Right now he has an '02 3.5RL which is on lease, and is getting turned in May 1. So he's lookin at a loaded up Avalon Limited, which is pretty much the perfect car for him. It's got more room inside than his RL (which is the smallest car he's owned in some time, previously he's had a Cadillac DeVille, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Continental), more power, and some neato gimmicks he likes such as navigation and laser guided cruise control. My grandma will be happy because it has a pillowy soft ride, and heated and cooled seats so she'll always be nice and comfy. Most importantly, the Toyota dealership is literally only a half mile from the retirement community they live in, and the car is rather unlikely to break anyway. And yes while the car is quite boring, for people like my grandparents who couldn't care at all about having a flashy nameplate or sporty handling, it makes a whole lotta sense. I think they'll be very happy. But, it does provide fodder for the typical reputation of the Avalon being an old people car.

 

Not a bad looking car. It has more power than the new GS, hehehee

 

Now how much of your influence was put into his decision?

 

He picked the car his own self. Just asked me for any suggestions on getting the best price.

 

I bet he's going to freak out for a while hitting that "start" button

 

He'll be fine, he likes gadgets. He invented weather radar during WWII.

 

Laser guided cruise control? I must be living in a cave.

 

Pretty simple actually.

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/...secontrol.html

 

For some reason I was thinking it sensed the sides of the road and utilized the steering wheel to drive the car for you h:

 

Basically it just taps into the stability control system so it can back off the throttle or hit the brakes a bit for ya.