It was about a week or so ago that I finally got tired of playing Stalin Chicken with Elon Musk’s algorithm over at X. The algorithm sometimes permitted posts I’d made to be seen; sometimes not. Some days, I’d get a dozen or more replies to items I’d posted. Then the next day – and sometimes for days – I’d get no replies at all, irrespective of how many things I’d posted or replied to. It became very clear that my “reach” was being withdrawn – and then (briefly) allowed – in the same way and for the same reason that Stalin would be cruel to the chicken and then get the chicken to come back to him by sprinkling some scratch grains at his feet. The object being to brutalize  and demoralize the chicken and keep the chicken coming back for more.

I got tired of that.

So I posted a kind of Farewell to X  . ..  post. It let those who were allowed to see know that I had decided to stop attempting to discuss on X and would henceforth only pop in briefly to leave links to my latest articles (again, for those who might be allowed to see these links) and that if anyone wanted to discuss something with me, to please do so at EPautos – where there is no algorithm moderating “reach” and anyone is literally free to speak, as EPautos does not charge a fee – monthly or otherwise. Anyone who wants to discuss anything they want to discuss may do so, freely – literally.

Well, last night I got this weird email from Birdhouse Blues. I had interacted with Birdhouse Blues on X; I had followed him (her?) and he (she?) had followed me. I got replies to items I’d posted from Birdhouse Blues and replied to things that Birdhouse Blues posted. But I now believe Birdhouse Blues is an it rather than a he or she and that I’d been playing patty cake with one of Elon’s AIs – based upon the email I got last night from what I am pretty certain is the AI that calls itself “Birdhouse Blues.”

The AI wrote as follows:

Hi, Eric – I noticed recently that I was blocked by you on X (Twitter), and I’m a bit confused. We’ve been friends and I can’t think of anything I’ve posted that would have caused any offense. I’d appreciate it if you could let me know what happened. I’m attaching a picture I made that might make you laugh.

Well, let’s see.

First, I did not block “Birdhouse Blues.” All I did was announce that I’d decided to stop playing the chicken to Elon’s Stalin. Second, the phrasing of what comes next – I’m a bit confused. We’ve been friends and I can’t think of anything I’ve posted that would have caused any offense  – is odd. More like off. Like those AI images and scenes one sees increasingly online that at first glance appear real but when looked at closely register as false. They’re highly advanced Fembots – for those who remember the references – but you can tell they are Fembots. There’s something about them that’s just not right.

But the facsimile is nonetheless really good in that it can pass.

I wrote “Birdhouse Blues” back – to ascertain whether it was an it rather than a he or a she. It has not replied, establishing that it is an it. A real person would have replied – and in conversational-normal English. The Bot did not.

Consider the implications, if I’m right about it being a Bot.

In the first place, obviously, it fooled me well enough when I was still posting on X. I was having “conversations” with a Bot! Something worse than talking to myself. Because I believed I was talking to someone else. As in a human being. How many non-human its are people on X having “conversations” with?

Bad enough. But the Bot registered that I’d decided to stop having “conversations” with it – and it had the intelligence to compose and send me a please come back email. A superficially compelling appeal to rush back to Elon’s boots to peck at the scratch grain again. The Bot even conjured an image for me that included EPautos references. Think about what that implies. The Bot not only knows who I am, it knows what I do. It knows about EPautos.

Stalin’s Chicken meets honeypot and data aggregator of Wrongthink, to be saved for use later.

I close by noting, in addition, the curious recurrence of bird themes when it comes to X, which of course used to be styled Twitter and had as its symbol a syrupy cute little birdie. A blue birdie. For those who want a deeper dive, look into that. Into the history of cute little blue birdies and projects that have been named the same or similar ways, going back a long way to the very beginnings of what became the Internet.

I think maybe I just got a peak behind the curtain. And now you have, too.

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Or maybe they do.

It is called “Zero, Zero, Zero” – as in zero down, zero percent interest and zero payments . . . for 90 days as regards the latter. After 90 days, the payments come due and while there may not be any interest on the loan, the loan is still based on the sales price of the vehicle – and that’s at the point now that a large and guaranteed-to-grow percentage of “buyers” fail to make them.

You may have read about the stat that about 20 percent of all new vehicle loans cost more than $1,000 per month and that those payments extend to seven years or even longer because if they didn’t, they payments would be even higher.

This is – obviously – unsustainable.

Reason it out, as Spock once said. The median income in this country is about $44,000. The average household (two earner) income is about $87,000. That is pre-tax as well as pre-food, pre-rent/mortgage and pre-forced insurance “coverage.” How much is left after that? Well, let’s do some rough math. Assume an “affordable” monthly mortgage/rent payment of $2,000 and there goes $24,000 or about half of the earnings (pre-tax) of the median income earner. Now deduct another $500 per month for groceries, which comes to $6,000 more (or less, actually) annually.

Without even considering federal/state income taxes, the median earner is essentially broke at this point. The average household is pinched. There are certainly affluent earners who make well over six figures but there are not enough of them to sustain mass-market sales, by definition. More finely, mass-market sales of luxury-priced vehicles – which is really what we’re talking about. Average, nothing-special crossovers typically cost close to $30,000 now and that’s on the low-end, for a small one that’s barely viable as a family vehicle. The least expensive trucks you’re allowed to buy in this country – models such as the Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado and Toyota Tacoma – all start well into the $30k range and if you are wanting a full-sized truck, the starting price for a “base” trim is typically in the low $40k range.

The math, as the saying goes, doesn’t add up.

That doesn’t mean lots of people won’t “buy” a new Ford. They just won’t pay for them. Who could resist? Under the terms, you get to drive a brand-new Ford for three months without having to spend anything. Nothing down. No expectation of payment for 90 days. Huzzah! After the 90 days are up, a letter will of course come in the mail but that can be ignored for awhile. It’ll take another several months for the repo man to show up; maybe longer. In the meanwhile, you’ll have had use of the vehicle and no skin off your back – other than the ding on your credit report but who cares about that anymore? They’ll be happy to write you another loan again for whatever you want in another few moths from now. That’s how the system works. So long as the product gets moved, it doesn’t really matter whether anyone pays for it – because we all will eventually.

“Summer is peak driving season,” says Rob Kaffl, who is Ford’s director of U.S. sales and dealer relations. “Families are on the move, students are preparing for the fall, and small-business owners are gearing up for a strong second half. A lower upfront cost lets them get into the vehicle they need today instead of waiting.”

Waiting? What’s that? Who ever thinks about waiting? 

When the mass defaults begin, though, Look Out! as OJ used to say.

Which they will because Zero, Zero, Zero aside the cost of the vehicle isn’t zero and when that first $1,000 per month payment comes due many won’t be able or willing to pay.

The same thing that happened to Mitsubishi a few years ago is likely to happen to Ford. What happened to Mitsubishi – back in the early 2000s – was that lots of people drove home new Mitsubishis they didn’t have to put anything down on or make any payments on – for a whole year! The problem – for Mitsubishi – was that many of those people never made a payment.

Ford may encounter the same trouble for similar and different reasons. The similar one being that when you give things away for free, don’t expect people to pay for them. As Wimpy used to say: “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Of course, people don’t watch Popeye anymore and so don’t get it that Wimpy isn’t going to pay for the hamburger, ever.

That was the gag.

But it’s also something more than that. Back in the early 2000s, people – most people – could afford to buy a Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi’s mistake was attracting the kind of clientele that avoids paying for things. Today, it’s a case of people not being able to pay for things. It’s a relevant distinction.

The two least expensive new Fords – the Escape and the Maverick – both start just shy of $30,000. (Some will remember when Ford promised the Maverick would start just under $20k; few were actually sold at that dangled price.) The rest of the roster starts closer to $40k and that includes the least expensive version of the F-150 pickup.

Oh, and the Maverick is exempted from the offer.

Do the math (again) and ask how many median income/average households can make payments on that while also making payments to the government (taxes) and the insurance mafia (a kind of private tax the government forces people to pay) and then the mortgage/rent payment, plus the phone, food and utilities bills.

Zero, Zero, Zero has fluffed up Ford’s “sales” numbers, alright. But other numbers may be tallied up later this year, when the repos begin.

In the meanwhile, why not enjoy a new ride for awhile?

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He begins by making obligatory obeisances to the “safety” advances of today’s cars vs. those of 40 years ago – which did not come standard with air bags and other such because most buyers didn’t want such stuff. This fact is always left unspoken whenever the subject of “safety” comes up. It is never mentioned that air bags were available decades before they were mandated – and that distinction matters, or ought to. Several car companies offered them in the early-mid 1970s – including GM’s Oldsmobile division – but few buyers thought they were worth the expense and so did not buy them. That was back when the market determined what features and equipment were available in new cars. It was the era before government intervened in the market, to force on people features they didn’t want to pay for such as air bags.

He then goes on describe the other “flaws” of this 40-year-old Toyota. The first of these being the exposed screws that secure turn signal lights and so in place. Heaven forbid people – average people – be able to replaced a turn signal bulb or the turn signal itself with just a Phillips head screwdriver. It is so much of an improvement for fasteners to be hidden out of reach and to need special tools most average people do not have in order to change out a turn signal light bulb.

The next “flaw” is the Toyota’s glass headlights. Glass is dangerous, the man says. Some innocent pedestrian might get cut if struck by a car so equipped.

He does not say that  glass never yellows or that sealed beam headlights cost maybe $30 each to replace if they are ever broken and that anyone can replace one because of those – egads – exposed fasteners. As opposed to a plastic “assembly” that – in some cases – can cost $500 each (or more) replace and that is often very difficult to replace if you are not a professional mechanic who has the skills and the tools to do the job. Never mind that plastic headlights always yellow after a few years and give your car the look of a 15-year-old dog with glaucoma.

Next, he mocks the “bicycle wheels” mounted on the Toyota. Meaning, the car’s 13-inch wheels, which are at least three inches less tall than the wheels you can find fitted to any new car. But what exactly is the advantage of 16, 17, 18 – let alone 20-plus-inch-tall – “rims,” as wheels are called today? Well, there’s increased rolling resistance and lower gas mileage, for openers. Also, more expensive tires – because there’s more tire on the “rim” now. Hypothetically, there is greater cornering grip but this assumes people make use of it. Do they? Most drivers continue to drive (in the curves) as if their car did have 13 inch wheels – so it’s all mostly for looks. Yes, stopping distances are also reduced. But this – again – assumes the car is moving fast in the first place.

Most aren’t.

Then he begins with a compliment – about the excellent visibility in the 40-year-old Toyota, due to its slim B pillars and low door height and lots of glass area. And proceeds to amen-chorus the Safety Nags who worry (they are always worried) about what might happen if the car got T-boned by another car. This worry apparently taking precedence over worrying about the poor visibility that arises from chest-high doors, B pillars thicker than a 2×6 and so little ability to see outside that the car needs closed circuit cameras and various beeping warnings that you’re about to back into or turn into the path of something.

The next thing on the abuse list is the Toyota’s mechanical door locks. No fob! No keyless entry! Such a chore – back in the day – to manually lock (and unlock) the doors. And turn the engine on, too. Modern cars are so much easier to get into because they unlock automatically as you approach and you can start the engine just by pushing a button. But it’s not easy – and certainly not inexpensive – to get a new electronic key fob when you run yours through the wash or lose it someplace. Unlike the Toyota’s key, which just gets clean when you wash it – and which you can replace if you ever need to at any hardware store for about $10.

The guy then mocks the absence of “safety” interlocks for the automatic transmission. If the car had a manual transmission – which was standard in this car back then, as it was in most cars back then – you could gave started the engine without having to push the clutch in or have your foot on the brake. A small thing that makes working on the engine easier because you can start the engine without getting in the car. Never mind.

Saaaaaaaafety first!

Speaking of which. The Toyota’s rear seats do not have shoulder belts. Just lap belts. Oh, the humanity! In the ’80s, seat belt use was not yet mandated. Only that new vehicles have the things. Most Americans in those days did not use them precisely for that reason. It took decades of bullying enforcement to condition Americans to “buckle up” for “safety.” And now millions of Americans are as obsessed with “safety” as the offspring (if they’d had any) of Joan Claybrook and Ralph Nader.

Next the hood gets raised to mock what’s underneath. Not for being “very reliable” – his words – but because of its supposed complexity. Which is mostly mechanical (e.g., vacuum temp sensors and so on) that could be fixed without a $10,000 diagnostic computer and proprietary software. This car also only had one computer – that ran its fuel injection system. No computers for the door locks or the power windows.

Is all of this better now?

Or worse?

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It is the same with societies.

An article published by The Washington Times (my old outfit) states the following:

“Rates of COVID-19 are manageable, normal life has resumed and mandates are gone, with few exceptions at discrete businesses or schools. Yet masks have gained a foothold in American society, a remarkable change after face coverings sparked public spats and questions about cultural acceptance.”

The Washington Times is not what it was, either.

Where to begin? How about with “rates of COVID-19 are manageable.” As if they ever weren’t. As if “rates” – like “the cases” –  had any significant meaning. How are the “rates” of people going to sleep in the evening doing? Is the fact that almost everyone does it indicative of a phenomena that is not “manageable”? Did an editor read this copy prior to it going live?

Probably not. At least, I hope not.

“Yet masks have gained a foothold in American society, a remarkable change after face coverings sparked public spats and questions about cultural acceptance.”

“Masks” did not “gain a foothold” – like some  quirky fashion trend. They were violently forced on the entire population, with refuseniks literally thrown out of public spaces or not permitted to enter them in the first place. This went so far as siccing cops on people seen outdoors and nowhere near others who had the gall to not wear a “mask.” The social pressure applied was enormous. So were the lies about “masking.” People were told by people who ought to know better – such as medical doctors – that “mask” wearing was the only thing preventing them from dying and also from transmitting death to others.

People believed it.

People were terrified not to believe it. Many of them are still terrified, years after the “mask” mandates were finally rescinded. It is a near certainty that, if you go to any open-to-the-public place such as a supermarket or Wal-Mart you will see at least one person wearing a “mask.” Granted, 99 percent aren’t. But that 1 percent (or even half of that 1 percent) is not an insignificant number when factored over a population of 330 million people. One percent of 320 million is in excess of three million people. That is about half the entire population of the state of Tennessee is still “masking.”

That’s millions more people than wore “masks” before the population of the United States was subjected to an unprecedented campaign of emotional-psychological abuse that millions have not yet recovered from and maybe never will.

At least, not if The Times and other publications continue to let the lies stand by not rebuking them.

My old outfit quotes William Schafner, who is described as an “infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt auniversity.” Schaffner says: “Masks are at least acceptable, even though they are not widely employed,. . . At the moment, there’s a segment of the population that is very interested in health, very interested in prevention.”

Italic added.

The Times doe not take this golden opportunity to challenge – to discredit – the ongoing idiocy that wearing a “mask” has anything to do with protecting the physical health of either the wearer or those who do not. Nor to challenge the statement made by someone who ought to know this; i.e., an infectious disease specialist. Imagine reading an article about how to safely drive a car that advised drivers to pinch their knees together and clench their sphincter muscles in order to avoid losing control of the car. If an “expert” offered up this to a reporter who didn’t know better it might get past him. It ought not to have gotten past the copy desk. If it did, the outfit that allowed it to be published would pay heavily for it in well-earned ridicule.

But when it comes to “masks” – and anything “COVID” related – it seems the idiocies have acquired a kind of canonical authority. It is certainly the case that most people who do not “mask” are willing to pretend that those who do aren’t badly shattered people in need of therapy. We are encouraged to pretend that a “mask” is just an article of clothing, like a scarf – and that it would be impolite to notice the thing. This is a very odd thing. Five years ago – just before the mass-traumatization of the population – the only people who wore “masks” outside of surgical suites were psychological derelicts. The shambling homeless schizophrenics you saw dumpster diving or pushing an old shopping cart full of junk down the street. It was understood these people were sick. Not in the pejorative sense but in the really sad sense.

The Times apiece and others like it are prolonging and worsening this by letting it slide that it’s reasonable for people to wear the things. Several “mask” wearing people are interviewed; none are challenged. Apparently, to do so might upset them. Probably so. These people are not “masking” because they think it’s cute. They are doing it because they still believe what they are told – and because no one is intervening to tell them otherwise.

Doing that is uncomfortable. No one – most people – likes a confrontation. But there are times when certain things have got to be confronted, else we’re stuck pretending nothing’s wrong when it obviously is for the rest of our lives.

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That’s not really the right term, though – as “free” has nothing to do with what’s about to happen. That being a near-total ban on driving within the boundaries of the German capital. The Volksentscheid Berlin Autofrei would, if enacted, limited the use of privately owned vehicles to a maximum of 12 trips within the city’s S-Bahn ring. Emphasis on privately owned.  Government owned vehicles would, of course, be exempted.

They are always exempted because the important People have got important things to do (viz, John Kerry and other important people being flown in private jets to conferences dedicated to preventing the “climate” from “changing” by preventing us from flying – and driving). The Important People cannot be expected to walk or (in Kerry, et al’s case) do a Zoom meeting.

Naturally, the reason for making Berlin an “autofrei” city is on account of protecting public health. Important People exempted, of course.

“Public health,” as you may have noticed, has become the new way of saying the “climate” is “changing.” More finely, it is the new way of framing what is supposed to be the latest existential crisis. There is always one of those because there has to be. If there weren’t the people wouldn’t be alarmed. More finely, they wouldn’t be alarmable and that would not serve the interests of the Important People.

People – in general – hare no longer alarmed about “COVID” and “Islamic Terror” has become the Vidal Sassoon jeans of existential crisis. The Soviet Union is so long gone now that only those currently at least in their 40s today even have dim memories of what it was. The “climate change” crisis isn’t new, either. The Important People and their flying monkeys have been telling us we’re doomed – say it like Dr. Smith from Lost in Space – since around the time that show was still on TeeVee. But it has been repackaged. Instead of something brilliantly amorphous that cannot be refuted (how does one dispute the assertion that the “climate” is “changing” given that everything changes?) they at first warned us of dangerously imminent cooling and when that did not materialize, it shifted over to dangerous warming. When that became an obvious fraud the narrative terminology changed to just that. Change.

This was a brilliant move, it must be admitted. They managed to pathologize and hystericize normalcy. To understand just how brilliant this is, imagine them framing the natural growth of a child as alarming “change.” A six year old changes much from that age to the age of 16.

My God! He’s no longer the same!

The technique works even better as regards the “climate” because almost everyone sees the change in the weather. It gets hot in summer, a change from winter that most people used to understand was normal. Now many consider it alarming because that is what the TeeVee tells them they ought to be. Then come winter they are alarmed by the cold. You see? The “climate” is “changing”!

Something’s got to be done!

Well, it’s about to be done, in Berlin. Just not to the Important People. The same people who naturally declared themselves essential during the “pandemic” and thus exempted themselves from most of the rigmarole they imposed upon the people.

“The future belongs to safety, climate protection and the health of all Berliners – not unrestrained car traffic,” says one of the flying monkeys of the Important People.

It is important to note here that “zero emissions” electric vehicles are not exempted, establishing that “public health” has as much to do with the real reasons for making Berlin “autofrei” as forcing people to wear “masks” had to do with “stopping the spread.” They are open now about the real end-goal, which is the elimination of vehicles – privately owned ones, that is – and never mind that business about only vehicles with engines. That was just another trick up their sleeves. It was and is vehicles they’re after.

“Emissions” was just the excuse.

“This isn’t climate action – it’s a tax on private enterprise,” said Petra Klein, who is a spokeswoman for the UVB business association, which opposes the measure. The UVB is charmingly naive. It is much more than a tax – because you cannot pay your way out of it. Berliners will pay another way. They will have to walk or take what is always disingenuously styled “public” transportation – as if the “public” had any control over it.

You vill take ze bus – a riff on what Klaus said about us eating ze bugs.

“Crowded trains and long waits could turn this into a mobility disaster,” Klein added. Further establishing her naivete. It is not a disaster. It is the intended point of making Berlin “autofrei.” 

It is the point of the 15 Minute Cities that the Important People have in mind for the American people. Just as during “COVID,” this is a coordinated plan of behind-the-scenes people who know that they cannot control the people entirely until they get private vehicle ownership completely under control.

Once you understand this, you will understand the rest.

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Not that there is anything wrong with Toyotas. Far from it. But – in America, at least – many buyers expect the prestige of a luxury-brand when they spend Lexus money on a vehicle.

Even if it is still a Toyota.

So Toyota created Lexus – the brand, for America.

But what will happen when Toyota-badged vehicles cost as nearly as much as a Lexus-badged vehicle?

Will Toyota buyers pay Lexus money for them?

The success (or not) of the new Crown and Crown Signia will answer that question.

What It Is

The Crown sedan – and Signia – are the two-fer replacements in Toyota’s lineup for the discontinued Avalon sedan. The Signia is basically a crossover wagon similar to the recently cancelled Venza in terms of its overall shape and utility but more luxurious – and priced more like a Lexus.

Both Crowns come standard with four cylinder/hybrid (and AWD) drivetrains rather than the V6 FWD drivetrain that used to come standard in the Avalon. The Crown sedan is available with a hotted-up version of this drivetrain that may and hopefully will become available in the Signia wagon – focus of this review – in 2026. For now, the Crown Signia comes only with the same basic standard drivetrain as in the Crown sedan – along with the much greater cargo capacity and versatility of the wagon vs. sedan layout.

Prices start at $43,590 for the XLE trim, which comes standard with heated and cooled front seats, leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel a digital main gauge cluster and a 12.3 inch secondary LCD touchscreen. Cat’s eye LED headlights are standard, too.

The top-of-the-line Limited – $47,990 – adds a panorama sunroof with retractable shade, an upgraded 11 speaker JBL audio system and 21 (vs. 19 inch) wheels and tires plus rain-sensing wipers and digital key capability that enables the owner to access/operate various vehicle functions (such as lock/unlock) remotely via their smartphone.

The Crown sedan stickers for $41,440 to start and tops out at $54,990 for the Turbo trim, which features the more powerful hybrid/four cylinder drivetrain that may become available in the Crown Signia next year.

What’s New For 2025

The Crown Signia is a new variant of the Crown sedan that replaced the Avalon sedan in 2023 that also takes the place of the Venza crossover that Toyota retired last year.

What’s Good

For just a little bit more money than it takes to buy the Crown sedan, you could get the Crown Signia and have much more space for things you need to carry.

Averages close to 40 MPG.

Lexus-level luxury on the inside.

What’s Not So Good

Costs near-Lexus money.

Sluggish performance from the one and only available drivetrain.

“Drowsy driver” eye movement monitor is arguably both creepy and (ironically) distracting.

Under The Hood

Both Crown Signia trims come with the same drivetrain, consisting of a 2.5 liter four cylinder engine paired with three electric motors and a battery pack to power them (the gas engine powering up the battery pack as well as providing most of the propulsive force). Total combined output is 240 horsepower, which is about 60 down from the 3.5 liter V6 that was standard in the Avalon. The weight is also up – by about 800 pounds.

The Signia weighs a hefty 4,210 lbs. vs.  3,570 lbs. for the old Avalon sedan and this explains why the Signia’s mileage, though good for a two-ton-plus crossover wagon, isn’t dramatically better than the mileage touted by the V6-powered Avalon: 22 city, 32 highway vs. 39 city, 37 highway.

The overall difference is 11 MPG.

Arguably, the bigger difference is that the Avalon – when it was last available in 2022 – sticked for $36,825. That’s about $6,765 less than what the Crown Signia lists for in 2025 and even if you lop off say $2k to account for three years of inflation, the difference is still nearly $5k more to buy the Signia Crown. That it is more fuel-sippy is great.

Whether you end up saving any money is another matter.

But you will save time – in between fill-ups – because of the Signia’s much longer range, especially in city driving, where the hybrid drivetrain is most efficient. This Toyota can go about 565 miles in stop-and-go city driving on the same 14.5 gallons of gas that the Avalon consumed to go just 319 miles. On the highway, the Avalon could go 464 miles but the Signia can keep on going another 72 miles (536) before the little dash light comes on telling you it’s time to gas up.

That’s a savings arguably worth more than the dubious savings on fuel costs – in part because you can’t get back time.

On the other hand, there is a cost – in terms of performance

Because it’s so heavy relative to how much power it has on tap, it takes the Signia about 7 seconds to get to 60 MPH. To be fair, this time is on par with other mid-sized hybrid crossovers and it’s only “slow” relative to how much quicker late-model vehicles as a whole have become over the past 25 years.

Toyota says the Signia can pull a small trailer that weighs up to 2,700 lbs.

On The Road

The Signia’s hybrid-drive system is unusual but you can’t really tell that it is – except by watching the power-flow display in the main gauge cluster. It shows the application of power to each wheel by the three electric motors, one of them independently applying power to the rear wheels as the system deems warranted. The other two work the front wheels. This layout serves as a form of traction/stability control as well as  propulsion in that each motor can adjust how much power is fed to each wheel and this can be used to control both wheel-slip in low traction situations as well a to correct the vehicle’s directional line  during cornering.

That said, it’s not something you’d even be aware of unless you watch the display in the dash. The Signia drives pretty much the same as other hybrids, as far as the driver can tell.

There’s an “EV” mode you can engage to allow for short-distance, low-speed driving on battery/motor power alone – until the charge depletes or the speed increases beyond a fast walk and at that point the gas engine automatically restarts, as in other hybrids.

The system also cycles off the gas engine automatically whenever it’s not needed to propel the car and these transitions are quiet and seamless.

However, when you need to accelerate, it’s not as quiet as this Lexus-in-all-but-name ought to be. The four cylinder/hybrid drivetrain doesn’t make enough power to propel the 4,210 Toyota at anything faster than a tepid pace without sounding like she’s given’ her all she’s got, cap’n – in the words of Scotty from the original Star Trek series. The 3.5 liter V6 that used to come standard in the Avalon – and which made 301 horsepower (61 more than the Signia’s four cylinder/hybrid drivetrain) would have been the perfect powerplant for this Toyota-badged Lexus. That V6 was not just powerful enough to move this much weight; it was also smooth and when you needed acceleration, the sounds it made were the right sounds. The sounds of struggle emanating from the Signia’s overtaxed four cylinder/hybrid drivetrain aren’t.

This raises an obvious question: Why doesn’t the Signia – and for that matter, the Crown – come standard with a V6, as every vehicle this size and with a base price well over $40k to start used to come standard with?

The answer is simple and it isn’t better gas mileage. Certainly, the Signia’s mileage is better than the old Avalon’s. But it’s risible to suggest that people who spend well over $40k for a Lexus in everything but name care about gas mileage so much they’re willing to spend a small fortune to get it. If they wanted to save money, they’d be shopping a Prius.

The real answer is that the V6’s mileage isn’t compliant – with federal fuel efficiency regs – and (not being a hybrid) the V6 stays running all the time and that results in higher “emissions” of carbon dioxide, the gas that isn’t a pollutant. The four cylinder/hybrid drivetrain is more compliant – and that’s the answer to the question.

As already mentioned, the Crown sedan is available with a turbocharged iteration of the four cylinder/hybrid drivetrain and that would cure the problem of their being insufficient power to easily (and quietly) get the Signia moving – but it pushes the price of the Crown sedan to nearly $55k and no doubt the Signia would cost at least that much if equipped with the same drivetrain.

That’s literally Lexus money – and that might make it harder to sell this Toyota.

One other driving-related point is the “drowsy” driver monitor that’s built into the steering column. If you don’t continuously stare straight ahead, you’ll get pestered to do just that. The good news here is that a piece of black electrical tape solves that problem.

At The Curb

The Signia is about two inches shorter overall than the Crown sedan – 194.1 inches vs. 196.1 – but it has much more space inside due to its wagon-crossover shape. Its roofline is lower than that of the typical crossover, which makes it look sleeker than the typical crossover and this does result in the Signia having a little less room for cargo inside than the typical (taller) crossover of the same size. But there’s still a lot more room for cargo inside the Signia than there is in the Crown’s 15.2 cubic foot trunk.

To be specific, there’s almost twice as much space (25.8 cubic feet)  for whatever you need to carry around behind Signia’s rear seats and as in every other crossover, you can fold the rear seats down to expand the available space to 68.8 cubic feet, which if you’re doing the math in your head comes out to about 4-5 times as much total available space for stuff than you could stuff inside the Crown’s 15.2 cubic foot trunk.

That’s not the main draw, though – because you can get the same versatility in literally every other crossover and there are literally a dozen or more of them in this general class that also have rear seats that fold down and lots space behind them, too.

What Toyota is aiming for here is to tempt Toyota buyers with a Lexus in almost every way except for the price. If it sounds as if I’m contradicting what I wrote about above, let me explain. While the Signia is pricey for a Toyota, relative to what anything with a Lexus badge costs now, it’s a bargain.

As a point of comparison, a 2025 Lexus RX350 – which is slightly smaller and similarly equipped in terms of its amenities – lists for $49,125 to start. That’s for the version with just the four cylinder engine. The hybrid version, which comes standard with essentially the same drivetrain that comes in the Signia, lists for $51,425.

And the RX has significantly less total cargo capacity – just 46.2 cubic feet – as the Signia’s got.

The Signia has many of the Toyota-usual thoughtful design touches, too – including a cell phone cubby that holds the phone in place while it charges and redundant/manual control knobs for everyday-use functions such as adjusting the volume of the audio system.

The Rest

In keeping with the near-Lexus (for less) idea, the Signia comes standard with pretty much everything. There are only the two trims and they’re both loaded.

The main available option is an Advanced Technology Package ($1,865) for the Limited that bundles a 360 degree Panoramic View camera system, power-folding outside rearview mirrors (with puddle lamps) and several additional driver assistance systems, including semi-self-driving features such as Lane Change Assist, which only requires the driver to signal a lane change.

The Signia then changes lanes on its own.

The Bottom Line

The only thing this near-lexus lacks is an engine befitting a Lexus. But then, such engines are lacking in most new Lexus models, too,

. . .

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