I’m not a full-size sedan person, so this one caught me by surprise.
By Jessica Doll, HejDoll.com
I grew up around cars. My grandpa raced cars, my dad was into cars and in high school I hung out with the car club. I have taken a few autocross lessons and had fun. I like to drive! Now, as San Francisco based photographer focused on style and travel, and as a mom of two boys, I drive a luxury compact crossover. So when I had the opportunity to try out the 2019 Toyota Avalon Touring edition, I had some hesitations; I’m not a full size sedan person.
The Toyota Avalon: A Pleasant Surprise
The Avalon was a surprise. I don’t like to feel like I’m driving a huge car. While this car is a full size sedan, it doesn’t feel like one. That’s probably partly because of the different driving modes. It has great pickup and four modes: in sport mode you can use the fun paddle shifters, there is normal mode, eco sport and sport plus, which is what I drove around in all week.
Further Reading: The Perfect Frame for my Neon Hue Life: 2019 Toyota Avalon
Unexpected Style for a Sedan
I wasn’t expecting luxury so that was a nice surprised in the Avalon, too. The model I drove was Wind Chill Pearl White which has sparkles in the paint and black accents on the wheels and side mirrors. This gives the Avalon a more modern look. In the front it has a more aggressive grille and sleek headlights.
But inside is where a lot of the magic is. Even getting in is magic: if key is in your pocket just pull the door handle and it unlocks.
All the Necessities for a Family: Luxury Details and Smart Technology
Inside, the interior is black leather with tan stitching. It’s nice; some cars have an aggressively sporty look and that’s often too aggressive for my taste. But the Avalon is nicely done.
Then, there’s a push button start and a touch screen dash. There are control options on the steering wheel; this is great, you don’t have to look around for things while you’re driving.
Other features I really liked:
- There are cameras all around that help with parking; with the push of a button you can have a 360 degree view. It sort of feels like a video game, but you can see the lines on the pavement for backing up
- There is a dual zone climate control; if you have a passenger who is freezing you can be comfortable
- This car even has heated seats in the back, which is nice –my boys loved that!
- The Avalon has a large trunk with a cargo net to help keep things in place
- Automatic high beams are helpful; it’s great to have them on and not worry about having to control them all the time
- There is a wireless charging pad for charging your phone
- There are 3 USB ports in the front; two are in the deep center console, and there are another two USB ports in the back seat; this is super important for kids on road trips
You can see my full tour of the Toyota Avalon in my Facebook live broadcast:
Disclosure: The Avalon was provided by Toyota for this story; all opinions are my own.
