Nate 
2009 Toyota Venza Wagon 4dr Wagon (2.7L 4cyl 6A)
Amazingly reliable - not sporting at all
 This thing is super reliable. Nothing has gone wrong with it. Nothing. AWD is helpful in rain and snow and helps it handle better. The steering is slow-ish to react, the transmission often takes an age to find gears, it has enough power but the transmission just can't figure out which gear to put this thing in sometimes. Brakes are pretty spot on. We opted for the cloth seats which are easily the most comfortable seats in any car, though BUYER BEWARE, the leather seats are *miserable.* The interior has held up very well to abuse from kids. The stereo doesn't sound bad either. We have the 4 cylinder, 4-wheel drive model. I would not recommend the 4 cylinder if pairing it with 4 wheel drive. It does tend to struggle a bit. It doesn't quite have the torque it could have. If we could go back and buy the car again we'd easily opt for the 6 cylinder in a heartbeat. They actually get very similar mileage once you realize how uneconomically the 4 cylinder has to be pushed on occasion. It's also clattery and loud. The road noise is also not great either. Having a conversation with someone in the backseat is much harder than it should be.