2020 Toyota Avalon Limited
Class: Large Car
Miles driven: 374
Fuel used: 17.9 gallons
Real-world fuel economy: 20.9 mpg
| CG Report Card | |
|---|---|
| Room and Comfort | A |
| Power and Performance | B |
| Fit and Finish | A |
| Fuel Economy | C+ |
| Value | B |
| Report-card grades are derived from a consensus of test-driver evaluations. All grades are versus other vehicles in the same class. Value grade is for specific trim level evaluated, and may not reflect Consumer Guide's impressions of the entire model lineup. | |
| Big & Tall Comfort | |
| Big Guy | A |
| Tall Guy | B |
| Big & Tall comfort ratings are for front seats only. "Big" rating based on male tester weighing approximately 350 pounds, "Tall" rating based on 6'6"-tall male tester. | |
| Drivetrain | |
| Engine Specs | 301-hp 3.5-liter |
| Engine Type | V6 |
| Transmission | 8-speed automatic |
| Drive Wheels | front |
Driving mix: 65% city, 35% highway
EPA-estimated fuel economy: 22/31/25 (city, highway, combined)
Fuel type: Regular gas
Base price: $42,100 (not including $930 destination charge)
Options on test vehicle: Advanced Safety Package ($1150), Carpet Mat Package ($259), illuminated door sills ($379)
Price as tested: $44,818
Quick Hits
The great: Spacious, nicely finished interior; satisfying power
The good: Generous list of safety features
The not so good: Fuel economy a bit disappointing compared to EPA estimates; so-so headroom for a large car
More Avalon price and availability information
John Biel
You can’t get any bigger with a Toyota sedan than an Avalon, and you can’t get an Avalon plusher than the Limited.
If you liked the 2019 Avalon Limited, then you surely won’t mind the 2020 model because it is fundamentally unchanged. Having fully redesigned its large car for ’19 by making it bigger, more powerful, and a touch more tech savvy, Toyota is leaving well enough alone save for inserting a sporting TRD (Toyota Racing Development) model with a lowered sport suspension, uprated brakes, and specific trim into the center of the now-5-tier gas-engine lineup. (Hybrids in three trim levels remain available.)
Consumer Guide editors reviewed a 2019 Touring, to which we’ll refer the reader for many of the specifics about the current Avalon. The Limited assumes more of a debonair car-about-town attitude, giving up Touring touches like black grille and exterior trim, quad exhaust tips, 19-inch wheels, Sport+ driving mode, paddle shifters, engine-sound enhancers, sport-tuned suspension, Ultrasuede seat trim, and aluminum pedal covers. Instead, the Limited rolls behind a dark-gray grille with a chrome surround. Other external signifiers are body-color mirror shells, 18-inch “SuperChrome” alloy wheels, and chrome-tipped dual exhausts. The interior has leather-trimmed heated and ventilated front seats, and wood trim on dash and doors.
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The Limited sells for $43,030 with delivery, which actually is a few hundred dollars cheaper than either the Touring or TRD after all the parts trading is factored in. However, the tested car topped out at $44,818. Carpeted mats, illuminated door sills, and the Advanced Safety Package (overhead surround-view camera, low-speed collision-avoidance sonar, and rear cross-traffic braking) saw to that.
Smaller-diameter wheels and higher-profile tires on the Limited do nothing but improve ride comfort, which wasn’t half bad on the Touring as it was. The luxe model stays quieter, too, due to its lack of engine-noise amplifiers. There is a “Sport” drive mode (to go with “ECO“ and “Normal“ settings) that seemed to make its greatest impact on steering firmness.
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The Avalon’s 301-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 teams with an 8-speed automatic transmission for pleasantly responsive performance. CG’s verdict on the 2019 model’s fuel economy was less than laudatory, and the needle hasn’t moved substantially on that. (For instance, one of our editors who happened to drive the 2019 and ’20 cars in the exact same percentage of predominantly city miles got better mileage with the Limited, but still couldn’t reach the EPA’s projected 22 mpg.)
There’s an attractive diamond-like stitching pattern to the side panels of the Limited’s comfortable seats—a look reprised in the padded leatherette in the door centers. Soft-touch surfaces are plentiful, and drivers grip a heated leather-wrapped steering wheel. The luxury feel is augmented by standard heated rear seats, 8-way-powered front seats with driver’s seat memory, a power moonroof, and dual-zone automatic climate control. A 14-speaker audio system is one element of an easily manipulated infotainment system with navigation, satellite radio, remote services, Apple CarPlay smartphone functionality, and Amazon Alexa car-to-house and house-to-car connectivity. The Toyota Safety Sense P group of forward-collision warning and mitigation with pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning and mitigation, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams joins blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alerts to look out for passenger safety.
Most Avalon occupants won’t go wanting for room in most directions (though headroom could be tight for taller folks in both the front and back seats). Neither will they lack for places to keep their stuff in the cabin. There’s generous trunk room, with the prospect of even more thanks to 60/40-folding rear seats—a rarity in large sedans—though the folded seats rest above the plane of the trunk floor and a bulkhead narrows passage to the interior.
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With some competing brands pulling back on cars—especially big ones—to concentrate on crossovers and SUVs, Toyota could perhaps take its foot off the gas. If you’re still in the market for a sedan with room and features, you can be glad that it hasn’t.
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