New Auris Exel Sport Tourer Hybrid

[cviclark]

Hi

I have a Prius Gen 3 and want to go to a new Auris Estate. I have driven the 1.6 petrol in Icon trim and did not like it . Reflections have always been a problem with both my Prius but with the shiny dash and silver circles on the ICON they are a serious problem.. The Excel hybrid was very nice. It is like a well developed refined British estate. Build quality is as better than the C180 Merc Estate, it feels really solid, I love the old fashion eyeball vents but again the silver surrounds give reflections. I did miss the HUD of the Prius as the speedo was hidden by the steering wheel rim and the limits are not highlighted.

The only show stopper for me was the wheels and tires. I will never buy another car on 17" wheels and LP tyres. I cannot believe any experienced driver would buy an estate car of this quality on silly "bling" wheels. The ride was not as good, as the petrol and they were noisy, I would be very surprised if the tyres last more than 10,000 miles and are not only expensive to replace but prone to damage. I have been there with a Lexus, never again. At least Toyota have realised people want a spare wheel the Auris has the space and is shaped to take a space saver ( not ideal but better than a stupid repair kit)

If they get the price and spec. right this car should sell very well. They have hard fight to get customers behind they wheel of hybrids but I have driven them for the past eight years and love them. Hard to see where the Prius range will go now though.

[Ratho1]

I did a test drive on this car a month ago and whilst I found the ride on the hard side but tolerable, the noise off the tyres was quite high. I agree with you, it would be better to offer 15" wheels as with the Icon version. I went for the XL because amongst other things the interior fittings are way superior to the Icon but I would have preferred the 15" wheels.

[timbooo]

Won't the dealership swap out the wheels for you?

It's interesting reading about the spare wheels (or lack of). I bought my Auris (standard, not 'sport tourer') in Turkey and it comes as standard with a full size spare. And a fire extinguisher, which is slightly disconcerting :D

But more on topic, they allow a full choice of the wheels with all the trims. Seems entirely logical (which is a rarity 'round these parts). I didn't check if they give money back for "downgrading", they're certainly happy to take a bit more to get sparklier ones.

I also would have bought a hybrid but they're not here yet, only the Yaris (bizarrely). So I'm burning fossils all the way.

[Ratho1]

I see that spare wheels ( spacesavers ) are now available for £100 at the dealers. Why don't they build them into the selling price of the car in the first place ?

I did ask the dealership about swapping to smaller wheels but it's not "company policy". There is a bizarre complication in that the Insurance industry regard this as a modification and will put up the cost of your insurance. Crazy, that one in view of the fact that the Icon , basically the same car, has them as standard.

[cviclark]

Hi Timboo

Yes the dealers would have swapped them out but in UK the insurance companies view this as a modification from the standard spec. ( Toyota say the Excel is not homologated for 16" or 15" wheels). The car is so new that it was not on the insurance lists of the company I used for my previous Prius. Modifications from standard were not an option.

Toyota GB said the choice of wheels were a marketing decision and could not be changed. At one point I even cancelled the order. Toyota GB were unyielding. I am getting the same lack of response to the speedo problem.

[cviclark]

I see that spare wheels ( spacesavers ) are now available for £100 at the dealers. Why don't they build them into the selling price of the car in the first place ?

I did ask the dealership about swapping to smaller wheels but it's not "company policy". There is a bizarre complication in that the Insurance industry regard this as a modification and will put up the cost of your insurance. Crazy, that one in view of the fact that the Icon , basically the same car, has them as standard.

Tell me about it I went around the houses with Toyota GB they even told one dealer he could not supply the car. The dealer I bought it from agreed to swap out the wheels but the I hit the insurance brick wall. You will be lucky to get 50mpg Averages out of it with 17" wheels but my old Prius on 15" gave 55.8 throughout its life.

I am getting the same run around withe the lack of clear speed readout. The multi-information display gives all sorts of meaningless rubish but can not be set to give a simple digital speed. Most of whats on the multi-information is duplicated on the touch display but even that can not display speed ( unless you spend £650 on a sat nav.) At 30 or 50 this is critical and downright dangerous. Toyota say it can not be changed but the info is available at the ODB and third party products can read and display it,if you are willing to hack into the system. All the "communications" information, safety features, customer satisfaction surveys, yet an obvious fault cannot be corrected. Like the wheels this would be a very simple fix but Toyota do not appear to have anybody technically competent in UK willing to help.

Its a pity as this could be the best Hybrid yet i find it more usable and comfortable than my Prius. .

[Ratho1]

I wonder if Toyota ever listen to the points that users make about their cars, or is it all PR ? If they did they might one day come up with the "perfect" car.

Is there anyone on this site from Toyota who would care to comment ?

[Parts-King]

I wonder if Toyota ever listen to the points that users make about their cars, or is it all PR ? If they did they might one day come up with the "perfect" car.

Is there anyone on this site from Toyota who would care to comment ?

Unlikely, and if they did, would they find this thread? The title gives no clue

Better off contacting them directly and telling them rather than hang around waiting for them to stumble on this thread

Kingo

[timbooo]

A month into ownership we were phoned by some branch of Toyota aftersales, asking us how the car was and what we liked etc. etc.

So they do apparently make some effort to get feedback...

As for the car wheel / insurance ridiculousness, seems if you could talk to a sensible insurance company they'd probably understand that changing bling bling wheels to sensible ones is not something that should cause an increase in premium. In fact it might make the car less "nickable"...

Hahahaha I just realised I used the words "sensible" and "insurance company" together. Silly me.