Should I Buy A 1 Year Face Lift Avensis Tourer

[rogersp]

Having had diesels for the last 15 yrs and completing high mileages my complete driving profile is about to change when I retire next year when I will sell my diesel steed to replace the same with............???

Thinking about a face lift 1.8 petrol Tourer but not sure if I'll be disappointed after driving turbo diesels for many years? Any thoughts on this one ? Any one on here made the change from an oil burner to petrol?

Clearly I do not want to go down the route of problematic DPF filter problems because most of my mileage will be local with the occasional trot down the motorway.

So the question is, what is an accepted driving profile? Short jaunts of <10 miles each day and a monthly blast to clear the DPF filter or can I extent this to every three months? Any ideas as most car dealerships can not advise as they won't commit themselves.

Added to that I'm also of the opinion that manufacturers are making diesels far too complicated hence the problems we are starting to see with DM flywheels etc.

Finally, anyone out there bought their own 1.8 petrol, are you happy with it along with the dealer support?

Thanks for any input and opinions.

[Nick_avensis]

a lot of friends of mine have avensis models between 2007's and 2012's ....petrols are good , the vvti's these days are nice and nippy so dont feel as dead as most petrols would by comparison to a diesel, if it's town/city driviing your gonna be doing then go with either a 1.6 vvti petrol or a 2.0 d4d, the 2.2 d4d is heavy on juice around town and is a little problematic, the 2.0 d4d is bulletproof , 2 friends of mine have them as taxis(not an ounce of bother) and another has one for to and from work whick=h is like 8mls each way with an occasional spin at the weekends(again not an ounce of hassle), the 1.8 vvti's are fairly heavy on petrol around town but that said they are a beautiful drive and very economical in a straight line !!! depends what driving you're gonna do, i personally love the 1.6 vvti/valvematic as an all rounder as it's not as underpowered as you'd think for a 1.6 in a big car !! it packs a very surprising 132bph and 160nm of torque .....which are close to diesel figures in an older diesel !!! hope i helped !!

[headhurts]

I have a 2010 2.0 D4D which has been superb, having said that I have driven a new 1.8 auto which was surprisingly quick especially away from standing start and according to the read out it was doing quite good MPG.

[bill2503]

Hi there.

Lyfestyle-wise I'm in the same boat as you and I'd had diesels for years, but with the introduction of DPF's I became disillusioned & found the regular blasting down the motorway an undesirable & not exactly cost effective pain in the backside. I decided to change to petrol & bought a 2011 1.8TR tourer 2 months ago. My impressions so far are as follows:-

Around town the car is quite refined - very little engine noise & it copes well with our less than perfect road surfaces. Fuel consumption is not great though & I achieve about 30mpg. Very light & easy to drive, but far too many plasticky 'ticks' & rattles from the dashboard area and surprisingly from both front doors - most annoying & not what I expected from Toyota.

On the open road again again it's well mannered & road and engine noise is not intrusive. However, to get any half decent punch from the engine it does have to driven pretty hard & I find I'm changing down to 2nd gear at 40 for a decent overtake ( which does the trick although the engine sounds like it's going to explode) and at 55-60, to 3rd. I really miss the torque of the diesel & the petrol most definitely does not give such a leisurely drive. On the motorway at a steady 60 I can achieve 50mpg which is more than satisfactory I think. One 'feature' which I do find annoying is that by the time you reach 70 there's a noticible body boom & this become tiresome after a while. Thankfully though my motorway trips are few & far between.

Boot space is great although for a car of this size the opening is somewhat narrow and while it's nice to have a completely level floor, the Asda carrier bags don't half slide about and deposit their contents everywhere. My solution was to remove the floor & the moulded polystyrene spare wheel cover - they're in my loft now - and thus create a deeper boot where the bags are contained within the spare wheel area. This has been successful & a lot more practical & doesn't noticibly increase noise from the rear of the car. It's great to have a full size spare wheel by the way - well done Toyota!

I have to say I'm not impressed with the bulging bodywork below the window line. I find it impedes the view in the mirrors & makes reverse parking more difficult. I can't see any practical reason for this and can only assume Toyota reckon that it 'looks good'.

The inbuilt Satnav is great although it would be nice to have a speed camera warning in it.

The reversing camera sounds like a nice feature & works well for distance if you're reversing in a straight line. It doesn't tell you where the rear corners of the car are though & the image becomes useless if it's after dark & raining. I definitely preferred parking sensors.

I can't say I've fallen in love with it or would definitely buy it again but around town which constitutes by far the bulk of my driving it's fine - apart from the plasticky noises!!

I can't comment on Dealer support I'm afraid.

Trust the foregoing is of some help.

Cheers,

Bill.

[acetip]

Just like many others i had diesels for well over tweny years, but after retiring i decided and after considering the much smaller amount of annuel miliage i was going to do in the future and not wanting a vehicle with DMF,Turbo,EGR,Particalate filter.or Cam belts.

Most engines seem to have Cam Belts, So the choice seemed to be mostly Japanese cars.

As the 'problem' with the sticking throttles was at the same time as i was looking for the car and Toyota Dealers were having problems selling cars,also i had sold my previous car privatly so had no trade in i was able to get a good deal on the 1.6 Auris T spirit.. Ive had it 3 years nearly and it had just under 20000 miles when i got it and now its only done just over 25000 miles, been on Duel carriageways with it but not on any motorway yet.

most of any short trips are done in the wifes little Hyundai,and most trip with both cars is mostly rural.so a larger engine diesel would have been a waste of time and money.

The car runs well but very diappointed in the build quality,it seems be done on the cheap.

I know this post does not answer the question about an Avensis but its about having a low miliage and low maintenace petrol engine.It you are like me when you get older you tend to lose the interest in tinkering with a car for the sake of it and need something thats easy to look after.which modern diesels dont seem be. yes there will be those who have X amount of miles with no trouble.( as my indirect injection engined cars did) but if your not doing the miles then petrol is cheaper,as you have not got to go for the expensive top grade diesell fuel. or buying additives to keep things clean.

.

[valentino 46]

I have just purchased a petrol 1.8, new, and i did a lot of searching before the deal was complete If you look at the motoring paper in The Telegraph on Saturdays, you might be aware of the very good piece by honestjohn.co.uk on this website they run reports on every new car. The report on his findings regarding the 1.8 petrol tourer IS EXELLENT. It made my choice a no brainer.

Also , you will always have someone saying that they dislike cars that they have driven or purchased ,if that was taken as gospel, then nobody would buy anything. Two weeks into my new car ,i am delighted .

[mintalkin]

i went from a mondeo diesel to a anensis 1.8 saloon two years ago, had a couple of niggles with the car but my local dealer sorted them with a 'no problem sir' attitude,usually get 36-38 around town and 46-48 at motorway speeds, i do miss the torque of the diesel but with 148bhp the 1.8 is not slow you just have to change your driving style and use the rev range a bit more, you do not have to worry about DMF's, cam belts, or DPF's, i got the local dealer to throw in Roof Rack, front and rear parking sensors(god send) mats, flaps and a protection pack so there are deals to be had. overall i am happy with the car and would buy again.

[Whitewagon]

I bought a 2010 1.8vvti TR auto Tourer in April this year for the same reason as you are about to. I have never owned a diesel model of anything before as have never been a fan of them and even less so now with the seemingly abudent DMF, DPF and injector issues that are now prevelant. I too did a lot of research before puchase and did consider a diesel engined car but soon discounted them. I accept for high mileage business users it may make sense.

This is my first ever Toyota having moved from a Honda Accord saloon. My experience is in contrast to some of the above posts. I find the ride very comfortable and handling is good. The power is more than adequate for everyday motoring and for extra power for overtaking or pulling away rapidly the sport mode makes a huge difference. Until now my motoring has been a daily 12 mile commute on semi rural roads with weekend shopping and run abouts, a 100 mile mainly motorway round trip every 2 or 3 weeks and a couple of 400 mile round trips. Fuel consumption is a steady 37 to 38 mpg. I dont drive slowly and the motorway cruises have been around the 80mph mark.

Quality of the interior is as good as any modern mainstream car I have been in recently and have not found any of the rattles and ticks mentioned above, I was expecting there to be more noise from the rear being an estate but have found it amazingly quiet, the road noise is far less than the Accord saloon. The TR trim gives a good mix of goodies and I dont think the higher specs are value for money. I have yet to master the Satnav fully, I find it over complicated so only use it when I really need to but when I do get it to work it does do the job well.

I have always been a big user of mirrors when reversing so I dont find it a problem, the rear camera is a good tool for the tight spots but agree that sensors would be a help but more so for the front than the rear.

So far have had one service and the parking brake actuator was replaced under warranty. I have used three different Toyota dealers, one for a test drive, one for a test drive and purchase and one for the service and repair. All three were excellent and accomodating.

My only gripe is the electronic parking brake. Its awkward to use and not at all helpfull when manouvreing in awkward spots on an incline.

Would I buy another Avensis? Probably, if I'm in the market for this size of car next time. Even if not another Toyota model will be on the short list.