Advice On A 1.8Vvt-I I've Seen

[markquinton]

Hi all

I've seen an 03 1.8 vvt-i T3-X locally with 80k miles and service history along with lots of receipts from Toyota. It's retailing at £3175 which I feel is quite reasonable and should be able to get this lower.........However the car has no history of a short engine change in the past so would I be buying a ticking time bomb? Should early 1.8's only be bought if history proves the fix to have already been carried out? I know it's like the long long is a piece of string question but is it a sure thing that it will develop the oil problem eventually. I'm selling my current car due to the expensive dual mass frailties (Mondeo TDCI) and don't want to buy another problematic vehicle.

So should I walk away and go look for a 2.0 vvt-i or possibly a 1.8 vvt-i with history of a short engine change?

I guess there is no way to check oil consumption of a vehicle for sale until you've actually owned it for a while which is akward as it's too late then.

Thanks

Mark

[acetip]

Hi all

I've seen an 03 1.8 vvt-i T3-X locally with 80k miles and service history along with lots of receipts from Toyota. It's retailing at £3175 which I feel is quite reasonable and should be able to get this lower.........However the car has no history of a short engine change in the past so would I be buying a ticking time bomb? Should early 1.8's only be bought if history proves the fix to have already been carried out? I know it's like the long long is a piece of string question but is it a sure thing that it will develop the oil problem eventually. I'm selling my current car due to the expensive dual mass frailties (Mondeo TDCI) and don't want to buy another problematic vehicle.

So should I walk away and go look for a 2.0 vvt-i or possibly a 1.8 vvt-i with history of a short engine change?

I guess there is no way to check oil consumption of a vehicle for sale until you've actually owned it for a while which is akward as it's too late then.

Thanks

Mark

hi mark

i found a web site on the subject of duel mass flywheel (cant find it now) that was dscussing them.

it seems most including ford that are made by the same companies that supply clutches to them.

one person on there stated that toyota has the most failures of the flywheels.

i beleaved he works for a firm tat specialises in clutch and brake repairs, and has worked om many different models.

i had two mark3 mondeo tdci ghia and st and the build quality is if far superior than my auris t sport 1.6 vvti

the whole car seems what i call flimsy compared the mondeos.

even my wife 8 year old hyundai has better quality materals in the cabin than the auris, that plastic scratch if you look at it sideways and it sems the car is held together with plastic clips.

i brought the auris to down size as i dont do more than 4000 a year now and wanted something with a timing chain and not a belt, as the mondeos.

the auris drives very well, handles well ( but not up to the mondeo which are a bench mark in handling )

it has a nice gearbox but could do with a 6TH gear. its very smooth and quiet runningbut very short on toys against the fords.why do they put the cruise control behind the steering wheel?.

the buttons for getting read outs for average speed/consumption etc are only reachable buy putting yor hand behind the steering wheel a bit dangerous.

i had mk 1 & mk 11 cortinas, capri, and mk3 cortina, and i can only problems i had with any of them was a shock

absorber leak on the cortina replaced under warranty.

in 1986 i purchased a new vw turbo diesel jetta, a great car and the engine was indirect injection and seemed bomb proof, the only reason i sold it cos someone ran into the side of it in a car park.though the vw body shop made a great job repairing it, i never felt the same about it.

traded it in for td golf, it had same engine as the jetta that also had a inter cooler.

that car was a load of rubbish,both drive shaft oil seal failed,water pump leaked,alternator gave up the ghost

roof lining fell down on my head,the drivers door was aterrible fit, to shut without slamming very hard buy adjusting the stiker plate left the door an eigth of an inch further out than the body. the vw body shop could not cure it as it was the bodywork that was the problem.

anyway they gave me back all my money i paid for it including the road tax, so brought passat at a discount they had in the showroom it had same engine as the golf.

kept that car for 15 years of trouble free motoring (140000 miles). then only sold it because the wife wanted a bigger caravan and as the engine was only 1600 cc i very reluctently let her go i had brought new as i did with the jetta and the golf.

when i purchased the ghia i was amased how good the build quality was and every extras you could want (no satnav though

but i have a tomtom 910 and satnav in car do not have the features this have.

in the magazine DIESEL CAR the mondeo is a better buy than the series 3 BMW according to them.

the tdci st was lot harsher ride with low profile tyres than either the ghia or auris.

both the ford were purchased fom a low miliage specialist.

as i am an old git i dont now why brought the st must have thought i was a born again boyracer but frightened the

wife and had to go.

one more thing before signing off,the radio in the auris is cheap an nasty compared to the SONY in the fords

the auris has a lot going for it, but let down being built down to price.

it has non of the problems with brake noises or rattles or anything that others seem to have except loads of scratches in the cabin and the boot that i did not notice when first looking it over .

i found that the width of the car including mirrors ( dont electric fold like the ford )is wider than the mondeos.

which is surprising.

[markquinton]

Anyone have an opinion as to whether I should steer clear of it?

[Dave Williams]

Anyone have an opinion as to whether I should steer clear of it?

Hi there i owned a 2002 1.8vvti that used more oil than i thought it should have done however rge only thing i ever had to do to that car was check the oil once a fortnight and top it up when it was needed it ran sweet quiet flew through its mot's sounded and looked amazing ive just bought a 2006/56 model because i was that happy with the last one trust me isf your only problem is checking the oil then get it and its a buyers market get hin down on the price.

good luck

[alan333]

Hi all

I've seen an 03 1.8 vvt-i T3-X locally with 80k miles and service history along with lots of receipts from Toyota. It's retailing at £3175 which I feel is quite reasonable and should be able to get this lower.........However the car has no history of a short engine change in the past so would I be buying a ticking time bomb? Should early 1.8's only be bought if history proves the fix to have already been carried out? I know it's like the long long is a piece of string question but is it a sure thing that it will develop the oil problem eventually. I'm selling my current car due to the expensive dual mass frailties (Mondeo TDCI) and don't want to buy another problematic vehicle.

So should I walk away and go look for a 2.0 vvt-i or possibly a 1.8 vvt-i with history of a short engine change?

I guess there is no way to check oil consumption of a vehicle for sale until you've actually owned it for a while which is akward as it's too late then.

Thanks

Mark

As far as I know the oil issue will either be present or not, especially as it's covered 80k - but I suspect an 03 will be within the oil burner age band. It sounds like a reasonable price for the car tho - is there any way you can relay your fears to the dealer and guage their reaction. Perhaps you could speak to the previous owner, or arrange a week's test drive against a guarantee you'll buy it if the oil issue isn't a problem etc? If in doubt I'd personally walk away and perhaps pay a little more for one a bit newer. You should be able to buy an 05 with 80k on it for about £4000 if you buy privately.

Hope this helps :)

[carinfront]

Hi all

I've seen an 03 1.8 vvt-i T3-X locally with 80k miles and service history along with lots of receipts from Toyota. It's retailing at £3175 which I feel is quite reasonable and should be able to get this lower.........However the car has no history of a short engine change in the past so would I be buying a ticking time bomb? Should early 1.8's only be bought if history proves the fix to have already been carried out? I know it's like the long long is a piece of string question but is it a sure thing that it will develop the oil problem eventually. I'm selling my current car due to the expensive dual mass frailties (Mondeo TDCI) and don't want to buy another problematic vehicle.

So should I walk away and go look for a 2.0 vvt-i or possibly a 1.8 vvt-i with history of a short engine change?

I guess there is no way to check oil consumption of a vehicle for sale until you've actually owned it for a while which is akward as it's too late then.

Thanks

Mark

As far as I know the oil issue will either be present or not, especially as it's covered 80k - but I suspect an 03 will be within the oil burner age band. It sounds like a reasonable price for the car tho - is there any way you can relay your fears to the dealer and guage their reaction. Perhaps you could speak to the previous owner, or arrange a week's test drive against a guarantee you'll buy it if the oil issue isn't a problem etc? If in doubt I'd personally walk away and perhaps pay a little more for one a bit newer. You should be able to buy an 05 with 80k on it for about £4000 if you buy privately.

Hope this helps :)

I'm with Alan on this one, I'd be looking to get one a touch later than the 03, as I've said before, they had them sorted by the 04/54 plates. Don't forget, not ALL were affected!

I'd be inclined to keep looking, something you are really happy with will turn up soon. In terms of budget, you should be able to negotiate it down to nearer your range.

Cheers

[markquinton]

Well i've just seen a 53 plate T4 saloon for sale at a garage locally, it's the 2.0 version and has 72k with FSH. Wonder what the chances are of me getting them down to the £3500 mark, the 2.0 would make me sleep easier in terms of reliability.

Thanks guys

[georgepg]

i have x reg avensis vvti at 94k and i have had no oil problems what so ever with it if its serviced often it burns no more oil than any other car that age just look after the engine service regular, infact mondeos and the dreaded vauxhall of the same age do seem to burn more oil than the avensis but if in doubt do not buy

[just miko]

Hi all

I've seen an 03 1.8 vvt-i T3-X locally with 80k miles and service history along with lots of receipts from Toyota. It's retailing at £3175 which I feel is quite reasonable and should be able to get this lower.........However the car has no history of a short engine change in the past so would I be buying a ticking time bomb? Should early 1.8's only be bought if history proves the fix to have already been carried out? I know it's like the long long is a piece of string question but is it a sure thing that it will develop the oil problem eventually. I'm selling my current car due to the expensive dual mass frailties (Mondeo TDCI) and don't want to buy another problematic vehicle.

So should I walk away and go look for a 2.0 vvt-i or possibly a 1.8 vvt-i with history of a short engine change?

I guess there is no way to check oil consumption of a vehicle for sale until you've actually owned it for a while which is akward as it's too late then.

Thanks

Mark

In my case, i have owned a 53 plate 1.8 vvt-i t3x for 17 months now, and i have not had any problems at all. It has been a brilliant motor. I have since joining the Toyota owners club, read about the oil problems that could occur, but i have not had any, i am not saying that others have not. There will be problems with any make of car, if it is not looked after. . Check the levels regularly, and keep it serviced, and you should be ok. The drawback with this model, is that is does not have a low oil warning light, which can have a most serious effect if the oil problem occurs. This omission by Toyota was incredible, but it can give you a powerful leverage tool if you get the dreaded oil starvation problem.

[just miko]

Hi all

I've seen an 03 1.8 vvt-i T3-X locally with 80k miles and service history along with lots of receipts from Toyota. It's retailing at £3175 which I feel is quite reasonable and should be able to get this lower.........However the car has no history of a short engine change in the past so would I be buying a ticking time bomb? Should early 1.8's only be bought if history proves the fix to have already been carried out? I know it's like the long long is a piece of string question but is it a sure thing that it will develop the oil problem eventually. I'm selling my current car due to the expensive dual mass frailties (Mondeo TDCI) and don't want to buy another problematic vehicle.

So should I walk away and go look for a 2.0 vvt-i or possibly a 1.8 vvt-i with history of a short engine change?

I guess there is no way to check oil consumption of a vehicle for sale until you've actually owned it for a while which is akward as it's too late then.

Thanks

Mark

hi mark

i found a web site on the subject of duel mass flywheel (cant find it now) that was dscussing them.

it seems most including ford that are made by the same companies that supply clutches to them.

one person on there stated that toyota has the most failures of the flywheels.

i beleaved he works for a firm tat specialises in clutch and brake repairs, and has worked om many different models.

i had two mark3 mondeo tdci ghia and st and the build quality is if far superior than my auris t sport 1.6 vvti

the whole car seems what i call flimsy compared the mondeos.

even my wife 8 year old hyundai has better quality materals in the cabin than the auris, that plastic scratch if you look at it sideways and it sems the car is held together with plastic clips.

i brought the auris to down size as i dont do more than 4000 a year now and wanted something with a timing chain and not a belt, as the mondeos.

the auris drives very well, handles well ( but not up to the mondeo which are a bench mark in handling )

it has a nice gearbox but could do with a 6TH gear. its very smooth and quiet runningbut very short on toys against the fords.why do they put the cruise control behind the steering wheel?.

the buttons for getting read outs for average speed/consumption etc are only reachable buy putting yor hand behind the steering wheel a bit dangerous.

i had mk 1 & mk 11 cortinas, capri, and mk3 cortina, and i can only problems i had with any of them was a shock

absorber leak on the cortina replaced under warranty.

in 1986 i purchased a new vw turbo diesel jetta, a great car and the engine was indirect injection and seemed bomb proof, the only reason i sold it cos someone ran into the side of it in a car park.though the vw body shop made a great job repairing it, i never felt the same about it.

traded it in for td golf, it had same engine as the jetta that also had a inter cooler.

that car was a load of rubbish,both drive shaft oil seal failed,water pump leaked,alternator gave up the ghost

roof lining fell down on my head,the drivers door was aterrible fit, to shut without slamming very hard buy adjusting the stiker plate left the door an eigth of an inch further out than the body. the vw body shop could not cure it as it was the bodywork that was the problem.

anyway they gave me back all my money i paid for it including the road tax, so brought passat at a discount they had in the showroom it had same engine as the golf.

kept that car for 15 years of trouble free motoring (140000 miles). then only sold it because the wife wanted a bigger caravan and as the engine was only 1600 cc i very reluctently let her go i had brought new as i did with the jetta and the golf.

when i purchased the ghia i was amased how good the build quality was and every extras you could want (no satnav though

but i have a tomtom 910 and satnav in car do not have the features this have.

in the magazine DIESEL CAR the mondeo is a better buy than the series 3 BMW according to them.

the tdci st was lot harsher ride with low profile tyres than either the ghia or auris.

both the ford were purchased fom a low miliage specialist.

as i am an old git i dont now why brought the st must have thought i was a born again boyracer but frightened the

wife and had to go.

one more thing before signing off,the radio in the auris is cheap an nasty compared to the SONY in the fords

the auris has a lot going for it, but let down being built down to price.

it has non of the problems with brake noises or rattles or anything that others seem to have except loads of scratches in the cabin and the boot that i did not notice when first looking it over .

i found that the width of the car including mirrors ( dont electric fold like the ford )is wider than the mondeos.

which is surprising.

i had mk 1 & mk 11 cortinas, capri, and mk3 cortina, and i can only problems i had with any of them was a shock

absorber leak on the cortina replaced under warranty.

You had a capri and a Cortina mk 3 without any camshaft or oil problems ? !!!. The early pinto engines were horrendous for these problems.I well remember hearing these cars before i saw them, with the clacking camshaft going. I had 3 mk 3 cortina's, all ghia models,i also had 2 Capri's,a gl,and a 3000s all went this way. The mk4 i then had rusted away in no time. Only my mk5 was a car that was i was proud of, apart from the Ford locks, that could be opened at will with any other key !!. The only reason i bought them that at the time to me they were better than all the rest. Which says alot for the other cars that were about at the time.

[acetip]

Hi all

I've seen an 03 1.8 vvt-i T3-X locally with 80k miles and service history along with lots of receipts from Toyota. It's retailing at £3175 which I feel is quite reasonable and should be able to get this lower.........However the car has no history of a short engine change in the past so would I be buying a ticking time bomb? Should early 1.8's only be bought if history proves the fix to have already been carried out? I know it's like the long long is a piece of string question but is it a sure thing that it will develop the oil problem eventually. I'm selling my current car due to the expensive dual mass frailties (Mondeo TDCI) and don't want to buy another problematic vehicle.

So should I walk away and go look for a 2.0 vvt-i or possibly a 1.8 vvt-i with history of a short engine change?

I guess there is no way to check oil consumption of a vehicle for sale until you've actually owned it for a while which is akward as it's too late then.

Thanks

Mark

hi mark

i found a web site on the subject of duel mass flywheel (cant find it now) that was dscussing them.

it seems most including ford that are made by the same companies that supply clutches to them.

one person on there stated that toyota has the most failures of the flywheels.

i beleaved he works for a firm tat specialises in clutch and brake repairs, and has worked om many different models.

i had two mark3 mondeo tdci ghia and st and the build quality is if far superior than my auris t sport 1.6 vvti

the whole car seems what i call flimsy compared the mondeos.

even my wife 8 year old hyundai has better quality materals in the cabin than the auris, that plastic scratch if you look at it sideways and it sems the car is held together with plastic clips.

i brought the auris to down size as i dont do more than 4000 a year now and wanted something with a timing chain and not a belt, as the mondeos.

the auris drives very well, handles well ( but not up to the mondeo which are a bench mark in handling )

it has a nice gearbox but could do with a 6TH gear. its very smooth and quiet runningbut very short on toys against the fords.why do they put the cruise control behind the steering wheel?.

the buttons for getting read outs for average speed/consumption etc are only reachable buy putting yor hand behind the steering wheel a bit dangerous.

i had mk 1 & mk 11 cortinas, capri, and mk3 cortina, and i can only problems i had with any of them was a shock

absorber leak on the cortina replaced under warranty.

in 1986 i purchased a new vw turbo diesel jetta, a great car and the engine was indirect injection and seemed bomb proof, the only reason i sold it cos someone ran into the side of it in a car park.though the vw body shop made a great job repairing it, i never felt the same about it.

traded it in for td golf, it had same engine as the jetta that also had a inter cooler.

that car was a load of rubbish,both drive shaft oil seal failed,water pump leaked,alternator gave up the ghost

roof lining fell down on my head,the drivers door was aterrible fit, to shut without slamming very hard buy adjusting the stiker plate left the door an eigth of an inch further out than the body. the vw body shop could not cure it as it was the bodywork that was the problem.

anyway they gave me back all my money i paid for it including the road tax, so brought passat at a discount they had in the showroom it had same engine as the golf.

kept that car for 15 years of trouble free motoring (140000 miles). then only sold it because the wife wanted a bigger caravan and as the engine was only 1600 cc i very reluctently let her go i had brought new as i did with the jetta and the golf.

when i purchased the ghia i was amased how good the build quality was and every extras you could want (no satnav though

but i have a tomtom 910 and satnav in car do not have the features this have.

in the magazine DIESEL CAR the mondeo is a better buy than the series 3 BMW according to them.

the tdci st was lot harsher ride with low profile tyres than either the ghia or auris.

both the ford were purchased fom a low miliage specialist.

as i am an old git i dont now why brought the st must have thought i was a born again boyracer but frightened the

wife and had to go.

one more thing before signing off,the radio in the auris is cheap an nasty compared to the SONY in the fords

the auris has a lot going for it, but let down being built down to price.

it has non of the problems with brake noises or rattles or anything that others seem to have except loads of scratches in the cabin and the boot that i did not notice when first looking it over .

i found that the width of the car including mirrors ( dont electric fold like the ford )is wider than the mondeos.

which is surprising.

i had mk 1 & mk 11 cortinas, capri, and mk3 cortina, and i can only problems i had with any of them was a shock

absorber leak on the cortina replaced under warranty.

You had a capri and a Cortina mk 3 without any camshaft or oil problems ? !!!. The early pinto engines were horrendous for these problems.I well remember hearing these cars before i saw them, with the clacking camshaft going. I had 3 mk 3 cortina's, all ghia models,i also had 2 Capri's,a gl,and a 3000s all went this way. The mk4 i then had rusted away in no time. Only my mk5 was a car that was i was proud of, apart from the Ford locks, that could be opened at will with any other key !!. The only reason i bought them that at the time to me they were better than all the rest. Which says alot for the other cars that were about at the time.

the pinto engines oil feed to the valve gear was through a thin copper pipe that fed the oil through small holes above each rocker, as used by some bed BEDFORD engines,

they both suffered from the same problem . if the oil was not changed at 5000 miles as requered then the small holes would block and not only starve the valve gear but reduce the oil splashed onto the oil seal and it would burn out and leak.

the capri that i had was fitted with the 1.6 crossflow engine and pretty bomb proof if looked after.

the pinto camshaft was easier to change(head off and being overhead cam).where the crossflows camshaft was not and was a pig of a job to change.

ive in the distance paat changed for friends and relative a few of them.

one i rember gave me cabbage out of his garden for changing his camshaft.

nice to appriciated.

people dont seem to do the work on engines like they use to.

i know engines on the whole last longer these day what with better materials

and lubricants.

the firms that used to overhaul and rebore engines have all but disapered.

sign of the times.

[Beagh1958]

If in doubt, walk away. It's only a potential problem, lot's of people have years of trouble free motoring with the vvti engine. You could allways go for a Mazda RX8 and have some real fun, atleast Mazda tell you to check your oil every weekend as you should do anyway. Just a note on posting above, still quite a lot of engineering companies around to help with engine rebuilds (Middlesex rebores/Mill Hill/London) car's used to be very simple to work on (with exception of FRENCH cars) being rear wheel drive. You could pull a pinto engine out in the time it now takes just to remove all the ancillaries around a front wheel drive engine, nearly all to keep emissions down. Sorry, to your original question, why buy a potential problem.

[tubaman]

Simple decision in my eyes - having owned one with an oil problem that had a new short engine:-

If it`s had the short engine buy it, if not the leave it alone.

Surely, Toyota will have it on record on their computer system if its had a short engine replacement.

[markquinton]

Well I've seen a few now and none of the garages say any of them show history of any short engine changes. DO I need to ring the dealer where each individual car has been serviced or can you check the history of any vehicle and any main dealer irrespective of it's location.

[Alfie's Dad]

Hey tubaman can I ask how long have you had your Avensis with the replacement engine? has it been trouble free? I'm trying to work out whether to get mine done. Thanks

[tubaman]

Happy to reply:-

Actually sold the car in Jan 2009 when I upgraded to an Avensis D4-D T180. When I had the short motor fitted by Toyota under warranty, oil problem was immediately solved - the thing didnt seem to use a drop after that and absolutely no problems or issues with it.

If its had the short engine replacement then I think you really have very little to worry about.

[Alfie's Dad]

Thanks for the update, now I just need to get Toyota to pay for it...!

[toyotaavensis]

hi mark,

i own an 53 plate 1.8 vvti avensis, with 92k on the clock, and it does have the dreaded oil consumpstion problem, but i can honestly say any car above 75k is probably going to be an oil burner, i check my oil once every month and top up as needed roughly losing 1/2 a litre per 1000 mile, the 53 plate avensis is a great car all round ive had it 3 years now, and only had to replace one front wheel bearing, i personly would'nt worry about buying one with the short engine change, hopes this helps you make your decision.

mark.

[MW0ELC]

Just go along to any Mr T dealer with reg or chassis no and they can check if the vehicle has been subject to any recalls and if the work was done or warranty work ( ie, new short motor ) When I bought mine, I asked and they informed me that mine had been recalled for the steering issue and repaired.