Auris Hybrid Advice

[Concho]

Good morning, I need some advice please. Basically should I buy a used Toyota hybrid, say between 2010-2012 model with up to 40k on the clock, wife had a 2l petrol avensis estate which was getting silly on fuel so done some research and looks like if driven carefully the auris hybrid can be a good option!

Does anyone have any advice prior to purchase, what to look out for and what to avoid etc...

Many thanks

Stephen

[FROSTYBALLS]

The only issues with the first generation Auris hybrid seem to be:

1. the Battery being stored beneath the boot floor reduces the boot space - you lose height

2. a few owners if they've left the car standing for a period of time (which varies from 2-3 weeks or so) have experienced a flat Battery. Toyota recommend trickle charging to overcome this if the car is left for a period of time. Also the hybrid shouldn't be jump started as damage can be done to circuits within the hybrid system.

3. if the car is not driven regularly the 12 volt auxiliary Battery can lose it's capacity to hold a full charge. Again trickle charging can help with this.

[unclepoo]

I bought a 2011 Auris hybrid (T Spirit) a year ago....and not looked back....get 48mpg on very short driving and got 72mpg on a long motorway journey....and they`re about 3/4 the price of a same spec/year/mile prius....nice to drive too, don`t take any notice of the reviews saying buy a golf/focus or whatever, as they drive better...utter rubbish.

Boot is a little small, so if you need a big boot, maybe look at the estate.

I`ve see questions about the 12v Battery and how long it will last long term, or parked for a couple of weeks in an airport carpark...mines been fine, but they are only small.

Servicing.....use a Toyota dealer, as they need to be put into service mode to be worked on, and it will be under warranty too.

All good in my view.

[Concho]

Wow only 48mpg, that doesn't seem very good at all. My wife does about 16 miles to work so 32 miles a day generally and its not driving in traffic really just mixed gets up to a bit of speed on bypasses and can use the cruise. I thought you supposed to be able to really drive economically and so enhance the economy of these cars. The fella on the review on YouTube by auto express said if driven carefully with optimal accelerating and braking he got about 80mpg! and when he drove it normally got 56mpg!

[FROSTYBALLS]

" ..get 48mpg on very short driving and got 72mpg on a long motorway journey.. "

It depends what 'very short driving' is - whether it is distance or time. For example, my commute to work was 6.5 miles each way, which is a reasonably short distance, but as this was done in the heavy traffic of Birmingham, the journey time ranged from 40 minutes to an hour. Of course the shorter the journey, the worse consumption one will get, due to the car not getting up to operating temperature for long, if at all. A 16 mile drive either way without driving in traffic, should produce reasonable results.

I've seen the Youtube video, and on the first drive the tester got just over 53mpg, and on the second drive 82mpg - but that was using the car's own readings which may not be the most accurate.

The Real MPG page of Honest John will give a reasonable idea of what level of consumption owners typically achieve - http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/toyota/auris-2007/18-vvt-i

[puckdrop]

Once the car has warmed up, you'll be able to use the full advantage hybrid gives you. I have a 2007 Gen 2 Prius (the 1.5L one) and find it hard to get BELOW 60mpg once it's warm. However, as with all fossil fuel cars, you don't want to be starting it cold, doing a 1m school run and return expecting big mpg figures. The car won't have warmed up properly into full hybrid mode.

On a gentle (50-60mph) run from home to work - which is about 25 miles, I can get between 60 and 70mpg

[unclepoo]

The 48mpg is the mrs driving....she uses the accelerator like an on-off switch, and it`s less than 2 miles to work for her....thats why its only 48mpg.....but at least this is a worst case scenario. some people will tell you they get 110mpg too, then they wake up.....but i only got 72 on a 400 mile round trip, including M1 + M25 with heavy stop/go traffic.

[mark999]

In mainly short runs our 2011 Auris hybrid does just short of 50mpg, that may not sound good but our old 1.0 Yaris under the same regime only did 43mpg.

Mark

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

Just received my Auris HSD 2015 Facelift. Cruising arround city, I was able to get 2.8 to 4l / 100 km (AC on all the time) wich in MPG translates to 71-101 MPG