Who cares what the reviewers think. I'm starting to think that they> don't even bother driving the cars, they just reprint the press> releases.> A few weeks ago, I went out and test drove both a new Ford Five> Hundred and a new Avalon.> Here's my review.> We have a two year old Avalon and we love it. My wife drives it every> day and we love to take it on long trips.> It's silky smooth and big and quiet and comfortable.> Because of that, we overlook that it's pretty homely, wanders a bit> down the freeway and sort of plows around sharp turns.>

I was looking for a new car for myself and was rather interested in> the new Avalon. The dealer just gave me the keys and said try it out> for a day or two.> The new Avalon is no longer silky smooth. It now has more HP and it's> got a bit of a growl and a shake to the engine. The extra Hp means it> now has torque steer. Not much, but noticable.> The new one handles better, no longer wanders and corners better. It> also now thumps over potholes and has tire roar. The old one is> silent.> The new one even got a loud resonance rattle going in the passenger> side door panel on a rough part of the freeway.> The new Avalon no longer feels like a Toyota, but more like a really> big Honda Accord.> The new Avalon interior is higher styled, but stupid. There is now a> garage door over the radio so you can either lift it everytime you> want to play with the radio and heat or you can leave it sort of open> because it doesn't retract all the way. The door hangs out about an> inch so that you have to look around it to see what you are adjusting.> The center console is now wider causing one to wonder why a front> wheel car needs a big stupid console down the middle and it has wood> trim on it right where your knee hits. Over and over and over. Ouch.> The wood trim was really ugly yellow.> The car now comes in four fixed option packages that give you the> wrong options no matter how much you pay.> We are definately keeping our old Avalon.>

A car loving buddy and I tried out a Ford Five Hundred. All wheel> drive, leather, CV transmission.> We liked it.> First, you sit up a little higher and the all around visibility is> wonderful. We each though that the seats were about the best ever.> Avalon seats are good, but they have no support at all.> The back seats of both the Avalon and the Ford are excellent.> The Ford has the better trunk.> The Ford instruments are big and easy to read. All the knobs are handy> and easy to adjust like on the old Avalon. The new Avalon is getting> bottonitis like the German cars.> The Ford felt more rigid. No rattles, groans, vibrations. No road roar> but a slight bit of road rumble over the section of freeway that made> the Avalons panels rattle.> Both cars handle just fine for every day use. the Ford is taller and> at the limit it feels a little tippy at about the same time that the> new Avalon starts to plough.> The Ford doesn't accellerate as fast as the new Avalon, but it's> faster than the old Avalon. I was perfectly happy with the old Avalon.> The old Avalon's transmission is sort of clumsey. The new ones' is> excellent. The Ford CVT is a kick. Stomp it and the engine goes to red> line and the power is right now. Along with the engine noise which I> rather liked. It's a good noise.> Neither car is ugly, but neither car is beautiful.>

The Ford with all the stuff was about $28,000 and the dealer was> offering a two grand discount.> The Avalon was packed with crap that I didn't want like hold the> stupid button down for three seconds to shut it off and auto locking> doors that you are never sure are locked and for about $36,000 with a> couple of thousand worth of extra dealer profit.>

That's $26,000 for the Ford and $38,000 for the Avalon.> If I could get a base Avalon with leather (which you can't) for> $28,000, I might pick it over the Ford just because it's a Toyota.> But way down deep, I think that the> Ford is the slightly better car.> Dennis>

On Mon, 04 Apr 2005 17:14:13 -0400, MikeHunt2@mailcity.­com wrote:>