Honest Opinion On Auris Hybrid Wanted ! Useless Reviews!

[dcweather]

Can car reviews really be so useless !? Our current two cars are a 2014 Yaris Icon Hybrid and a 2015 Seat Leon 1.2 TSi DSG. Now What Car? had the Leon as it's Car of the Year in 2014. It is a great little car but not brilliant on fuel (av. 46 mpg). Now the Yaris isn't particularly rated. We find it brilliant. I am as happy in that as the Leon. It is now doing 58 mpg on short journeys. The only inferior things really are the smaller boot (well it would have wouldn't it being a smaller car) and is noisier over 50 mph but still reasonable. It is actually quieter at 20-30 mph and the Leon is very quiet. The Yaris gearbox is a dream and better than the excellent VW DSG.

The Yaris isn't even in Honest John's Top Ten city automatics - most of them being horrendous ASG driven things and I doubt they all have zero emissions and do 58 mpg on short journeys.

So what is going on?

The reason I ask is that I like the Yaris so much next time round I am contemplating an Auris Hybrid.

Can it be so much worse or different to the Yaris. What Car gives it just about the lowest rating of any car - just **. It says it is noisy and uncomfortable and has a cheap plastic interior. Also they say:-

"Refinement is an issue, because the when you push the accelerator the
revs soar suddenly and stay there until you’re up to your desired speed." What's that all about? Our Yaris doesn't do that!

So should I ignore this monster car that is so different in every way to the refined Yaris or is it all bo**8ks?

Apologies for the diatribe,

Dave

[chrismorrow]

Hi, I've just bought an auris hybrid icon plus, it's a great car, the reviews are honestly all rubbish, they don't explain about the car at all! I'm getting 61.2mpg after doing 170mikes around town. There are 3 drive modes, eco, normal and power, in Eco which I use round town, the car dampens harsh acceleration and is a little less responsive, in normal mode, the car is just standard, quite good mpg and good response. In power mode, it really does fly, engine gets up to speed very quick, and off the line is pretty good. It's because of the cvt gearbox that the reviewers don't like these cars. I think it's brilliant, then engine revs to where it needs to be and then stays there, so you floor it, the engine goes to around 6000rpm and will stay there until your up to speed. I personally think it's works well and is very smooth. Overall at high and low speeds it's a quiet car very smooth and very refined. Handling is quite good aswell, it has double wishbone rear suspension so each wheel is independent, throw it into a corner and it will go round it. I had a corolla 1.4 to start with then an auris 2.0 diesel and now this new audits hybrid. It has a really quality feel to the interior, the seats are very comfortable and whole car feels very premium. Hope this helps! Oh and there is the ev drive mode which is pure electric, however this only works at speeds of up to around 32mph.

[dcweather]

Thanks Chris. Well that is what I would expect - the same as our Yaris Icon just a bit bigger! Also I'd like to see a reviewer find an automatic hatchback that size, even a diesel, that will do 60 mpg around town in traffic from cold!

Dave

[ToyotaAuris]

Very good and reliable car. Worked well with the family, lots of storage space. Very comfy car, relaxing drive no problems at all. Reviews chat a load of cods wallop, please do not listen to them as I have been through every single one on the internet and all the niggles they bring up are NOT true. They are always in favour of German cars and dont like the !Removed!. If you have anymore questions feel free to PM me, would of wrote more but in a hurry.

[unclepoo]

We`ve had our Auris just over 1 year now.....and both my wife and myself love it. I`d looked at all of the reviews etc....all saying they`re not the best to drive, buy the golf or focus etc.....but I`ve driven both at work and they`re no better, both were diesels, so sound like a london taxi too.

Ours is the t-spirit so rides a little firmer but the bigger wheel/tyre combination give great handling and steering feel. Economy is great, I got 72mpg on a motorway run. If you need a big boot, look at the estate....and as a bonus, they are about 3/4 the price of a prius.

[Whitewagon]

On the whole motoring journalists are what they would call "expert" or "keen" drivers. In Everyman speak it means they like to tear around in sporty cars. They get invited, at least the better known ones, to new car launches and test days which most likely includes free lunches and goody bags. They rarely drive in the ame way as "Mr average" and rarely spend much time in cars like the Auris Hybrid. Their views, therefore, are not objective.

I am not a so called expert but have many years of experience driving innumerable vehicles of all types. I have test driven the Auris Hybrid on two occasions over all types of road and have found it to be as good as any car in its class. Yes some of the German cars in the same class have a more sporty handling characteristic but they don't have the same warranty length nor the same reported reliability as Toyota especially where their DSG gearbox is concerned.

Toyota hybrid transmissions act in much the same way as a CVT gearbox, their idiosyncrasy is that they allow the engine to rev more freely than other types of automatics when accelerating, this is not unique just to Toyota CVT's. Some people seem to describe this as a noisy gearbox when in fact it is just that the engine revs higher at a given point than other automatics do.

My current Avensis is the only Toyota I have ever owned so I am not a Toyota fanboy. My next car may be an Auris Hybrid but that decision will be based on my experience of Toyota to date and my own test drives and research not just the scribblings of a journalist.

The best thing you can do is to get at least an extended test drive so you can judge for yourself whether or not the critics re correct.

[dcweather]

Thanks for the useful comments so far - they do of course mirror my sentiments as you can tell from the tone of my original post. I am quite pleased because I am more than happy with my wife's Yaris which I drive a fair bit and that gets only slightly better comments than the Auris in the press. They just don't get it do they! I like to think I am a young 65 year old but since I have been driving for nearly 50 years covering over half a million miles in about 15 different cars I've probably got a pretty good idea by now. I will admit that comfort and quietness and economy come higher on my list now than 0-60 did in my 60's souped up 850 Mini then !

Dave

[Longbottom]

Had I worried about reviews I would never have bought my Auris. Which would be a shame, since I'm very pleased with the machine.

Motor journalists are a very strange breed. They care about things most drivers would never notice. Like their obsession with soft touch materials on the dashboard. I don't really have the time to sit and feel the material when driving. Perhaps they have. Or their unhealthy obsession with VW. The Golf looks as boring as it always has; yet every new version is praised for its wonderful design. They also like to feel the road through the steering wheel. I personally like a steering wheel that is easy on the hand and does what I want it to do. Reliability, though, seems to be completely absent from almost every car review. Possibly because the reviewer only has the car for a day. Still, the average car owner probably prefers reliability to soft touch materials and feeling the road through the steering wheel.

I went for recommendations from friends instead. A few of them have Toyotas and were very pleased with them. So we checked it up, and found one we liked. It might have got bad reviews from the professionals, but as an owner I am very pleased.

[Miseryguts]

I have a 2013 Auris petrol,lovely car with no problems.

I notice you are 65 years old.

One word of warning about the Auris,its roofline is considerably lower than the Yaris.

I test drove a Yaris and found it very easy to get in an out of (a bit like a Jazz)

The salesman asked if I would like to test drive the Auris (I liked the shape ).

As I got in he said "mind your head" too late,I banged my head on the top of the door frame.

If memory serves I think the height difference is just under 2 inches.

I bought the car as I likes the drive but still bang my head (especially when trying to get in when the car is in the garage).

I am 6ft 1in tall and 68 years old (my spine has regular doses of WD40),if you are more flexible than me you should not have a problem.

When they bought out the "new" Auris they lowered the roofline,according to my Toyota dealer this teed off some "older" Auris drivers and caused them to revert to the Yaris because of the height issue.

As I said the Auris is a good car,just check out the height issues ( I recently tested a Yaris Hybrid for that very reason).

[dcweather]

Thanks Ken - that will be something for me to bear in mind. I am 6 ft and very lacking in bending capabilities as am awaiting a double knee transplant! I do find the Yaris easier to get in and out of than my Leon and I like the high driving position although the seat doesn't go back quite as far as I would like and doesn't support my long thigh as much as I would like but it's ok.

Dave

[mark999]

The Auris Hybrid is an excellent car. We now have my dads which he bought new in 2011. There have been no problems with it and we regularly get 8-10 mpg more than our old 1.0 Yaris.

The only downsides are the poor boot space and it is a touch noisy on hard acceleration.

Mark

[cobh18]

I tested a face-lifted Auris yesterday. Short run (16 miles) on varied roads, including some quite steep climbs. Favourably impressed overall but for one aspect. The vehicle we tried had but 4 miles on it, but I noticed engine vibration, getting more apparent as revs rose. I don't recall earlier examples vibrating through the steering wheel and pedals, but they had more miles on them. In some of the road tests journalists have picked up on this, but I was surprised to find they had a point. Common factor is that the cars were possibly brand new, so perhaps some running-in would eliminate vibration. Or is there a problem with engine assembly?

[Gregor60]

I had a Honda Insight hybrid until it was hit by a truck six weeks ago. I need an economical automatic capable of high mile ages and don't quite trust the sainted DSGs yet. I loved my Insight but an Auris Hybrid came up significantly cheaper. No regrets. The Auris is a lovely car to drive. I've put five tank fulls into it and checked the mpg each time. Worst was 63, best in the high sixties. I particularly like being able to go into pure EV mode when driving through a village. It's true that the boot is small but we can get a folded wheelchair in with the parcel shelf removed, and with the seats down it's pretty spacious - getting a bike with the front wheel removed is no harder than with the Honda and the higher roof line makes it more comfortable for rear seat passengers.

Comments about screaming engines from professional road testers are ludicrous - that's what CVTs are like, and you'll hear that noise about once a day for five seconds unless you're a complete ned. Ordinary humans will find the car very pleasant, with tidy, safe handling. I'd go as far as to say it's something of an enthusiast's car, if you're enthusiastic about innovative, quality engineering. Jeremy Clarkson wrote a scathing review of the Insight. Chris Evans did the same with the Auris Hybrid. Anyone see a pattern here?

[Konrad C]

Adding my view late to the party, especially regarding car reviews, journalists remarks about cars not being exciting.

My point is that saying the Auris is not as exciting as their prefered reference cars, is becoming more irrelevant in today's climate of 20 mph limits, speed cameras and anti-social driving! In London the speed cameras are being upgraded to digital, work in both directions, and I have seen one fire for a car, doing about 26 mph in 20 mph zone a couple of days ago!

I have looked at Auto Express, What car, Autocar, Honest John and a few others, and they all say the same thing!

These journalist have been wrong about cars for some time. Look at what is happening with diesels. Nice when new, hell a few years down the line. Volkswagen have had issues with their DSG gearboxes.

I have posted in the past about reviews and how flawed they can be.

Now the Auris Hybrid is much more relevant in today's and future driving climate. I would consider one. Yes the engine revs when the power is needed, but it settles down. Diesels have effortless acceleration due to the high torque at low revs. How many times does that happen? Boot could be bigger but there is the estate option. Handling! So long as the car is not dangerous to control, and the driver is not being a loony, the car should be safe.

I would only consider a car by looking at forums like this plus owners views.