How Long Do D4D's Live ?

[Ben565]

Hi,

Just trying to decide if it's worth hanging on to my current Avensis (2008 2.0D4D TR) or trade for a newer one while it's still worth something. Main concern is the mileage, currently 115,000 but this time next year it will be 135,000 and I would imagine expensive things are going to start wearing out.

I've had it from new and It's done 70,000 miles (in 2 years) as a company car, mostly motorway miles. After I bought it from the lease company it had a new engine fitted due to head gasket issue, I took the opportunity to have the clutch replaced at the same time.

It's only ever been serviced and worked on by a franchised main dealer, full history and documentation for work done.

It's had a hard life though, the suspension crashes over bumps rather than soaking them up like it used to. the A/C is broken, needs condensor, drier, and compressor replacing. The new engine has had a flat spot and loss of power at around 3k rpm ever since it was fitted, this has never been resolved.

How long do these cars live for? and what sort of things can I expect to go wrong with it as the miles rack up?

[darkt]

I think the question is how much are you prepared to spend to keep it alive.

New A/C from Mr Toyota is best part of a £1000 plus labour, unless it's come down in last few years, suspension sorted about £500.

You need a competent tuning shop to sort the flat spot out, rolling road and maybe a new remap cost about another £500, unless the injectors are damaged then it's another £200 on top to have them repaired.

Far better to trade it in for a BMW 530 D

[Uncle Buck]

I hate to say it Ben - as the car has obviously served you well 'til now - but it probably isn't worth much as a trade-in now anyway. With that mileage & a few things needing sorted, you'd need to Shell out quite a bit either to fix or replace. Think I'd be changing very soon & buy the best replacement you can afford. Just my opinion though ...... :)

[Ben565]

I wouldnt want to spend a lot, the faults are annoying but I'm not going to Shell out £500 plus on fixing. At the moment it runs and gets me to work but the worry is at that mileage and upwards, something expensive going wrong that must be fixed. Quite apart from anything if the head gasket goes again then it's effectivly a write off.

At the moment it's still alive and the local dealers offered me £3,500 trade in against a 1yr old Avensis Icon+ with under 10k on the clock.

Also saw a nice 2.2 Avensis Excel with 8k on the clock but 2yrs old and at £16k a little over budget.

If I was to keep it I was interested to know what to expect in terms of things wearing out?

Oh and the clutch pedal is creaking, last time that happened the dealer diagnosed master/slave cylinder? £350 repair.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Ben565

[darkt]

Sorry but you are asking people to become fortune tellers, how long is a piece of string, what if? these are questions that are in the field of what might be.

The clutch may last another 10 years then again it may go tomorrow, the head gasket may last till the end of the week, then again it may last another 100000 miles.

You gave a list of faults you already know about and if some one is prepared to give you £3500 knowing about the faults grab the deal.

[Ben565]

True, but if someone has one that's already done a couple of hundred thousand then it might be useful for me to know what problems they had along the way. That's not to say mine will be exactly the same, but it would give some sort of idea what to expect.

[darkt]

If you had asked me this question 10 years ago I would have said your car could be good for 200000 miles but now it's anybody's guess.

I had a 1994 Carina E CDX with 150000 miles on the clock when I sold it and the only thing I had done was a service every year, 2 front wheel bearings and a Battery, the person I sold it to put another 40000 miles on it before he ran it into a ditch a couple of years ago in the snow.

Sorry but these later Avensis are crap

[Ben565]

Thanks for the comments and opinions.

Decided the time was right for it to go and have traded it in for a 2012 Avensis 2.2 T-Spirit with only 6k on the clock

[Airfan]

Thanks for the comments and opinions.

Decided the time was right for it to go and have traded it in for a 2012 Avensis 2.2 T-Spirit with only 6k on the clock

That was the right decision. The next big issue on the older one could be the clutch + dual mass flywheel which would cost half the price you've got for the whole car.

[stewartmac]

hi I have a 54 plate 2.0L diesel and currently on 275000, I change the oil every 5000 and all filters 15000 I have replaced 2 alternators, 1 starter and 2 air con compressor its on its 3rd clutch and im hoping to get a year or 2 more as a taxi hope this helps

[avensisd4d786]

hi I have a 54 plate 2.0L diesel and currently on 275000, I change the oil every 5000 and all filters 15000 I have replaced 2 alternators, 1 starter and 2 air con compressor its on its 3rd clutch and im hoping to get a year or 2 more as a taxi hope this helps

I have sent you a pm stewart.

[Ben565]

To be honest I'm beginnjng to wish I'd kept it, the new ones !Removed!

[avensisd4d786]

To be honest I'm beginnjng to wish I'd kept it, the new ones sh!t

as in what respect, ride? build?

[Ben565]

Bit harsh on it maybe. It isn't as I called it, !Removed!, but, I had just been jiggled all the way to work thanks to the poor ride, and frustrated by the poor implementation and/or useability of T&G Plus.

It is the ride that's the killer, dunno whether it's down to the 18" alloys or the tweaked suspension setup on the facelifted model. I had a pre facelift 2009 model for a while (2.0D on 17" wheels) and that had a great ride, could easily rack up big miles in that one. But not the new one. It's skittish too, gets easily upset by mid corner bumps and rough tarmac. I'm tempted to swap the alloys for standard 17" ones.

Aside from that it's the Touch and Go infotainment system that's driving me mad. It's probably a better system than the old one, but the implementation and usability is poor. A useful feature of the old one was that you could tilt it if the sun reflected off the screen (which it does every day on my way to work) on the new one you can't and I get blinded every morning. Other things like the screen not responding unless you stab at it 4 or 5 times, sat nav voice trying to compete with the radio instead of muting it like the old one did. And the annoying way it calls the A4069 the A Four Thousend and Sixty Nine. Bear left off the A Five Thousend and Twenty One onto the A Four Thousend and Sixty Nine and go straight for 200yrds onto the A Three Thousend and Thirty Three.. Got that ? no me neither and the old one didnt do that. Same with music, "now 1985" is "Now One thousend nine hundred and eighty four" Stupid machine!