Avalon, a car for The Big & Tall

Have you ever thought to yourself, why can't manufacturers make an automobiles that has sufficient room inside for big and tall people and is cost effective for your budget. Well rest assure, the Toyota Avalon is that vehicle! I spent six months looking for an automobile to fit my 6'9", 255 pound body. And believe me, it was a task. The first month that I started looking for a vehicle, I was going out test driving used mid to large sized cars within my price range . Since my price range was about $13,000, all of the large sized cars were eliminated. I was currently driving a 1990 Honda Accord LX which had about the best leg room and comfortability I could find at the time (within an affordable price range). All of the mid sized cars that I test drove made me feel very cramp up, including the Toyota Camry. I was determine to come up with a game plan. My first priority was to find a vehicle that I could reasonably fit in. It doesn't matter if you find a car for $5,000 because if you are crammed up in it, you will regret your purchase. Then price was the next determining factor. I did some research on the specs and prices of various mid size cars. Basically I looked at the leg, hip, head, and shoulder room of various cars. To make a long story short, and to save you big and tall people the headaches that I went through, here's what I discover. I narrowed it down between the 1996 Honda Accord and the 1996 Toyota Avalon. Being a previous owner of 4 Honda Accords, I knew that they were reliable vehicles; however, I had never owned a Toyota but I have heard only good things about them. I compared the specs for both of these vehicles and here is a brief summary:

1996 Accord- Front Headroom= 38.4, Rear Headroom=36.2
Front Legroom= 42.9, Rear Legroom= 31.3
Front Shoulder= 56.0, Rear Shoulder=53.5
Front Hip= 51.6, Rear Hip= 47.6

1996 Avalon-Front Headroom= 39.1, Rear Headroom=37.8
Front Legroom= 44.1, Rear Legroom= 38.3
Front Shoulder= 57.7, Rear Shoulder=57.3
Front Hip= 55.8, Rear Hip= 57.4

The Avalon exceeded the Camry in almost every aspect with one exception (gas mileage). However, why buy a vehicle that gets you 25mpg city and 31 mpg hwy-but you are CRAMPED UP, when you can buy a vehicle that gets you 21 mpg city and 29 mpg hwy and have PLENTY of room. I have had two 6'8" guys(250+ pounds)in the back of my Avalon and a 6'10" guy in the passenger seat, and they all were comfortable. If you don't believe me, please test drive one. Also, I have a friend that owns a Lexus, and I can barely tell the difference in riding comfort between it and my Avalon. With the exception of a slight wind noise (going above 70 mph) and my vehicle not being leather, there's really no difference. If you are wanting to compare automobile specs on any vehicles, please visit Autoweb.com. There you can look up used vehicles for lemon checks, research automobiles, and get a decent bluebook value. To all you big and tall people out there shopping for a great vehicle, the Avalon is the car for you!!!