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It's funny, over the years Toyota has aimed its Avalon at traditional Buick buyers even while Buick has gone after Lexus, Toyota's luxury division. From the moment you slide behind the steering wheel of the Avalon, it's obvious that this is a traditional car chasing traditional-sedan buyers. You know, the people who usually buy Buicks. The big Toyota is definitely geared toward older people, and there's nothing wrong with that, since there's a huge population of aging baby boomers and for many of them the Avalon is the ideal car. All of the controls are simply laid out and easy to decipher. The steering wheel rake is adjusted with a ratcheting device that reminds me of the ones in scores of GM sedans in the past. The digital displays for driver- and passenger-side interior temperature settings have digits that must be 24 points tall, for easy visibility. All of the display fonts are pretty big, actually. Hey, I'm only 45 years old but I already wear bifocals, so I am the last person to complain about big type fonts! The cowl is low, so you can see the hood sloping down in front of you. There's good visibility in all directions. Our tester had cooled seats, a welcome touch in the July heat. The front seats are flat and wide and easy to slide into but not particularly supportive.

Once the hero of the downsizing era, the hatchback had its heyday in the '70s and '80s, when gas prices spiked. As Americans rushed into small cars -- most for the first time ever -- hatchbacks allowed them to still bring along lots of stuff. But it was their very success back then, in cars like the Ford Pinto, the Datsun B210, the Plymouth Horizon, the Chevy Monza, and dozens of others, that today makes the body style an unhappy reminder of cheap economy cars past.

Previewed by the GTC Concept that was shown at last year's Paris Motor Show, the three-door gains its own design, more aggressive than either the five-door or the wagon, with a sharp character line running from the door handles to the rear to complement the signature Opel sideblade on the lower portion of the door carried over from others in the lineup. Slim, "eagle-eye" headlamps (complete with optional LED running lights) frame a chrome strip with the Opel badge, which rests above an large, trapezoidal lower fascia grille.