That aging 3.5L V6 is the whole reason I bought a used Venza back in October. I had a Honda Pilot that got totaled when a German tourist decided to turn left from the middle lanes on a one-way street. I had just dropped about $1500 on the Pilot for new tires after running over a 6-pack of roofing nails, an alternator shat the bed and had a #5 cylinder misfiring. Pilot was running great and I figured I'd get 100k more miles out that no problem. Three weeks later and it's scrapped.
Needed something on relatively short notice. And like at least one other person said, I don't want black interiors. Also, with two white cars already (Sorry
@minidarren ) I didn't want a third white vehicle. The Venza was priced right and I knew, while not the newest technology, it was reliable and parts for maintenance are aplenty. Add in a beige leather interior and red exterior and it was a quick choice.
Toyotas still have a strong buyer allegiance because of their reliability and ability to do what their expected to do. I wouldn't ever buy a RAV4 or Highlander, but the Tacoma, Tundra, 4Runner all have credibility.