Time To Get Rid Of My 2009 Avensis Tourer

[Tynesider]

what size/rating tyres do you need?

17" tyres as on my car are notably more than 16" & yet when I replaced mine I could get Continentals, Goodyears etc. fitted for ~£125 (& Toyota dealers were surprisingly competitive with Kwikfit, blackcircles etc.).

Tyres on my Avensis Tourer are 215/55r17 94w, originaly fitted with Bridgestone Turansa, front new ones now Goodyear Excellance.

Mike

[Jamesbelfast]

Assuming the tyre wear measurements are correct they would appear to be wearing more so on the outer edges - could there be an ailgnment problem. Also the flat spots would concern me - could the rear brakes have stuck on at some point. Flat sopts are rare nowadays due to ABS but it's possible the internal structure of the tyre has begun to deteriorate.

As brake pads wear down the rate of wear accelerates as the thinner material cannot disapate the heat fast enough. In fact once the pad material get thin it is not uncommon for it to loose its adhesion to the backing plate and disintegrate completely resulting in serious disc or caliper damage.

In my view Toyota brake wear is unacceptable across the range of models compared to most other make of cars.

As a general rule for family driving front pads should last around 20K to 25K miles and rear at least double that time.:)

[duncanda]

what size/rating tyres do you need?

17" tyres as on my car are notably more than 16" & yet when I replaced mine I could get Continentals, Goodyears etc. fitted for ~£125 (& Toyota dealers were surprisingly competitive with Kwikfit, blackcircles etc.).

Tyres on my Avensis Tourer are 215/55r17 94w, originaly fitted with Bridgestone Turansa, front new ones now Goodyear Excellance.

Mike

Try www.mytyres.co.uk for tyres and don't get the fully fitted price. I just had two tyres I bought from them fitted to my wife's car for £10 each (included new valve, and balancing) at Rapidfit. I have a 2003 TX3 1.8 auto with 46,000 and am still on original discs. With such low mileage on an auto, means that the disks have been given a hard time, but the car's never failed an MOT and at the last one, I specifically asked the MOT tester if he was happy with disk wear and he was. This was an independent garage, not that I suggest that you use an independent garage with your 2009 Avensis.

I replaced my Bridgestone Turanza ER30 (I found I had a lot of wheel spin in the damp when they got down to about 3-4mm tread) with Falken ZIEX ZE-912 from Mytyres for around £53 each. In your size they're £82.

[Fluffmeister]

Have a look at Camskill, here is a link to your size tyre. http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m54b0s1714p0

The Kuhmo's Ecsta's are not bad, I went on a Kumho day at Oulton Park a couple of years ago where they gave demo laps in a Boxster 3.2S, 5 series, 911 and Golf GTdi.

I had a full set on my last Octy vRS which was running around 270bhp and they gripped and stopped well. The Avons are a bit cheaper on Camskill to, Falken are pretty good tyres. There is not to much danger in straying away from the known brands these days, as long as it's not into non branded chinese rubbish. I actually like Maxxis tyres, but I have a history of running them on my bikes (and I take no chances there) they are soft and not to long lived, but cheap and grip very very well.

There where some tyre tests done in EVO magazine a while back and a lot of the "Budget" brands, like Kumho, Falken and Hankook beat more established brands like Michelin and Pirelli.

PS The Falkens are £76.80 including VAT on Camskill in your size Tynesider

[Heidfirst]

2 1/2 hrs, 6 litres of oil supplied by me & £207 later car is just back from it's 40K service which it flew through with no red or amber advisories, everything in the green (even the brake discs & pads that I was expecting to get an advisory on).

Rear tyres still at 4.0mm.

They did change the brake fluid but that's mandated in the 40K service schedule for my car.

If, as they tell me, that's the most expensive service I can't complain & the dealer (Western Toyota, Sighthill, Edinburgh) was faultless.

Think that it proves again that a good dealer makes all the difference - I drive 40 mile to Edinburgh when I have 3 dealers within 10 miles of me in Glasgow.

Even adding the cost of the diesel there & back it's cheaper as well!

[Roker]

When I had my Avensis in for service, the Toyota dealer phoned me and told me that I needed new rear brake pads and that they will not last until the next service, they wanted €160 extra, so I said no. When I got home I inspected them and found that they were only 50% worn, so I took a photo and sent it with a letter of complaint to the dealer and Toyota head office. They also did work that was not necessary, they cleaned out the throttle body because it was reving at 1,300 when cold, I now know this is normal, they said if it persists I would need a new ECU, I asked why at 45,000mile.

I would expect a dealer appointed by Toyota to have the utmost integrity. This is losing them sales

[cmia]

I dont know why you guys are replacing pads and discs so often!

I am a taxi driver, My pads last atleast 20k and discs have been in for 40k!

[Heidfirst]

if you reread the thread I don't think that you will find anybody in it getting less than that on an Avensis.

The only odd 1 is the OP being advised to replace rear pads at 21K where we would all normally expect the fronts to wear out first all other things being equal.

[dransfield]

Come into my parlour sais the spider to the fly - I'm sure you've heard that expression.

It is a well known ploy in the motor trade to offer reduced service costs just to get your car into their garage - then they start to fleece you.

Unless it is an obvioius safety issue never agree to additional work over the phone. Let the garage proceed with the agreed service and then present ou with a written list of additional faults stating clearly the reasons as to why such additional work is necessary.

Such a list should give the evidence as to why they believe such work is required.

For example - tyres worn beyond the legal limit - the list should state what the current tread depth actually is - after all they should have neasured them.

Changing brake fluid - is it in accordance with recommended service intervals - if so what is the recommended period.

Any decent garage will have no qualms about giving such evidence. Also it gives you the opportunity to seek a second opinion either from another dealer or independent source

I appreciate not all car owners have the necessary skills or knowledge to know the true condition of their car but in my experience many garages exploit this aspect when it comes to making money. What really angers me is they do tend to exploit the most vulnerable. Take a stand - don't be afraid to ask for pertinent information - they'll soon get the message you ain't a pushover.:)

Edit:- - when seeking a second opinion don't mention any previous findings

I couldnt agree more, i got a second opinion after my Toyota dealer told me that my avensis tourer needed new discs all around and they turned out to be fine, when I confronted them about this their line was 'they have a more stringent safety criteria.....' I got two more years out of them! Just as an aside - and I know its not everybody's cup of tea - this site is a brilliant resource, I followed the comprehensive posting on how to change disks and pads yourself. I did both discs and pads front and back and in total the parts came to £180.00 inc vat. I think the only other thing I needed to buy was copper grease.