Shopping for a used car on a budget is tough, especially when you want your money to go far. Even though the market’s come down since 2021, a car that bundles plenty of passing power with great build quality, abundant toys, exemplary reliability, and serious comfort all for a handful of grand is going to be pretty rare. Or is it? The third-generation Toyota Avalon might not be the obvious choice for a reasonably priced used car, but look beyond the fact that your grandparents might have one, and you’ll find lots of reasons to love Toyota’s mid-aughts full-sizer.
Think of the Avalon as Toyota’s Buick LeSabre, and suddenly things make a lot of sense. This is a full-sized sedan that saw a relatively high median buyer age, and it attracted clientele that often liked to keep cars for a long time. Big comfort, Toyota dependability, space for adults to genuinely stretch out, and most first owners kept up on maintenance. These four-doors didn’t pick their owners’ kids up from daycare; they occasionally picked their owners’ grandchildren up from daycare, and that’s an important difference.
So why the third-generation model? Part of it comes down to the 2GR-FE 3.5-liter V6, a timing chain-equipped engine that replaced the timing belt-equipped three-liter 1MZ-FE V6. Not only does this mean the third-generation cars won’t require an expensive timing belt service ever, but the 2GR-FE was also far less prone to oil sludge than the 1MZ-FE. Pumping out a respectable 280 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque, the only real headache you have to watch out for is a timing cover leak. It’s not exactly ubiquitous, but it can be an expensive job to sort, considering it calls for 17.4 hours of book labor. However, it’s normally a slow weep rather than a leak, so unless you’re seeing oil on the ground, it isn’t the end of the world on a car that only cost you a few grand.
Depending on model year, the third-generation Avalon had one of two transmissions: a U151E five-speed from 2005 through 2007, then the U660E six-speed from 2008 onward. While the five-speed definitely requires regular fluid changes, complains of 2005 models shifting erratically are normally fixed with a calibration update that was applied to 2006 to 2007 models. As for the six-speed, it’s as good as rock-solid, but is less eager to let the engine wind out than the five-speed. Either way, you’re looking at the recipe for a fairly quick car, one that can run from zero-to-60 mph in fewer than seven seconds on regular 87-octane gasoline.
However, beyond the powertrain, the real piece de resistance of the third-generation Avalon was its build quality. We’re talking big stitched door card inserts, tightly-grained plastics, optional veneers, all nailed together incredibly well and engineered to still look and feel good after decades on the road. You can get some serious toys too, including a 360-watt 12-speaker JBL audio system, reclining rear seats, HID headlights, auto-dimming side mirrors, and even ventilated seats on the top Limited trim. Sure, it won’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but for a cheap car with a reputation for solid reliability, the third-generation Avalon is practically the lap of luxury.
Best of all is the state of the second-hand market. See, for the third-generation Avalon, Toyota targeted a younger median buyer age of 60 instead of 66, and now that 20 years or so have passed, the time has come for a lot of original long-haul owners to move on. However, because everybody searches for a second-hand Camry but far fewer people look for a second-hand Avalon, prices are remarkably reasonable for what you get.
Take a look at this. It’s a one-owner 2005 Avalon XLS with a squeaky clean history report and just 63,883 miles on the clock, up for sale at a Florida Lexus dealer for $7,995. Sure, it’s on the high end of the Avalon market, but it looks immaculate, and the fact that you can buy a top-of-market 2005 Avalon for $8,000 speaks volumes about the sheer value these vehicles offer.
Alright with a high-mileage hero with a minor claim or two on the history report? Here’s a one-owner 2006 Avalon Touring up for sale in Washington for $4,500. Sure, it might have 187,094 miles on the clock, but someone loved it enough to keep it for nearly 20 years, and short of a stained floor mat, you’d never know how much it’s been driven by the condition of the interior. These things just hold up incredibly well, and this example stands as a testament.
Even if you’re on a really tight budget, there are still some gems to be had. Not only does the seller of this 2005 Avalon Limited claim to have owned it from new and have all service records dating back to day one, but you can also tell it’s had proper money spent on it because this 286,000-mile car is rolling on a recent set of Michelin tires. Sure, it might be high mileage and have the expected cosmetic imperfections of a well-used 20-year-old car, but it’s also only $3,000, up for sale in California.
So, if you have between $3,000 and $7,000 to spend on a used car, want something nice, but also want something that doesn’t require much maintenance, why not shop for a 20-year-old Toyota Avalon? It’s almost Lexus-nice without the Lexus price, a car mostly owned by a mature demographic with the means to keep up on maintenance, and something you can keep for a long time on a sensible budget while still feeling like you got away with punching above your budget.
Top graphic image: Toyota
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didn’t even make it past interior and started checking FB and Kijiji
My brother in Christ, please stop advertising this vehicle. they are too good and reasonably priced. I don’t want the market to correct before I snag a great one for cheap!!
I can confirm, My Gramps who was staunch US cars most of his life, fully flipped a switch and tried this gen Avalon. He loved it and even after he could no longer drive still raved about it and lamented trading it in on Buick.
Shhhhhh! Don’t give it away, this is always one of my top recommendations for when people ask me to find them a good cheap car for sale. Few follow through though….
Issues are it’s big, it doesn’t get great gas mileage, and it’s not the image most people want.
I imagine they’re pretty thirsty around town (my V6 Accord is) but probably not too bad on the freeway. I was taken out to lunch in one years ago and it was incredibly quiet on a normally noisy stretch of pavement and had a very supple ride.
I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one of these used, if I had to.
I’ll vouch for this entire post. My father-in-law had one. That occasionally picked up grandkids from the airport. Really nice car. Not exactly exciting (although it scooted pretty well) but hard to find any complaints with.
If your pocket is a little deeper, the LS460s are similar. Ver luxurious, well built and normally maintained well by their older owners. They are rear wheel drive as nice side benefit.
One of these would be a perfect candidate for a manual swap. If it were up to me, I’d manual swap everything, though.
I knew some old guys that would only buy them from 98 or so just when they wanted a new one not because the old one was bad even with 300k mi then the latest gen came out and they went to a cross over because the new one is more sporty. Still unbelievably durable and people are looking for camry and Corolla alot of the general population had no idea Avalon’s exist. And you could and I think can get deals on new ones because of that. I think the crown will be similar.
Lack of knowledge of existence is probably the biggest factor here. I also tend to suggest these to people looking for reliability and comfort.
Definitely, the newest generation went a bit sporty but there are some younger people that want that. Alot of people that want a camery hybrid can normally get a better deal on a Avalon hybrid sometimes it hard for them to grasp.
This is a good argument. Surprisingly compelling, given that I’m not in the market for a sedan.
Well done!
eh. I just can’t. It’s so boring it looks like an unlicensed videogame car.
One of the few cars that I have driven that eat highway miles so easily. the Avalon ha excellent quality, and super quiet interior. As I fight my middle age, I have to concede that there is a solid place for these vehicles
My aunt had a few Chevy and Ford cars for the same amount of time she has owned her single Avalon. The Avalon has double the miles on it that any of the others managed to rack up.
My father was always saying that she was going to wear it out in a few years since she drove a lot. He couldn’t believe a car would last that long, but back in his days, cars didn’t last much longer than 100k miles without major overhauls. He never did get to tell my aunt, “I told you so.”
The only issue is that the paint on the top surfaces has parted ways with the car. No major repairs. Still going strong.
People often forget the planned obsolescence that came back to bite the big three in the 80’s when Toyota took the deming method and improved upon just about everything.
I always thought that the Buick LeSabre and the Toyota Avalon should both come with Handicap Parking placards as standard equipment…
The Avalon is a Lexus in every regard but the badge. It’s an extremely nice place to find yourself and, considering the purchase price – both then and now – it’s like having your Coach seat upgraded to Business Class unexpectedly.
Sure, it’s kind of a Camry under the skin. So what? The Camry is a pretty nice place to be; the Avalon treatment takes the skin laying over all of that and gives it every kind of makeover. You could do a hell of a lot worse.
“Sure, it won’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto” but it also won’t try to sell your telematics to your insurance company either, like all modern-er Toyota / Lexus vehicles do.
Both of those things can be added if you really feel like you need them. Honestly though, as long as it has Bluetooth connectivity both of those other things are unnecessary. I tend to disable android auto simply because the vehicle GPS is honestly better and if I play something on the phone it still connects and plays as good or better.
That has to be one of the blandest-looking cars I’ve ever seen. Interior looks comfy though.
I have one of these! I inherited it from my grandma last year, she bought it with 31k miles in 2010 (its a 2008), drove it until her death with genuinely ZERO work done aside from basic maintenance, when i got it it had 182k miles, its at 188k now, all I’ve done is do an oil change or 2 and replace the (original!) alternator, its a car I’ve known since first grade and its held up amazingly, its easily got another 20 years in it.
I want one of these but even with all their supposed reliability I just can’t get over the prices people ask for them. Frankly I’ll never understand the Toyota tax.
$4K-$5K for a car that will still be running when they stop selling gasoline is too steep for you?
Miles are miles no matter if they’re on a Toyota or Honda or a Dodge or what have you. Paying 5k for a car with 250k+ miles and then having to spend another 2k cause the suspension ot steering components are worn just isn’t appealing to me. I paid the Honda tax and got a 5k 180k mile Odyssey and then had to pay another $2500 a couple months later to put a new steering rack in it cause it started shaking at higher speeds.
Exactly. I’ve looked at these before and the prices were not horrible. But they were high from my opinion. Like said the motor and tranny are good for 200K+ but not everything else.
Miles on a Toyota are different than miles on a Dodge, Nissan, Honda, or whatever. That’s the reason for the Toyota tax.
I’ve owned Toyotas, Hondas, Subarus, several GM and Ford products, etc.
The Toyotas stand in stark contrast to those other brands when it comes to components holding up over time.
Perfect Uber/Lyft car
Just be careful of age requirements. Some of these are too old in certain places.
Can confirm. My parents have an Avalon of this generation, and they’re 80 and 81. They love this car! The back seat is really where you want to ride, though. It has motorized sun shades, AND it reclines!
“Sure, it won’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto”
Yeah. No kidding. Theirs still has a CASSETTE DECK.
Feature not a bug.
Yeeeeeaaaah a 20 year old car? You’re going to be putting a few grand into that every year unless you want to fix all the shit on it that breaks yourself.
I guess with this 20 year old car there is likely less potentially catastrophic things to fix compared to others?
But you’re not entirely wrong; you will have to put some money into even an old Toyota to keep it in top shape.
My 19 year old Toyota (owned it for a few years) needed major servicing of a timing belt and new rear brakes. So there’s about 2k right there. And I need to put all new struts in, so let’s say about 1.5k ish all in for someone to do the work.
But at that point it’s all caught up on major servicing. For non service related repairs, that amounts to an oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket, but the latter they did other servicing like cleaning the injectors, new plugs, pcv valve, etc. so about 1k in repairs overall.
So most of the major expenses are out of the way with the majority planned service. And there will be little things that come up. And eventually I’ll have to buy a new top but I’m probably good for a few more years.
Still, it’s cheaper than making a car payment….
The catalytic converters usually go, you get like holes in the exhaust, starter motor, gaskets start to leak, radiator, just everything breaks. If you can/will wrench, it’s great, but otherwise, it’s an expensive old dildo of a car
Haha I hear you there. I figure if it can get me by a couple more years before all that starts to happen, then I’ll be able to relegate it to the weekend car and in a better position to do more wrenching on it myself.
I don’t agree at all. My current DD is essentially a Toyota (Pontiac Vibe) from ’07. None of the things you’ve mentioned have happened.
The only non maintenance items I’ve changed are the aforementioned front struts ($300 in parts and the job isn’t that hard even here in the rusty NE, but it’s almost entirely labor charges so do it yourself or bribe someone handy), and I did the serpentine belt and tensioner because it would squeak when the AC was used – still worked and drove fine.
Everything else has been maintenance I did on my schedule – fluids, front brakes, plugs (the ones I pulled looked great even at 130k), tires, and then hatch struts and door checks because I’m a nut.
Oh, and I topped off the AC this year with a plain-Jane r134a can (no stop leak) because it’s probably never been done and cars will lose some over a long enough timeline, like 18 years for example. It was blowing coolish, but now it’s actually cold again.
For my troubles I get a car with no monthly finance payment, actual buttons, no subscription “features” and it doesn’t try to panic brake on its own or do any other of the ridiculous nanny things. Some nanny things are fine, but some are absurd and not well executed.
Besides that, it’s got a long history and someone has already had whatever problem you’re going to experience. Plus you’ll actually be able to learn about your car and repair it, since most older vehicles don’t require a legit computer for every little functional repair.
Ok man, there are definitely some perks to driving around an 18 year-old Matrix, but I’d say the drawbacks outweigh them significantly.
My last old car was an ’05 Liberty, which, yeah, MOPAR, but you know all the same stuff applies – ample parts, but everything just eventually breaks, regardless of whether you maintain it on schedule. I finally got rid of it last year after replacing the entire power steering system and both catalytic converters within a couple of months.
Old mechanical parts just degrade and fail. It doesn’t matter how well something is built. With old equipment you’re going to run into that problem, so cheap isn’t really cheap. Total cost of ownership is a crapshoot and most likely puts you in the territory of a more modern, reliable car, especially if you’re considering fuel economy.
If you have a ton of time or desire to fix these things, great, but if you don’t, it’s a real burden.
I think comparing an ’05 Jeep Liberty to an ’07 Matrix/Vibe (which is basically a Corolla hatch) is absolutely apples to oranges and why we come away with different opinions on older vehicles.
“Old mechanical parts just degrade and fail. It doesn’t matter how well something is built”
It absolutely does matter how well the parts are built. I used to exclusively own domestic cars as a younger person, partly because they were cheaper to buy (and I was a broke youngster) and partly because everyone always said foreign parts were more expensive. But there was a reason foreign OEM parts were more expensive, they were miles better at the time and outlasted their domestic counterparts by orders of magnitude in some cases.
As for my current DD, it’s way cheaper to insure vs a new car, it’s simple to work on, parts are everywhere (because older Corolla), and online assistance/experience is everywhere (because also older Corolla). With just the bare minimum of maintenance – fluids and tires, you’re likely to get years and years of service. Owning any car is a crap shoot, even a new car with a warranty that covers everything can be bad because you ultimately don’t want to have to use the warranty since it means inconvenience to you in some form or another. I’ll take an older car with a history of reliability and ability to be repaired cheaply over a new question mark vehicle. And bank the massive purchase and insurance savings for a rainy day that may or may not ever come.
The only negatives are that I’m not getting the mpg that a hybrid or EV get, but 28mpg mixed ain’t terrible considering where I live and I also won’t have to recondition (at minimum) a battery pack at any point. That’s worth it to me, but everyone should do the math on what’s good for them obviously.
I certainly wouldn’t advocated for a 20 year old Jeep as a reliable daily though. You’re asking for trouble, there’s a reason DT had neverending content.
You’ll be buying window regulators like they’re going out of season on an older Liberty. Get the Costco pack.
Oddly, the windows never broke on me lol.
Yeah, all that is fair, but there is a whole world of cars between a 20 year old car and a new car.
“there is a whole world of cars between a 20 year old car and a new car.”
Honestly not sure what this means. Your first comment was about how a 20yo car is going to cost you thousands per year in repairs, so that’s what I responded to and thought we were talking about.
My argument was that if you choose carefully, even a 20 yo car can be reliable and not kill you in costs. If anything, you may save money in purchase price, insurance, and parts costs. Younger cars chosen just as wisely can be equally unproblematic, but you’ll pay more to get them and insure them on average.
But certainly a Jeep wouldn’t likely be on my list, unless I absolutely had to do off-road things.
How do you not know what that means?
It’s clearly implied that there are a ton of used cars that someone could buy that aren’t 20 years old, which was my initial point.
You’re the one who kept bringing up new cars with regards to insurance costs as if the choice were binary between buying a 20 year-old car and a brand new car.
A 20 year-old car is a risky purchase, no matter what. Just because you’ve had decent luck with that decision doesn’t mean it’s a good decision. It’s definitely not a money-saving decision, except in very unique cases. Yeah if you want to buy an $8k car for all cash, I guess you could do worse than an Avalon that can vote, but it’s not the suggestion I would make.
“A 20 year-old car is a risky purchase, no matter what. Just because you’ve had decent luck with that decision doesn’t mean it’s a good decision.”
Are you sure you’re on the right website, chief? Or are you just here trolling? I’m pretty sure that a goodly portion of the commentariat (myself included) would take you to task on this one.
Also, the GMT800 platform would like a word with you.
yeah chief
this has been up for several days and I’ve only been “taken to task” by a couple of you ding-dongs.
What is a good decision? Are we talking like an enthusiast car that you’re getting for a decent price and want to put some time/effort/money into to make into something that will bring you joy? Or are we talking about some future corpse-mobile Avalon? I.E. a car that you’re buying because you need a car to get you from point A to point B, not because your uncle owns a country place that no one knows about.
I’m pretty sure you’d have to include a bunch of Autopian writers in that ding-dong category since they nearly all have aged cars as their DDs (or have in the past).
Torch DDs French things older than me these days.
This remains a terrible take unless you’re just trolling. If so, Bravo, we took the bait.
Worst-case, Everyone can just push the Staples easy button and go buy an old Corolla, they should be absolutely fine. And even if not, parts are everywhere, cheap, and everyone knows how to work on them. It’s a slam dunk.
I know what the sentence means, but it’s pointless in the context of our discussion. I’m arguing about a 20 year old car vs a new car, so I’m already arguing the outlier. Obviously something newer is, by your logic, less likely to have problems and cost you money, so why even bring those up? Argue against the 20 yo car.
I think it’s a foolish argument, but it’s the one you’ve chosen.
It’s not hard to pick a reasonably reliable older vehicle. They’re cheap to purchase and insure, easier and cheaper to fix (unless you buy something stupid), and can absolutely be reliable DDs. Many of us do exactly that. Not surprising because we’re on an auto enthusiast website, but this is where you’ve chosen to bait people.
Meanwhile, I see plenty of people just in my daily travels with much newer cars have catastrophic failures – looking at you Hyundai/Kia and virtually any Nissan product. New doesn’t mean good and old doesn’t mean bad. Warranties are great but if you have to use them a ton, you still can’t drive your car.
ANY car purchase is a risky purchase. My mother bought a brand new Elantra with a 10yr warranty and then after the Kia boys BS it was stolen and/or vandalized 4x. New didn’t mean good.
Older cars have a verifiable track record and you have some basis to make an informed decision on. Plus the stakes aren’t as high. Pick a reliable model/year and then buy the seller (demeanor, maintenance history, etc) and you’ll rarely go wrong. You sure as hell shouldn’t be spending thousands a year on a car only worth a fee thousand to begin with, that’s an absurd statement.
Thousands a year should be reserved for the British sports project-car that makes your heart race every time you drive it both because it’s a joyous experience and because you’re wondering what gremlin will pop up next to empty your wallet.
Okay dude, whatever.
None of that is happening with my 26 year old truck. Some of the interior plastic is brittle. It got some ball joints, tires and a new battery a couple years back, as expected, but otherwise, it’s old and still reliable.
best feature on a vehicle is the title and you can get a competent luxury car with one for short money here. That’s attractive, especially if you’re not gonna pound miles on it and
Not necessarily. The first year or two you’ll probably be laying out some money but older cars are generally easier/simpler to work on and this isn’t an uncommon car at all, so parts are available. Plus insurance and many other costs are less vs a new vehicle. A few grand is basically 4 months of a car note these days, if even.
This is available with a timing chain, so likely no worries there. Struts on my car were basically $300 and a few hours in my driveway. You’re probably looking at suspension stuff at some point, brakes, fluids, serpentine belt and maybe the tensioner, but that’s essentially all consumables on any car if we’re being honest.
If you’re even remotely handy, something like this is just going to cost you parts. And the parts aren’t expensive, especially for the quality you’re getting. This is essentially Lexus quality at Toyota prices.
Not quite 20 yet (17 years) but my Tacoma would like a word about a few grand every year. Have had it for 8 years now and drove it daily for all of them up until a year ago. Currently has 188k. I did suspension, brakes and an alternator a year and a half ago which cost me maybe $1,200 all in. Before that? Nothing but oil changes and a set of tires.