharing that with us a while back

Hard to beat a Subaru for an excellent center of gravity.

I wonder if Toyota will use any of Subaru's components (engines aside) in the upcoming Venza with AWD? That would be nice!

I think it is about time toyota entered the crossover market aggressivly, Nissan has the murano and honda has the crv. I think toyota brings some real competition to the plate.

Time to beat an old dead horse lol...

Has anyone driven the Venza? I have and i think it's a little bouncy due to the 20" rims but it would look ugly if it had smaller rims though.

My dad is highly considering it after the lease is up on the 4Runner but the looks isn't growing on me. I have test driven the V6 one and it's pretty smooth but the looks will still have to grow on me.

It has pretty cool Lexus features like smartkey, power rear door, backup camera even ones w/o navi, etc...


Still have to see what the decision will be.

I drove the Venza and liked everything about it except they do ride a little hard because of those 20s, although you're right it doesn't look right with smaller wheels.

I would buy one in an instant and replace the Prius with it.

Its a good deal, fully loaded V6 at $37k and you can buy them for $33k or so. The Murano is a little more SUV-ish though and rides better.

I like the looks personally. Its not really as much an RX ripoff as someone said, its much smaller than the RX. More like a Ford Edge.

Engine power is definitely pretty decent on a car with that much weight. It's a crossover so bigger rims are necessary to compensate for the design of it. It was a good car overall but apparently my dad was already decided on the 528i instead

Speaking of the Ford Edge, I saw a brand new one today going down the road next to me. Man, Ford really put some nice updates to that thing this year. I like what they've done to the headlight lenses, and just cleaned up the lines a bit. It really caught my eye, and attention. The changes they've made to their cars this year looks like they're letting their european designers have more input on their American cars...good idea! Hmmmm....might have to go investigate what's going on down at Big Blue soon...

Oh yeah, and I really like the new Venza too. It's got a refined, yet sportsy, yet useful look to it. Very nice! I haven't sat in one though.

I've always liked the Ford Edge...

Ford has greatly improved their vehicles in terms of design and quality

Funny part my dad really considered this car versus the 528i lol. Such a random comparison but this and the 528i were his choices hehe