This was such a great video. We purchased a Toyota Rav4 hybrid xse. Took the 2022 Toyota Venza XLE out for a spin while my Rav4 was in for its maintenance. Traded the Rav4 in for the new Venza before the day was over.
Great perspective. I just returned from a 4000-mile road trip in my Tesla Y and was regularly frustrated that I couldn’t go certain places (such as national parks) in NM and CO because of range limitations once you stray too far from the interstates. The Venza might be the perfect replacement.
I have a '22 Venza LE base model . Had it 10 months , 13,000 miles. I average 45-48 mpg every tank, have nothing bad to say about it. I wish I could have afforded the higher trim level like a limited . they call it CVT , but has no belt or pulleys. It is really just an electric drive. Two motors in front and 1 in back. I love this review none the less . I love my Venza . I was able to buy at sticker with no dealer mark up !
We live in a retirement community outside Phoenix. It is a 14 mile drive at 55-60 to anything from our house. Every time we get in our car it is 30 - 50 mile before we are back home . Also being in central Az we dont need much heat. I noticed a decease in mileage in winter here , the car has to run the engine to make heat but the a/c compressor is electric . I do notice a drop in mileage at sustained speeds of 65-75 to around 40 mpg. I am also a very light-footed driver, I always drive the speed limit or slightly above, but dont accelerate fast .🤷🏼♂🌵
the LE is the best one anyway, it still has analog dial controls for the AC instead of haptic buttons where u need to tap tap tap to change the temperature
I had to take my '23 Venza through two mountain passes in the snow, it was amazing. With the right tires, it's such a quiet and smooth ride. In Asia, this is called the Harrier, and older generations of the Harrier was sold in North America as the Lexus RX until 2008.
this was a good video and I’m glad I found it. loved the endless positivity about this car. I have a 2023 Venza Limited on order that should arrive in 2-3 months and I can’t wait! this video made me even more excited.
I got a 2023 Venza Limited 2 weeks ago and so far love it. Thanks for this review as it answered some of my concerns. I plan on taking mine on a 600 road trip which includes mountain driving and was a little dubious, but you put my concerns to rest. BTW, supplies are still very tight and dealers are still charging premiums.
I enjoyed your review. I just got my 2024 Venza and so far am happy with it. I’m looking forward to taking it out on a road trip soon, after I break it in more 😊.
After 3 Rx350s (which we loved!), we bought a Venza for the gas mileage: AND luv it! We own a Mercedes 350PHEV .. wouldn’t buy it again: great gas mileage, but expensive purchase. Considered a TESLA, but didn’t want to be dependent upon 100% electric, recharging on road trips, etc. (Ps* I prefer the “start & seat heating / cooling buttons” EXACTLY where they are placed 💁🏻♀️) Great review & best-kept-secret vehicle! 👏🏼
I bought a limited edition a few months ago. While the start button is absolutely in a weird place, I swear you get used to it. And it sorta makes sense after a while. When I first get into my car, I turn on my bluetooth on my phone to make sure it connects with the car and then toss my phone into the charger space to the right of the start button. Now, my hand now naturally sways to the left to push to start the car. So I'm fully used to it and suspect that's what the engineers of the Venza were going for. Otherwise, absolutely LOVE my Venza. It took a while, but I found a fully loaded one under $1,000 MSRP. Got the windows tinted and the car ceramic wrapped and it shines like gloss, lol. The seats are extremely comfortable and the ventilation works great (did a road trip to Vegas and it was 100+ degrees both ways. Those cooling seats were spectacular!). In sport mode, the 0-60 is SOLID and it rides nearly as quiet as a Lexus. I've actually mistaken it for other Lexus SUVs in large parking lots when I'm trying to find my car. Only minor complaint is that there's not a lot of room in the cargo. We're admittedly empty nesters, so the kids are out of the house and we don't need to tow around their things anymore. But definitely check to see if the room is big enough if you have kids.
I saw a Venza for the first time a few weeks ago. It made me turn my head and think, "What's that?!?!" I have watched a ton of videos and they all say the Venza is "Lexus like". That's odd because I have not heard anything about the RAV4 being as good as the Venza and they are built on the same platform. I'm very impressed with your review. I hadn't seen any video where someone had driven one for over 4,000 miles. That is an awesome testimonial. Btw, the consensus is that the start button is like an afterthought. I don't want a RAV4 I don't want a CR-V, I don't want anything electric. The infrastructure for EVs is way far away from being even practical. What is practical is just like you said, to fill up for 5 minutes and drink your coffee while you drive. I'm never waiting an hour to charge my car. I live in N FL. To get anywhere we have to drive a distance. North Florida is nothing like South Florida. Places are way more spread out. The driving manners and fuel economy are amazing. I'm very close to deciding on getting a Venza for my first SUV. I can't go offroad and I'd like a little more power but everything else negates any negatives. The new Nightshade Edition is sweet. I'm tempted to wait for the 2024 model to see if they can increase the hp a bit and fix some things like the start button. I'm not sure but I'm starting to itch for a Venza. Thank you so much!!!
The Venza and the RAV4 are built on a similar platform. Same engine and battery setup - the biggest difference IMO is the letter J in front of the Venza VIN. I believe all Venza's are built in the Tahara plant in Japan where they built all the unkillable land cruisers and big Lexus SUVs. The Rav4s are built in either Kentucky or Canada I believe. No disrespect to north american builders but they aren't japanese engineers. Assuming this is using a similar battery to the Prius, the battery will fail long before this car and motor will. 300-400k mile platform.
@@RoadandTract I visited few dealerships in Austin & ALL of them added all possible packages (like cabler, floor matts, camera, etc) worth about $2,000. They said manufacturer does that, not them. I bet they are lying...
7:30 I think charging time would be much more than 17 hours since an EV range is much lower compared to the 500+ on the Venza, you simply have to make more stops and more stops means more time.
Toyota has been perfecting their Synergy drive on the Toyota Prius for nearly 25 years now. The ecvt used in Toyota's Synergy hybrid drive system is nothing like a standard CVT. It is solid as a rock built with gears not belts and pulleys and is virtually bulletproof. If you do the math the best choice for both fuel economy and the environment is a hybrid. The best hybrid choice is Toyota's Synergy Drive, with Honda running a close second. Having an electric all-wheel drive system is the perfect choice for most people. We got 10 in of snow after I bought my 2021 Toyota Venza and I took it out in an empty parking lot and romped on it to test how fast it would send power to the rear wheels and I could not make it get squirrely. It performed flawlessly. I would not take it off road, but the traction for on-road driving is phenomenal.
@@Dawno13 obviously if you know you're going to be in a snowy environment you should get rid of all season tires and go with snow tires, where I live we seldom get not much snow.
Great points and I think this is going to be a big obstacles for EVs: charge times and range. Toyota wisely is focusing on Hybrid and not jumping on the EV bandwagon. Some people love their EVs, and that's great, but I think there is going to be some regret for some buyers.
I completely agree that hybrids should be what we shift too and not completely electric. You get the benefits of ev in the city where they perform the best and gas motors for longer road trips and added power in some vehicles where people need to tow things. Because when you look at ev pickups the range is almost less than half on them when towing something a few thousand pounds…
Agree, problem is our ruling overlords eventually don't want the masses driving anywhere...That's the real reason they are trying to kill gas powered vehicles.
I had a 2021 Venza XLE and I agree it is a great vehicle. I didn’t like the placement of the Start/Stop button either. I wanted extra cubby space so I’m now leasing a 2022 RAV4 XSE hybrid and it’s basically the same just a little roomier
Best car I’ve driven, smooth rides Low fc. But at the pillars there’s significant wind noise while on high speeds which shouldn’t be on this luxury car
At 5:03 into the video, you claim 41.3 MPG, but at the same point in the video the the screen shows the 4,213 miles driven but the calculated MPG is 34.8. Will you please help me understand the discrepancy?
That's the average is of the entire lifespan of the car. As mention this is a rental so that include all the other people who rent this and driven it. Is all depend of way you drive, If you drive at eco mode as he mention that he was, it will get you around 40mpg.
I’m averaging 38 miles per gallon because I drive my car like I’m drag racing everywhere 😂🤣. To be honest I look at my miles per gallon because I can believe I’m getting that much miles per gallon. I did try driving as conservative as possible and I was getting about 42-42 miles per gallon but, I just have a strong and aggressive foot 🦶. Can wait to go from New York City to Myrtle beach South Carolina for Memorial Day weekend!! I’ll let you know how that goes because usually during long road trip I’m kind of conservative with my foot, so I should be getting high miles per gallon
I bought a 2023 Venza LE and the steering column rattles: dealers won't fix it. I called Toyota twice and they said they would return a call, but never did.
I think you had your Line Assist on. and you did not signal when making a line change. the steering will buzzed you as it think you are off line. this happen in Adaptive Cruise control also.
I’m planning to trade my 2021 Lexus GX460 next month. I don’t see why I need a V8 with Premium gas. Too much for me. My Lexus only has 10,000 miles on it. So I don’t know how much the dealership will offer me.
As a 21 Venza owner with over 12,000 miles including 1-driving trip over 2500 miles, I am most disappointed with the “claimed” 14.5 gallon fuel tank which is supposed to extend highway driving range of over 500 miles. I’ve NEVER put more than 11.5 gallons at fuel up. My max highway range is 425 miles showing empty on the gauge and less than 8 miles to empty. Stopping to fill up 17 times and averaging over 41 mpg needs additional information as the numbers don’t add up. When I road trip with my Venza, I calculate at 38 mpg highway, while filling up a 10-11 gallons. Based on 4000 miles, I’d fill up 10 times averaging 10 gallons per fill up. One more thing, I’ve owned 2 Lexus and The Venza Limited is a very nice Toyota but it’s not Lexus like, especially as the miles add up.
Sounds to me like you're upset with Toyota's choice to show a conservative mileage range rather than the actual MPG you achieved. I have also been aggravated by it. The time of year also affects the projected range shown. I've never gotten less than 37 mpg on the highway. NEVER.
The poster is right. You can only get about 11 gallons in the tank. It’s a common complaint. It may or may not give 500 miles, but with the fuel gauge issues, I won’t take the chance. It’s something about the shape or placement of the gas tank that causes the problems. Is that last 3 gallons useable?
16:24 dude I thought I was the only one who think having a 19, 20, 21 wheels on a 300-400 hp EV for being economical is counter intuitive. I’m guessing if model S had 17 or 18 wheels it could go easily 400-500 on a full charge
Toyota hasn't really changed. Everyone else has, and they all got worse while Toyota kept making what they were good at. Now everything else is garbage.
@@RoadandTract Not ALL cvt are the same, the other person already told you that this particular car is ECVT not CVT, and it works and feels differently, much better…and you keep saying the are all same thing 🤦♂️ not smart person at all…
best road trip vehicle is a GMC YUKON XL, I have a Venza I thought was very nice and like you said the best road trip vehicle, but untill I drove the Yukon down to LA, yes YUKON is a better road trip vehicle, It feels like the Venza is a toy car after driving the yukon, the Venza is the best vehicle u can buy under 40000, I would get the base LE for 34000. extra 10k for the limited is a little too much
@@jeffspicoli6088 Electric cars are not ready for prime time, far from it. They're probably OK for short local drives, like to the supermarket or wherever you would drive the golf cart.
Negatives. Dust immediately collects on the info display. No interior storage. Not even a sunglass holder. Stupid panoramic sunroof. What a waste of an option. If I had young children riding in the back, then okay. Otherwise. Worthless. 18 months of use on my 2021. Zero problems. Other than 6 month maintenance, never been back to the dealer. Big plus. My last car had self parking. While it parked perfectly, within 6 inches of the curb every time, it was a slow process, angering drivers behind you. The incredible cameras on this car makes parallel parking a snap, at 1/5 of the time.
Word on that info display getting dirty REAL FAST, lol. I have a pack of screen cleaning wipes that I keep in the middle compartment for just that reason. But I otherwise LOVE my limited edition venza.
