Newbie

[BigKahuna]

Hi Guys,

Just discovered you all, so this is my first post.

Have just ordered myself a new Avensis 5dr T4. 1.8 petrol after spending the weekend lugging the kids in and out of various models and manufacturers checking legroom etc..... Had almost settled on a nice black SRi Vectra until I returned to our local Toyota dealer who still had the Carlo Blue T4 in the showroom that I saw the week before. Gotta say....none of the others came near for cabin space and refinement in my opinion. I'm a bit nervous about driving a 1.8 after being used to 3.0 litres upwards for as many years as I can remember, but am really looking forward to doubling my fuel consumption. Would be interested in anyones experiences with one of these.

Also drive a 3 year old Hiace van for business, a bit gutless compared with some but can't fault the reliability !. And then there's my darling wife who has her 2 year old Yaris 1.0 GLS (I think) which she adores, but is looking at chopping it in for another new T spirit 1.3. So there we go chaps , that's me almost completely Toyota'd up for a while, hope I'm not going be dissapointed in the Avensis. ;)

BTW, anyone ever towed with the 1.8 ? would be interested to hear as I lug a fairly big box trailer round occasionally.

Thanks

BK

[Fizz]

fistly.. welcome to the forum.. Glad to have ya along..

secondly.. love the name... :D

thirdly.. there are quite a few avensis owners about.. and if you check in the Avensis section.. you should find all the ansers for your questions..

[Karma Supra]

Gotta admit I reckon its a cracking name too

Welcome aboard!!!!!!!!!

[louise3512uk]

Welcome!

I'm a newbie too :D

Have fun!

[Ryan1985]

Good choice with the Avensis mate it will NEVER break down unless u treat it real bad!!!

Ur wife made a better choice tho

Oh and welcome 2 the club :group-cuddles:

Cheers

[BigKahuna]

Thanks for the welcome's guys,

Glad you like the handle, i'ts the name of a band I play in.

Really am looking forward to the Avensis. I'm due to hit 40 in a couple of months and I guess it's a touch of the old mid life crisis kicking in , do I let my heart rule my head and get something a bit racy, or my head rule my heart and get something sensible ? I think it was the sat nav that swung it really, always fancied one of them to play with.

As for the wife Ryan, guess what ? she made a choice (all on her own). Thunder grey it was to be , but hey ! they only do it in the Sport ! , so i've left it with her to let me know when she's come up with the answer.

Cheers

BK

[Puls]

This board seems to be pretty nice to n00bs :) Welcome fellow Newbie!!

EDIT: Come on...I can't be the only guy who isn't from the UK who ventures out into the general forums here... :)

[dave5282]

Hiya.

Welcome to the club

[jimma]

Surely its TT Supra for a mid life crisis.

Audi TT seems to be a mid life crisis car as well, even though they suck.

Welcome mate.

[jimma]

Welcome!

I'm a newbie too :D

Have fun!

Hey, Louise, how'd you get your hair like that, it's cool. Hmm not sure about the glasses though, the make you look like Mickey Rooney. ;)

[louise3512uk]

Aww you think? B)

I thought they made me look intelligent actually :D

(and cute )

[Fidgits]

welcome both..

[jimma]

Aww you think? B)

I thought they made me look intelligent actually :D

(and cute )

I meant to say George Burns. Welcome.

[jimma]

Welcome, Whats a Kahuna? (gen question)

[yannick]

This board seems to be pretty nice to n00bs :) Welcome fellow Newbie!!

EDIT: Come on...I can't be the only guy who isn't from the UK who ventures out into the general forums here... :)

Hello to our American cousins from France! :P

No, we're not all based in the UK here - it's just that not everybody updates their location info :( so it's difficult to tell sometimes.

[yannick]

Have just ordered myself a new Avensis 5dr T4. 1.8 petrol after spending the weekend lugging the kids in and out of various models and manufacturers checking legroom etc.....

Hi & welcome ,

I've had a new model 4dr 1.8 Avensis for 3 1/2 months now (Italian spec roughly equivalent to the T3x in the UK). I've just passed 12,000km (7500miles) with it, and I should be at 15,000km (9300miles) within a couple of weeks. I've owned it from new, and I haven't had a single thing go wrong.

The engine's solid and while I've never towed with it I've found that it pulls very well with a heavily loaded car. I suppose you'll feel a bit of a difference with a 3ltr unit but it's a very capable car. If you tow regularly you might have been better to choose the diesel.

I was also very impressed with the interior space, especially rear legroom (I've never actually ridden in the back myself :P ) and the boot.

The car is solidly built, the doors give a satisfying clunk, and it is very quiet inside. There are absolutely no rattles, even when the stereo is at full volume.

I thought that my choice of car was also something due to my advancing years (35 last year :( ), but I've found that I've got a car that's a very capable long distance cruiser, but also one that I can throw around the mountain roads here with confidence - it handles much better than I expected - even so, Toyota produce some lowered springs through TTE that are saying "buy me! buy me!".

One minor gripe I have (you reminded me with your comment on fuel consumption - you don't really hope to double your fuel consumption ) is that the trip computer isn't very accurate on fuel consumption figures - it tends to read a litre per 100km better than I really get (about 5mpg over the true value). I've stopped using it completely. I don't have any experience with the satnav, but a colleague has it, so if you want to have an opinion I can ask him.

Since you were wondering about fuel consupmtion, I really get between 6.5l/100km (36mpg) and 8l/100km (29mpg). The former is when I'm not too heavy on the pedal on a long distance journey, the second when I really boot it on the mountain roads or on a high speed motorway run. Very rarely I've had 6l/100km (39mpg) when I've been a very good boy on A roads.

I hope that you are as satisfied with your Avensis as I am,

[BigKahuna]

Jimma -

what is a kahuna? Just a title that means what you think it does. If you meet a kahuna, respect the person for what he or she can do, more than for the title.

A Hawaiian term for sorcerer/wizard/big chief etc.

Supra would be fun, but would it fit 3 sprogs and and a Marshall stack ? :P

Yannick,

thanks for all the info, the mpg sounds a bit dissapointing compared with the given figures. Re the towing, I am giving it some serious thought and taking on board your comments. I agree, Diesel would be better. This particular car is a pre registered (new but with 80 miles on it) showroom car with a big discount which brings it to within my budget. Unfortunately can't stretch to price of new diesel, and seen none used. Fortunately I have only put down a holding deposit on it while I give it consideration so may have to make another choice :(

Thanks all

BK

[dj_davo]

Supra would be fun, but would it fit 3 sprogs and and a Marshall stack ? :P

leave the sprogs at home, and get a roadie with a van for the stacks!

[yannick]

Yannick,

thanks for all the info, the mpg sounds a bit dissapointing compared with the given figures. Re the towing, I am giving it some serious thought and taking on board your comments. I agree, Diesel would be better. This particular car is a pre registered (new but with 80 miles on it) showroom car with a big discount which brings it to within my budget. Unfortunately can't stretch to price of new diesel, and seen none used. Fortunately I have only put down a holding deposit on it while I give it consideration so may have to make another choice :(

Thanks all

BK

Personally I'm very happy with the car, and in your place I'd take the car you've found , unless you find a diesel demonstrator model.

The I get mileage might be due to my driving style (ex rally driver :D ), but I've never got the 48mpg that I've seen mentioned in some articles :( .

The engine is rated at 129hp & 126lbf, which is quite reasonable, and I'm not sure that it's as gutless at low revs as some have said.

The car is still fairly new, so they are very rare on the second hand market. A friend of mine found the top of the range D4D here in France (roughly equivalent to the T-Spirit) as a demonstrator at a nice price (much like what you've found).

If you're not in a great hurry it might be worth looking for an import. Denmark & Holland have very heavy taxes on new cars that force dealers to drop the pre-tax prices significantly. Dealers in both countries are used to dealing with Brits, so it's not impossible to do it privately.

[BigKahuna]

Well Guys........I'm gonna feel like a bit of an intruder here now !. Took lots of advice from towing specialists and your good selves. Nobody (including the Toyota dealer) thought it wise to be towing a heavy laden trailer with a 1.8 petrol engine despite the 127 bhp.so................ I've got a terrific deal (after a lot of haggling) on a 2 month old New Vectra estate with a 2.2 turbo diesel. BUT !!!!! Hey I still have my trusty Hiace Van AND I've just got back from the Toyota dealer and ordered the wife her new Yaris T-Spirit 1.3 in Carlo Blue for March 1st, so I guess I'll see you on that forum.

Thanks for all your help and info Guys, much appreciated.

BK

I really did like that Avensis and no Sat nav on the Vextra