Auris Hsd As A Company Car?

[Einstein_IQ]

Hi All,

I have sold my little IQ after 9 months as i have changed jobs and my work are giving me a company car.

I want something fuel efficient and low on tax so am thinking Auris HSD.

Just wanted your opinions on running this as a company car, i will be doing a mixture of driving around South West of England using Bristol as a base.

Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks Chris

[Jan&tone]

If a Prius can be used as a Taxi, then I see no reason why either an Auris or Prius shouldn't be a company car

[Parts-King]

Up to 74 MPG

£0 Road tax

From 89g per km CO2

The worlds most advanced hybrid

10% BIK

136 DIN for instant performance

£0 Congestion charge

Built in Britain

Can't think of any reason why it would'nt make a good company car!

Kingo

[monya]

UP to 74 mpg with an emphasis on the 'up'. In the real world such figures are not achieveable. Not saying I'm not happy with the car but I would think the Prius a better bet which has been built from the drivetrain upwards rather than it being shoehorned into an existing body.

[Parts-King]

Well of course "Up to" The whole world works on "up to" figures. Up to 50% off in the DFS sale, up to 150% more power with the auction site screw in widget performance booster chip dyno foo foo valve

We all drive in different terrains, some drive like little miss daisy and some drive like loons!

The figures quoted are independantly produced, some people think that Toyota pluck them out of thin air, but the process is very scientific. The issue is they are not produced from "on the road" conditions, so as soon as somebody gets behind the wheel the fuel consumption figures for every single driver will differ

The fact is an Auris or Prius is a very cost / tax effective company car purchase

Kingo

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I would say you can achieve 70+ mpg but you do have to take it steady.

The manufacturers figures should always be taken with a pinch of salt. My personal guide for a real world mpg indication is to take a third off the manufacturers figure.

If you can't get 50 mpg out of the Prius or Auris hsd then there is something wrong!

[peak_46]

I've had my company Auris HSD since October 2010 and have now covered 12000 miles. A high proportion of my driving is motorway at about 70-75mph and I have averaged 49.4mpg. If you are happy to adopt a relatively conservative driving style and don't mind letting the car slow down up inclines then it isn't a bad car. The car does have power should you need it but that does come at the cost of noise as the car juggles power through the complex power arrangement. I do find the seats quite uncomfortable on long journeys but I'm sure that's down to personal taste.

For me I would rather pay more company car tax and have a small diesel with a better ability to keep up with traffic and do over 50 mpg into the bargain. For me this is an excellent urban proposition with occasional motorway forays but not good as a 30k a year company vehicle.

[FourFourTwo]

As I understand it, the quoted mpg figures are based on a scientific benchmark by which all cars are compared.

A figure of 74mpg in such a benchmark doesn't mean that you will necessarily achieve 74 mpg in the real world, but it does mean that in the same driving conditions, the car is capable of achieving better fuel economy than a car with a rating of say, 65 mpg, measured by the same benchmark.

As I live in Norway with hills, hills and then more more hills, I will never get near 74 mpg, but I am happy knowing that I am still probably getting better FE than I would in anything else. :)

[Einstein_IQ]

Thanks for the replies.

I have read quite a few replies now and most saying the mpg isn't up to what you claim however i have seen some that say you can get more.

Currently i am looking between a Mini Cooper D or the Auris. The Auris is currently the favourite due to the running costs.

Is there any quirks or things i should know about the auris?

Does anyone know the wait time for one at all?

[Gmac70]

As it's a company car you might be able to order an extended demo. I've had both the prius and auris hybrids on demo and agree whilst you would have to driveline miss daisy to get 70mpg still believe it's more efficacy that A decent powered diesel. I've currently a Honda civic 2.2d lovely motor but company car tax is 110 quid and it's got low co2 better than smaller fords aatras etc.

I like the power but felt both prius and auris delivered it if required just in a different way. The auris felt faster but just cos it's smaller and felt I could chuck it about more. That said I'm placing order for a prius as think I'll drive it more efficiently

[Cyker]

As I understand it, the quoted mpg figures are based on a scientific benchmark by which all cars are compared.

A figure of 74mpg in such a benchmark doesn't mean that you will necessarily achieve 74 mpg in the real world, but it does mean that in the same driving conditions, the car is capable of achieving better fuel economy than a car with a rating of say, 65 mpg, measured by the same benchmark.

As I live in Norway with hills, hills and then more more hills, I will never get near 74 mpg, but I am happy knowing that I am still probably getting better FE than I would in anything else. :)

I wonder how the HSD does vs. a diesel for that sort of hilly terrain?

My derv Yaris loves hills :)

[Ancient Nerd]

As I understand it, the quoted mpg figures are based on a scientific benchmark by which all cars are compared.

A figure of 74mpg in such a benchmark doesn't mean that you will necessarily achieve 74 mpg in the real world, but it does mean that in the same driving conditions, the car is capable of achieving better fuel economy than a car with a rating of say, 65 mpg, measured by the same benchmark.

As I live in Norway with hills, hills and then more more hills, I will never get near 74 mpg, but I am happy knowing that I am still probably getting better FE than I would in anything else. :)

I wonder how the HSD does vs. a diesel for that sort of hilly terrain?

My derv Yaris loves hills :)

HSD wins hands down on mpg. Unless you do almost all your driving on non-congested motorways at near constant speed.

My Honda Civic diesel (06 reg) averaged 43 mpg over 2 years/50,000 miles when I finally gave up on it because the dual mass flywheel was on its way out. The Gen III Prius has averaged over 56mpg so far (17 months/43,000 miles). And around 55mpg over 40,000 miles in the previous Gen II.

As far as hills are concerned, the Prius again wins hands down. The best tank mpg in the Prius was 64.6 (67.9 mpg on the computer), was in Ireland, around Killarney, the Ring Of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsular, and various mountain passes. Much the same result in Yorkshire (Rosedale Chimney) and the Lake District (Wrynose and Hard Knott).

Also in those conditions, I'd far rather do a hill start in the Prius than any of the diesels I've had. This is probably due to the enormous torque of the electric motors.

[johalareewi]

Also in those conditions, I'd far rather do a hill start in the Prius than any of the diesels I've had.

Thumbs up for hill start assist

[Gav 18]

My car is not a company car and I drive about 13k/year. This is what I've found:

My previous car: Auris TR 2.0 Diesel - Book said combined average 52mpg - My average 45ish mpg overall (urban 40ish, extra-urban 52ish)

My current car: Auris HSD - Book says 70mpg - My current average 49-50ish mpg (urban 49ish mpg, extra-urban 53mpg+)

Only had the car for 6 months so not yet had the better mpg’s of the summer I've read about.

I'm not as impressed with the mpg as I was hoping for, but the way I look at it is that the mpg is slightly better than my previous car, petrol is cheaper than diesel and I pay no road tax. Not sure I will get the extra money I paid for the HSD back, but I think the car is much nicer so don't really mind!

Hope this info helps.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

You will probably get a 5 mph average increase in warmer weather. Also, I found it took a little time for the Prius to 'bed' in before I started to get better mpg figures. The other thing about the Auris hsd/Prius is that its an automatic and thus much more relaxing for town/commuting driving - and petrol is 5-6p a litre cheaper than diesel.

Horses for courses though.

[johalareewi]

My summer/winter mpg difference for last year is approx 10mpg. Also agree with GC about it taking a few miles for things to bed in and the mpg to start to rise. Other things that impact the mpg are new tyres and underinflated tyres (as well as racing chavs )

[Einstein_IQ]

Still haven't driven the HSD yet, my local Mr T is trying to get me to jump through hoops before they will let me drive one.

Especially difficult as i am working away Monday to Friday at present.

Did manage to drive a Honda CRZ for a little bit of fun, certainly different and slightly underpowered at times.

The other half loved the Auris we sat in, T Spirit in white.

Going to see if work can get me one for a week once my scheme info has come through so i can really see what it's like to live with.

Anyone know the rough waiting time?

[Red diesel]

Still haven't driven the HSD yet, my local Mr T is trying to get me to jump through hoops before they will let me drive one.

Especially difficult as i am working away Monday to Friday at present.

Did manage to drive a Honda CRZ for a little bit of fun, certainly different and slightly underpowered at times.

The other half loved the Auris we sat in, T Spirit in white.

Going to see if work can get me one for a week once my scheme info has come through so i can really see what it's like to live with.

Anyone know the rough waiting time?

Wierd that Mr T should be making you jump through hoops in order to have a test drive, is the car being leased through a finance company that buys elsewhere. I remember a salesman for a german prestige marque giving out on another forum about how people would come in looking to test drive a car that was on their company car list - but

while the person looking for the test drive was based in England (as was the dealer they called to looking for the test drive) - the leasing companies supplier might be in Scotland. The bee in the salesmans bonnet being that the customer knew the car was not going to be supplied by the dealer where the person was looking for the test drive.

Red diesel

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Still haven't driven the HSD yet, my local Mr T is trying to get me to jump through hoops before they will let me drive one.

Especially difficult as i am working away Monday to Friday at present.

Odd, my dealer fell over themselves to arrange a test drive for me and even let me borrow it for the afternoon! Just take some id and both parts of your driving licence and away you go. If one dealer is making life hard for you I'd go find one that wants to do business!

[Seamaster73]

Wierd that Mr T should be making you jump through hoops in order to have a test drive, is the car being leased through a finance company that buys elsewhere. I remember a salesman for a german prestige marque giving out on another forum about how people would come in looking to test drive a car that was on their company car list - but while the person looking for the test drive was based in England (as was the dealer they called to looking for the test drive) - the leasing companies supplier might be in Scotland. The bee in the salesmans bonnet being that the customer knew the car was not going to be supplied by the dealer where the person was looking for the test drive.

I told Toyota GB I was uncomfortable asking my local dealer to arrange a testdrive as I was a company car driver and did not want to waste their time as I was obviously not going to buy from them — Toyota understood this and provided a corporate demonstrator for four days instead.

[Red diesel]

Wierd that Mr T should be making you jump through hoops in order to have a test drive, is the car being leased through a finance company that buys elsewhere. I remember a salesman for a german prestige marque giving out on another forum about how people would come in looking to test drive a car that was on their company car list - but while the person looking for the test drive was based in England (as was the dealer they called to looking for the test drive) - the leasing companies supplier might be in Scotland. The bee in the salesmans bonnet being that the customer knew the car was not going to be supplied by the dealer where the person was looking for the test drive.

I told Toyota GB I was uncomfortable asking my local dealer to arrange a testdrive as I was a company car driver and did not want to waste their time as I was obviously not going to buy from them — Toyota understood this and provided a corporate demonstrator for four days instead.

Its good to get a demonstrator for a few days - but my brother bought a new tractor for the farm recently and before buying only drove it around the dealers yard

seemingly its not the done thing to get a demonstrator tractor for a few days lol. Even though in my opinion getting a trial of at least 2 days should be the norm for

both cars and tractors.

Red diesel

[Seamaster73]

Wierd that Mr T should be making you jump through hoops in order to have a test drive, is the car being leased through a finance company that buys elsewhere. I remember a salesman for a german prestige marque giving out on another forum about how people would come in looking to test drive a car that was on their company car list - but while the person looking for the test drive was based in England (as was the dealer they called to looking for the test drive) - the leasing companies supplier might be in Scotland. The bee in the salesmans bonnet being that the customer knew the car was not going to be supplied by the dealer where the person was looking for the test drive.

I told Toyota GB I was uncomfortable asking my local dealer to arrange a testdrive as I was a company car driver and did not want to waste their time as I was obviously not going to buy from them — Toyota understood this and provided a corporate demonstrator for four days instead.

Its good to get a demonstrator for a few days - but my brother bought a new tractor for the farm recently and before buying only drove it around the dealers yard

seemingly its not the done thing to get a demonstrator tractor for a few days lol. Even though in my opinion getting a trial of at least 2 days should be the norm for

both cars and tractors.

It's impossible to form any meaningful judgement of the Prius with a traditional testdrive. You need a few days with one.

[cbcdesign]

Wierd that Mr T should be making you jump through hoops in order to have a test drive, is the car being leased through a finance company that buys elsewhere. I remember a salesman for a german prestige marque giving out on another forum about how people would come in looking to test drive a car that was on their company car list - but while the person looking for the test drive was based in England (as was the dealer they called to looking for the test drive) - the leasing companies supplier might be in Scotland. The bee in the salesmans bonnet being that the customer knew the car was not going to be supplied by the dealer where the person was looking for the test drive.

I told Toyota GB I was uncomfortable asking my local dealer to arrange a testdrive as I was a company car driver and did not want to waste their time as I was obviously not going to buy from them — Toyota understood this and provided a corporate demonstrator for four days instead.

Its good to get a demonstrator for a few days - but my brother bought a new tractor for the farm recently and before buying only drove it around the dealers yard

seemingly its not the done thing to get a demonstrator tractor for a few days lol. Even though in my opinion getting a trial of at least 2 days should be the norm for

both cars and tractors.

It's impossible to form any meaningful judgement of the Prius with a traditional testdrive. You need a few days with one.

That is a subjective opinion. I had a 1.5 hour test drive and in that time I was able to test it around town, on a motorway and get used to the feel of the vehicle so that by the time I returned to the dealership I was quite used to the handling of the prius and able to make an informed buying decision. We don't all need three days to evaluate how a car drives.

Its nice to have a few days I guess if you have the opportunity but frankly many dealerships in my area don't have anything like enough test cars to offer extended test drives like that anyway.

[Parts-King]

If you were to call in to your dealer and start off with negotiations to buy a car, then you are much more likely to build up a rapport with him, and IF required, get an extended test drive. as mentioned above, it is not everyone who needs to try a car for a few days

In this world of internet sales and enquiries, and no face to face contact, it is sometimes difficult to judge potential customers. Every week we get people asking to use a car to test drive over a weekend, only to find they want to use the car as a sort of car hire without the hire charges!!! They have no real intention of buying "Just yet" and are quite rightly refused. Demonstrators are available in all the core models from every dealer, but dont expect the dealer to just hand one out, he will want to speak to you about your possible purchase. If the dealer only has one Prius on demo (and that is most likely) then a weekend might not be the best time for an extended drive as other people will want to drive it at the peak selling time, ie, weekends

Lease cars are difficult. We always try to give somebody a test drive in one if possible, but if we have several test drives booked, the lease driver will be at the back of the queue as we will be looking after those likely to buy from us. Like I say, go in and build a rapport with your dealer, if he can't do the deal then at least you have given him the opportunity

Kingo

[Einstein_IQ]

Well i can say i have now driven the Auris HSD in T-Spirit trim with Sat Nav, the only thing i would like extra is the tinted windows.

After a lot of e-mail conversations and a chat with the manager who bought my IQ off of me i barrowed one for the day on Saturday.

Well what can i say other than i want one. I immediately liked it as soon as i set off, so comfortable smooth and easy to drive.

I was a little concerned before i drove about the automatic box and what the HSD would be like.

I loved the gearbox and the HSD is amazing, so quiet and nonintrusive. The fiancee loved it because she could talk to me with no effort and it was so comfortable and "business" like.

I was getting 60MPG in town average and touching 80 on the motorway in eco mode and using cruise and doing 70MPG.

Now all i have to do is wait for my company to give me my log in so i can order it and choose between pearl white or black......