Considering A New 1.33 Auris Amongst Others.

[Mooly]

Looking to change my current car (Corolla T Sport) which I have owned for 8 years. It's been fantastic and hasn't missed a beat in 67K. And with full Toyota history I'm looking for a good deal :)

Have looked at Hyundai and Kia... Kia, huge dissapointment with the interior (Pro Ceed) which has just ruled it out really... although the 7 year warranty is impressive.

Hyundai I30..... need another closer look and test drive.

And the dealer knowledge was poor... very poor... so what's the after sales going to be like.

And the Auris... well I can tell you that on first sitting in one (facelifted model), the instant first impression is quality... an impression that the others didn't have to anything like the same extent. Soft plastics, it's just in a different class altogether really. The instrumentation on the Hyundai and Kia is like a kiddies Fisher price toy, although I would still like to see a top of the range I30.

I find it strange that Hyundai etc offer diesels (1.6) that come into the £35 tax bracket while the 1.4D Toyota is £120. They seem to have the edge performance and economy wise too.

Had a good test drive in the Auris 1.33... wow... so quiet (well after a Tsport) and the stop and go technology worked a treat too.

I quite like the 3 door body style, no diesel option in that though. No squeeks or rattles... and the demonstrator was the non facelift version.

My main worry with a diesel is whether it will "go the distance" time wise... I tend to keep cars a while... and modern diesels are so highly stressed... I don't know on that one.

Hyundai and Kia do back theirs up with the much longer warranty period, and that of course is included in the price... how much more is a 7 year extended warranty on the Toyota going to be... must ask on that.

Up to now though, it's coming down in favour of the Auris.

[dawesy]

if you regularly use motorways or national speed limit roads you may find the 1.33 has no guts for overtaking. the 1.4 diesel is a better option IMO. the 5 door is available in the diesel unless you want/prefer the 3 door.

as long as its correctly serviced the diesel will go on and on with no issues. dont expect TSport performance though

[FROSTYBALLS]

Looking to change my current car (Corolla T Sport) which I have owned for 8 years. It's been fantastic and hasn't missed a beat in 67K. And with full Toyota history I'm looking for a good deal :)

Have looked at Hyundai and Kia... Kia, huge dissapointment with the interior (Pro Ceed) which has just ruled it out really... although the 7 year warranty is impressive.

Hyundai I30..... need another closer look and test drive.

And the dealer knowledge was poor... very poor... so what's the after sales going to be like.

And the Auris... well I can tell you that on first sitting in one (facelifted model), the instant first impression is quality... an impression that the others didn't have to anything like the same extent. Soft plastics, it's just in a different class altogether really. The instrumentation on the Hyundai and Kia is like a kiddies Fisher price toy, although I would still like to see a top of the range I30.

I find it strange that Hyundai etc offer diesels (1.6) that come into the £35 tax bracket while the 1.4D Toyota is £120. They seem to have the edge performance and economy wise too.

Had a good test drive in the Auris 1.33... wow... so quiet (well after a Tsport) and the stop and go technology worked a treat too.

I quite like the 3 door body style, no diesel option in that though. No squeeks or rattles... and the demonstrator was the non facelift version.

My main worry with a diesel is whether it will "go the distance" time wise... I tend to keep cars a while... and modern diesels are so highly stressed... I don't know on that one.

I bought an Auris 1.33 TR 5 door in October 2009, to replace my Oct 2006 Corolla 1.4. Just had it on its first decent run in order to get the accelerator pedal recall done. Easily maintains 70 plus on a good dual carriageway in sixth, and seemed to have as much go as my Corolla. Agreed that the Auris is quieter

Fuel consumption is the same as the Corolla - which was used mainly on daily commutes into the centre of Birmingham of about 7 miles each way (32 mpg). Having said that the engine is still tight, having done just 1150 miles since new, and being winter the stop start hasn't kicked in as often as it could, due to having lights, heater, etc on.

Tax wise it comes in at £ 120.

Yes the diesel would give better mpg, but would be more expensive to buy, etc. Do the diesels have DPF's? I presume the 1.4 Toyota diesel produces more CO2 than the Hyundai/Kia - whihc is why it is in the higher tax band.

I also looked at the Kia and Hyundai - too wide for my garage. Also due to their success with scrappage, Hyundai had a wait of 12 weeks for the i30 - not sure whether that has changed much.

[Mooly]

I tried a 1.4 diesel Auris two years ago... it was pretty good.

I know what you mean about the 1.33 being a bit "lacking" shall we say :), having said that we have 1.4 Corolla 4 door in the family and that's great, way better than you might imagine. For a motorway I prefer it to the TSport as that's at it's worst at around 65-75 mph. To noisy and "buzzy". Fast A roads and it's another story though.

You hear so many horror stories of diesels and their turbos failing, or injector pump issues etc a few years down the line. That's where the Hyundai and Kia score so heavily with the warranty.

And that 1.33 was sooooo quite and composed.

Some thinking to do ;)

[Mooly]

Hi Frostyballs,

I hope I would get pretty good mpg from the 1.33. I tend to do longish runs and manage around 40mpg from the TSport on average, even having a bit of fun with it.

I too garage mine and that is a consideration... each new model goes seems to go bigger. They will fit but it's nice to have a bit of room too.

I'm not so sure the diesel makes sense... servicing costs are higher too.

It seems so unfair that just a gram or two extra on the emmisions and that pushes it into a much higher band. One of the Hyundai dealers reckoned that the way the bands are split at the moment might mean the "lower" of the two £120 bands comes down.

Another dealer reckons the price differential between diesel and petrol will widen further too, with diesel becoming much dearer... so at the mo it's still looking like the 1.33 petrol.

[Tim T]

Similar but different dilemma myself today with the Auris. Went shopping for a 1.33 Yaris to replace our second car, a 1.2 2002 Punto (for which we were planning the minimum £2k part ex). Ended up being drawn to a 1.33 Auris (ex Demo, Oct 09 reg, 6k on the clock) for all in all less cash. Handles much better and very comparable performance to our punto for a larger car. Will be £30 more tax and similar increase on insurance. Would have loved to have gone for the 1.6 petrol (they had a pre reg too) but just can’t make that pay. Took both out for 15mins or so and the main performance difference is around 70 where the higher revs of the 1.33 could drive you mad after a few hundred motorway miles. Certainly compared our other car, a 2.2 Diesel Verso!! Long and short of all that if you can consider a 1.6 petrol it is worth looking at too. I certainly didn't feel I was losing out on these being pre facelift versions either, I also took out a 1.6 facelift version. They must have loved me...

[Rick D4D]

Fuel consumption is the same as the Corolla - which was used mainly on daily commutes into the centre of Birmingham of about 7 miles each way (32 mpg). Having said that the engine is still tight, having done just 1150 miles since new, and being winter the stop start hasn't kicked in as often as it could, due to having lights, heater, etc on.

Tax wise it comes in at £ 120.

After reading this I am very happy to be honest, you have a little 1.33 engine with I would guess around 80BHP and stop start technology and only get around 32MPG around town. I know people slate the T180/SR180 MPG but when we have 177BHP no stop start and still get around 35MPG (cold weather) around town I am well happy with this plus the fact our road tax is only £30 more, I would have thought you was getting around 45MPG

[FROSTYBALLS]

After reading this I am very happy to be honest, you have a little 1.33 engine with I would guess around 80BHP and stop start technology and only get around 32MPG around town. I know people slate the T180/SR180 MPG but when we have 177BHP no stop start and still get around 35MPG (cold weather) around town I am well happy with this plus the fact our road tax is only £30 more, I would have thought you was getting around 45MPG

Shows how little you know. The 1.4 diesel is the one with around 80 bhp - 89 actually. The 1.33 produces 100 bhp - whereas most equivalent 1.4 petrols produce between 80 and 100. The T180/SR180 must have been good and have sold well - as Toyota have dropped it with the facelifted Auris.

[Mooly]

Took both out for 15mins or so and the main performance difference is around 70 where the higher revs of the 1.33 could drive you mad after a few hundred motorway miles.

You haven't driven a T Sport at 70 then lol, the revs in that are around 4K at 70... and that's just where it becomes "buzzy" and harsh sounding.

Have been offered £4500 for T Sport (02 plate 67K) in part ex. I might take them up on the offer of an Auris for half a day to really see how I like it.

[cabcurtains]

Took both out for 15mins or so and the main performance difference is around 70 where the higher revs of the 1.33 could drive you mad after a few hundred motorway miles.

You haven't driven a T Sport at 70 then lol, the revs in that are around 4K at 70... and that's just where it becomes "buzzy" and harsh sounding.

Used to give me a right headache, the only fix was to drive at higher speeds to get out of the buzz band ;)

[Mooly]

Used to give me a right headache, the only fix was to drive at higher speeds to get out of the buzz band ;)

I know ;) 4K and 70 mph is only half way there lol. You don't seem to to get the 40 mpg then though. Strange that ;)

If 6th gear had been longer it would have made it a terrific motorway performer... why oh why did they not. Guess it all came down to specs on paper in the end.

[Mooly]

OK... Was given the loan of the demonstrator (pre face lift) for the day. Have to say it's a great drive, particularly the gearchange/clutch action. Took it on the motorway, that was OK, quieter than the T Sport. The performance is obviously "soft" after 190 bhp... you forget just how indecently quick the TSport can be... effortless in any gear. But that little 1.33L is quite endearing, so super smooth right up to the red line... and the economy should be good to if my test was anything to go by... I was getting around 55mpg.

But we have a problem... it's too wide to go in the garage. Garage door opening is 82 inches, and that leaves 3/4 inch each side... way to close for comfort. However the new facelifted version has electrically retractable mirrors, so off to Toyota again with tape measure. Bringing the mirrors in cuts the size down to 71 inch or so... which is doable I think.

Have still been doing the rounds looking at the competition... Hyundai and Kia, poor interior style and quality of plastics... and too wide !

Mazda 2... have you seen the dash and plastics ?

Honda Civic, too wide and I don't like the interior and driving position. And how do you get out of one without ripping your head off on the front pillars.

Honda Insight... I liked, very much... maybe something like that next time... or a Prius next generation ? Guess we are all going to have to get used to semi auto's etc at some point.

Honda Jazz... it's wider than a Civic.

Audi/VW/Skoda/Seat/BMW/MB etc... if my experiences of so called premium cars are anything to go by (Audi) NO THANKS.

Anything French... never looked, never tried... their reputation says it all.

So back to the Auris. To me the interior is far and away the nicest of all that I have seen... the plastics and styling definitely so, particularly on the facelifted model.

Having sampled first hand the competition, the Auris is in a "different weekend" to the others.

Now what colour...............

[FROSTYBALLS]

Now what colour...............

When I had the accelerator recall done on mine, I saw a Vermillion Red Auris at the dealer - which looked smart and the rear lights seemed to blend in better. Another one in Island Blue was also quite eye-catching

[jamesholden]

I think the 1.33 was made purely for official figures, in practice I would expect the fuel economy to be way off as its such a small engine to a fairly big car so at speed it's going to be working hard.

Depending on how image conscious you are or not, the best built interior i've come across in the class so far is the face lifted Octavia. Best part is there only around £12.5k with discount for a brand new 1.4TSi (petrol turbo) DSG auto (the one I looked at) so different models might be even cheaper.

I've always found the Auris interior with that huge lump of plastic in the middle was - plasticky and a bit scratchy

[FROSTYBALLS]

I think the 1.33 was made purely for official figures, in practice I would expect the fuel economy to be way off as its such a small engine to a fairly big car so at speed it's going to be working hard.

Depending on how image conscious you are or not, the best built interior i've come across in the class so far is the face lifted Octavia. Best part is there only around £12.5k with discount for a brand new 1.4TSi (petrol turbo) DSG auto (the one I looked at) so different models might be even cheaper.

The 1.33 is only 61cc smaller than the previous 1.4, is lighter and slightly more powerful. When compared to the 1.4 in the Octavia, where you have a choice of 80bhp or, in the TSi, 122bhp - the 1.33 comes almost exactly halfway between the two VAG engines. A fairer comparison would be the Octavia TSi against the Auris 1.6 VVTi.

The 80bhp Octavia 1.4 delivers about the same torque as the 101bhp Auris 1.33, is around the same weight, has a similar top speed, is slower in accceleration, but whose official combined fuel consumtion is 40mpg to the Auris's 48. In real life, no-one gets near to the official figures, but I would imagine most owners would get to within 5 -8mpg of these - which would make the Octavia around 33-35mpg and the Auris 40-43.

The Octavia has been acclaimed for the quality of it's interior. However, the width is slightly wider than the Auris, and from the website pictures, the mirrors seem project more than those on the Auris - for Mooly the Octavia may be too wide to fit his garage.

The Auris fits my garage - just. Have approx 1 inch either side between each garage door post and the edge of the mirror. Once past the garage door posts, I can position the car closer to the garage wall on the nearside, giving just enough space on the driver's side to exit the car.

Carpet mats stuck on the inside wall of the garage protect the paintwork on the car doors from the brick wall.

[Mooly]

When I had the accelerator recall done on mine, I saw a Vermillion Red Auris at the dealer - which looked smart and the rear lights seemed to blend in better. Another one in Island Blue was also quite eye-catching

Haven't seen Vermillion Red that I can recall... must keep an eye out now :)

[Mooly]

I'm afraid my past experiences with Audi have put me off any VW group vehicle. Only last weekend was reading about another "known" problem with Golfs, Touregs, Seats etc... and BMW too... brake control unit failure with £1500 costs. Apparently really common... which mirrors my experience with Audi... the reliability and quality was dire.

I hope the economy of the 1.33 will be reasonable.... I can eek out around 41mpg from the TSport... and on the Auris demonstrater the trip was showing around 55mpg over 40 miles or so including driving back through Blackpool.

Jamesholdens comment on working the engine "harder" at speed is interesting... something I have always wondered. Do you get better economy from a large engine driven carefully or a smaller one driven harder ? And for examplewhat about accelerating from standstill. Is it better to pick up speed quickly up to say 30 or 40 mph in just a few seconds and then "ease off" or accelerate slowly but for a lot longer ?

Cruising at say 60/65 then it must take the same "energy" to keep momentum whether it's a 1.33 or a 1.6 and here the smaller engine is more economical... at those sort of speeds. If you were doing say 100mph I don't know... would the bigger engine be more economic ?

[jamesholden]

Do you get better economy from a large engine driven carefully or a smaller one driven harder ? And for examplewhat about accelerating from standstill. Is it better to pick up speed quickly up to say 30 or 40 mph in just a few seconds and then "ease off" or accelerate slowly but for a lot longer ?

Big engines arn't laboured at speed, that's why cars like LS400's (my dad's got one) can easily do 30MPG on a long run even though they've got a 4.0 V8 which is only slightly less than I used to get on my 2.0 Avensis.

It's also been proven your best to get up to speed as quickly as possible in a manual so you cruise the furthest distance in your highest gear, it's a bit different in an auto but cars with modern CVT/DSG boxes are usually more economical than their manual equivalent anyway.

Although to be to honest the whole fuel economy idea baffles me, if someone can afford £10k+ for a new car, they can afford to run it.

As for you concern over VW group troubles, Toyota's reputation for quality/reliability has been fading over the last 5-10 years, lots of people having replacement engines in the Avensis/Corolla/MR2 for oil burning and more recently head-gasket failure, flywheels on diesels is another common problem, rust is another issue that seems to be affecting people as well.

Whilst these problems don't affect the mass population of owners, neither do the problems with VAG group cars, afterall the Octavia has beaten the Corolla/Auris/Civic etc in the JD Power Survey's for over 10 years, and the 1.4 TSi has won the 1.0-1.4 best international engine award for the last 4 years and overall best engine of 2009.

[Parts-King]

I'm in an Urban Cruiser 1.33 at the moment and the engine is great. It would'nt pull your hat off in 6th gear but that is for cruising and once you are up to speed can stick it in 6th and trundle along. On a recent trip up and down to Birmingham with 3 passengers and driver I was very impressed with its performance for a 1.33, it pulls very well but you have to be prepared to rev it a bit to get it to perform

Kingo

[Mooly]

Jamesholden... My Audi problems here :) post #2

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=102760

I still think on the whole Toyota make a good car... their main problem is the "image" sometimes I think lol

When you have been more than satisfied over the years... well that say's a lot. The Audi it was always "what now"

I tend to agree on the fuel consumption/acceleration thing... get up to speed smartly and ease back.

I suspect how you run a car in has a lot to do with oil consumption... say's I ;), remembering the words of the service manager at Toyota... be gentle, be very gentle, but only for the first 50 to 100 miles or so, and then make sure you increase the revs under load, take the revs high occasionally, all wih a view to breaking the "oil glaze" on the cylinder walls. It's all a compromise... your knocking bits of metal off parts only in the first few miles, after that it's more polishing and bedding in. Get a glaze of burnt oil on the cylinders and they will bed in unevenly.

[Mooly]

I'm in an Urban Cruiser 1.33 at the moment and the engine is great. It would'nt pull your hat off in 6th gear but that is for cruising and once you are up to speed can stick it in 6th and trundle along. On a recent trip up and down to Birmingham with 3 passengers and driver I was very impressed with its performance for a 1.33, it pulls very well but you have to be prepared to rev it a bit to get it to perform

Kingo

I'd go along with that :)

The VVTIi does need to be revved when you need the performance but considering it's capacity it's a great little performer.

[jamesholden]

I suspect how you run a car in has a lot to do with oil consumption... say's I ;), remembering the words of the service manager at Toyota... be gentle, be very gentle, but only for the first 50 to 100 miles or so, and then make sure you increase the revs under load, take the revs high occasionally, all wih a view to breaking the "oil glaze" on the cylinder walls. It's all a compromise... your knocking bits of metal off parts only in the first few miles, after that it's more polishing and bedding in. Get a glaze of burnt oil on the cylinders and they will bed in unevenly.

If only it were that simple, in this case it was poor design of the bore liners, loads of 1.4/1.6 and especially 1.8 VVTi's have been replaced due to oil burning, in the Avensis the problem is notorious, if you read on that forum every few days someone new posts, even people who already had their engines replaced have had to have them re-replaced.

Latest problem is head gaskets on 2.0 petrols and on the diesels in particular, the 2.2 is getting quite a reputation, Lexus IS220D owner's are not happy!

[Mooly]

I could always keep the TSport ;)

I think I have made my mind up on the Auris... I like it. I haven't had a bad experience with Toyota (As a family we have had Toyotas over the last 20 yrs)... and they have all been essentially very reliable... the later ones much more so, thats the TSport and a 1.4 Corolla saloon (03plate).

[Mooly]

The size issue is still bothering me... I would have done the deal by now otherwise.

Even tried a, er (cough) Hmmmm Fiesta on Saturday. I asked about the 1.6 diesel. "You've no chance" came the reply.

I persisted... I wanted a go in a Fiesta ! Eventually said I could take a new 1.25l (the "popular minus" one trim wise). Brand new, delivery fuel only in it, they just gave me the keys saying don't go far lol. It made the 1.33 Auris "feel" slow... this Fiesta was surprisingly quick and agile. The down side was too much road noise though... I really thought it would be quiter than it was. The engine was ace.

Asked to see a more "upmarket" version... answer "we haven't got any.

So off to Blackpool for a look at the bigger dealership... where I had a sit in the "Titanium" trim. It's nice... but as the guys there pointed out, it's not really competing in the same class as the Auris, which I suppose it isn't. And on that basis the Fiesta is expensive.

If it came to Yaris or Fiesta... I think the Ford would win hands down.

On a lighter note it's funny comparing dealerships, the first was a new (in the Toyota mould really) place, the second, much more like the old Ford dealers of old, where you can imagine them all in the "Rally Motorsport" jackets, the showroom to in the "old style" somehow.

Arghhhhh

[FROSTYBALLS]

The size issue is still bothering me... I would have done the deal by now otherwise.

Re the width issue, I know from when I was changing my 2006 Corolla last year, that the Auris is about the slimmest car in that class. The i30 and Ce'ed are about 35mm wider (excluding the mirrors), and the Focus, Astra, Scenic, etc are all over 1800mm wide (at least 40mm wider than the Auris. Even cars like the Kia Venga/Soul and Peugeot 207 are as wide, if not wider.

We face the same issue when we come to change our other car (a 2007 Mazda 2 Capella) in the summer, and when we change the Auris in three years time.

We're considering the Jazz, the Yaris, the Skoda Fabia Estate, the Skoda Roomster (models pre-facelift that is due to go on sale in August), the Hyundai i20 and the Nissan Note. Think these all come in around 1700mm or slightly less.