Avensis 1.6 Active diesel

[333max]

I have just traded in my 65 plate 1.6 diesel Avensis Active, and after all the bad things I have read about them I thought I would just let everyone know my experience.

I purchased it at 1 year old, with 11000 miles on the clock. It was previously owned by Hertz. Purchased from Evans Halshaw ( dreadful experience - never will I set foot in their showroom again!!). I do a daily 100 mile commute, 90% of it on the motorway.

My previous car, Skoda 1.4 TSi DSG was hit by a lorry on the motorway and written off so I needed a new car. The reason I chose the Toyota was for a long warranty and hopefully diesel economy. Many years ago I had a Carina company car and was very happy with it.

I have just sold it, just under 4 years later  with 105000 on the clock. The only problem in all the time I owned it was with the EGR, which was replaced under a recall. The rear brake pads were replaced at 33000. All the discs and pads were replaced at 90000, although the pads would have lasted longer, the discs were past the safe thickness limits. Toyota wanted £580 for this work, but I had it done by an indie for £330. This and tyres were the only things that was done outside the Toyota network.

The standard of Toyota servicing varied a lot, even though all the services were done within the same group but 3 different branches. One 25000 mile service was completed in an hour. A discussion with the service manager, along with proof that the wheel trims had not been removed ( nuts should be checked for tightness) resulted in it being redone. I found Toyota servicing to be expensive when compared with some other brands. I also found their attitude when I had a problem with the EGR to be poor. Their blunt answer was I would have to pay them £120 to look at it.

The front tyres lasted about 40000, and the rears a little longer. I used Goodyear Efficient Grip and was very happy with the grip and noise levels. I used to look out for deals and never paid more than £85 per tyre.

Doing the mileage that I do, I used to take it easy on the motorway, setting the cruise at about 65mph. The car averaged 60mpg over the period of ownership, using Mycar app. If I spent a week off work just doing town driving then it would drop to around 40 Mpg.

When i got rid of it I was starting to get vibration through the clutch pedal, and I think the DMF was about to cause trouble.

Overall, I liked the reliability, I found it very comfortable. On the downside it is not the smoothest engine and I found I had to do a lot of gear changes, even on the motorway. The dealers were Ok at best, and quite expensive.

 

[john p williams]

A great contribution Martin. Many thanks. Dealer Service is an up and down experience unfortunately, but the car did you well.

What did you replace it with ?

[333max]

Thank you John. I use the car for a small amount of business travel and company policy has moved away from diesel. I have bought a Skoda Octavia 1.5 SE Drive DSG. It is just over a year old with 9500 miles on it. A very nice drive. I liked my last Skoda so i thought I would try another. It is very clever, drops to 2 cylinders when less power is required and also goes into neutral when coasting downhill. I am getting about 57/58mpg on the commute. Servicing intervals are  longer with the Skoda ( although I will probably do an interim oil change) and unleaded is slightly cheaper. The only nasty thing is going from £20 to £150 tax !

[TonyHSD]

Thanks for sharing your experience. You have done a good job getting rid of the Toyota (bmw) Diesel engine, from now on whoever buys this car and start driving it short town trips will be a pain. Skoda are good cars, tsi engines not my favourite particularly, but nothing to worry when they relatively new, 100k miles perhaps will be another one, would you consider a Toyota hybrid instead? They have Corolla estate that is equivalent of the Octavia. , if you about estate cars. 👍 

[john p williams]

22 minutes ago, 333max said:

Thank you John. I use the car for a small amount of business travel and company policy has moved away from diesel. I have bought a Skoda Octavia 1.5 SE Drive DSG. It is just over a year old with 9500 miles on it. A very nice drive. I liked my last Skoda so i thought I would try another. It is very clever, drops to 2 cylinders when less power is required and also goes into neutral when coasting downhill. I am getting about 57/58mpg on the commute. Servicing intervals are  longer with the Skoda ( although I will probably do an interim oil change) and unleaded is slightly cheaper. The only nasty thing is going from £20 to £150 tax !

Good luck with the Octavia Martin. I do hope that the DSG System problem has been resolved although I understand that a change of Transmission oil is still necessary after 3years or 38,000 miles. However, I did meet a taxi driver in Spain about 4 years ago whose DSG in his vehicle had covered over 100,000 kms without problems. Keep an eye on the engine as VW`s 1.5 has has some problems. Look at Honestjohn.co.uk for further info.

I think that you are spot on by changing engine oil and filters annually.

Good luck.

[333max]

The Skoda is a hatchback. I did look at Toyota Hybrids and indeed test drove an Auris, but i am afraid the Corolla which would have been a possible was out of my price range. I paid sub £14k for the Skoda, and for that the only option was a 2/3 year old Auris Estate, as the boot on the hatch is too small.. If I was doing a lot of round town driving, a may have chose differently. On the motorway, I preferred the Skoda

[Gerg]

Hi, it would be very interesting if you could return to here to report how the Octavia fares in your ownership (in comparison to the Avensis), but also just in general.  I had been interested in the Skoda dealer discounts a while back, when the car was still a new model as a 1.5 TSI, IIRC. 

I seem to think on the 1.5, early on,  there was a hesitancy issue at low speed when changing gear, which was enraging some across the VAG brands.  VAG were disputing there was a problem, and saying it was a 'characteristic' of the new 1.5.  I think having the DSG  bypassed that problem.  I'm sure you know all this.

I've had a couple of Skoda Superb diesels over time, there is a lot to like about Skodas - I'd have one again, no question!

The current TSIs are cam belt drive, but with 5 year change intervals, no? 

Hope you enjoy your new motor!

[333max]

I will certainly report back in the future. I have done over 1000 miles already and have experienced no hesitancy. I think you are correct that it affected manual cars more. I was able to test drive before I bought it ( just before lockdown) and it was one of the things I looked for.

i have several friends who have VW group cars with DSG boxes and a couple have done over 100k with no problems. Like many reports, I think you have to put it all into prospective. How many DSG boxes are sold and how many create problems? There are no guaranteed 100% reliable cars so you have to try and make an informed choice.

The Skoda is a cambelt. I need to check but I think the change intervals are 5 years or 112000miles.

Cheers