Weekly Top 3: Why The Venza Makes The Wagon Cool Again
In the words of Justin Timberlake, the 2009 Toyota Venza is bringing wagon back (yeah!). Well, maybe that's not quite what old Timberlake said. But the Venza really is doing its part to convince Americans that the much-maligned wagon is a good thing. Here's three reasons why.
3. It drives like a really stylish Camry.
Which is no coincidence -- like the Highlander crossover SUV, the Venza rolls on a modified Camry platform. But where the Highlander feels portly and ponderous, the Venza feels, well, like a Camry. It's considerably lighter than the Highlander, and there's less body roll. This is no sport wagon, mind you, but people who are used to driving midsize sedans will feel right at home. Fuel economy is Camry-like too -- 29 mpg on the highway for the four-cylinder version, with the downright fast V6 clocking in at a very respectable 26 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined (which trumps V6-powered family sedans like the Mazda 6 and Nissan Altima). And hey, this thing practically looks like a next-generation Lexus RX.
2. It's nicer inside than either Highlander or Camry.
The Highlander's dash is all hard plastic. The top half of the Camry's dash is soft-touch, but it doesn't look especially rich. The Venza, conversely, receives liberal applications of the distinctively-grained pliable material that graces the dash and steering wheel of the Prius. More strikingly, the Venza's sleek center-stack design is leaps and bounds ahead of the unimaginative layouts in the Camry and Highlander.
1. It holds a lot of stuff.
As much as the Highlander? No. The Venza will haul about 70 cubic feet of goods with the rear seatbacks folded, which is down twenty-some cubes on its bigger sibling. But compare it to the Camry's paltry 15-cubic-foot trunk and you might hear people saying, "Hey, these wagon things are pretty cool after all."
The Moral
The Venza runs a few thousand more than a comparably-equipped Camry, so that extra utility will cost you. But it looks great, its interior is rich and suave, and it drives like a car instead of an ungainly utility vehicle. It's bringing wagon back.
Yeah!
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com
- Posted by
- Josh Sadlier November 14, 2008, 4:00 AM
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- Auto Leasing, Life with Cars, Used Cars
Well I always felt the wagon and minivan were unfairly treated despite the fact that they're the most practical machines in existence. It's good to see some progress
Wagons need to be boxy again. Wagons are all about practicality and boxy is practical.
Reason #1 why the Venza is NOT the coolest - see the previous post about the Q7 diesel. Of course the Audi is way more expensive, but if they had diesel Escapes and Explorers and Lambda CUV's and Pilots etc., etc., I'd rather have an SUV for those occasions when you do need the extra cargo capacity. Which is a lot more often than I expected.
Of course, a diesel wagon would spank a diesel SUV, but 20-something combined is enough for me.
Why are we calling this a wagon instead of a CUV? Looks like CUV to me.
Would love to see a wagon comparo - haven't seen one of those in AGES..
Venza AWD V6
Outback 3.0R
V70 3.2
others?
Bueller? Anyone?
This one is even worse than the Camry! At least Camry is available with manual transmission, which makes it slightly less painful.
It's the most exciting Toyota in a long time. That's both a compliment and a huge insult because this car is good, but it's still pretty dull when you look at the market as a whole...and when the most exciting Toyota is still a pretty boring car, that just shows you what trouble Toyota's in from the persective of being interesting.
Fortunately for Toyota, most people buy boring cars.
How does this make the wagon cool again when it's marketed as a crossover sedan. Forgetting that it's hideous.
Instead of making wagons cool, you should just say that Toyota is making wagons. There are other wagons that are more exciting, like the BMW 328xi and Audi A4 Avant. They've just been ignored while SUVs were popular. Apparently the USA is not cool enough for the Audi S4 Avant and S6 Avant, BMW M5 Touring, M-B E63 AMG Wagon. Europe even gets a "Touring" version of the Honda Accord.
I thought the Dodge Magnum tried to make wagons cool a few years ago. When was the last time Toyota made something cool?
Delawaredude, I think the only company that has recently tried to make a broad-appeal wagon cool is Mazda, with the Mazda 6 Wagon, and they've now taken that out of the market.
We can add the Passat, but once you include the comfort options that most buyers would want these days, the price jumps to well above $30k!
I guess the only wagon on the market now is the Jetta SportWagen.
The 328xi and A4 Avant are bad examples. For starters, these are luxury cars that only few people can afford. And with the American mentality, no one buys a luxury wagon.
The Dodge magnum was affordable, but it was more or less a performance vehicle. It wasn't a wagon for someone who wants and affordable but stylish and sporty wagon....It was a limited-appeal vehicle.
God help me, I like this thing. Or maybe it's the IDEA of this car that I like, for the reasons Mr. Sadlier listed. Only instead of paraphrasing J.T., I imagine this car paraphrasing Eddie Murphy as Gumby:
"I'm a wagon, dammit!"
Honestly, do you know what the ideal car for me would be right now? The wagon variant of the Saturn Aura, the car I currently own. Unfortnately, I can't come close to affording its only blood relative that's available in the States -- the Saab 9-3 SportCombi.
I'd shout from the rooftops to have GM bring the Vectra (or Insignia) wagon over here as an Aura, but I'm afraid if they did, they would have a customer base of one.
That's pretty much why the Malibu MAXX went away, misterfusion. The current Malibu and Aura are both based on the longer wheelbase Epsilon platform that the MAXX used. Too bad there isn't also a true wagon version. The Cadillac CTS wagon and the Venza prove it's possible to have a good looking wagon too.
I disagree about the center stack though, Josh. I find the odd location / styling / integration of the gear selector area with the rest of the center area just nasty. Of course, I've always been a big fan of symmetry (which a study from a few years back is also one reason scientists say causes one person to find another 'attractive'- symmetry in facial features). That softly rounded asymmetrical layout kind of reminds me of GM Playskool designs of a few years ago, but with woodgrain and light gray plastic stuck on. The rest of the dashboard on either side of it are okay though.