Just bought an Auris!

[Guest]

Bought this Auris yesterday 😁  Facelift Business Edition with the D4-D diesel engine. Is there anything I should look out for in terms of common issues with this engine or model?

I know it's a facelift model, but the only brochure I can find are the 2017 / 18 ones featuring the GB25 model. This being a 2016 model, I am curious if the likes of the Toyota Safety Sense was included on it. And also, if it has the double-wishbone rear suspension with it being the D4-D or the torsion beam.

I'm coming from a 2017 diesel DS 3 Prestige. It's a nice car but I've had some issues (corroding alloys, wing mirror rust, various electrical faults on the screen) and though they were put right under warranty, I don't have much faith it will last in the long run... so I took the natural next step and decided to buy a Toyota! lol

I am hoping the size bump from the B-segment to C-segment will be a big improvement. Quietness, smoothness and stability when driving I'd like to think will be much better on the Auris, especially if it has the improved rear suspension setup.  Have any of you come from a smaller car and how do you find the Auris in terms of comfort?

Won't get mine until January when the dealer re-opens after Christmas, so the suspense is real! Keen to hear anything and everything you owners have to say on these.

[Auris James]

I have the Auris hybrid Estate (TS)

It's an A to B car and does what it does well. Zero road tax as a 15 plate. Good on fuel if not doing short runs and nothing to get excited about. Cheap to run, starts most of the time. Needed a new 12 volt Battery during lockdown and a new AC condenser last Autumn. AC done under warranty and car had done 29,000miles.

Cat theft a big issue although dealer yesterday said not many in my area, so sounds like it may be improving. Hybrid a real target, but some may cut the diesel cat off the 1.6 diesel, which is a BMW engine if not very bright. Toyota Safety Sense had traffic sign recognition and lane keep assist. Auto braking. In the dash central display if fitted should show the various safety options and some can be turned off.

What is your annual mileage? If low a petrol Auris much better.  A diesel likes long runs to keep the DPF clean, short runs will clog it up. Not advised for the school run and local shopping runs only. Needs a good run at motorway speeds. I have had 2 diesels over the years. A new Corolla D4D 1.4 in France, no issues but only 30 months old when sold up and didn't need a LHD Car. Later on a 2006 Lexus IS 220D. Nice car but crap 2.2 litre Toyota Diesel. Known to blow the head gasket. It did at 187,000 miles. Scrapped it for parts.

My Auris is my newest car in the last 15 years. Always had old Volvo 740, 240 and last 5 years a 1996 Volvo 940 SE LPT, petrol Auto estate. Good engine and auto pairing, no turbo lag, old school to drive and was cheap to buy then at £250. Mileage now on 206,000miles.

My Auris took me several weeks to find a comfortable position on the seat adjustment. Yesterday car in for MOT and passed. Sat in it and back hurting at base as must of adjusted the seat when driven into bay.

Welcome to the TOC.👍James. 

[mcntosh]

3 hours ago, SB1500 said:

Bought this Auris yesterday 😁  Facelift Business Edition with the D4-D diesel engine. Is there anything I should look out for in terms of common issues with this engine or model?

I am hoping the size bump from the B-segment to C-segment will be a big improvement. Quietness, smoothness and stability when driving I'd like to think will be much better on the Auris, especially if it has the improved rear suspension setup.  Have any of you come from a smaller car and how do you find the Auris in terms of comfort?

I came to an Auris hybrid from a Honda Jazz and the ride is noticeably better with the Auris's double wishbone suspension (sorry, I don't know if D4D-engined cars have this). It's generally a quieter, more comfortable place to to be, especially on long motorway journeys. That's partly down to not having to listen to the Jazz's naturally aspirated engine being revved to get the power out of it.

As C-segment cars go, the Auris is not that big but the bit of extra elbow room makes a real difference. Leg room in the back is a bit tight, which doesn't really matter for us.

I've owned it for 3 yrs and 20K miles (car will be 8 in March and has 54K miles on the clock); so far, it's needed only tyres, brake pads and a leaking shock absorber replaced. Apart from that, the Toyota service record shows only routine servicing and some recall work under warranty. T

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Auris James said:

I have the Auris hybrid Estate (TS)

It's an A to B car and does what it does well. Zero road tax as a 15 plate. Good on fuel if not doing short runs and nothing to get excited about. Cheap to run, starts most of the time. Needed a new 12 volt battery during lockdown and a new AC condenser last Autumn. AC done under warranty and car had done 29,000miles.

Hopefully I won't have any A/C issues.. or they'd have happened and been sorted by warranty. I'd never let a mechanic, let alone a dealer, service my car but it's eligible for that Toyota Relax scheme. Adding 10,000 miles / 1 year of warranty on each time until it's 10... if it covered parts like that might be worth it 🙂

 

8 hours ago, Auris James said:

Cat theft a big issue although dealer yesterday said not many in my area, so sounds like it may be improving. Hybrid a real target, but some may cut the diesel cat off the 1.6 diesel, which is a BMW engine if not very bright. Toyota Safety Sense had traffic sign recognition and lane keep assist. Auto braking. In the dash central display if fitted should show the various safety options and some can be turned off.

Just read on here today that the 1.6 is a BMW engine... that sends shivers down my spine. Though in saying that, I'd say their smaller / more basic 4 cylinder engines would probably be safe enough. I'm in Northern Ireland and we haven't had much of that where I am thankfully so far. The only cars stolen around here were people who left their cars unlocked and with the keys in them... that's how rural my local area is lol  

I wonder does the 16 Plate I've bought have that?  Did the spec change much from 2016 to 2017/18? All I can find is the 2017 / 18 brochure and I'm going by that. But I fear perhaps year on year they might have added things like the standard Safety Sense on all but the basic trim.  I got caught with the DS3, I was looking at a 2017 brochure, mines was Jan 17 so technically the 16 MY and didn't have CarPlay like I thought. Not a big deal, and not a big deal with the Auris if so, but I'd rather know sooner so I'm not disappointed on the 5th lol

The DS3 has that active city brake... no such light or warning since I've owned it though, even in close calls. I had a 2021 Mercedes CLA for the last two months whilst the DS was getting warranty work done, and it would give you a warning if you drove too close... a beep if you were pushing it, and a full on brake check if you so much as approached the car in front too quickly... I hope the Auris is somewhere between that and the DS lol 

 

8 hours ago, Auris James said:

What is your annual mileage? If low a petrol Auris much better.  A diesel likes long runs to keep the DPF clean, short runs will clog it up. Not advised for the school run and local shopping runs only. Needs a good run at motorway speeds. I have had 2 diesels over the years. A new Corolla D4D 1.4 in France, no issues but only 30 months old when sold up and didn't need a LHD Car. Later on a 2006 Lexus IS 220D. Nice car but crap 2.2 litre Toyota Diesel. Known to blow the head gasket. It did at 187,000 miles. Scrapped it for parts.

I'd say 20,000 a year max. I do plenty of 1 hour runs / 50 miles back and forward each week sometimes 70 miles to Belfast and back so the diesel will be happy enough.  These don't have AdBlue do they?  The DS does and I haven't had to refill it yet.. but I've heard horror stories of injectors breaking and the fluid crystallising so I'll be happy if the D4-D doesn't. 

Shocking to hear of a Toyota / Lexus going for scrap at 187k?! lol

8 hours ago, Auris James said:

My Auris is my newest car in the last 15 years. Always had old Volvo 740, 240 and last 5 years a 1996 Volvo 940 SE LPT, petrol Auto estate. Good engine and auto pairing, no turbo lag, old school to drive and was cheap to buy then at £250. Mileage now on 206,000miles.

My grandad has a 1990 Ford Orion diesel... that thing is slow as a bus!  But that's going back to a 1986 design and probably wasn't a very desirable car when it was new.  The old Volvo's would be cool!  There's a guy with a boxy old 96 estate old school Volvo near me. Coincidentally, the guy who left his keys in one of his many older cars..... lol 

8 hours ago, Auris James said:

My Auris took me several weeks to find a comfortable position on the seat adjustment. Yesterday car in for MOT and passed. Sat in it and back hurting at base as must of adjusted the seat when driven into bay.

I'm hoping it's an improvement over the DS3. It has nice to look at bucket seats part suede but they're quite firm and not uncomfortable, but you'd get a stiff back after 1.5 hour drives.  

I guess all Auris's are the same seats apart from those fitted with the sport seats?   

8 hours ago, Auris James said:

Welcome to the TOC.👍James. 

Thank you!

 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, mcntosh said:

I came to an Auris hybrid from a Honda Jazz and the ride is noticeably better with the Auris's double wishbone suspension (sorry, I don't know if D4D-engined cars have this). It's generally a quieter, more comfortable place to to be, especially on long motorway journeys. That's partly down to not having to listen to the Jazz's naturally aspirated engine being revved to get the power out of it.

Always admired the Jazz! I always liked small cars (Had two Fiat Panda's before the DS3 - a 2005 and a 2017). I viewed the Jazz as the gold standard for the class to be honest. But as I was told a long time ago, the comfort simply can't compare the smaller the wheelbase no matter how nice they make the interiors and spec.  I'm buzzing to read that it's quieter and more comfortable because your Jazz was probably more so quiet/smooth compared to the cars I've had. Surprisingly, the 34k CLA 220 wasn't actually much quieter than my DS3... hell of a lot smoother though!!  

I think the 1.4 D4-D have the torsion beam and the 1.33 petrol.  Post facelift (and I'll be sad if I'm wrong) I think the 1.6 D4-D has the wishbone suspension... I will report back. 

5 hours ago, mcntosh said:

As C-segment cars go, the Auris is not that big but the bit of extra elbow room makes a real difference. Leg room in the back is a bit tight, which doesn't really matter for us.

Heard this on a review and it worried me a tad.  But I went on a site to compare the size, only a few cm shorter (4) than a 2011 Focus.  It's nearly 40cm longer than my DS 3 so that should make for more comfort and space. Not too worried about the back, it'll still be a big improvement over the 3 door short DS. Dedicated back doors.. power windows... and the little armrest with cupholders is the cherry on top. As a passenger, always much prefer cars with the arm rest in the back seat which seems to begin at the C-segment. 

5 hours ago, mcntosh said:

I've owned it for 3 yrs and 20K miles (car will be 8 in March and has 54K miles on the clock); so far, it's needed only tyres, brake pads and a leaking shock absorber replaced. Apart from that, the Toyota service record shows only routine servicing and some recall work under warranty. T

That's awesome.  Our family had a brand new 2013 Yaris which was only written off this year due to a rear ending. All it ever needed was brakes and servicing - no parts. I think they had issue with the DPF back in 2015/16 but was eventually sorted - was the 1.4 D4-D. 

Since I'm taking the financial beating of buying it from a main dealer, plus the NI tax (usually 1k more than UK mainland pricing at the best of times), the Covid and the chip shortage inflation... I'll be sure to get anything I find wrong with it fixed under warranty in the first year. I'd have gotten it cheaper from an independent dealer, but many of those here give 3 month warranties etc 😞

[Stivino]

1 hour ago, SB1500 said:

I'd never let a mechanic, let alone a dealer, service my car

So, who's going to do it?

[Auris James]

I would find out what euro class your Auris diesel is. Belfast may in the future follow suite in ULEZ like London, Birmingham etc. Euro 6 for diesel and euro 4 for petrol.

I don't know anything for your questions on the Auris Diesel 1.6. I'm sure other will reply. Certainly 15-20k a year should keep it happy. I take it you have driven it? Like it? Hatch is good for 2 adults and young kids. I chose TS as more legroom for Grandparents and more rear headroom. I was at the dealer yesterday and a chap had a 2014 Toyota with leaking AC condenser. Was being replaced under the RELAX warranty. Certainly in his case having it serviced by Toyota paid off!

Toyota also do a service plan over 2 or 3 years. Fixes the price and can pay monthly. Mine was £720 over 3 years.

James.👍

[Guest]

47 minutes ago, Stivino said:

So, who's going to do it?

Me, myself. Haven't taken any of my cars to a mechanic now in six years. With the exception of warranty work and tyres, of course. Done timing belts, a gearbox rebuild and some pretty low down big seals on one of the Panda's I had.  However, if that Toyota Relax warranty would cover the likes of random electronics or components like AC packing up, it could be worthwhile.  I'm not sure though

[Guest]

47 minutes ago, Auris James said:

I would find out what euro class your Auris diesel is. Belfast may in the future follow suite in ULEZ like London, Birmingham etc. Euro 6 for diesel and euro 4 for petrol.

I don't know anything for your questions on the Auris Diesel 1.6. I'm sure other will reply. Certainly 15-20k a year should keep it happy. I take it you have driven it? Like it? Hatch is good for 2 adults and young kids. I chose TS as more legroom for Grandparents and more rear headroom. I was at the dealer yesterday and a chap had a 2014 Toyota with leaking AC condenser. Was being replaced under the RELAX warranty. Certainly in his case having it serviced by Toyota paid off!

Toyota also do a service plan over 2 or 3 years. Fixes the price and can pay monthly. Mine was £720 over 3 years.

James.👍

I think the BMW 1.6 is Euro 6 and the former Toyota engines were Euro 5. I can sort of see why Toyota decided to stop investing R&D in diesel engines since it looks like only the European car market was big into them and not the rest of the world so much.  I did hear Belfast might be introducing that, though I don't visit too often. 

The AC thing seems to be more than a one off then, I must make sure to look at that. Either way, I'll have a 12 month Toyota warranty so hopefully anything already on its way out since it's a 2016 car will be sorted.   That answers my question then about the Relax warranty, sounds good 🙂 I wonder how much that would sting outside of warranty..

Cheers 

[rajivrattna]

As far as the diesel engine  goes, that is the only thing BMW or any other German car maker made it well and they are reliable. It is their petrol engines and the rest of the car that sucks and is unreliable. I am sure Toyota checked every bit of that diesel engine collaboration before they accepted it in their cars. I remember reading a few years ago how the two had collaborated, BMW getting help with hybrid tech in exchange.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, rajivrattna said:

As far as the diesel engine  goes, that is the only thing BMW or any other German car maker made it well and they are reliable. It is their petrol engines and the rest of the car that sucks and is unreliable. I am sure Toyota checked every bit of that diesel engine collaboration before they accepted it in their cars. I remember reading a few years ago how the two had collaborated, BMW getting help with hybrid tech in exchange.

I just read on Wikipedia: 

"Toyota redesigned the Stop & Start system, created a new ECU, more insulator engine mounts, installed its own DPF filters and a new dual-mass flywheel, resulting in a smoother, quieter more efficient and refined engine"

Phew! lol

[TonyHSD]

Hopefully it will be a good car, I personally would have gone for a hybrid version as these are the strongest point of sale and the best part of been a Toyota., or 1.4d which is their own child. 👍 

[Guest]

On 12/27/2021 at 6:46 PM, TonyHSD said:

Hopefully it will be a good car, I personally would have gone for a hybrid version as these are the strongest point of sale and the best part of been a Toyota., or 1.4d which is their own child. 👍 

I hope so. Got to wait until the 3rd to get it sadly as the dealers are closed until then. There isn't as much choice here in Northern Ireland. And at the best of times, we pay about £1,000 more than you would in the mainland. Back in 2019 - in the normal times - I went to Motorpoint to buy a car in Glasgow and it worked out hundreds cheaper after expense. I suppose nothing is technically stopping me now other than laziness. There aren't as many good Auris' for 11-12k in the dealer network here.

There are a lot of 1.2T's in Business Edition with slightly higher miles for my budget. One is even a 2017 with Safety Sense but I think the diesel might be best for my mileage and long term use. I'm not a big fan of those tiny turbo'd petrols like the Ford Ecoboost or Fiat TwinAir, too many horror stories from owners. I know Toyota probably wouldn't release something like that with as many problems due to their superior testing and design ability, but that has kind of put me off. 

The BMW engine does scare me, and there doesn't seem to be as many active users on here with an Auris with the 1.6 diesel from BMW to reassure me! lol I will be sure to share any experiences on here as time goes on. I'd like to think that if nothing else, BMW can build decent engine blocks. Sounds like that's all Toyota have taken and most things bolted to it are their own. No fancy over-engineered electrics or state of the art new designs at play here 🙂 lol 

 

[Stopeter44]

16 minutes ago, SB1500 said:

I suppose nothing is technically stopping me now other than laziness. There aren't as many good Auris' for 11-12k in the dealer network here.

Wouldn't Brexit be a problem ?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Stopeter44 said:

Wouldn't Brexit be a problem ?

I never thought of that - I'd like to think not since we're still a proud part of the UK.  As someone from here currently saving for a first time home deposit, if they don't sort it out in the next 3-5 years, I will have to have a serious think about relocating to Scotland or England.  I don't think the London government has been perfect, but I'm more supportive of them than most when it came to the likes of Brexit / Covid (most people hate em outright!) but I have to admit, they've really let NI down. As a temporary bit of hassle, I can understand and wait a couple of years for things to get sorted properly, but I fear they might just be fed up with us now 😞.  Unfortunately, there is an explosive-y bunch of folks over here who won't let normal people live normally if things don't go their way so I can understand the lack of action how I'd otherwise like it to be from London 😕  (sorry to get somewhat political on a car forum).

A quick Google though.. and it seems like you're right, there's now a bit more to the process. In 2019 I got a steal of a deal at Motorpoint for a 2017 Panda. Had it moved to Glasgow, flew over got it and drove it back and it was no big deal. Sad to think it'd no longer be that easy...

In terms of my 2016 Auris Business Edition, well, all the friends who would say "you should have went over to England and got a better one for the money!" - well, at least now I have some kind of leg to stand on in defending my [lazy] choice to buy local... especially from a main dealer 😛 

[Cyker]

Wait, do you get shafted for extra tax when buying cars in NI as well? I thought that was just a ROI thing!

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

According to Toyota's press release in 2015 for the facelift Auris, all the engines in the revised range were Euro VI:

"Every engine in the range now meets Euro 6 emissions regulations.

The 1.2T, an all-new direct injection turbocharged engine joins the established 1.33-litre VVT-i and 1.6-litre Valvematic units to give customers an expanded choice of petrol engines. There is also a new 1.6-litre D-4D diesel unit (which replaces a current 2.0-litre D-4D in some European markets outside the UK) and the 1.4-litre D-4D has been substantially upgraded."

https://media.toyota.co.uk/new-toyota-auris/

 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Cyker said:

Wait, do you get shafted for extra tax when buying cars in NI as well? I thought that was just a ROI thing!

 

It seems so now, tax as in importing it over - not vehicle tax / monthly or annually paid at the Post Office kind.

Before Brexit, no such issue though. Everything was pretty much identical and seamless between the mainland UK and here. Only real difference in driving was that out MOT centres are all government run and the first MOT is at 4 years, not 3. I really hope they sort it out, or I'll be moving to Scotland! Lol

[Guest]

10 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

According to Toyota's press release in 2015 for the facelift Auris, all the engines in the revised range were Euro VI:

"Every engine in the range now meets Euro 6 emissions regulations.

The 1.2T, an all-new direct injection turbocharged engine joins the established 1.33-litre VVT-i and 1.6-litre Valvematic units to give customers an expanded choice of petrol engines. There is also a new 1.6-litre D-4D diesel unit (which replaces a current 2.0-litre D-4D in some European markets outside the UK) and the 1.4-litre D-4D has been substantially upgraded."

https://media.toyota.co.uk/new-toyota-auris/

 

That's good to know. I wonder how far the 1.2T's will go mileage wise and reliability wise. I hope being Toyota products they are reliable and not too hard to live with. I know a lot of other manufacturers small egines with big turbo's fail spectacularly in the real world at the claimed MPG and need to be horsed on a motorway to keep up and when they hit 100k it's game over for the engine 😞

I suspect Toyota's reason on going via BMW for the diesel was due to dieselgate and/or the change in European opinion that diesels are good or considered the best around 2015. I can only imagine they only bothered about diesels in cars for our market (Europe) anyway and not the rest of the world so it didn't make much sense to spend millions investing in a new, Toyota ground up design to meet new regulations for a fuel type that is now being disencouraged. And the original 2.0 probably would have cost too much or been a lot of effort to try and modify to meet Euro 6 standards.

I have to admit, I think diesels are overkill in something as small as a car. Maybe a large 4x4 for towing, but even then a decent quad or tractor would do a better job with less hassle on say a farm. Diesels really belong in ships, machines and lorries where they're needed. Had there not been such a big push since the late 90s to diesel, maybe we'd have gotten to wherever we're going (electric cars or otherwise) 10 years sooner than we have. Seems like a bit of a waste of everyone's time and money. I bought my diesel DS3 because coming from the Fiat Pandas, that particular car had the best spec for a lot less than anything else in my budget. The diesel was kind of a coincidence. Though in the PSA car world, petrol = avoid, diesel = better. The torque and turbo was a cool novelty for a while (along with the 120hp coming from my Panda's!) but it was noisy, heavy and didn't feel as responsive as a petrol and if you idled still, you'd get the most horrific reek of some kind of bleachy smell from the exhaust.  All to propel me around the place, seems like overkill! lol  I think all but the most die-hard VW TDI fan won't miss diesels too much going forward. I suppose the benefits might be much greater of diesel in use cases much more demanding than mine, like a huge Range Rover or Mercedes diesel vs petrol powertrain!

I solely went for the diesel now in the Auris because the 1.2T I'm just a little unsure of. We had a Yaris in the family (1.4 D4D) with no issues for 8 years until it was wrote off this year. Unfortunately I then discovered (after having commited to buy the Auris) that the 1.6 D4D is a BMW engine :L  So... who knows what I'm down for.  At least the rest of the car is a Toyota and won't fall apart... 😄 lol

[FROSTYBALLS]

The main reason Toyota went for another manufacturer's diesel engine was that competing manufacturers all had diesels of 1.6 capacity (Ford, Vauxhall, Stellantis, VAG, etc), and it didn't make sense, for short term use (4 years), to develop their own. 

Toyota also had co-operation agreements with BMW.

[Cyker]

Yea - I know the ROI get shafted by an extra tax, the VRT, when buying new or importing cars, but didn't think that was an NI thing too! People are trying to get them to abolish it as it's hit the car market hard there, raising the cost well out of reach of most normal people (14 to 30-something% extra!!).

As for diesel, I always felt the japanese companies did't like diesel but just did it because of its popularity in Europe due to government incentives. Toyota bailed out long before dieselgate and have been trying to go all-in on hybrids (Unfortunately got shafted by the EV cutoff date being moved back 10 years), and it made sense to leverage their partnership with BMW (I still think BMW got the better deal! Getting access to hybrid tech for their diesel tech...), but dieselgate and the sharp decline in diesel purchases has let them cut out their diesel passenger lines completely and focus on hybrids as they've always wanted.

It's a shame, as IMHO the diesel cycle is superior in every way, apart from emissions; The worst thing is there are already inventions that mitigate it that don't require stupid things like AdBlue (Mainly air-blast injection and ducted injection, which both virtually eliminate soot and allow use of a petrol-style 3-way cat to remove NOx), but thanks to VW diesel has become a poison pill and everybody is dropping it like a hot potato.

It helps that the new generation of Toyota hybrids have finally caught up to diesel-levels of efficiency tho'! Now hybrid owners can enjoy mpgs that diesel owners had 10 years ago  

So far the 1.2T has been bucking the reliability (Or lack thereof) trend for a small turbocharged petrol engine - As usual Toyota were late to the party so they learned from everyone else's mistakes and made it a bit more reliable; It does suffer from carbon buildup on the valves due to only having direct injection, but as long as you keep a lid on that it should be as reliable as any Toyota engine!

 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The main reason Toyota went for another manufacturer's diesel engine was that competing manufacturers all had diesels of 1.6 capacity (Ford, Vauxhall, Stellantis, VAG, etc), and it didn't make sense, for short term use (4 years), to develop their own. 

Toyota also had co-operation agreements with BMW.

I suppose they were hard at work on the new Supra together 🙂  And I read online that BMW and Toyota collaborated on hybrid technology too as part of their agreement. All sounds good.

I will be sure to update the forum with any stories from the 1.6 D4-D over the years for what it is worth to other members or owners as I'm sure these engines have a good bit of time on the road yet before they're eventually taxed out of the road 🙂

[Stopeter44]

10 minutes ago, SB1500 said:

I have to admit, I think diesels are overkill in something as small as a car. Maybe a large 4x4 for towing, but even then a decent quad or tractor would do a better job with less hassle on say a farm. Diesels really belong in ships, machines and lorries where they're needed. Had there not been such a big push since the late 90s to diesel, maybe we'd have gotten to wherever we're going (electric cars or otherwise) 10 years sooner than we have.

It also depends on how diesel is taxed vis à vis petrol. In France, it's cheaper than petrol, for historical reasons, and any attempt to change the status quo is met by furious demonstrations (cf. Hiviz jacket demonstrations of 2018/2019), people are prepared to die to keep diesel cheaper than petrol over here ! Some people around here needed the cheapest personal transport they can find, and that means old Renault DCI 1.5 or PSA 1.6 HDI.

Mea Culpa, I bought a Clio III 1.5 dci in preference to a petrol automatic, I was doing 20k km pa at the time, because of the price difference with the fuel, and the better fuel economy? I didn't figure in the higher maintenance cost though. (Ultimately that car didn't cost me anything because of the expenses allowance I could claim for it).

[FROSTYBALLS]

2 minutes ago, Stopeter44 said:

It also depends on how diesel is taxed vis à vis petrol. In France, it's cheaper than petrol

In the UK, diesel is more expensive than petrol.

[FROSTYBALLS]

9 minutes ago, SB1500 said:

And I read online that BMW and Toyota collaborated on hybrid technology too as part of their agreement.

Yes, although it was hybrid Battery tech rather than drivetrain that was shared with BMW.

Toyota did share their hybrid system with Nissan and Mazda, and each produced hybrid models using Toyota's system (eg Mazda 3 hybrid) - though these didn't come to Europe.