considering buying an auris touring hybrid

[Anthony Poli]

Hi Mr Bee,

That was quite a long post. One thing I would say about the brakes. No need to pop it n neutral, they will clean themselves when coming off the motorway, press a bit harder on the slip road rather than the regen braking.

[Heidfirst]

4 hours ago, Beekeeper D said:

All in all, I'd love the Toyota powertrain (ideally with a TC switch for reassurance) combined with the Honda 'magic seats' and loadspace.  A Prius+ has a rather higher loadfloor and sill, and a new Rav4 hybrid is waaay over budget. I need loadspace(s) for mainly short journeys. I'd like super-efficiency and reliability with low cost of long-term ownership. And anything that "looks like a van" has to be ruled out. So I'm going round and round in circles between these two. I'm probably missing something obvious... 

Depends exactly upon your needs but dare I suggest an Avensis Tourer 1.8 Valvematic? OK, as a bigger, conventional petrol car it will never get the same mpg as a diesel Civic or a Hybrid Auris & annual car tax is higher. However, it will do ~40mpg on average & is very reliable. On that score really only the EPB is a potential worry but while actuator failures do happen they seem to be really rare given the nos. of vehicles produced. 

On the other hand (& I can only speak compared to an Auris TS) you know that you are in a car a class up - if you are doing just short trips maybe not an issue but if you are doing hundreds of miles on motorways per day you will arrive less frazzled. The boot whilst theoretically marginally smaller in total volume than an Auris TS for me has more actually usable space (incl. a separate load tray/tonneau cover storage under the floor).

If you are buying nearly new (1-2 years old) as a more mass market (dare I say fleet) product I would expect them to suffer higher initial depreciation than a Hybrid, you get the 5 year warranty & the option to extend (subject to age & mileage) up to 10/11 years or so.

My ideal would be an Avensis Tourer with the 2.5l hybrid power train from the Lexus 300h/RAV4 hybrid but they don't offer that ... :(

[PeteB]

8 hours ago, Beekeeper D said:

...I've driven an Auris Hybrid with 40,000 on the clock (after 2 years) and was impressed that it felt essentially no different to one with 10,000 (and one year)... 

My 2nd (Mk 1) 2002 Prius was over 9 years old with 163,000 on the clock when I sold it and it still drove like new.  It's still going today, although I understand the HV Battery was rebuilt late last year after some cell stacks failed (at just under 180,000 miles!) and is now good as new again, 

[MetManMark]

Thanks to Beekeeper for your awesome posting. IT is useful to compare notes with someone also thinking along similar lines. 

One thing that I am mulling over is whether this size car equates to our current Saab 9-3 hatch. When I first got this I was a single chap. It was blatantly too big for me but I bought it from my Mum and knew it had been looked after etc. I now have a wife and two kids and regularly fill it up! It has also been invaluable taking stuff to the tip / picking up bricks / building materials as we have been renovating our house. The point is our saab has been a real workhorse and I feel we really "use" it.

Partly as a result of your comments I am really warming to the idea of a hybrid. I am also increasingly keen on toyota given that my mum has had such good service from her yaris over the last 10 years. I had looked online at the prius but it seemed to be a bit pricey in comparison with the auris tourer. I also like the way in which the auris appears to be a regular car and seems to sidestep some of the stereotypes that go with the prius. However, what I am wondering is whether now there is a new version prius the old version will become more affordable and as such represent a more attractive offer compared with the auris for a young family? I have set aside £15k for this purchase and having kept an eye on autotrader you can get a fairly new, low milage auris for this. The prius seems a bit pricier. I am sure the relative merits of the prius vs auris hybrid have been documented somewhere on these boards. Any particular links worthwhile checking out? Any other opinions?

 

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[Heidfirst]

Imo an Auris h/b is probably a bit shorter than a 9-3 h/b or wagon, even the TS may be fractionally shorter. Wheelbase is almost identical though.

Supply & demand suggests that the Prius will remain dearer - there are far more hybrid Auris sold in the UK than Prius & of course there is no Prius equivalent of the Auris Touring Sports.