I've most recently owned a Passat and a Jeep Wrangler and would have no problems - financially - buying a $75K car if I wanted to. Compared to my Passat and Jeep, this is seriously the best car ever.

I'm averaging 52mpg, and go 500 miles on a tank before filling up. At first, I was having issues getting more than 7.5 or 8 gallons from the 11.9 gallon tank, but now that the rubber gas tank bladder has expanded and contracted a lot, it's holding just over 11 gallons of gas.

As someone who can deduct mileage, you'll come out far ahead with this car. You can also get a $2K deduction from the feds and in Arizona you get a $2K deduction per year as well - this really helps!!! Soon, you'll hopefully be able to drive in the HOV lanes as a single driver, when that happens your time savings will be very valuable indeed, and you'll now be faster than a Ferrari at rush hour!

My insurance went DOWN $800 per year compared to my Jeep Wrangler - woo hoo!

The nav system works great but could use improvement. It really needs better voice recognition, I'll say something and it'll misinterpret it all the time. It doesn't happen as much now as it did when I first got the car, but it could be better.

The climate control system is awesome. Since the A/C is totally electric (this is a first for a car, I think), the air starts getting ice cold in about 5 seconds, unlike most gasoline powered cars that don't start cooling properly for a few minutes. And having the A/C on makes zero difference on the power of the car and does not affect acceleration, etc.

The bluetooth functionality is cool, but check your phone first - my Sony Ericsson P800 (and the P900) doesn't work with the car - and the phone is nearly $1000 - use the Sony Ericsson T600, T610, etc series.

Quiet... soooo quiet. It's nice to have a conversation on the phone and people ask if you're at home since there's zero road noise or engine noise.

Roomy - this has more interior room than the VW Passat and more interior room than the Lexus ES300 - the backseat legroom is incredible!

Leather - not offered, and it should be! The front seats could be more stylish and comfortable as well. It's fine for an hour or so but after that I really start to become a bit uncomfortable.

MP3 - why not have a built in mp3 player or at least let the cd changer play mp3s - this really sucks and Toyota should improve this ASAP. The only way for my mp3 player to connect (I won't use those FM based trashy things) is through a cassette adapter.

Storage - this has the ultimate storage for any car - 6 cup/bottle holders, two glove boxes, a HUGE center console with extra power outlets, a slide out drawer under the console, etc., etc. Love it!

Tint the windows ASAP. And be sure to get a strip of tint on the windshield since the navigation screen gets hit with direct sunlight quite a bit.

Power - this thing is really zippy - I can be at 90mph by the time I enter a freeway. 0 to 30 is decent enough, but 30 to 70 it really picks up!

HID headlights - I've never owned a car with them, but the Prius has them and they're pretty neat. They're auto-leveling so you'll never be shining your lights in anyone's eyes, and they light up everything nicely and uniformly. Most people think they're brighter, but brightness is regulated (so I've heard), it's just that they cover more of an area with the same intensity of light. They're totally worth it - after driving this car, if you drive a car without HID lights you'll feel like a character in a 70s movie or something since the other headlights feel so old-fashioned!

Recommended:
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 29680
Condition: New
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: Fully Loaded