LIKES
- Standard all-wheel drive
- 39 mpg combined
- Lexus-like finish and quiet
- Good tech
- Standard active safety features
DISLIKES
- Middling acceleration
- Less room than RAV4
- Gets lost in Toyota lineup
- A Lexus makes for a better Limited
BUYING TIP
Not quite RAV4, not quite Lexus RX, the 2023 Toyota Venza hybrid crossover is a tweener in everything but efficiency and comfort.
What kind of car is the 2023 Toyota Venza? What does it compare to?
The hybrid Venza compact crossover seats five people and is half a foot longer but no roomier than the related Toyota RAV4. The Venza rivals mid-size crossovers such as the Honda Passport and Chevy Blazer, as well as large compact crossovers such as the Kia Sportage and Volkswagen Tiguan.
Is the 2023 Toyota Venza a good car?
With excellent fuel economy, good standard features, and a Lexus-like fit and finish, the Venza earns a TCC Rating of 7.2 out of 10.
What’s new for the 2023 Toyota Venza?
The Venza is the latest Toyota to undergo the Nightshade treatment with blackout trim, 19-inch gloss black wheels, and a red, white, or black body. Built off the mid-grade XLE, it joins base LE and top Limited grades. The XLE and above come with a much improved 12.3-inch touchscreen designed for North American consumers. Toyota also updated its safety suite across the board for 2023.
The Venza prioritizes the kind of performance most important to most crossover shoppers: It’s quiet, comfy, and secure with standard all-wheel drive, but mostly it’s reassuringly efficient at 39 mpg combined. With its 2.5-liter inline-4 and three compact electric motors, the Venza might reach 60 mph in seven seconds, but it shuffles through its CVT without notice or noise. It rides comfortably and is composed as well, even when it leans into corners.
The two-row Venza stretches six inches longer than the related RAV4, but has less cargo room in back. Still, the Venza plies its trade in comfort and roominess for four adults, with 37.8 inches of rear leg room. Squeezing three kids in the back bench would squeeze everyone’s patience. The front power seats have ample support and automatically shift to the rearmost position when getting in and out. The rounded roofline trims a little bit of head room in back, and shaves nearly 12 cubic feet of cargo room from the RAV4. That 28.8 cubic feet of space is easily accessed, however, with a standard power tailgate.
Every Venza comes with Toyota’s latest suite of safety and driver-assist systems, including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitors, active lane control, and adaptive cruise control. The NHTSA and the IIHS give it top safety ratings, though the feds found fault on front driver-side protection.
How much does the 2023 Toyota Venza cost?
Pricing for the updated 2023 model hasn’t been announced but expect it to be more than last year’s base $34,000 Venza LE. It rolls on 18-inch wheels, and comes with a power driver’s seat, cloth upholstery, an 8.0-inch touchscreen, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and three USB ports, including two Type-C ports. The Venza Limited tops the lineup at about $43,000 for a surround-view camera system, synthetic leather upholstery, and heated and cooled front seats.
Where is the 2023 Toyota Venza made?
In Japan.
Styling
The Toyota Venza smooths out the harsh angles of other Toyota crossover SUVs.
Is the Toyota Venza a good-looking car?
Understated but confident, smooth with sophistication, the Venza earns a point each for its exterior curves and interior calm. It’s a 7.
Far removed from the wagonesque design of its predecessor that launched in the aughts, the new Venza embraces classic crossover proportions smoothed over from all the angles and flair other compact crossovers use to stand out in this homogeneous segment. It eschews the hard creases and jutting angles of the related RAV4 for a curving urbane shape befitting a Lexus, without the oversized grille. The Nightshade trim gives it an edge cloaked in black trim bits and 19-inch black alloy wheels.
Performance
Made to stretch a gallon, the Venza makes cents.
Built for quiet, comfort, and efficiency, the 2023 Venza won’t boost heart rates behind the wheel, by design. Its insulated ride earns it a point here to a 6.
Is the Toyota Venza 4WD?
All Venzas have all-wheel drive and all Venzas are hybrids.
That’s besides the point but its hybrid system could clip its way to 60 mph on the soft side of seven seconds. A 2.5-liter inline-4 pairs with one of the system’s three motors, and the other two drive the rear wheels for a technically interesting version of all-wheel drive. The system outputs 219 hp with a very smooth and quiet integration of gasoline and electric power. Acceleration can feel slushy or inconsistent due to its electric gearless transmission that hunts around the powerband to optimize efficiency.
The braking sometimes also feels less than linear because of a regen brake setting that comes on first, but it becomes familiar quickly. The quest for fuel economy is manifest in a navigation system that defaults to the most efficient routes, which can be a surprising frustration. Caveat navigator.
With softer springs and shocks than the RAV4, the Venza rides with Lexus-like damping and significant insulation from road, wind, and engine noise. The tradeoff is a lack of driving excitement in its handling, but that’s not what motivates the Venza in the first place.
Comfort & Quality
The Venza could be considered a Lexus RAV4.
Sized similarly to the RAV4, Toyota finishes the 2023 Venza with Lexus-like touches in the cabin. Synthetic leather covers the console, door and dash panels, and contrast stitching and seat piping lend it an air of refinement that’s matched by its quiet ride. Comfy front seats with a standard power driver seat earn it a point, as do a roomy rear seat area and cargo hold. It’s an 8.
Toyota covers the Venza’s supportive standard front seats in cloth, though synthetic leather, passenger power adjustments, and heating and cooling are accessible upgrades. Unlike some Lexus grades, the lack of tilting thigh cushions keeps them from being luxurious thrones. One luxury touch is the standard driver seat that automatically shifts to the rearmost position when getting in and out then resets to the driver’s saved position once seated.
The Venza plies its trade in comfort and roominess for four adults, with 37.8 inches of rear leg room though head room back there might get pinched for adults taller than six feet. Squeezing three kids in the back bench might squeeze everyone’s patience, too.
Safety
The Venza proves its safety mettle.
How safe is the Toyota Venza?
Toyota equips the Venza with a suite of standard driver-assist features, and it performed mostly well in the NHTSA and the IIHS crash tests, with an exception. It’s an 8 here.
The NHTSA awarded it five stars overall, but faulted it with only four stars on its front-impact protection. The IIHS dubs it a Top Safety Pick, with “Good” scores for all subtests. On a new side-impact test instituted this year by the IIHS, the Venza earned an “Acceptable” rating.
Features
The well-equipped Venza serves up a value.
With a modern infotainment system, wireless smartphone compatibility, and good standard features, the Venza earns an 8 for its value and tech.
All Venza’s benefit from two years or 25,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and a 36-month/36,000-mile new car warranty. Hybrid components are covered for eight years or 100,000 miles.
Which Toyota Venza should I buy?
How much is a fully loaded Toyota Venza?
The Venza Limited tops the lineup and comes with navigation, a surround-view camera system, synthetic leather upholstery, and heated and cooled front seats for about $43,000. An available fixed glass roof that can be adjusted to let in more light adds some charm, but at that price we’d lean toward a Lexus.
Fuel Economy
The Venza hybrid goes long on gas.
Is the Toyota Venza good on gas?
Oh yeah. The standard hybrid has an EPA-rated 40 mpg city, 37 highway, 39 combined, which earns a 5 here. When it comes to AWD crossovers, the 2023 Venza trails only the RAV4 Hybrid and Ford Escape Hybrid at 40 mpg combined.
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