Rock N Roll Avensis

September 27, 2004

Hello, firstly thanks to all who contribute to the forum, it gave me a lot of insight into which car I wanted next, which turned out to be a 2003 Avensis T3-X in Cobalt Blue. I picked up the car with 12500 miles on it from my dealer in Waterlooville, they've been very helpful so far - I originally traded in my RAV4 with them for a HIACE (I was moving house) then the Hiace for an Avensis because really, I like big comfy cars. The Avensis came from Toyota Derby, who are registered as the first owner so I guess it's one of their fleet cars. I've put 3000 miles on since I've had, not bad considering I 'never go anywhere'. The only issue I had in a what is otherwise a fine car was judder at motorway speeds around 80mph. I took the car to my local tyre guy who first balanced the front wheels - no joy. I went back and got the rears balanced and - joy- the car is smooth now at 'autobahn' speeds, let alone motorway speeds. And so far, the car hasn't used any oil.

My Avensis is an auto transmission, and it's the hatchback model. I prefer the slightly more classic looking saloon version, but I wanted an auto, and this one was there for the asking, well, the asking plus a large cheque. I tow a small boat, or at least I will when the weather picks up, and I wonder if anyone has towed anything with an auto transmission and can give me any tips. I really would have likd the Sat Nav, but I have map-GPS from the boat I can use. And I would have liked the voice controlled audio system. Not that I'm a technology geek or anything, you understand. Any other things for the wish list? Yep, a power socket in the boot area. Good for charging boat batteries on the way home and powering the cool-box in summer. Toyota, please fix this.

Are there any moans? Yep, water drips in the doors off the roof when you open them and into the boot when you open that. The answer of course is not to open the boot or doors until it's stopped raining. I also find the auto box seems to put the car into economy mode, using it in 'S' (manual) makes the car much more brisk. And the handling is very good, much better than my old Merc C180.

So a couple of months into my new Avensis I'm very happy with the car, thanks again to all who contribute to this forum. I'll let y'll know if anything breaks!