1997 Toyota Avalon XLS review from North America

The car is a rattle trap. I usually love Toyota products, but the Avalon is full of annoying rattles that make me nuts. The sunroof rattles, the doors make squeeking noises, the dash has a couple of rattles, the rear headboard has an annoying rattle, they're all over. My last car, a 92 Camry, has 1/4 of the rattles that this car has.

Strut mounts needed to be replaced at 75,000 miles. This is a major issue with the 97 - 01 Camry / Avalon / Solora.

The Stabilizer link also had to be replaced, becuase it started making a noise similar to the famous Toyota strut mount rattle.

The car has a smooth ride. Throughout my everday driving, I average approx 22 - 23 MPG, which is good (I calculate it most of the time). The car, aside from the annoying strut noise, that Toyota should have just recalled becuase EVERYONE who owns one of these cars has the problem, has really been my only problem.

I would not reccomend this car to anyone who dislikes rattles in cars. Although it still has few rattles compared to say a Ford Taurus of its mileage, it still is not acceptable. I bought a Toyota becuse stuff like this should not happen, and in being a much more expensive car than a Ford or other domestics, these type of things should be eliminated, or greatly reduced.

I would also have to say that the car could use another 20 - 25 HP. Not that its slow, but I still feel that its size warrants a larger engine.

Also, I'm trading it for a Lexus ES300, which is basically the same drivetrain, and I would say that the transmission could be smoother on the Avalon. It is generally smooth, but the ES300 is a much smoother shifting transmission, and since they are basically the same unit, I think Toyota could loosen the tranny up a bit.

General review: Happy with the overall reliability. Toyota screwed all of thoes strut mounts up, but if that's the only problem in 109,000 miles, that's not so bad! I would have to say the only thing, and one of the reason's I'm trading the car for a Lexus, is it is a rattle trap. I've been in an ES300 with similar miles, and there are almost no rattles in comparison. I guess you get what you pay for.