My "new" Avensis - Some Advice Please

[bigpace]

Hi, Recently bought a 1 year old Avensis Estate TR 2.0 d4d and overall I quite like it, although on reflection I wish I'd gone for the latest model, but heh-hoh I got it for a good price.

I have a couple of questions though - (1) previosly owned a VW Touran 2.0 tdi (quality not all at great) but I got around 450 miles per fill up but only getting just above 400 with Avensis, yet on paper and in comparison to the Touran I should be getting more. Any reasons why this is as our driving sytle has not changed also any tips to increase the mileage?

(2) The car veers slightly to the left is this normal?

(3) The clutch pedal annoys me a little because it "thuds" when it hits the floor of the car when changing gear. I've had a look and there is no underlay where the clutch pedal makes contact with the floor of the car. Is there a solution to this? Also, staying with the clutch, every now and then it clicks halfway down - any ideas?

[Whitewagon]

With regard to your fuel question, is the tank capacity of the Touran the same as the Avensis? The only true way of testing MPG is by doing a brim to brim test ideally several times. I have a 2010 petrol TR Estate and have done several such tests and find that my on board read out is very accurate.

The steering issue could be down to the camber of the road. Try finding a large flat car park and test in a straight line there. If it does still pull to the left of its own accord then clearly something Is wrong and should be covered by the warranty. The same applies If there is a clutch fault. Hopefully you have a friendly Toyota Dealer who will check it for you free of charge.

[Druid Boy]

My 06 D4D has pulled to the left since I bought it at one year old. 4 wheel alignment check didn't solve it either. Wish I had thought about the warranty............

[plasma99]

Mine also pulls to the left slightly. A 4-wheel alignment and four new tyres made no difference. I've always been sceptical of the "road camber" argument but I'm beginning to wonder if that is the true cause (also, the left hand tyres tend to spend most of their time in the lorry rut). The steering seems to be light on the Avensis and the vast majority of complaints are "pull to the left". Surely there would be more "pull to the right" complaints if it was a build issue. I'm not one for driving on the wrong side of the road to test the theory.

[Whitewagon]

I assume you are all referring to the fact that this happens if you let go of the steering wheel when travelling along a road and not that you get a sudden veer to the left when braking. On cambered roads, which in the main are most roads there is always a tendency for the car to follow the camber as in the UK we drive on the left the predominant camber is to the left, if you were driving on the right it would probably veer to the right. This happens on all cars but due to different steering geometry it is more noticeable on some than others. Try the level car park test to see if it makes a difference, or if brave enough drive on the right!

[bigpace]

Hi guys that for the replies

1 The Touran and the Avensis have the same tank capacity but it would seem that the emergency holding in the avensis is 9-10 litres. Drove the avensis until the warning light came on and the range was 0 miles then filled up the tank (got 420 miles in all). Just over 50 litres or about 71 to fill up - touran was always about 78 so emergency holding on VW must be about 4-5 litres. Anyway this means that the fuel cost in the avensis is slightly better, which agrees with the stats

2 I was a bit sneaky here because my avensis had three different makes of tyres, two goodyear at the rear and a dunlop and toyo at the front, suspected the odd pairing of the tyres were to blame. Toyota changed the tyres and it's fine now, but I wanted to find out if the avensis naturally pulled to the left, touran didn't but my omega before that did. By the way wasn't impressed with toyota dealer selling a one year old car with three different makes of tyres, especially when the driver's manual states - do not use tyres of different brands. Anyway they are making it good.

3 The clicking noise from the clutch (half way down) was the master cylinder needing lubricated. I think I'll get some car underlay for the carpet where the clutch touches the floor of the car to help with the thud

Another question - in the boot there is are slots on either side between the wheel arch and the rear of the boot for luggage dividers. Toyota parts say the dividers come with the car but someone else said they don't can anybody confirm which is true?

[Heidfirst]

think that they only come as standard with certain trim levels (T4 & up?).

[bigpace]

Heidfirst - Looking at photos on Autotrader I think your right. Toyota parts want 56 pounds a divider so I think I'll do without

[bigpace]

It would seem I spoke to soon about the steering. Steering wheel now sits slightly to the right on straight roads and if I bring it back to centre it is just as bad as before, in fact even worse. May be the steering wheel was like that before and being extra vigilant I've just noticed it. I hate sorting out these niggles with a "new" car Anyway I am going to book it in for to a specialist for a geo check.

[Whitewagon]

How many miles had the car done when you bought it? The tyre should be good for around 15 to 20 k at least. If the car had odd tyres I would be asking why and suspecting that it may have been involved in an accident, needing new tyres as a result, which could be why you are having problems. Did you get a printout from the dealer covering a history check? For peace of mind it may be worth doing a HPI check though it is possible, if the car was a Toyota owned vehicle, it may have been repaired by them and not through insurers. If it was privately owned before you may be worth contacting the previous owner. Sorry to be downbeat but it does seem odd.

[bigpace]

The car had done just over 11K. The car belonged to Toyota from registration, whether this was used by Toyota staff or leased to a hire company or some other organisation I don't know. I got the paperwork from Toyota that it had been checked but obviously as you stated any repairs could have been done within Toyota. It could have been that the tyres where swapped with another car.

Also, I discovered that the accelerator pedal sticks 3/4 of the way down, so that is now 3 different tyre brands, a clicking clutch, slight pull to the left, loose trim noise from the b pillar/driver’s door, an intermittent rattle for the front passenger area and a sticking accelerator pedal.

Was this car checked before re-sale? It would seem not.

I have complained directly to Toyota so while it is in the garage today to be fitted with tyres of the same brand and fix the accelerator pedal they are going to investigate exactly where the car came from. I don't blame the dealer for this. if Toyota are releasing cars to sell from central stock to this standard then there is most definitely something wrong with their checking procedures.

.

[Whitewagon]

From my experience with Toyota so far I would expect the problems to be sorted out. The different tyres on the front may have something tondo with the steering problem. Best of luck and hope all is rectified to your satisfaction, please let us know how you get on.

[Parts-King]

Did you buy it from a Toyota dealer?

We deal with dozens of "employee" cars from the Toyota engine plant. When they go back to Toyota, they have to be spot on. ANYTHING slightly dented, damaged, missing is charged to the driver PLUS an extra fee for the inconvenience too so I doubt very much it cam from Toyota like that

Kingo

[bigpace]

Yep, from Western Toyota in Edinburgh. Hopefully I'll get to the bottom of this soon. The car is still with the dealer so perhaps I'll find out tomorrow.

[Parts-King]

Coolio

At the end of the day your contract is with the dealer, NOT Toyota. They must be your first point of call

Kingo

[headhurts]

With regards to accelerator pedal sticking 3/4 way down I believe you may be talking about a feature on some cars.

On mine if I set the speed limiter for instance to stop the car exceeding 30mph when accelerator is pushed beyond this point it removes the limiter setting.

[Heidfirst]

Yep, from Western Toyota in Edinburgh.

Cameron Toll or Newbridge?

I was always very happy whilst the branch was at Sighthill but haven't dealt with them since they moved to Newbridge.

& if it was Cameron Toll I probably looked at that car!

[bigpace]

1 I thought about the speed limiter and you may be right, but there is nothing in the manual to suggest this (unless I have missed it), the speed limiter is always off, the pedal is the same without the engine on and the dealer never mentioned the speed limiter.

2 The car was from the new branch at Newbridge, but funnily enough is was due to be moved to Cameron Toll the day I bought it

Thanks for all your comments guys, I feel a bit embarassed making such a fuss but all I want is a car I don't have to worry about for a few years and Toyota seems to fit the bill

[Jas16]

I've heard of the road theory as to a car veering to the left, but other than wheel alignment can't add much else. Tank range, I've found the Avensis to be very generous on the reserve amount, but if your main driving is town only that that would sound reasonable. Mine was split 60:40 motorway:town, hence my average range was ~610 but at most I could only re-fill ~54litres

The divider may be sourced from eBay (?) don't know how much Mr T would charge as an extra.

Don't worry about the niggles and let it detract from the overall experience. Every car has its own niggles as such and I know its annoying but touchwood the car will be fine for the future

[bigpace]

Must admit pleased with the response from the dealer and Toyota and from comments here confident things will get sorted.

The dealer has just phoned and said that they have tried other Avensis' with respect to the accelerator pedal and they are all the same. Can anybody else with the speed limiter confirm that they get resistance from the accelerator about 3/4 of the way down.

I can't find anything in writing from Toyota.

[bigpace]

Hi All, You have been really helpful and a big thanks to everyboby but if someone could just confirm that the accelerator pedal on the Avensis is designed to resist 3/4 of the way down I would be really grateful.

This happens on my car with the engine off or on and the dealer says this is normal for all Avensis' I just want it confirmed

[Whitewagon]

Can't say that your pedal issue is noticeable on mine but it is a petrol and does not have the speed limiter just standard cruise control so it may ony relate to those fitted with diesel engine and/or speed limiter.

[headhurts]

I promise you this is correct re pedal, I purchased mine new and took it back with same issue and was advised this was the case, on way home I tried it out and with speed limiter on push pedal down no speed increase above the setting but push accelerator beyond the resistance and it removes limiter setting.

[bigpace]

Thanks, I just wanted to hear it from someone else. You would have thought though that Toyota would have explained this in the car manual or instructed the dealers to mention it at the point of sale.