So I went to buy a new Toyota Avalon Limited. I own two Avalons. The salesman didn’t have to sell me. I had my checkbook ready. But when he was going over the options with me, I discovered that the new Avalons don’t have adaptive cruise control. My newer Avalon has it, so I figured there was a mistake. But there wasn’t. The salesman made some calls and then told me that no 2011 Avalon had that feature. So I took my checkbook and went home. My question is, why did Toyoto drop this feature? Will it be back, or should I find a new make and model to love?
What is it? How does it differ from CC? Uproot the tree of questions and examine the dangling appendages. What do you see? More questions. (Frank Herbert, Dune)
If a car in front of you is going slower than you set the cruise for, adaptive cruise control will slow down to maintain a safe following distance until the slower car is out of the way.
No, the questions should be:
So, what is it?
So, how does it differ from “regular CC”?
So–why do such a large number of people begin their tale with the word, “so”?
;-))
I think the reason that adaptive cruise control is not offered is because Toyota now thinks that some instances of unintended acceleration can now be linked to this electronic cruise control. It may not be the case but I think Toyota is just being conservative at this point. Why would they drop this expensive feature if it had no problems?
It looks like the 2010 Prius was the last Toyota with it in the US
They probably don’t think it. They know. Either it does (I doubt it) or it doesn’t, but the lawyers say that it could be perceived as causing the problem. The first time some schmuck in a new Avalon gets into a wreck he’s gonna run around howling that the adaptive cruise control went crazy and made him crash. Better legally to remove the feature than to expose the company to liability and negative press (again).
I can see why it could be disconcerting. CC is one thing, but giving the ability to suddenly brake over to a computer when some one is tail gating you is akin to giving the ability to suddenly accelerate to one. One of those add on’s in theory looks good, but in practice discouraged enough people to make it less than practical to include when it could be misused.
You can buy an Infiniti G37 sedan with adaptive cruise control.
You should be able to get it for the same price as your Avalon.
Also, if the adaptive cruise control is the only reason why you won’t buy the car, then it was time for you to find a new car that actually makes you want to DRIVE it instead of get towed along for a ride.
BC.
I agree with Bladecutter overall, except I believe that someone who admires the ride and handling qualities of an Avalon is not likely to be comfortable in the considerably sportier G37.
Even if it has the adaptive cruise control that the OP wants, the ride of the G37 is nowhere near as soft as that of the Avalon, and it is not anywhere near as roomy as the Avalon. Personally, I prefer the G37’s great acceleration and agile handling to that of an Avalon, but the OP would very likely be shocked by the differences between the Buick-like Avalon and the extremely sporty G37.