LIKES
- Hybrid powertrain has enough guts and thrifty fuel economy
- Looks like a Lexus
- Fancy interior finish
- Standard active safety features
- Standard all-wheel drive
DISLIKES
- Less room than RAV4
- Can top $40,000
- Slushy acceleration
- Tight rear seat head room
BUYING TIP
- If you don’t need the navigation and big touchscreen, the base model 2021 Toyota Venza is a fine value.
The 2021 Toyota Venza brings an upscale flair to the compact crossover class to go with its efficient and reasonably powerful hybrid powertrain.
What kind of car is the 2021 Toyota Venza? What does it compare to?
The 2021 Toyota Venza is a hybrid crossover SUV that seats up to five, and is largely based on the RAV4. Smaller than the three-row Highlander, the Venza revives an older Toyota nameplate that was previously applied to a wagon/crossover version of the Camry. Rivals include the Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape, and Honda Passport.
Is the 2021 Toyota Venza a good car?
The Venza earns a high rating within our crossover-SUV rankings. It rates fairly high, thanks to its efficiency, and earns a TCC Rating of 6.8 out of 10.
What's new for the 2021 Toyota Venza?
Everything. The Venza nameplate is revived this year after a long hiatus. Only offered as a hybrid with all-wheel drive, the 2021 Toyota Venza delivers excellent fuel economy and decent power with an upscale look inside and out.
The luxury feel continues inside where Toyota wraps most of the surfaces in either real leather (the steering wheel and shift knob) or synthetic leather (the door panels, dash, center console, and, on all but the base model, the seats).
A hybrid powertrain borrowed from the RAV4 teams a 2.5-liter inline-4 with three motors and a lithium-ion hybrid battery pack (the RAV4 Hybrid has a nickel-metal hydride pack) to generate 219 net horsepower and return 39 mpg combined, according to Toyota. The hybrid system provides plenty of power for everyday driving.
The rear motor gives all Venzas all-wheel drive that can send up to to 80 percent of the available torque to the rear wheels.
A two-row crossover, the Venza is geared toward small families or shoppers looking for extra space, but not three rows of seats. It seats up to five just like the RAV4, but its sleeker top means it has less cargo space at 28.8 cubic feet with the rear seats up.
The Venza comes equipped with Toyota’s latest suite of active safety features, including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and bicyclist detection, adaptive cruise control, active lane control, and automatic high beams.
How much does the 2021 Toyota Venza cost?
The base $33,590 Venza is well-equipped with an 8.0-inch touchscreen for infotainment, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, a 4.2-inch digital information center, a six-speaker audio system, satellite radio, a hands-free power liftgate, a power tilt/telescoping steering column, automatic climate control, and 18-inch wheels. Other notable features include a 12.3-inch touchscreen, 7.0-inch digital information center, 10.0-inch head-up display, navigation, nine-speaker JBL audio, a digital rearview mirror, and an electrochromatic sunroof that can switch between transparent and frosted. Leather upholstery and lots of seat adjustments aren’t available.
In Takaoka, Japan.
Styling
The 2021 Toyota Venza has an upscale look that bests current Lexus styling.
Is the Toyota Venza a good-looking car?
The Venza's quite handsome. It skips the RAV4’s angular, upright, macho looks for a more sculpted, softer, and more upscale look with a flowing coupe-like roofline. Highlighted by chrome trim on the outside and wrapped surfaces on the inside, the 2021 Toyota Venza channels its inner Lexus in a way even current Lexus crossovers can’t match.
We give it a 7 for styling, adding one point each for its elegant interior and exterior looks.
The roofline features a coupe-like rake at the rear that gives it a racier look compared to the last Venza and the current RAV4 and Highlander. It combines standard chrome trim and either chrome or polished aluminum wheels to create an upscale appearance. Around back, the Venza skips the taller Highlander taillights for a sculpted tail with thinner LEDs that span the width of the hatch.
Inside, the Venza’s center stack and console are angular, dramatic, and tech-laden. An 8.0-inch touchscreen is standard, but a 12.3-inch screen is available on XLE and standard on Limited, and Toyota provides capacitive touch controls for some functions. Eyes will gravitate toward the touchscreen, but they’ll also notice the standard wrapped surfaces and contrast stitching that impart a luxury look and feel.
Performance
The 2021 Toyota Venza has a hybrid powertrain with decent power and a soft suspension for a smooth ride.
The Venza aims for smooth and comfortable and hits the mark, but that doesn’t make it fun. A standard hybrid powertrain provides great fuel economy and decent power. We rate the Venza a 6 out of 10 for performance for above-average acceleration.
Is the Toyota Venza AWD?
The Venza teams a 2.5-liter inline-4 with three electric motors powered by a lithium-ion hybrid battery pack. Total output is 219 hp, and the rear motor provides all-wheel drive. Up to 80 percent of the available torque can go to the rear.
How fast is the Toyota Venza?
The hybrid system provides a fine combination of power and fuel economy. The 0-60 mph sprint should take about seven seconds, which is par for the class, and the powertrain has plenty of power for highway passing. The engine stays in the background most of the time but begins to wail during acceleration and only gets louder during quicker sprints. The continuously variable automatic transmission lacks fixed gear ratios, so acceleration often feels slushy, but the transmission kicks down its ratios quickly enough to tap into more power.
While regenerative braking is standard to help charge the hybrid battery, the brake pedal doesn’t have a grabby feel that often plagues other hybrids.
The Venza uses a similar predictive driving system to the Highlander Hybrid to eke out more miles per gallon. The Venza’s system uses navigation information to learn repeated routes and frequent stops to more efficiently travel along that route. An Eco score screen in the instrument cluster also encourages drivers to optimize their braking, accelerating, and cruising techniques. Predictably, it encourages slow acceleration.
Comfort & Quality
The 2021 Toyota Venza’s cabin looks like it could wear a Lexus badge.
The 2021 Toyota Venza’s cabin imparts an upscale feel not expected in a Toyota. The wrapped and soft-touch surfaces combine with useful space for people and cargo to earn the Venza a 7 for comfort and quality on our scale.
Toyota wraps the door panels, dash, and center console in synthetic leather, and the shift knob and steering wheel in real leather, and tops it all off with contrast stitching and piping on the seats.
The Venza’s touchscreens are large, either 8.0 or 12.3 inches. The screens have large icons that are easy to use, but the capacitive touch controls for the climate, volume, radio tuning, and some infotainment functions aren’t as easy to operate as dials.
The Venza’s design features a fast, coupe-like roofline as opposed to the related RAV4’s upright look. That cuts out some cargo space, but the Venza still has 28.8 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats up compared to 37.5 for the RAV4 and 55.1 cubic feet with the seats down versus 69.8 cubic feet in the Venza. That’s decent for the class, despite the shorter roof height.
Safety
The Venza already gets an above-average safety score, and crash tests aren't complete.
How safe is the Toyota Venza?
The Venza has earned a five-star overall rating from the NHTSA, and has excellent standard safety equipment. We give it a 7, with scores from the IIHS still to come.
Toyota equips the 2021 Venza with plenty of safety equipment right out of the box. Standard features consist of automatic emergency braking, active lane control, blind-spot monitors with rear cross-traffic alerts, adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, and road-sign recognition. Front and rear parking sensors and a surround-view camera system are also available, as is a head-up display.
Features
The 2021 Toyota Venza is well-equipped at its base level and offers a simple three-trim lineup.
The 2021 Toyota Venza’s lineup is simplified and it offers few options, but it comes well-equipped at its base and top levels and it offers a pair of large infotainment screens. Those strengths earn it a 7 out of 10 for features in our ratings.
Toyota offers the Venza in LE, XLE, and Limited models. All come with all-wheel drive and a hybrid powertrain.
Which Toyota Venza should I buy?
The $37,120 Venza XLE adds roof rails, memory for the driver’s seat, synthetic leather bolsters for the front seats, and heated front seats. More options can also be chosen with the XLE.
How much is a fully loaded 2021 Toyota Venza?
The $40,920 Venza Limited adds a digital rearview mirror, a surround-view camera system, synthetic leather upholstery, a 12.3-inch touchscreen, navigation, and a nine-speaker JBL audio system.
Fuel Economy
The Venza is very fuel-efficient.
Is the Toyota Venza good on gas?
The 2021 Toyota Venza is offered only as a hybrid, which is a boon for fuel economy. According to its EPA ratings, it earns 40 mpg city, 37 highway, 39 combined. That’s one 1 mpg shy of the RAV4 in its combined rating. That's a 7 on our scale, one of the highest ratings for a crossover SUV that's not powered by electric alone.
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