Used 1998 Toyota Avalon XL 4dr Sedan Consumer Reviews
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Toyota, Need I say more?
enigmadtop, Irvine, CA, 12/05/2011
Toyota Avalon XL 4dr Sedan
22 of 23 people found this review helpful
I take this car up to big bear with a full car (6 people, the center front armrest comes up and has a seatbelt underneath) and it has never broken down on me once. The ride going there is completely smooth cruising at 80 mph, even though the Avalon's engine has more than enough power to go over that even with a full car. It has no trouble getting up those steep hills and is my car of choice when driving up to the mountains every season. It also survived a trip all the way to Sonora in Northern California from San Diego with a very steep mountain to climb at the end as well. Again, the car did not disappoint. Would highly recommend this car to anyone looking for an extremely robust vehicle.
Great car bad seats
Steve Smialkowski, 02/20/2002
Toyota Avalon XL 4dr Sedan
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I have enjoyed my Toyota Avalon 98 for a couple months, and then I discovered that the seats are getting progressively less comfortable. Finaly, I was in pain. I opened the seat to find a steel seat pan underneeth the foam. My bottom was hitting the edge of the steel.
Smokin' engine... literally
tallchris01, Columbia, SC, 03/25/2014
Toyota Avalon XL 4dr Sedan
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I bought this Avalon having owned another 1st generation Avalon. Didn't figure I'd need to have a PPI, but I should have gotten one. Turns out the engine was a smoker. Despite replacing the valve seals and spark plugs, it continued to smoke. Quickly re-sold it.
Outstanding
Tom Knud, Naples, FL, 11/09/2020
updated 11/13/2023
Toyota Avalon XL 4dr Sedan
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I purchased at 100k and drove to 240k. I did very little maintenance but wear items. I did finally put struts on @ 190k. I've used it as a heavyweight tow vehicle for 1000's of miles but I change transmission fluid afterwards! When I finally broke down and undertook the TB kit, I only found out that I shouldn't have! It was all like new including seals. The windshield took 10 or so, what seemed like gunshot, hits before finally incurring any wounds. Unfortunately, the plastic door handles and bezels break religiously. But, it still runs like new to this day. Update : Bezels, Handles, and left front actuator still hobgoblins. But, now at 260k and several X Country towings of vehicles, it is still ridiculously strong. Literally runs like new. Update : I've driven the car to 265k and it still runs like a top. However, I have since retired it. One thing to note is that front developed a camber problem that is hard to fix on these. I think it could be but it would be a bit of frame straighening. Other than that, it still works almost as new.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
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- Reliability
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Seriously this car is almost as old as me
carenthusiast7, Indianapolis, IN, 04/05/2011
Toyota Avalon XL 4dr Sedan
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I'm 18 and a serious car enthusiast and this was my first car when my dad handed it down to me when i got my license @ 15 and a half(had 150k miles on it). Of course it isn't exactly my choice of a car and I made a bet with my father that if the car died we would get a replacement car of my choice(reasonably priced of course). And I'm still losng that bet, that car has not died at all or shown signs of even slowing down. Sum of it all, you can't go wrong with this car if you need a used cheap low maintainence car for just point A to point B.
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