Vanilla is the ice cream choice of people afraid of making other choices. It's the default setting. It isn't bad but it's far from good. Many cars, unfortunately, fit into this category. What's the most vanilla car of the year?
You'd think we'd say Toyota Camry, given how overwhelmingly beige the car is, but the Toyota Avalon is not just a flagship for a mediocre brand, it's a flagship for mediocrity. A Camry has engine choices. They're not great choices, but there are choices. You can even get one with a manual transmission. No such luck with an Avalon. You have a choice of getting one with a V6 engine mated to an automatic transmission or buying another car. It looks like nothing on the road in that, when you see it on the road, you see nothing. The only stand-out feature of the car is its price. You pay a full $28K before any features for a "meh" car. and $35K for the "Limited" model, which is about $4K more than a starting Lexus IS.
To us, this is what represents low-fat, calorie free, sprinkle-free, sugar-free vanilla yogurt. What about you? What's the most vanilla car of the year?
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