The rear seat also offers good visibility and legroom. High window sills, the trend nowadays, make the chamber feel deep. Carrying long, narrow objects is made easier as the rear center seat has a pass-through that opens up to the trunk.

We tested an XLS model. Its interior sports ample doses of burled walnut, good, simple switchgear, and solid-feeling control stalks. There's even a leather boot on the column-shift lever, a nice touch. The superb leather-wrapped four-spoke steering wheel feels lovely in your hands. There are big cupholders all around, grab handles over all four doors, and flip-out coin pockets in the front doors. Also included are soothing electro-chromatic mirrors that self-adjust to reduce glare, and an easy-to-adjust dual climate-control system providing independent settings for driver and passenger.

The list of interior features is long. The data system is housed in a big rectangular window in the center of the instrument panel. The compass is useful, and the miles-to-go-before-empty function is comforting if you're prone to push it to the last drop.

Leather, which is optional, is plush and the two-tone beige/ivory looks good. The feel of the leather, the doses of walnut, the big recessed instrument panel, and especially the inside shape of the C-pillars, all make the Avalon interior reminiscent of a Cadillac Seville. That shouldn't be surprising, as the Toyota Avalon was designed and built in the USA, and a veteran of GM's large-car division led its development team.