2010 in Review: Most Boring New Car I Drove

By John LeBlanc Toyota can blame all they want its current recall crisis for its poor sales performance (down 20.5 per cent in Canada this year in a market that’s up 13.6 per cent). But stodgy product, like the “new” 2011 Avalon sedan I drove this summer, is also at the top of the list of what’s ailing the Japanese automaker. Since it arrived for 1995, the Avalon has been a carrot for pissed-off Buick owners. And that modus operandi hasn’t change one iota in 16 years. Not that anyone under the age of 65 would notice, but allegedly Toyota has updated the $41,100 Avalon for 2011. There are some styling tweaks. And boasts of the segment’s only reclining rear seats—just the thing for napping on that long drive back-and-forth to Florida retirement-age Avalon owners will likely perform. But other than that, it’s the same-old, same old for what is basically a stretched Camry. The Avalon gets a V6 from said Camry that’s as smooth as prune pudding. And the brakes, steering and handling have all been anesthetized. Any sense I was piloting a motor vehicle, instead of a La-Z-Boy recliner, was absent from the Avalon’s driving experience. Look: If you do need a “better Buick”, just go buy a Hyundai Genesis. Please.

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