Real world comparison...50th Anniversary G6E vs. '10 Toyota Aurion...

[2011G6E]

OK, interesting couple of days just gone by.
Our son and his family are visiting, and he drives an early 2010 Toyota Aurion automatic.
We of course have our fiftieth anniversary G6E (bought new in February 2011).

We have been taking them around the region...down to Rocky for the day, out to Emerald. Depending on who the grandson wants driving the car, Da or Daddy, I got to drive the Aurion pretty regularly over long distances and also around the towns.
So how was it?

You all know what a Falcon is like, so I'll only touch on it briefly to compare points. On to the Aurion.

It's roomy, it's pretty comfortable even though it's just a slightly-more-than-base-model version. The V6 is a great engine...200kw, smooth, pulls like a freight train, actually feels like it goes a little harder than the Falcon 4.0 (sacrilege!!! ). The auto is pretty easy going as well. All around, it's a great car, well screwed together, economical, quiet at highway speeds, and handles pretty well too. You can't tell it's front wheel drive (unless you're driving like a tool).
His car has steel sixteen inch wheels, so it wasn't quite as firm in the corners as our 19" shod G6E, but then again it soaked up the typical central Queensland lumps and bumps and had less road noise than our G6E.

So the big question is this:
Why couldn't I get involved in the thing?
The clichés are all true...it's white goods on wheels. It's perfectly serviceable, reliable, and you could easily buy one and know...just know...that it will probably never let you down, and will give years of fine service.

But you can say the same about a washing machine or fridge. Why is the Aurion like this??

I really wanted to like the thing...I did...I love my old Celica, which is a genuinely fun car to drive even though it;s not the most powerful thing on the road...something Toyota is now awakening to with the new 86.
Why can't they capture the fun in the big volume seller?

It isn't as simplistic as saying "Only old people drive them", because they don't. My son is 25 and when looking at fairly new second hand Aurions, really wanted a gold one, but had to settle for silver. Many of his friends also buy Camrys and Aurions either new or near-new, because a Toyota is pretty much a known quantity...it'll be reliable, if possibly a bit boring.
It isn't as simple as saying "It's Toyota...what do you expect", because you have to admit they can and have and still do make some great cars and four wheel drives.

Where did the Aurion (and Camry) go so wrong?

It's a real puzzle, especially when you get to drive the two cars one right after the other for long lengths of time and can easily compare.