An Ex Merc Man....

[dave@york]

Having been a merc estate buff for many years, I decided to go for a new Avensis dcat auto estate.

Astounded.

Having lived with north/south engines, I'm amazed at how short is the Avensis engine compartment (given the volume of hardware in there), and at the resulting increase in internal space in the car.

My rear seat passengers now travel in great comfort, not having to play footsie with a transmission tunnel.

The 6 speed auto is seamless, and the exhaust refuses to emit anything unpleasant even when overtaking up a steep hill with a foot on the floor.

The smart entry system saves me rummaging for keys in my pocket, and I would go on about the sat nav, media, phone, etc, but I don't want to become the most boring new member ever.

I understand that the Avensis comes from Derby, so hats off to some very clever folk over there.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Dave - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

Yes the Avensis, and the Auris, come from Derby

[Uncle Buck]

Welcome Dave - glad you're enjoying the new car & it's features :)

[Raistlin]

Hi, Welcome to the club... Enjoy

[Heidfirst]

How do you find the fuel economy coming from a Merc.?

We tend to think of the 2.2 D-CAT auto as being a thirsty beast (it has the 5th injector to squirt fuel into the DPF & a conventional torque converter auto).

& how does the build quality compare?

The flat floor is one of the unsung benefits of the Avensis (they obviously never considered a 4-wheel drive variant) - very noticeable by comparison when you look at something like an Insignia.

[dave@york]

My average to date over 1500 miles is 37.5 mpg. The official figure is >40mpg but nobody ever seems to achieve official mpg figures. The merc was a 5 cyl 2.5 litre 'c' class diesel estate with 5 speed auto without dpf etc. My average with the merc was 35 mpg.

The avensis has much more passenger space and much more boot space, so on balance the economy is OK.

Rear wheel drive is normally more fun, but the avensis holds the road so well and has just the right under/oversteer that it is a really good car to drive. Also very comfortable with minimum fatigue on long runs.

Build quality on the avensis seems excellent, and I think that it is extremely unlikely that I shall need warranty repairs for corrosion as I did with the merc.

The 6 speed auto is really good and as seamless as a twin clutch auto.

The torque converter probably costs me one or two mpg and the particulate burner probably the same.

One characteristic of the merc rear wheel drive which was really frustrating was the inability to hill start on icy uphill slopes when fwd cars had no problem. I haven't had a chance to do a slither hill test with the avensis yet.