Which? Uk Drivers' Survey 2009

[broncomaniac]

I don't own a Toyota yet, but need to change my car now and am seriously considering buying an Auris. I have read loads of reviews, both from professionals and from owners, and they are generally positive. Many say that it is a car you buy with your head rather than your heart, which is fine with me. Honest John says that the Auris will keep its value better than a Focus, and he would go for an Auris over a Golf Mk 4 any day.

I have recently got my hands on a copy of the Which? 2009 drivers' survey, and it does not read very well for the Auris. The report on the petrol version gives only 3 stars (out of 5) for reliability, and only 1 star for faults and 1 star for niggles. The diesel gets 4 stars for reliability, 1 for faults and 2 for niggles. This is not good at all. The main reported faults were with brakes and steering, for both petrol and diesel versions. I am quite surprised that on the back of this Which? has given the Auris an overall verdict of 4 stars.

This review is quite different from others I have read. The JD Power survey for 2009 places the Auris at 7th out of 17 medium sized cars. I had a quick look at Top Gear's latest magazine with reviews of all new and used cars - while they think the Auris is extremely dull, there is no mention of any major reliability issues.

What am I supposed to believe? I would appreciate it if some of you could give your opinion on the matter. I need a reliable medium-sized hatchback. I have previously had VWs and SEATs, and the reliability has been patchy, which is why I'm now looking at Toyota which I understood to be synonymous with reliability and build quality.

Thanks for your help.

[OldSkoO1]

I know it hasn't done as well as you would have thought in some of those surveys but the steering and brakes issues are VERY minor.

In terms of reliability, i really dont see how they have measured this, the survey was conducted and the car had only been out a year. If it was based on a brakes and steering then thats fine. It is a brand new base / model which is bound to have teething problems.

The difference is, with toyota, they re-call nearly everything compared to other manufacturers, toting up the recalls and some people call it bad reliability. Lets not forget that toyotas very rarely have serious mechanical failures compared to vw's, seat's and fords, let alone peugeot or renault. If you visit the seat forum which i did recently, it was littered with topics about clutch, turbo, DMF, gearbox, smoking problems. Being realistic, you do see mechanical problems across the whole toyota board, these are rare and mainly diesel related down to people running modern common rail / DPF / DNPR diesels on low rev's and low miles which cause carbon build ups, drop in cylinder pressure, stress on turbo, carbon on the injectors etc, all causing poor reliability around 40-60k miles. You really need to do higher miles. The odd clutch or gearbox problem does grace the board on a low mileage car, but don't forget, forums are more likely to be places where people ask questions on problems.

Steering

A re-call was made as some cars falling between some manufacturing months had a bracket that might fail causing the steering wheel to move under *excessive* force. The new mondeo also has this problem, worse infact, never recalled.

Brakes

Yes, many of us have had a squealing noise under braking, thats all, a noise. To be fair, it can be quite annoying. Resulting from toyota choosing to use metallic parts to improve longevity and brake pad performance. Again, fixed under warranty by fitting a slightly different part.

Any other problems?

Something to do with the drive shaft i think on earlier petrol models, or something like this, again fixed under warranty. Nothing else i am aware of, diesel 2.0 D4D, in SR body is a very good pick, i like the 2.0d4d engine, having the t180 myself, which i do ultimately prefer, still the 2.0 is great. 1.6 petrol is what you would expect, hard to like it after driving the t180 or the 2.0 but it does the job and returns 36-40mpg.

x180 owners do complain from time to time about the fuel consumption being mid to high 30's on average when it should do 45mpg but these forum topics pop up in the colder months, no talk of poor consumption since may.

Personal opinions,

There is a thread on here about that, personally i LOVE my t180. I accept it isn't a stunning looking car, but its not a complete dog. My only reservations are, i wish toyota used softer plastics. But i see no other hatchback car for the same or similar money with anything special in the cabin. I did drive the 1.6 TR and thought it felt v.basic, i think it was a TR, it had wheel dials and a funny pattern on the seat and the engine felt a little weak. The 2.0d4d SR was a lot nicer, but don't buy diesel if you do low miles!

Most people like their auris here, it is the owners review that matters.

Just to report as well, i am unaware of any auris owner since 2007 that posts here that has had any mechanical failure.

And finally read this owners thread about the auris: http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=99391

[T Sport 1978]

Hi broncomaniac,

Welcome and hope you find these boards useful.

Here is my 2cents:

Like Oldskool i like my T180 Diesel model, the Auris has proven to be reliable and dependable so far in my 1 year 5 months ownership. Servicing is cheap and has been reasonalbly frugal considering it is a 2.2 177hp diesel with no stop/start technologies.

The problems that i had come across are the steering column mod and brake squeal fix as well, nothing else.

The megazines are pretty conservative in their message about a car, I would say the Auris is a good reliable transport and whilst it wont set your pants on fire, will be a good ownership experience nonetheless.

I have a 55 reg Audi A3 (2.0TDI) in the house hold with similar mileage and can say that the Auris is not as well put together inside as the Audi, but it is certainly as comfortable and more refined in everyway. Also the Auris drinks less oil than the Audi.

Another thing is that I find Toyota dealerships a pleasant lot, this being my 2nd Toyota because the overall ownership experience has been excellent.

I hope this helps.

[GregP]

This is why I always take the reviews not entirely seriously. They always say "it is toyota so should be/is very reliable" and give 3 stars. Then you have ford with list of recalls long like toilet paper and it still has 4 stars. Portals like WhatCar I think are owned by Ford as whatever you can compare it to it is always a winner according to their tests :D You can not seriously consider squeaking brakes and rattling dashboard as reliability issues. Check owners reviews on websites like "honest John" or "parkers".

[OldSkoO1]

This is why I always take the reviews not entirely seriously. They always say "it is toyota so should be/is very reliable" and give 3 stars. Then you have ford with list of recalls long like toilet paper and it still has 4 stars. Portals like WhatCar I think are owned by Ford as whatever you can compare it to it is always a winner according to their tests :D You can not seriously consider squeaking brakes and rattling dashboard as reliability issues. Check owners reviews on websites like "honest John" or "parkers".

Defiantly, every single toyota review in the past 6 years has had a common theme. Its mean't to be reliable, safe, cheap to run, cheap to service and practical... all that = boring, 3 stars, done.

If i wanted a fun, dynamic, modern, unique, good looking car, i wouldn't buy a ford, or a peugeot, or come to think of it a Renault, vauxhall, VW or BMW. They are all the same, they all look bog standard in their own way. And to top that off, i've driven them and they are also bog standard to drive. The VAG diesel engine was pants in comparison to the t180. It was noisy, rough and very smelly.

Toyota haven't produced the best designs or the best choice on the interiors but i blame the new CEO who cut costs big time starting in 2006, plus they are trying to produce a car with X amount of recyable material to hit bonus overrides as a group. Therefore i believe there have been some oversights on interior quality in this particular chapter in the toyota history and i believe this will be rectified to some extent in the next generation.

[broncomaniac]

Thanks for all your replies. I feel that this has put my mind at rest. Much as I would like to own a T180, it is way outside my price bracket. I don't drive enough miles to justify the extra £1000 that a used diesel would cost to buy (I drive max 8000 miles per year), and I can't stand the smell of diesels anyway. :D

I'm probably going for an early 1.6 petrol if I can find a reasonably priced one.

[OldSkoO1]

Great choice for 800 miles PA!

You could even go for the new 1.33ltr. I drove that and it isn't too disimilar to the 1.6 low down to be fair to it. So unless you plan many m-way journeys its not a bad engine.

And i must say, i am proud of my t180's DNPR, Nox gas reduction system. I too hate the smell of diesel! Luckily my t180 doesn't suffer from this problem :)

Demand an extended test drive, go somewhere bumpy, listen out for dashboard rattles. Some auris' rattle over bumps but not usually when driving normally. I'm just pointing it out incase you end up with a bad rattle, rare, but out there.

[redeye666]

Go for a 1.6 SR they look just as good as an SR180 just not quite the grunt. These can also be had at a very good price secondhand. :D

[broncomaniac]

Go for a 1.6 SR they look just as good as an SR180 just not quite the grunt. These can also be had at a very good price secondhand. :D

When was the SR introduced? I have tried to check the used prices on Parkers, but it's not there at all. Used prices on Parkers go only up until 2008/57 plates, so can I assume that the SR would have an 08 plate or later? If so, this will be outside my price bracket, as my limit may well be 2007/07 or maybe 2007/57, based on a 1.6 TR.

What does the SR have that the TR or T-Spirit doesn't?

[Paul Mack]

I don't own a Toyota yet, but need to change my car now and am seriously considering buying an Auris. I have read loads of reviews, both from professionals and from owners, and they are generally positive. Many say that it is a car you buy with your head rather than your heart, which is fine with me. Honest John says that the Auris will keep its value better than a Focus, and he would go for an Auris over a Golf Mk 4 any day.

I have recently got my hands on a copy of the Which? 2009 drivers' survey, and it does not read very well for the Auris. The report on the petrol version gives only 3 stars (out of 5) for reliability, and only 1 star for faults and 1 star for niggles. The diesel gets 4 stars for reliability, 1 for faults and 2 for niggles. This is not good at all. The main reported faults were with brakes and steering, for both petrol and diesel versions. I am quite surprised that on the back of this Which? has given the Auris an overall verdict of 4 stars.

This review is quite different from others I have read. The JD Power survey for 2009 places the Auris at 7th out of 17 medium sized cars. I had a quick look at Top Gear's latest magazine with reviews of all new and used cars - while they think the Auris is extremely dull, there is no mention of any major reliability issues.

What am I supposed to believe? I would appreciate it if some of you could give your opinion on the matter. I need a reliable medium-sized hatchback. I have previously had VWs and SEATs, and the reliability has been patchy, which is why I'm now looking at Toyota which I understood to be synonymous with reliability and build quality.

Thanks for your help.

Hi,

my thoughts are as follows:

A lot of these "surveys" are purely another persons opinion, ie JK (Top Gear) his opinion does not match a high % of "normal" drivers.

My advice would be just what you are doing, wait for TOC Auris drivers to reply back to you, at least we have the 1st hand experience and not a "test" drive opinion.

As for me, my SR180 has been superb, it has now covered 12000 miles and goes like a dream

Hope you get sorted.

best wishes

Paul