Toyota Avensis Any Good

1. if your carrying any weight that suspension although good is going to take a hammering big time especially being a gardener!!!!
2. the engines will go on forever with good servicing.
3. you would be better to sell the cav as you will only get a few hundred quid and best P/E for your cav.
4. why did you rule out a Xantia estate if I may ask you?

Will

My son has an 'S' reg Avensis 2.0 litre auto. It's superb. Very roomy (stacks of leg-room in the back), and very refined. The doors shut with a very satisfying 'thud' (better than my Rover 75!) and the car is very quiet and smooth to drive. The car has also been very reliable for him. I'm seriously thinking of a new Avensis when I come to trade-in my 75. Only snag is that they don't do a diesel auto which is what I have at the moment and what I would want again.

Kev

As I and the Ad states..."The car in front is a Toyota" Avensis D4D is superb..... Don't hesitate....Go for it...... Garage owner for 25+ years and I "Sell em and forget em" until the guy wants another.

JK

Holding up the traffic :-)

Dave

In message , Funkyman writes

Or the new FIAT ad :- "The car in front is a breakdown truck"

;)

Mine does, slow as a slow thing in Slowsville, Arizona.

Economical though I suppose....

I have found all the avensis models to be excellent, although 1.8 auto is a bit sluggish. The diesel is excellent, I agree that the lack of an auto diesel is a big dropoff, however definitely worth trying a manual diesel, they are very economical and plenty quick enough as well as very quiet.

MrCheerful

Thanks guys for the input ...... I've now got to set about searching for one .The estates seem a bit thin on the ground ( T, V or X Reg. ) I've never had a diesel but one thing that puts me off is the short service intervals ... which could be a bit costly on this model ??

I honestly don't know what the diesel service intervals on the Avensis are but on most modern cars there is now no difference between diesel and petrol. My Rover 75 diesel has a variable service indicator like BMWs - depending on your style and type of driving the service intervals can vary between around 11k miles and over 15 k miles. The days when you had to have diesels serviced every 5 or 6 k miles have gone!

Kev

Our company has a small fleet of hatchback 1.8 GS models round about Y reg or slightly newer, and I've had a couple of different engined ones for hire. Anyway, in my experience driving the things, they're generally a good car and when our company flogs them off in a year or two I might be interested...

Body-wise, the car's seem to be reasonably well made and don't feel tinny. I find the interior a bit uncomfortable over long distances (mainly the steering wheel, but I don't hold it at the recommended ten-to-two position), and our fleet cars have a few broken plastic bits - nearly always to do with the parcel shelf due to us continually removing and refitting it - having said that, the number of hidden pockets and compartments means that there is plenty of space besides the large boot to put stuff. Lots of toys such as aircon, fuel computer, CD player (doesn't like CD-R or RW though!) and sat. nav. add to the package, though the nav system is a little annoying.

Handling is precise and feels almost go-kart like which adds to the fun of the good acceleration - you feel you can throw this car into a corner and it'll still hold the road. The firm suspension and short overhang behind the rear wheels also makes the Avensis a good towing vehicle (I had the diesel for towing a 15' caravan down the M5 during the summer). Unfortunately, I'm not convinced of the reliability. Whilst it's true none of them have ever refused to start, I've noticed several of our two or three year old cars have now got a very stiff clutch. One car even had a gearbox fail on the M25 though this was replaced under warranty. I think this seems to be a weakness on the 1.8... Also a CD player broke in the first year.

I should point out that the fleet are pool cars so nobody is directly responsible for their upkeep - I'm sure if it had been one person using them (instead of anybody and everybody) then they'd be in much better shape by now - even though they've only averaged 60,000 miles from new.

If you want my opinion, I'd buy the 2.0 D4-D and provided it hasn't been neglected previously it should be a good investment. The 1.8 VVT-i is also a good buy but check for gearbox trouble. The 2.0 VVT-i might be better for towing, but for solo driving the extra torque isn't needed. If I had to drive motorway all day then I'd keep my Rover Sterling, but for economy and performance it'd be the Avensis anyday.

Darren

Snip

About the same mpg as my 2.5 Omega.

Dave

Sorry but I don't believe that for a minute! I'd be interested to know just how you work out your mpg figures. Ever since I started to drive (over 40 years ago) I've kept a fuel log book and whenever I fill up (which I always to do to the brim) I make a note of mileage and the number of litres put in. I always know, therefore, precisely what my cars do to the gallon. Most other drivers I know have never ever kept a log book and if someone asks them what mpg they get they either haven't a clue or give the figures they've read in a brochure. Even when some drivers 'do' take the trouble to work out their mpg it's usually on a long run which is totally unrepresentative of normal motoring. Having owned an Omega myself and having a neighbour who also owns one, I

Kev

Err, if you'd read the original post, he was quoting speeds of 75mph. That to me is motorway speeds, now I do use the onboard computer and at

I know the onboard computer is probably not that accurate and it was discussed on here a long time ago about the Omega consumption. It was determined by those who owned Omega's that the norm was an average of about

Now when I am in the mood to push the metal the mpg goes out the window.

Dave

In addition to all that you will also notice that when you are accelerating away from a standing start (even gently) the fuel consumption reading is around 6 - 7 mpg on the onboard computer. That's why the only way to know exactly what mpg your car is doing is to do what I do - fill to the brim, make a note of your mileage reading and the quantity of fuel put in. Convert litres to gallons (by multiplying by .22) and then work out your mpg. Reading down the mpg column on my present car you would find that it varies dramatically from 28 mpg up to 46 mpg - depending of course on the type of driving undertaken since the last fill up. You then calculate an average and that is the mpg figure you are achieving with your car - not a figure based upon cruising at 75 mph on the motorway - or on one top-up to the next top-up, but rather on 'normal' motoring which includes a variety of different types of journey.

Kev

accelerating

I wish my Rover had a fuel computer but I think the readout would be depressing. :-(

Based on my normal commute to work, I can get about 350 miles out of a 68 litre tank (not all 68 litres used up of course - don't want to be stranded miles from a garage!!!) - anything more is a gamble. Having said that, driving to Aberdeen from Nottingham I did 450 miles on the same amount. Worked it out once at about 25mpg normal use and 34mpg long distance motorway cruising.

Completely irrelevant to the original thread re: Avensis but being as we've gone off on a tangent anyway...

Darren