Wade Garrett wrote:

On 7/7/20 9:35 AM, badgolferman wrote:
Wade Garrett wrote:

I love my 2016 Toyota Avalon Limited....except for the rough ride.
You can feel most every bump, expansion joint, pavement crack and
manhole cover on the road. Even shallow potholes slam and are a
teeth-jarring experience! The tires are inflated to the door
sticker pressure and there's nothing wrong with the suspension.

I know Toyota gave this trim model a "sportier" suspension with
225/18/45 skinny tires on 18 inch wheels to improve handling-
rather than go with the fatter 215/17/55 on 17 inch wheels on the
lower trim models.

It's getting to be tire time and I wonder if it might be worth
buying a tire/wheel package in the smaller size.

Would the taller 55 sidewalls absorb road bumps better? Any
problems with transmission shift points, speedo readings, any of
the electronics/gauge stuff, etc.?


When I bought my 2013 Lexus RX350 it came with 19" wheels. I made
the dealership switch the wheels with another vehicle to the 18"
wheels. I knew 19" tires are expensive and I wanted more air in
them for a softer ride.

Does your Avalon come with suspension settings you can change? My
2004 Avalon was a very comfortable ride and we loved it. An Avalon
is basically a Lexus ES and it should be a softer ride.

Nope, no changeable suspension settings- though the transmission has
the three shift point setting buttons.

I had looked at the Lexus ES 350 and best I could tell, the main
difference between it and the Avalon Limited was its auto swing-away
steering wheel at engine shut off, somewhat plusher interior and
better audio system, an extra year of bumper-to-bumper warranty,
fancier dealership decor and way better looking and really hot sales
babes.

I was ready to pop for the Lexus- but was offered a really good price
on "last year's" 2016 Avalon Limited after the 2017s had already been
in the showroom a month or two. I usually keep a car a long time so
the "lost year" in resale value really wasn't an issue for me. I
counter-offered a few thousand less and ended driving out for what
was pretty close to what I felt was a "gimme" price.


Looks like this may be a common issue:
https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...-help.1602602/