2011 Toyota Avalon

Sexagenarians Rejoice! Your Ride Has Arrived 2011 Toyota Avalon – Click above for high-res image galleries Have you seen the TV commercials for the 2011 Toyota Avalon? One particular 30-second spot sticks out. It's shot through a 1960's filter and features an old-fashioned voiceover, cheesy elevator music and an airline pilot driving the big Toyota sedan on a cloud with a pretty flight attendant in the passenger seat. It's like something the Mad Men crew would create, minus the misogyny. That Toyota's marketing team produced such a commercial proves they know exactly who buys the Avalon: people who were alive and watching television 50 years ago. Since a "jet-smooth ride" and "quiet cabin" don't set an enthusiast's soul ablaze, we're taking Toyota's hint and getting in the mood for our review of the updated Avalon by donning a cardigan, ordering a scotch and soda and developing a one-sided friendship with Alex Trebec. So let's phrase it in the form of a question: How good is the 2011 Toyota Avalon? Follow the jump to find out. %Gallery-100691% Photos copyright ©2010 Chris Shunk / AOL These days, many automakers simplified the car buying process by bundling options in packages and spreading them across three or more different trim levels. The 2011 Toyota Avalon goes even simpler, offering just two trim levels and a bare minimum of available options. Toyota pulls this off by offering the most basic Avalon with a metric ton of standard equipment and a $32,000 base MSRP, while a Limited model adds even more and jumps to near luxury territory with a starting point of $35,485. Those prices are higher than competitors like the Ford Taurus or Buick LaCrosse, but the payoff is a confusion-free ordering process. Go for a Limited model like our tester and there is but one option to choose: a $1,450 navigation system. That singular option brings our tester's MSRP to $37,885 including delivery. There are plenty of available accessories from the dealer, but ordering from the factory couldn't be any simpler. Simplicity seems to be the order of the day for the Avalon, especially when talking about the large sedan's freshly updated sheetmetal. The Avalon was reshaped and restyled for 2011, but if your eye is untrained in the art of automaker refreshes, you probably won't be able to distinguish a 2010 model from a 2011. The front fascia now features a wider grille and modern front projector beam headlights that give the Avalon's face more visual pop than the outgoing model. The rear is updated with conservative yet stylish LED taillamps, a clear upgrade over the 2010 model. Toyota designers round out changes for 2011 with additional chrome all around, revised rocker panels and updated wheel packages. Did somebody say more chrome? The sexagenarian inside us is tingling! At first we wondered why Toyota would spend the dollars to update the Avalon without making it look much different than last year's model, but then we remembered the average Avalon owner is 64 years …
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