THIS Toyota New Model is a Total Hidden Gem! Should've Been a Lexus!

Toyota and Lexus you buy a Toyota if you want an economy car has decent options but it doesn't have the highest end materials a little bit on the louder side the designs are more conservative you buy a Lexus if you want the same reliability nicer Interiors kind of a nicer design more upscale but there's one Toyota model that recently came out that is really pushing the envelope of the Lexus side and that bottle is the Toyota Venza now the Toyota Venza when it came out back in 2009 nice car a lot of people loved it threw me it was kind of a big sedan SUV dealio but that got discontinued right around 2015 in the U.S and then 2021 they came out with a new Venza has nothing to do with the old model it's just a complete different idea of a model but this model since day one has been such a success and most people really glance over it oh here's another mom and pop old people car that nobody cares about but actually you're so mistaken if you do that because this is Alexis for Toyota money let's find out why and more right after this [Music] let's take a tour of the outside of the Venza before we look at the technical review and all that because it starts with one thing in my opinion this is a very classy car hence the reason why there's no sport model or SE or xse with an aggressive front end no just one trim or two you look at the front end of this it just looks like an RX I feel like the designers of the RX came up with this and then somebody in lexisland said we need a bigger Grill and we need something more aggressive and fighty and shouty and they took that nice sensible design and they just funneled it in the Venza because if you look at this this particular section right here which is your give out this was meant to be Alexis at some point you will find this in some RX models very elegant design not in your face very subtle grill that is just a distinct thing you're only find in an RX and then you look at the headlights see newer cars are getting more aggressive headlights and just crazy LEDs all over the place but this headlight is just elegant it's not big it's nicely designed gives the car not an aggressive look it just look gives it a sophisticated classy look I love I mean look at this front end doesn't Inspire your emotions if you're a Car Guy this is not for you but for the normal folks that want a reliable car that looks nice this front end is nice and there are a few touches that are interesting see fog lights are disappearing from Cars this however has one two proper fog lights in the correct spot meant to really not lose their function and then you look at the rest of it it's not overdone yes some people argue that this Grill is a little on the big side and I am agreeance with these people but overall this is not over the top you got two little vents here which are of course closed off that's just the way it is but some people love to upgrade lights there I don't think that's a good idea because this is a subtle car this is not a car there's in your face hence why there's no sport model and then it's the same story when you come to the side there is no Crazy Design and just crazy Body Lines no not really there's a very light crease here kind of a curve all over and that's really it there is a little line that comes at the bottom and goes up and disappears very subtle lines this is a car that reminds me of the Land Cruiser and some people will jump out of their seat right now that's what the Land Cruiser is it's a very nice car that is subtle doesn't have a design that's striking casing point this is a very nice car to look at it's not ugly but it doesn't have too much going on it actually has doesn't have anything going on even the wheels the design is very basic there's really nothing crazy about it but it matches the character of this car it's not really much going on with the wheels and the same thing here just the bottom plastic I would love if this was body color but hey can't have everything nothing over the top this plastic piece does not cross over here it's just subtle and there is if there is anything Lexus touch and this is something that kind of shows you that perhaps they were heading for a Lexus model here and they changed course last minute because of all Toyota models very few of them will have the smart key lock and unlock in the front and in the back this is actually a reserve for the very higher models usually Avalon you go to a Camry it's not going to have that it's only going to have it in the front you cannot lock and unlock the doors from the handle with your smart key from the back this one has it in the back and that's usually a Lexus feature they figure if you're going to pay a higher price you're going to want these additional features convenient features but here it is in the Venza and then as we wrap around and to me my favorite part of the Venza it's just how subtle things are here there's no over the top design it's just subtle classy and nice that's sporty not meant to move your emotions it just looks nice you know the person that's gonna open the door roll out of this car is a nice person that's what this car says about the owner the tail lights very skinny tail lights that go across now the bar tail light is becoming a fashion in the car industry but this one is done really nice now it's not all rainbows and butterflies of course there are a couple things that are interesting the turn signals are here so is the reverse light I typically don't like cars that have the turn signals this low sometimes they're harder to see but again that's the design they went with and that's what we have now this one that we're looking at today is a limited trim which there's actually very little trims with the Venza and surprisingly you can still get the Venza with cloth seats Some people prefer the cloth seats and this is available in the Venza now something else about the design this is perhaps the only place where there is a little bit of a kind of a wild design a little bit but you really have to look close if you look from this angle going this way there's actually a pretty wild channel right here pretty interesting to see a car this subtle have something like this giant channel right here it's just it's between the taillight and the bumper kind of Curves and curves out and that curve carries across all the way to the other side pretty interesting folks this is a truly nice car and if you're watching this review and wondering why am I talking a lot about this car as if it is something exclusive or really exciting it is not but you know what it is a breath of fresh air when we still have cars that are sensible there are nice in a way that is classy and basic and just properly done this really wins my heart in that department because there's not a lot of cars left in this segment then we look underneath the hood of the Toyota avanza hybrid because this only comes in hybrid form I think it's very befitting of this car there's no V6 there's no Big Turbo and all that mess there's just a good old hybrid system let's talk about some of the technical stuff with this engine this is an 825a the latest and possibly one of the greatest engines Toyota has come up with recently and this engine is smooth really has been out for a few years I mean this is a 22 Model that we're looking at right here this engine has been out for four years doesn't really have any disasters yet some people will say four years is too early but from experience there hasn't been red flags about this engine as there have been for other engines and this entire actually hybrid system so this is the fourth generation hybrid system this debuted in the 2016 Prius and has been going on ever since and slowly transitioned to other bottles this is an exact same powertrain out of a RAV4 hybrid very similar to that of a Camry different transmission but otherwise this is standard business nothing really is exclusive under the hood this drivetrain have been out since 2018 and that is a good thing some people want the latest and the greatest under the hood you do not want that all the time because usually I tell you wait six months when you see new tech in a car let them work out the small bugs if you don't want to keep going back and forth to repair them but not this because this is not exactly a new powertrain to this car yes in 21 this is a new model but it was not exactly a new model because the drivetrain is exactly the same as other models that already came out and this is the beauty of this this powertrain being in this car and not having anything exclusive or different or anything just kind of out of this world which this car does have a couple things perhaps that are different is a good idea it's fitting of this car because this powertrain is super reliable it's not exactly new and exclusive and it's so smooth folks the fourth generation hybrid system if you're wondering possibly in my opinion is one of the smoothest transitioning hybrids Toyota has ever come up with unless they come up with something better in the fifth generation which is about to debut the 23 Prius but no information on that yet this is very smooth and very fitting of this car's personality so being hybrid this has an ecvt again it's very simple very reliable has two coolant systems one for the engine which has this is something I like has a proper radiator cap exposed not covered up and under seven covers no it's very exposed plenty of room to work on this engine you have the two this is the overflow tank for the for the engine cooling system this is for the inverter so the inverter also needs a cool it's a dedicated cooling system which this has this of course does not have a drive bulb does not have an alternator it's not have a starter this is a typical Toyota hybrid as an electric water pump electric AC compressor things are very simplistic there very simple to work on this car some people are they look at this like oh my God for basic maintenance this is no different than your Camry Corolla anything else there's nothing difficult here folks and this is what makes these cars good they make something good you just keep going improving it and make it better and this is a prime example of that let's take a look underneath the Venza and the first thing you notice is everything is covered up and this is becoming something that's the norm with modern Toyotas this rides on the tnga platform beautiful platform kind of makes all these cars Universal where once you've worked on one you've worked on all of them you can see right here where they made a big cutout for lifting this is the subframe and the sub this is a fully closed boxed in subframe this is not a multi-piece subframe which is actually a good idea serviceability is very simple you got this big door here a few bolts oil filter and drain plug is right here very simple for basic maintenance which is extremely simple just like all modern Toyotas people look at them they're think they're more complicated they're actually businesses as usual Simplicity things are designed well and they will work well for a long time then we look at the suspension right here something interesting is Toyota is starting to kind of shift to try to find more efficiency same iconic design that they've been using for years works really good control arm separate from the ball joint Two Nuts one bolt hold them right here but the knuckle is aluminum on this now this is good because it's lightweight you get better gas mileage it's not good when 15 years from now this bearing goes out dissimilar metals and things won't come apart but there's always a compromise with things McPherson's strut in the front very simple design the design that if you had I don't know a 95 camera it'll be exactly the similar design and the way it's put together very simple this also has electronic steering with the motor on the rack and pinion itself it's actually the motor system where in this area changed from previous models not of the venzo actually if you compare it to the hold Venza which has nothing to do with this it is different it's not column mounted it's outside but then we move back and you notice that the exhaust kind of takes a very sharp curve to the side of the car and that's because you have your fuel tank right here and then the hyper battery sits right on top of it so they had to kind of lower everything shifted to the side to accommodate for the hyper battery so it wouldn't take from the interior space that's why the exhaust kind of wraps to the side as we move our way back we look at the rear suspension now the Venza is an all-wheel drive model or has an option for all-wheel drive this is hybrid all-wheel drive and Toyota Land we don't have transfer case we don't have the prop shaft and all this mess we actually have a rear MGR which is motor generator rear just like a RAV4 just like pretty much every single all-wheel drive hybrid model of the Toyota have had one thing that people will be concerned about is similarly with the RAV4s the rear cable getting corroded and all that mess folks this is a 22 Model I'm looking at it right now it does have the updated cable some people will have concerns about this and they're like Toyota's qualities down and all this folks it was a problem that they actually fixed because people are still looking for fixes for it I see customers coming in the shop all the time asking about this there is a fix for it and it is already in this 2022 Venza cable bottom is cut out where water will drain if it was to collect and that's it very hard to show you but that's the cable that is affected this cable right here that is the cable that everybody's afraid of basically if the cable end on the on the inside is open which this one is that's it this is the updated one you don't have to worry about it rear suspension on this is completely independent rear suspension something that kind of came up with the tnga designs very nice suspension works very well gives these cars kind of a better handling characteristic you do have this flap which deflects air so wouldn't hit the back of the bumper this is pretty cool now the Venza interestingly or at least this lenser has a towing hitch tiny little one possibly for a bike rack or something very small hybrids are not really meant to tow or they're not really good for big Towing so this is not something you're going to tow your motor home with but perhaps a bike rack something simple like that so this one is actually an original one it's pretty cool case available as an option big Muffler right here with two tips nice design it works well the rear brakes are electronic parking brake you don't have the parking shoes and all that mess and the rotor hat they actually have electronic parking brake again a lot of people think these are problems actually they're better if you've ever worked with shoes and pocket brake shoes this is better this is a lot easier a lot simpler to work with in service and everything so in my opinion this is actually a good design you're seeing it in a lot more Toyotas these days than before let's talk about the inside of the Toyota Venza because this is where I really like what I see the first thing is you sit here and this is a limited trim this is a higher trim has a bigger screen and whatnot but even in the lower trims I mean this is such a nicely executed interior there is nothing here that is over the top but it's just a combination of little touches here make this extremely special first look at this soft wood color and when you touch it usually wooden cars you you touch it it just feels like a flimsy piece of plastic but this actually has texture and you can see it on the doors as well it just has a soft texture to it and it's such a nice looking wood you're not going to see this in a lot of Toyota models usually this is reserved for Lexus and this is where the lexusness of the vents that starts to show up then you look at this section right here this is super soft leather right here and you have this little line and then a little piece of aluminum here it just looks like such a high-end feel to it this is little touches you got that Stitch that goes across folks the materials here are incredible yes there is plastic of course we're still talking about a Toyota model but it's the little everything you are going to touch every day stuff here center console the seats Everything feels like very soft leather we're moving away from soft leather into more more durable more function but this still has that soft leather it's usually will find in Lexus not in the Toyota at this price point and here it is and then you look at the gauges I mean they're this unique design that you're not going to see in a lot of Toyota models the center screen is not a unique design you're finding in a lot of models but the background and kind of the overall color selection is unique you're not going to see this in other Toyota models because hint this was supposed to be a Lexus and then we move past that to the kind of the center stack and how everything is lined up very functional these are touch capacitive buttons here they're not my favorite thing in the world we'll talk about this in a bit but nonetheless it's all laid out here all your important controls are right here then you have this kind of a storage compartment in the Middle where your wireless charger is this is very cool very well executed the center console is pretty big and when you open it you can see it clearly you can still see it with it closed you're heated and cold seat buttons physical buttons nothing through the screen or none of that it works really good and then we start looking at closer details hints that this was supposed to be a Lexus usually in Toyotas the headliner has a material and then these are just plastic while in the Venza this is not plastic this is the same material as the headliner usually this is reserved for high-end cars and here we are at Toyota and this is all the same material this is really cool gives it kind of a not a cheap thing you do this is something you're going to stare at all the time when you're driving and it is uh not just a piece of plastic this is nice but then there's more there is this corner glass this is like a triangle piece of glass in the very Corner does not roll down when you lower the glass this gives you such good visibility over the side it is really good the visibility in this car driving it is really good I really like it's a very comfortable car to drive and this is what I appreciate about it then there is one option here that has nothing to do with the Panzer but it has to do with Toyotas decisions to put options randomly in cars just one model and then you won't see it again usually car companies when they come up with a technology they'll slowly trickle it from their higher end models slowly to their lower end models but here we have an option that is just exclusive to this you'll never see it again in another car hopefully you will one day because it's pretty cool you look at the sunroof right now this is a limited trim this has every option it is a glass and this Glass by the way does not move this is not a moon roof or a sunroof or a panoramic no it's just a glass roof and you can't see anything through it but then when I push this button voila you could see everything through it this is what they call a star gaze roof and it is a very interesting option for the Venza here with a push of a button you there is some material inside the glass that when you power it it becomes transparent and you can see through it not a hundred percent it's still a little foggy but the system that actually operates this is super complicated because this needs very high power very high voltage to actually have this glass so there's a complete control unit in the back that controls this entire glass which is one unit there's no servicing it and there when it runs the first game on this was one of their things there was one or two cases of this kind of going quiet and it no longer does the dimming and the non-dimming it was stuck on dim basically when it's dim like this the system is off that's how the glass normally is when you activate it it becomes transparent so when you shut off the car it defaults to dimmed like this because this is the normal state of this glass pretty cool it it actually works because it blocks everything it does if you're driving Under the Sun you can still see the shadow of the Sun but it's not in a way that's in your face and in case it is in your face there is actually a giant shade that you can close and this is usually what other manufacturers will not think about but you do have a giant shape that closes in case you want absolute just darkness you don't want anything you can close it or you can open it and now you can see what's outside that is really cool and by the way exclusive to the Venza you will not see this anywhere else now there are a thing or two that I don't particularly like about this interior and I feel like they were absolute after thoughts starting with the position of the start button now usually start buttons are right next to the steering so your natural reaction when you get in this car is to go right here now when I go here I just change my trip odometer because the trip odometer button is here the start button is actually here this is going to take you a minute to get used to it and it actually takes quite a bit of space out of your storage here like this really limits your entrance here so uh this was a complete and absolute afterthought that's sorry Toyota but this is the truth this looks like an afterthought not really the greatest place for it and the second thing is the volume situation we just talked about this car being sensible easy to operate classy looking and all that but then we have no knobs for volume or seek you have to do one of these deals to change the volume or you have to hold it and you have to put your hand in the right space and then hold it to lower the volume a knob would have been perfectly fine it wouldn't have intruded on this beautiful interior would have worked absolutely magnificent but it doesn't because we have the tap deal here that we have to do this is not a good idea this the start button location is not a good idea but otherwise this is a beautiful interior and another beautiful thing is the design on the seats again very classy and Rich looking I love it I love this interior this interior is really well done and then we look at the back seat I am 5'7 this is my driving position I have plenty of room this car is actually very comfortable in the back there's plenty of space it's pretty comfortable the entrance and exit is very easy leather seats are wrapped all the way around they did not cheap out and you have a little plastic piece here or some fabric no these are fully wrapped leather seats with a storage pouch here two AC vents you have some power outlets at the bottom USB this is a nice place to be got the little center console here with some round things to put some round objects works really good and you have a little light here just in case you want to see something this is actually a usable back seat for adults I'm super comfortable right now this is a good idea and underneath me is the Hybrid battery underneath the back seat doesn't really Rob from the space here usually people have uh kind of a thought that when you have a hybrid bottle the vaccine will be tiny and compromised not really because the battery is right here underneath the seat and it does not drop from the backspace at all let's look at the back here area here which there is one small issue plenty of space looks great this is plastic unlike the front one which you actually do not want this to be the same material as the front one because this is a loading area you're going to scratch this and all kinds of stuff that material will rip right off so this is not the nice material like the front a pillars but what I don't like here is this aggressive curve I mean basically you can't put something tall here that has passed this area because Xena hit the glass and that's kind of a compromise in design and this is a problem not the end of the world you still fold the seats back there's no third row seat here there's not even an option so that's the one compromise because of the design but there's one more thing here there is very luxus-like see when I pull this usually the strap that you use to pull where the spare tire is which yes we're going to look at the spare tire usually this is the flimsiest Trap this one is leather wrapped I mean this is super cool this is a little detail but this is how you know where they were headed with this car when you have a leather little strap for the spare tire spare tire is another one see this car was meant for people that want classy cars cars that are from a different era and spare tire seems to be from a different area these days this has it's not a full-size spare but hey it's a spare tire nonetheless that seems to be a commodity these days with cars spare tires but there's one more thing here that I truly like this has the kick sensor which you have to do with little dance which we're not going to do I think that's the worst idea in the planet but what do I know about convenience and the dance for the sensor right here so Germans have for the longest time had two buttons to close the back door one of them is just to close it one of them to lock it and would you look here this was actually as far as I remember this was one of the first Toyota labeled models to have this one button only closes the tailgate and one button closes the tailgate and locks the doors at the same time this might not seem like a big deal right now it's like yeah it's not the end of the world this is actually a good idea because guess what I can do keys in my pocket can do this walk away from the car we're done I don't have to wait for this Jay and Behemoth to close then go back and hit the second button right here to lock it car is already locked I walked away we're done this is actually a great idea and I wish I see it in every single Toyota model that has a liftgate they're slowly rolling it out but still not every bottle has it let's talk about some things that I actually do not like about defensive kind of condense it in one section and I'm going to add one more thing biggest thing I don't like about it is the location of the start button which completely feels like an afterthought and the volume and seek not being physical embroidery dials or this tap tap deal I don't like those it's really annoying but neither of these things are the end of the world actually neither is a two things I want to talk about the first thing is this is not a luxus and the better question is why is this not a Lexus because they could have gone a little bit further and this would have been a very successful Lexus model they didn't and they named it after a car that got discontinued see when cars get discontinued when a model gets discontinued it gets this kind of a bad rap it failed and now they're bringing it back because they're giving it another chance of life this is nothing like the previous renza not even in any way shape or form this could have been a new model it would have actually sold better because when you tell people Venza they assume it's the old model that failed this is not that this is such a nice car and it should have been actually a Lexus and a completely new Lexus model maybe an entry level Lexus this would have flown off the showroom floors but it still should fly off the showroom floors because this is a truly nice car for those who want a quiet comfortable place to be while they commute to work and a bit on the quiet side many people will disagree with this but I am holding this to a higher standard I'm holding this to Alexa's standard this is not the quietest car in the world when you drive on the highway around city is perfect but on the highway it does get a little on the loud side and when I say that I say it in a way comparative of how nice it is it is such a nice place to be but then you drive on the highway it kind of starts to go away the niceness because of how loud it is that's my only complaint and perhaps this is where the Lexus part comes in if this was Alexis they would have added more insulation this would have been whisper quiet it would have been such a beautiful place to be but price would also would have went up and that I guess where the compromise is folks this is the Venza and calling it avenza and thinking of the old Panzer even though that was also a nice car this is in a class of its own this is the closest currently you're gonna get two Alexis perhaps other than the Crown or the outgoing Avalon but this is as close you're going to get to Alexis with a Toyota badge and a Toyota price super nice looks on the outside not nice as in Striking and aggressive and unique no nice as in classy and good design very nice interior very refined there's a lot of very nice luxury features super easy to operate it just makes you smile this is the kind of car even if you're a car guy look I'm a car guy you know we like exciting cars but you get in a car like this and you start driving initially you're like yeah oh it's grandpa's car nobody cares but after you drive it for a little bit it starts to grow on you and this is that kind of car it just starts to grow on you on how how comfortable you are but you wouldn't admit it to the world well here I am I am a car guy and I will admit it to the world I love this because this is a car I would drive every single day to work and back and would not have a single hesitation or a complaint about it yes the start button could be better located in the little tapity tap but eventually you get used to it and it'll be okay folks this is a complete Hidden Gem don't be fooled by the Venza badge and think it's something from the past this is an absolute Hidden Gem if you looked at a RAV4 you thought it felt a little cheap on the inside too aggressive too flamboyant or whatnot this is it because this will have the exact same reliability but if on a different mindset of design and interior and exterior kind of execution folks I hope this video was helpful informative I hope you learned something new if you like it consider giving it a thumbs up if you're not a subscriber consider subscribing to the channel check out some other videos and until the next video folks may the Lord bless you and keep you and you have yourself a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 2,362,141

Keywords: toyota, Toyota venza, best new toyota, 2022 toyota venza, 2021 toyota venza, best lexus model, lexus, top toyota model, new toyota, new toyota venza, new toyota model, best toyota to buy, the car care nut, car care nut, tccn automotive, scotty kilmer, car wizard, doug demuro, toyota venza hybrid, toyota hybrid, best toyota hybrid model, toyota prius 2023, toyota crown

Id: pXmsCYJ4Rhc

Length: 35min 0sec (2100 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022