Confused New Auris Hybrid Owner

[acnm]

I've recently taken a delivery of a new Auris Design Hybrid and while generally I'm happy with it some things are just confusing me:

• Poor service
• No owners manual

I had a hugely worrying warning on the screen - Hybrid system malfunction. Stop in a safe place and contact service centre. I spent the day scared of using the car while trying to contact my dealer without success. Thinking maybe there was a blown fuse I checked these. Nothing. Trawling through the net I discover a downloadable manual which indicated several fuse boxes. I finally found a blown fuse and replaced this - problem solved after 2 days of trying.

So my first question is why did I not get an owners manual when I bought the car? Should I have? More so is it normal to not even be informed that I could get one online. I only came across the 'My Toyota' page by chance.

Second question, is it normal that dealers forget about you once you've handed over your cash? My dealer were wonderful until the day I picked up the car. I haven't heard from them since and they haven't responded to any of my queries.

• Touch 2 connectivity & use

I have no manual for my Touch 2 Nav system either. Through trial and error and the online Toyota videos I have most things working but when I want to use street view for example it won't connect it tells me to enter a device code online in My Toyota. Likewise when I want to see saved journeys or places created online it asks me to go online and enter the same device id. If i go online and try to enter a device id it tells me i can't as I already have a device installed. As I haven't heard from my dealer I used the live chat option online to ask Toyota directly. They informed me that they would pass the information to the technical team who would respond, but as you may have guessed I've received no response their either.

In general when using the sat nav I find the quality of the system and its routing to be very poor. The Nav option on the Auris is around £750 yet it is vastly inferior to a top end smartphone with Google maps installed which would cost substantially less. Selecting any option I get a second or two lag before it does anything. Once a route is selected I get constant diversion notifications due to traffic but clicking view only gives a view of the whole route - I can't see where it's re-routed me. Last weekend on a route from Heathrow to Liverpool it tried to divert me via leeds - an extra 75 miles!!

What am I doing wrong?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think Toyota supply a printed version of an abbreviated owners manual for new cars, and that the full manual may be downloaded from My Toyota.

Think I would find out the name of the dealer principal at your Toyota dealer, and write to them giving details of your experience since your purchase, and invite comment. Keep it to the point and polite.

The videos on the following page may help you with your Touch 2 system - http://blog.toyota.co.uk/tag/how-to

[Wayne2015]

Welcome and sorry to hear!

+1 agree with Frosty above

Also quick phone call to Toyota UK!

Plus I would immediately drive to a Toyota dealer and get them to at least have a quick check!

If really worried, call the Toyota (AA) breakdown service?

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

Hello and welcome to the board. I have not received a printed copy of the User manuals for the car and the Touch 2 system, however, the dealer gave me copies of both books on CD's. You can also obtain a copy of them when you register on My Toyota portal:

Here are links from MyToyota to the PDF manuals:

Auris HYBRID Owner

Auris HYBRID Navigation

[bruce e]

Yes, I too was a little confused by the abbreviated Users Manual but have downloaded the fuller version plus the full version of the touch 2 satnav guide. Guess it is the way of the world these days.

You do seem to have been unlucky to say the least with your dealer experience. I would ask for a face to face with the dealer principal if you are comfortable with that, if he's worth his salt he will want to know about this & I am sure will have words in the appropriate ear.

For my part I told about "My Toyota" & shown how to use it for service reminders / User manual downloads etc I also got a phone call from the sales person seven days after taking delivery checking if everything was ok & reminding me that if I have a problem to not hesitate to call or to pop in----thats the sort of after sales service you should have received.

Hope everything is now sorted

[conspicprius]

I too bought the Design model but my story varies from above in the fact that I test drove the Icon Plus and then was told it was no longer available but offered me the the new 'Design' model (Touring Sports Edition Hybrid).

The dealership failed to tell me the Sat-Nav was now an option but pointed me to an internal Toyota bulletin so it was my fault for not noticing this. Anyway, after a bit of jumping up and down and a magazine article feature they agreed to fit it for free.

Whilst all this was happening I noticed that my MPG was abysmal (44MPG) and when I complained about that too they came to take may car away for the retro fit and check the MPG but the driver was less than a mile away when the dash alarms went off telling to pull over and stop the car! A while later the car was towed into the dealership and three weeks later ....yes thats right three weeks later they told me the sat-nav was fitted and that the problem was loose air inlet hoses that was probabaly the cause of the failure etc. (not)

Got the car back and could not use the sat-nav as the speaking voice was so loud I had to turn it off and that this version was so new even the engineer couldn't fathom it either so got no instructions and now no sat-nav (chocolate teapot). Agree on the fact that this sat-nav system is pretty bad!

To insult me further the MPG was still the same (44MPG) and was told by the general manager that his engineer recorded 58.2MPG! but when pressed he could not supply evidence. So sent him my dashboard stats and the whole story has gone back into the void with the dealership now saying the car is in perfect working order and fitted with the latest super sat-nav software.

To further turn the knife on me the dealership had the audasity to say the performance of the car was down to my driving skills and when I pointed out I have been driving a Prius for nearly four years without any complaint they told me that the ECU 'Brain' needed more miles on the clock and could take up to a year to settle down. What ?? Apart form the car lacking any sort of brain this seems to match the dealerships handling of customer relations with me - no brains!

The published fihures for this car are just a tad over 70MPG and various websites advise me to be guided by a 85% ratio on this so I should get 60MPG at least. My figure is a paultry 64%.

I am getting nowhere with this dealership and eespecially Toyota Finance (conflict of interests I think) and now trying to reject the vehicle as it does not do what it says on the tin! This is a rubbish car!

[FROSTYBALLS]

When we have been in the process of buying a new car (18 to date) we always ensured the spec was what we wanted (brochures, internet, etc), especially where there has been a change in the range, etc. Relying on the dealership to highlight differences in the spec seems a bit naïve.

The Honest John Real mpg figures for the Auris Touring Sport in hybrid form indicate that owners achieve around 76% of the EU fuel consumption figures - but obviously this depends on both driving style and type of environment one drives within (urban, etc).

[Wayne2015]

When we have been in the process of buying a new car (18 to date) we always ensured the spec was what we wanted (brochures, internet, etc), especially where there has been a change in the range, etc. Relying on the dealership to highlight differences in the spec seems a bit naïve.

The Honest John Real mpg figures for the Auris Touring Sport in hybrid form indicate that owners achieve around 76% of the EU fuel consumption figures - but obviously this depends on both driving style and type of environment one drives within (urban, etc).

I also looked at HonestJohn s (think u pointed it to me, Frosty ) before my purchase

I think it states 72MPG (official) and 59MPG (real life)

Real Life will be based on other's real life driving and their road conditions

So, I would be happy with anywhere near 50s

I am getting average about 52mpg on a good run - can't complain, happy as it is (the BEST compared with cars I had in the past - )

But the public needs to be made aware the official MPG is only a benchmark to compare with other cars tested in the same conditions

Think WHICH? is leading a campaign to overhaul the official MPGs....

[kevin h]

I agree with concpicprius. Comparing the two cars, the Auris is rubbish. I achieved close to the published mpg in my Prius straight away. The Auris is miles off.

I too, have been considering giving the car back

[Wayne2015]

I agree with concpicprius. Comparing the two cars, the Auris is rubbish. I achieved close to the published mpg in my Prius straight away. The Auris is miles off.

I too, have been considering giving the car back

Having looked at the Prius Mk3 before purchasing the Auris - I have to agree there too

It seems the Prius more likely to achieve the official MPG (which is what buyers look at as one of the major factors in buying a particular car), than the Auris

As I was armed with enough information - I still went for the Auris because it was cheaper and I wanted a smaller car

Although, if ever I am going to change my Auris - I might go for the Prius next time....

*** Still haven't figure out why the Prius does better MPG than the Auris - still NOT convinced its the shape

[Heidfirst]

I don't know if it involved actual changes in the tests or is purely down to the manufacturers learning to game the system better (with VW dieselgate being an extreme) but the gap between the "official" test results & what was most usually achievable has been widening the newer the car models e.g. the Avensis T25 on HonestJohn's Real mpg ~98%, the original T27 83% & the T27 facelift 77% (too early for the 2015 facelift results). & it's the same for Ford, Vauxhall etc.

The Auris has a higher drag coefficient than a Prius (0.28 v 0.25) but I don't know their respective frontal areas to compare CdA.

Weights are roughly similar (the Auris is heavier but by less than 50kg)

[Wayne2015]

I don't know if it involved actual changes in the tests or is purely down to the manufacturers learning to game the system better (with VW dieselgate being an extreme) but the gap between the "official" test results & what was most usually achievable has been widening the newer the car models e.g. the Avensis T25 on HonestJohn's Real mpg ~98%, the original T27 83% & the T27 facelift 77% (too early for the 2015 facelift results). & it's the same for Ford, Vauxhall etc.

I smell another major car manufacturer scandal in the offing then.....

[conspicprius]

When we have been in the process of buying a new car (18 to date) we always ensured the spec was what we wanted (brochures, internet, etc), especially where there has been a change in the range, etc. Relying on the dealership to highlight differences in the spec seems a bit naïve.

The Honest John Real mpg figures for the Auris Touring Sport in hybrid form indicate that owners achieve around 76% of the EU fuel consumption figures - but obviously this depends on both driving style and type of environment one drives within (urban, etc).

I think I went through a few hoops on the internet first on the Auris Hybrid and then looked at the stats but was bamboozled by the salesman when he said the model I wanted was now defunct 'Icon Plus Touring Sports' and the new upgraded 'Design Touring Sports' model was replacing it and they couldn't get any Icon Plus's anywhere. I was obviously tempted by the 17" rims, auto-start features and better trim etc. and thought the performance was like for like.

But the car I got has no history (launched August 2015) and especially Honest John's link was of no use in this circumstance so had to rely on the Icon Plus stats. There is no current stats available for the Design Hybrid in the public domain yet but I'm sure that 44 MPG that I'm getting is well under par especially when comparing with my very old Prius that is still pulling in 55-60 MPG!

I just can't get the dealership to agree with me and they had three weeks to sort this out after they claimed the air inlet gasket was loose above the MAF sensor causing the engine failure lights to come on. So they tightened things up, reset the error codes and said all was fine. On retuning the car to me they insulted me by suggesting that my driving skills were to blame for poor MPG and of course sir....the car will need at least a years driving to get the ECU to balance the fuel management system ????

I hope most of you might agree with me that this is not the right answer?

[FROSTYBALLS]

You mention your 'very old Prius', precisely which model Prius are you comparing the Auris with?

[Heidfirst]

"But the car I got has no history (launched August 2015) and especially Honest John's link was of no use in this circumstance so had to rely on the Icon Plus stats. There is no current stats available for the Design Hybrid in the public domain yet but I'm sure that 44 MPG that I'm getting is well under par especially when comparing with my very old Prius that is still pulling in 55-60 MPG!"

It's just a facelift though so is unlikely to vary more than a few% from the previous which HJ's RealMPG suggests 76% or ~ 53mpg (& which, to be fair, I think you will find most people around here are getting in the low 50s). Now that we are into the cold weather you might lose another few mpg off that.

"I just can't get the dealership to agree with me and they had three weeks to sort this out after they claimed the air inlet gasket was loose above the MAF sensor causing the engine failure lights to come on. So they tightened things up, reset the error codes and said all was fine. On retuning the car to me they insulted me by suggesting that my driving skills were to blame for poor MPG and of course sir....the car will need at least a years driving to get the ECU to balance the fuel management system ????

I hope most of you might agree with me that this is not the right answer?"

Can't comment on your driving skills especially as you have had a Prius before (I know that people coming from non-hybrids usually do have to adpat their style to get the best mpg). However, imo the year's driving is guff but it certainly might take a month, again imo, for the system to learn your driving style.

[Wayne2015]

My last car was a 2.5 litre petrol auto doing 26mpg

One before that was a 1.9 litre V6 petrol manual doing 28mpg

My current car is my 1st ever hybrid - and boy, did I have to adapt my driving hugely!

To be honest, the adapting to the hybrid is not huge - just drive as u SHOULD do really if u want to:

1. Save the planet (less emissions)

2. Save a few pennies (drive more civil)

So the only thing I had to get used to:

APART from getting somewhere a little longer

and APART from the joy of driving like Miss Daisy

is....

...knowing how a caravaner feels like with a HUGE queue behind me daily,

with their front bumper 2inches from my rear bumper

And being over taken by the smallest slowest cars - lol

[Myktbh]

I got the actual user guide with my car. Been a godsend so far

[David Hazel]

"However, imo the year's driving is guff but it certainly might take a month, again imo, for the system to learn your driving style."

I can't see why it should take any length of time for the laws of physics to learn anyone's driving style. Efficient driving is efficient driving, no matter whose engine management system is handling the fuel flow. All cars obey Newton's laws.

Does anyone know whether engine management software is generic? I.e. do car manufacturers all buy their software from one supplier and then customise/configure it for their particular engine? That would certainly explain why no one's official MPG figures tally with reality - industry-standard "feature".

[Heidfirst]

Well, as for how long it takes for the car to learn your driving style (& yes, they do appear to) it's obviously mileage related rather more than pure time. On average 1 month would equate to ~1,000miles which imo isn't really a large distance.

Not everyone is aiming for "efficient driving" (whatever you may consider that to be) & even that would presumably vary according to where you drive & the type of traffic encountered.

I am sure that to a certain effect base engine management systems are provided by a few large specialist companies like Bosch but will then be modified by/to car manufacturers' individual requirements. However, even there I would suggest that they would ultimately end up with very similar solutions (in the same way that most car manufacturers' cars in individual sectors end up being pretty much the same weight, length, width & basic shape) to achieve the same end results.

No one's official test figures tally with reality because the tests don't tally with reality - this has been known for years but the manufacturers have obviously gained a lot of knowledge over those years at how to get better & better results on the tests. All the tests are good for are comparing cars under those specific conditions of the test - which as we have said don't actually compare to normal usage.

[David Hazel]

Regardless of efficiency, the car simply has to respond to the power demands that the driver is placing on it. I still don't see why there's anything for it to learn. It simply has to provide the power being requested from moment to moment. Cars obey the laws of physics, no matter what kind of engine management system is present (or, indeed, whether there's one at all).

If the car is performing less efficiently than the driver expects based on past experience, then I would say there is good reason to suppose that the engine isn't correctly tuned/calibrated, or else that some other factor is making the car use more fuel than it should (e.g. a brake shoe sticking, or some other physical impediment to the car's movement). It wouldn't take much to dramatically reduce the MPG - even too low a tyre pressure could do it.

[Heidfirst]

But different people drive differently - they press the accelerator differently, they brake differently, they use different rev ranges etc. - the cars appear to learn this. If e.g. I was to reset the ECU in my car then the next time that I drove the car I would notice a difference in the way that it drives until it progressively again relearned my style.

It's also not just a case of providing the power demanded by the driver - the engine management is also linked in with the VSC/TRC etc. so that power is modulated according to their sensors & inputs.