Should I Avoid This Potential Lemon

[Andrew Taylor]

Hi,

I normally drive a Lexus and we now need a larger second car; my dad loves his Toyota and as I've had such good times with Lexus I thought an Avensis Tourer would be just the ticket. My dealer has a D4D 2.0 TR with just under 30K. It's a 58 plate. I'm was due to look at it yesterday but it's having the fuel pump replaced, so, they want me to look tomorrow instead.

This immediately set alarm bells ringing; any car can have a problem and obviously the car will have a 12 month warranty, but, I don't want to be stuck with a lemon. A new fuel pump with less than 30K on the clock doesn't seem very clever. I'd hate to be arguing with Toyota, being without the car for weeks on end, life is too short. I've also noticed from these forums that the 2.0 diesel seems to have some oil / head gaskett problems.

Are these cars best avoided?

Thanks

Andrew

[t-spiritpete]

Hi,

I normally drive a Lexus and we now need a larger second car; my dad loves his Toyota and as I've had such good times with Lexus I thought an Avensis Tourer would be just the ticket. My dealer has a D4D 2.0 TR with just under 30K. It's a 58 plate. I'm was due to look at it yesterday but it's having the fuel pump replaced, so, they want me to look tomorrow instead.

This immediately set alarm bells ringing; any car can have a problem and obviously the car will have a 12 month warranty, but, I don't want to be stuck with a lemon. A new fuel pump with less than 30K on the clock doesn't seem very clever. I'd hate to be arguing with Toyota, being without the car for weeks on end, life is too short. I've also noticed from these forums that the 2.0 diesel seems to have some oil / head gaskett problems.

Are these cars best avoided?

Thanks

Andrew

Hello Andrew and welcome,

go on any car forum and you will read horror stories about different models, all I can say really is that Toyota do seem to have a better approach when dealing with customers problems under warranty but I also realise that there will exceptions with different dealerships. Overall the car you are looking at is a good car that is nice to drive and economical. If you can get them to extend the warranty as part of the deal you should be OK for the future.

Regards and good luck ... Pete.

[Pat2u]

A toyota dealership will have records of the car in question and i am sure if you ask they will let you see its history sheets, my thoughts on this vehicle in question, who has owned it in its past life could it be a disabled driver or a pensioner ?

We all know that dealers will try to pass a lemon on but my own dealings with toyota has been a good one and personally i doubt they would do it, as pete has already mentioned try and sqeeze them for an extended warranty, you also say you have not given the vehicle a test drive yet, i am sure you will take it from there once the test drive is done give it a good look at check tyres ect and try to get its history sheet normally they only offer the latter to a log book holder but as a potential buyer they may allow you you to see them.

I own a 58 plate tourer T180 and really enjoy it, its had an oil buring issue but thats been sorted on toyota's warrantee without any problems from my dealer.

Good luck with your choice.

[bestseany]

You should be wary of a diesel that's had a failed fuel pump. Sometimes when the high pressure pumps fail in a diesel they can break up internally and deposits bits into the fuel, which can damage the injectors.

[Andrew Taylor]

Hi,

Thanks for all for the feedback; bestseany, you're quite correct in your suggestion, that's certainly a worry. I've heard of that happening twice to the same Megane Scenic.

I'll see how I get on tomorrow; there seems to be a fair few of them around, so, I might test drive and then hold out for a different one to become available at a local dealer.

Thanks again

Andrew

[Andrew Taylor]

Just had an update from the dealer; it wasn't the fuel pump it was the water pump. The dealer was pretty honest, it's had a water pump, piston rings and a new head gasket. It's also had the EGR replaced. The fault was 'black smoke' coming from rear.

I've decided to walk away, it was a nice car at the right price and miles but I'd be forever kicking myself. Until I'm told that Toyota have a fix for these seemingly common diesel problems that can be applied under warranty, I'd rather spend my hard earned on another car. The dealer has to live with it for year, I'd have to live with it until it blew up.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

Andrew

[t-spiritpete]

Just had an update from the dealer; it wasn't the fuel pump it was the water pump. The dealer was pretty honest, it's had a water pump, piston rings and a new head gasket. It's also had the EGR replaced. The fault was 'black smoke' coming from rear.

I've decided to walk away, it was a nice car at the right price and miles but I'd be forever kicking myself. Until I'm told that Toyota have a fix for these seemingly common diesel problems that can be applied under warranty, I'd rather spend my hard earned on another car. The dealer has to live with it for year, I'd have to live with it until it blew up.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

Andrew

Hello again Andrew,

with all due respect it seems to me that Toyota did have a fix for all those problems due to the fact they fitted a modified head gasket, rings and water pump ... plus the fact that the Toyota extended head gasket warranty would cover you up to around 100,000 miles, that in itself is reassuring. I do understand your concerns but you may struggle to find another manufacturer to give this sort of warranty, maybe Lexus.;).

Regards and good luck with your search for another car, Pete.

[Pat2u]

Well its your choice and i feel you might have let a decent vehicle slip through your fingers, my vehicle had the work done costing around £1600 and the work is still under a further toyota warranty on the work doe, wlli guess you just wasn't happy.

[bestseany]

If it's just the head gasket and water pump that have been replaced then I'd go for it. It's such a common issue on those engines that it's reassuring to know it's recently been repaired by a main dealer with a warranty.

[Andrew Taylor]

Hi,

Obviously you're all a bit more au fait with these issues than myself or the dealer.

I didn't realise that there was an acknowledged design fault with these engines that had been assessed and remedied by Toyota. I was under the impression that Toyota acknowledged that these engines weren't acceptable and were repairing them under warranty to the original standard. I was happy that Toyota would repair these items, but, I was concerned if they were simply repairing / replacing with original parts the problem would re-occur (possibly whilst out of warranty). The dealer didn't tell me "There's a common fault that we've repaired and prevented from occurring again", I'm going to see a petrol model this evening, I'll make a decision from there as whether I should pursue the diesel or not.

Andrew

[irishjay]

Andrew you were right to go with your instincts , my head gasket went at 49k , Toyota replaced it under warranty , the second time it went they would not replace it , when it went first my gut feeling was to pass it on , i should have done it , now and then a bad car comes along , i think you would have been more upset keeping the car and something going wrong with it then getting rid , dont buy the 1.8 vvti !!! lol ,, real bad oil consumption , worst engine ever

[Andrew Taylor]

Hi,

Yeah, I think it's the right choice. Ultimately I'd be constantly worried about it packing in. Nobody wants to spend time at the dealers even if the car is getting repaired for free and the they're the nicest people in the world.

I've just done the deal on 2.0 vvti with 38K. Hopefully it's going to be reliable, but, I backed it up with a 3 year warranty. I just want something that will truck on for the next 60K and not cost me anything.

Thanks

Andrew