New Versus Old?

[Phil F]

Hi everyone,

I have had my 05 Avensis 1.8 T3X Auto a few years now,it has about 83,000 miles on the clock.It has to be said it has been a great car despite a minimal service routine!It is at the point where some money will need to be spent soon:a service,rear discs and pads,two front tyres and road tax renewal.

I know that this is the cheaper option than buying a new one,but maybe a change would be nice.Your opinions on the following would be most welcome.

If I had a criticism of this car it would be that the road noise is quite high,I have travelled in similar sized saloons of other marques and been surprised at the difference.Do any owners here have the same opinion?

If I do change I would consider the 1.8 CVT version of the new Avensis.For anybody who has owned both is the new one a big improvement on the old particularly road noise?

Having read a lot of posts recently I am forming the impression that there are quite a lot of build quality issues with the new Avensis,is this fair to say?

If I decide to keep it,is there really such a thing as quieter tyres,any recommendations or is this just a myth?

Cheers....Phil

[crofter]

Hi Phil

The costs you mention will apply to any motor even the not so old.Not everyone is a steady driver.

And yes some tyres are noisier on one car than another. I would suggest consulting a couple of independant tyre fittng places.

I say indies as they tend to care more about you and your possible future custom,plus their reputation,and if you do find fault you can talk to them face to face.

Just my opinion

Del

[Whitewagon]

Phil, I can only give you my experience of the current T27 model I have. I have now had it for two years and have found the quality to be at least on par with many other cars I have had in the past. Having searched these forums you will have noticed that the two main complaints seem to be of squeaks and rattles around the dash and the electronic parking brake faults. I can honestly say that I have never had problems with squeaks and rattles of any kind in my car. I have however had the parking brake sorted under warranty without any quibble from Toyota. In my case it didn't fail but I mentioned at service time that it seemed noisy, they agreed and replaced the actuator. I am taking it back in this week for an airbag fault, the warning light is staying on. What ever part needs changing is being done, again under warranty.

As far as tyre noise is concerned I have found different tyres do make a difference. If you search for my posts you will see that the quietest I found were Goodyear Excellence. They were far quieter than the Bridgestone's I had on my car when I bought it and marginally quieter than my current Goodyear Efficient grip.

As ever the only true way of telling whether or not the noise level is acceptable for you is a test drive. To date I have always found Toyota main dealers accommodating for this.

[Phil F]

Hi,

Thanks to you both for your replies.

I think I will go and test drive one of the CVT saloons,see how they compare to my old model.

The attraction of the 1.8 Avensis auto for me is that you have a fairly sizeable automatic car with reasonable MPG(I average 35mpg) with low servicing/repair costs compared to the exec. saloons such as C-class,A4,etc.

Thanks again....Phil

[Airfan]

If they allow you, try the SPORT mode of the gearbox. It is whole new car!

[Heidfirst]

"If I decide to keep it,is there really such a thing as quieter tyres,any recommendations or is this just a myth?"

the new EU tyre label has a figure for tyre noise & it's clear to see from looking at a few that this does vary (esp. as dB is a logaritmic scale).

http://www.blackcircles.com/general/tyre-labelling/tyre-label