Many Avensis 2004 Problems

[paman]

OK... I'm desperate

I have my avensis for 8 months and I haven't stop visiting service.

All this time I'm facing many kind of problems. I'm writing the major ones...

1. Rattle is hearing from the side columns

2. The Front Left Column's covers doesn't fit well

2. The drivers seat has not the same distance from left sides as the co-drivers seat

3. Suddenly the auto scrolling window stop working

At the beggining co-drivers window was the only one which was working

Some hours later all windows start working again except except the one behind

the driver

4. It's the second time that i'm going to change machine's base. Meaning the four

things that keep the machine on it's place.

5. My air condition is smelling.....

6. Rattle is coming from the console

7. The co-driver's air-bag sensor has been replaced

Please what do you suggest??

I can't keep going in the service all the time.

At the end of the day they have almost change the half of my car and as i can imagine they are going to do it once again.

Please give me any suggestions.

[kevniles]

If you had written 8.5 months ago, I could have offered a suggest: Dont buy an Avensis ! At this point mostly I can offer just sympathy ( Having unfortunately made the same mistake in 2002)

It is a lousy car and a disgrace to Toyota.

I have had a long list of problems too. The only one that overlaps with yours is #5. The airconditioner smells horrible.

After a dozen or so trips to the dealer on it, they finally did a thorough anti-bacterial treatment. It helped and is worth doing (although after a few months it seems to be coming back).

Sorry not to be more helpful - good luck.

OK... I'm desperate

I have my avensis for 8 months and I haven't stop visiting service.

All this time I'm facing many kind of problems. I'm writing the major ones...

1. Rattle is hearing from the side columns

2. The Front Left Column's covers doesn't fit well

2. The drivers seat has not the same distance from left sides as the co-drivers seat

3. Suddenly the auto scrolling window stop working

    At the beggining co-drivers window was the only one which was working

    Some hours later all windows start working again except except the one behind

    the driver

4. It's the second time that i'm going to change machine's base. Meaning the four

    things that keep the machine on it's place.

5. My air condition is smelling.....

6. Rattle is coming from the console

7. The co-driver's air-bag sensor has been replaced

Please what do you suggest??

I can't keep going in the service all the time.

At the end of the day they have almost change the half of my car and as i can imagine they are going to do it once again.

Please give me any suggestions.

←

[ndsblack]

OK... I'm desperate

I have my avensis for 8 months and I haven't stop visiting service.

All this time I'm facing many kind of problems. I'm writing the major ones...

1. Rattle is hearing from the side columns

2. The Front Left Column's covers doesn't fit well

2. The drivers seat has not the same distance from left sides as the co-drivers seat

3. Suddenly the auto scrolling window stop working

    At the beggining co-drivers window was the only one which was working

    Some hours later all windows start working again except except the one behind

    the driver

4. It's the second time that i'm going to change machine's base. Meaning the four

    things that keep the machine on it's place.

5. My air condition is smelling.....

6. Rattle is coming from the console

7. The co-driver's air-bag sensor has been replaced

Please what do you suggest??

I can't keep going in the service all the time.

At the end of the day they have almost change the half of my car and as i can imagine they are going to do it once again.

Please give me any suggestions.

←

with the air conditioning it will smell if not used every week for at least 10 mins. its a bacteria build up on the condenser.People will sell you (bombs) that supposedly clean it off. these are only a temporary fix like air freshners. I will now let you into a trade secret. Make sure no-one else is reading this and i will proceed.

OK , get an old kettle and put a tray in the front passengers footwell (INTAKE FOR AIRCON) to catch slpahes and drippers fill the kettle with water and rig the switch to keep boiling. TAKE CAR NOT TO BOIL IT DRY, JUST TOP IT UP AS NEEDED. Start the engine and put the aircon on COLD AND RECIRCULATE, and leave boil for at least 1/2 hour.You will see pools of water underneath the car as the condenser is 'washed' . Once 1/2 hour has passed turn off the kettle and put on aircon to normal(outside intake). This will clear any lingering steam/condensation and hey presto one clean smelling aircon system. I have done this dozens of times to loads of makes and with a very good success rate. Oh nearly forgot, dont forget to blow out the cabin pollen filter and make sure its dry before replacing it.

Hope this helps, as regards the other points, without being sarcastic once you hear a noise you will home in on it and it will drive you mad as after that one is fixed another will take its place. ENJOY THE FANTASTIC TOYOTA SOUND SYSTEM AND THINK ABOUT OTHER PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD.USE YOUR EARS FOR ENJOYMENT TODAY AS THE GIFT OF HEARING DETERIORATES VERY QUICKLY!! YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY 'HEAR TODAY GONE TOMMOROW!'

No offence meant honest,

Hope I helped!

Nick...............

[tezza]

OK , get an old kettle and put a tray in the front passengers footwell (INTAKE FOR AIRCON) to catch slpahes and drippers fill the kettle with water and rig the switch to keep boiling. TAKE CAR NOT TO BOIL IT DRY, JUST TOP IT UP AS NEEDED. Start the engine and put the aircon on COLD AND RECIRCULATE, and leave boil for at least 1/2 hour.

Wouldnt it be easier and safer to use one of those wallpaper steamer jobbies

[ndsblack]

OK , get an old kettle and put a tray in the front passengers footwell (INTAKE FOR AIRCON) to catch slpahes and drippers fill the kettle with water and rig the switch to keep boiling. TAKE CAR NOT TO BOIL IT DRY, JUST TOP IT UP AS NEEDED. Start the engine and put the aircon on COLD AND RECIRCULATE, and leave boil for at least 1/2 hour.

Wouldnt it be easier and safer to use one of those wallpaper steamer jobbies 

←

Good thinking, but being a poor motor mechanic a use the tearoom kettle!

[Tawse57]

You need a penguin off QVC

[prince]

If you had written 8.5 months ago, I could have offered a suggest: Dont buy an Avensis !  At this point mostly I can offer just sympathy ( Having unfortunately made the same mistake in 2002)

It is a lousy car and a disgrace to Toyota.

I have had a long list of problems too.  The only one that overlaps with yours is #5.  The airconditioner smells horrible. 

After a dozen or so trips to the dealer on it, they finally did a thorough anti-bacterial treatment.  It helped and is worth doing (although after a few months it seems to be coming back). 

Sorry not to be more helpful - good luck.

←

Your Opinion of the Avensis is based on your experience of owning one, I own one too and I am in complete disagreement with you, My Avensis has been Trouble free.

What Car? Magazine also gave it the Car of the Year 2005: Family Car Award and if you look at most car magazines/websites around in the UK and the rest of Europe you will find the general consensus is that the Avensis is overall a very good car to drive and to own.

[Norbreck21a]

Would have to agree with Prince.

My Avensis T3-X will be one year old next month, and I've owned it from new.

It has been faultlessly reliable, no rattles, squeaks (and surprisingly quieter than many of of others company cars including Mondeos, Passatts and Lagunas).

I have nothing but praise for the Avensis and the brilliant local dealer. Just my experience, yours of course may differ.!

[tubaman]

Would have to agree with Prince.

My Avensis T3-X will be one year old next month, and I've owned it from new.

It has been faultlessly reliable, no rattles, squeaks (and surprisingly quieter than many of of others company cars including Mondeos, Passatts and Lagunas).

I have nothing but praise for the Avensis and the brilliant local dealer. Just my experience, yours of course may differ.!

←

I have to agree with all the guys who say the Avensis is a good car. Can`t find ANY faults on my 2 year old SR. The air-con problem is a very common one when you leave the air-con turned off for weeks - allowing bacteria to build up. Alot of the faults listed are quite minor ones - you are bound to get the odd car with a few faults. It looks like you have that car !

[bruce wayne]

I agree with the general theme here, generally they are very reliable. I am on my third Avensis, having had 2 of the old models. All have been super reliable and never gave any grief.

Over here in Ireland the Avensis was the top selling car in its class in 2004 (outselling the Mondeo) and I can see why. My only gripe with the current model is with changing a bulb in the headlamp which is covered in another thread here.

I have the new model 1.6 Strata almost 2 years now and have covered 45k miles and usually I change every two years but I am going to hold off for another year and I am quite content with the car I have at the moment but may opt for the 1.8 next year.

I can however understand your position, you have had a few problems with yours, you may have bought a Monday morning car (I've had a few of those in my time) and I would also feel mighty peed off after paying alot of money. Hopefully things will work out for you in the end.

[paman]

As i can see all the guys who are talking with good words about toyota have other models but avensis...

I'm not ungry with TOYOTA.... but with my avensis

So please don't think that i'm saying lies.... I have all these problems and for sure it's not my fantasy....

The main problem (if i can categorised that) is with machine's base (it's having this sound again) and I HAVE TO CHANGE IT FOR A SECOND TIME....... :ffs:

Anyway,

opinions are opinions... but be carefull we are talking about avensis and nothing else....

that's for now....

by the way... do you know if there is any way of understanding if the car has been crashed and fixed again???

I think that's what has happen ......

is there any way (x-rays e.g.) of finding that??

thanks for your time and for your reply....

[Monster-Mat]

seems to me everyone who has posted DOES HAVE AN AVENSIS..except me.

maybe yourt problem is your dealer, id have a word with him/her!

[Tawse57]

Dealers can be terrible. I was put right off Toyotas after 3 visits to my local Swansea dealer and getting some incredibly rubbish attitudes, IMPO, from the staff. On one occasion, when I made serious enquiries about the Prius and asked to book a test drive, the salesguy, when asked how many they had sold, said:

"All my serious customers have bought one!"

So, for that ***** comment alone, the Swansea Toyota dealership will not get my money. I actually went back today to compare Avensis with Corolla and left feeling that the attitude had not improved.

However, prior to Christmas, I visited the Cardiff dealership and, boy, what a difference, They were welcoming, friendly, informative with a no pressure attitude and I will certainly be visiting them again the next few weeks. If I do buy a Toyota it will be from them and not from Swansea.

So, I suggest that you try another Toyota dealership.

[valentinc]

I am afraid I can only confirm that the new Avensis is far from being the top quality, reliability car.

It is only two weeks since I've been to the dealer (after a couple of "regular" other visits since May 2004) . This time the radio interferred with the back window heating. Whenever I turned on the back window heating while the radio was on, the noise was very bad. They replaced the antenna amplifier.

Now I also hear a rattle in the left side column. Could you, please, tell me what did they do about this as I see it features at no.1 on your list.

[ProviGuy]

I am afraid I can only confirm that the new Avensis is far from being the top quality, reliability car.

It is only two weeks since I've been to the dealer (after a couple of "regular" other visits since May 2004) . This time the radio interferred with the back window heating. Whenever I turned on the back window heating while the radio was on, the noise was very bad. They replaced the antenna amplifier.

Now I also hear a rattle in the left side column. Could you, please, tell me what did they do about this as I see it features at no.1 on your list.

←

So two very minor things and the Avensis model is far from being quality and reliable? My counter would be that I have had my Avensis T-3x 2.0 Auto since May 2004 and it is running brilliantly and without ANY problems at all.

I think that complaint posters should start by using "MY Avensis..." rather than "THE Avensis...", as it seems only a very, very small fraction of owners have had any problems worthy of a post here!

Just my tuppence worth....

[paman]

I am afraid I can only confirm that the new Avensis is far from being the top quality, reliability car.

It is only two weeks since I've been to the dealer (after a couple of "regular" other visits since May 2004) . This time the radio interferred with the back window heating. Whenever I turned on the back window heating while the radio was on, the noise was very bad. They replaced the antenna amplifier.

Now I also hear a rattle in the left side column. Could you, please, tell me what did they do about this as I see it features at no.1 on your list.

←

As you correctly notice i had/have the same problem....

The solutions the first time i mentioned that to my dealer was the obvious...

to change the column's cover....

BUT.... :censor: i have the same problem AGAIN :ffs:

I'm goind to tell them to change it once again.....

Does anybody have any idea how i can check if the car had been crashed before i take it in my hands??? :o

[Desmond22]

I've had my Avensis 2.0 litre for 2 years. It hasn't been trouble free, a few niggles -

A noise from the dashboard that seems to be caused by two different plastics chattering together.

Squeaky brakes.

Rusty disc covers.

A misfire and flat spot at 2000 revs.

A noise from the steering column.

All these have been fixed or partially fixed. The dealer is a good one, I've had about 14 cars from there. But they are not infallible and rely too much on the book and diagnosic testing which totally failed to find the faulty fuel return valve that caused the misfire.

Most of the faults I reckon result from it being one of the first on the road.

The car is noisier than I expected but that is down to me wanting the posh version and having 17" alloys with low profiles. Lots of rubber rumble. On my next one I'm hoping to persuade the garage into a deal for swapping to 16" wheels with standard tyres.

It is fairly economical and reasonably quick though not outstanding at either. However the car looks quite good, hasn't failed me and I'll have another, probably diesel. :D

[valentinc]

[

So two very minor things and the Avensis model is far from being quality and reliable? My counter would be that I have had my Avensis T-3x 2.0 Auto since May 2004 and it is running brilliantly and without ANY problems at all.

I think that complaint posters should start by using "MY Avensis..." rather than "THE Avensis...", as it seems only a very, very small fraction of owners have had any problems worthy of a post here!

The two minor things were the latest ones. The list goes a bit longer, though: Squeaking steering wheel (dealer did not know what to do about it; somehow noise disappeared later),

Horn failing to function (dealer just put a wire to replace the poor contact)

Headlamps needed alignment right after I bought the car from the dealer.

Computer reseting randomly

I love MY AVENSIS, though I cannot help comparing it with my former DaeWoo Nexia, a more modest car, but which did not bother me with any niggling faults. I plan a long drive to the UK this summer and hopefully I will get to visit the plant in Burnaston. Cannot help but telling them a few words...

Long live the new Avensis!!!!!!!!!

[Starensis]

I think most of the issues on the Avensis are caused by Dealers. Toyota Manufacturing are the envy of most Manufacturers with respect to how they Design & build cars.

I'm afraid Dealers do not take the same amount of care as they do at the Manufacturing facilities, hence some of the issue mentioned.

It does sound like valentinc's car has been re-built at some point, possibly after an accident. Did you carry out an HPI check?

I have an old shape Avensis & although I have had numerous Design Issues with it, I always receive first class service from my dealership. I still think it's a better car than most on the road. I listen to people at work talking about their Renaults, VW's, Ford, etc & believe me, they have far more serious issues than we do.

[olahpeter]

Hi!

I'm all new to this topic and I'm writing from Hungary so you must forgive me that sometimes I can't express myself the way I want to. I've bought a brand new Avensis Sol 1.6 in November 2004. I'm quite satisfied with the car except one thing. When I run the engine in neutral gear then sometimes the rev of the engine varies heavily (between about 600-1100 r/min). The interesting thing is that is phenomenon stops when you I turn on the lights. In the beginning i thought that this problem would go away after a while but it didn't (mileage is about 3500 km by now) so I took the car to the service. They connected it with the computer but it couldn't find any fault. THen they took off the battery-clamps for half an hourand told me to use the car for a couple of days to see what happens. Unfortunately the problem is still there. So I'll have to take the car back to the service again and maybe some electric part(s) have to be changed.

Did anyone encounter the same or a similar problem? I know that this isn't a crucial problem but for a car in this category I shouldn't have to live with that. Before the Avensis I had a Corolla Liftback Terra (2001). That car was also built in England and I had no problem with it at all.

As I was running through this topic I recognised that some of you had even more problems with their car. I have to tell you that I can also hear some rattle from the left side over my head but I don't know what it is. in case of the steering I think that the noise is normal because the 1.6 and 1.8 litre models have an electric power steering and the bigger and Diesel models have an electro-hydraulic power steering. I think thats the reason for that little noise. In my Corolla I couldn't recognise any noise from the steering but in the Avensis I can hear some humming when turning the wheel at very low speeds.

I hope you can give me some help or advice, or just say that I don't have to be worry because of those engine revs changing in neutral.

Bye: Peter

[prince]

Re: The Toyota Burnaston Plant, it’s supposedly getting better year on year with regards to a decrease in the number of factory faults being reported back to them, but it’s not near the levels of ‘Zero defect’ that the Japanese Toyota Plants are, a family member’s New Toyota Corolla hatchback has “Made in Japan” on it, when I assumed all European Corollas originate from the UK but then I found out that some Corolla’s are being brought in from Japan to ease the pressure on Burnaston, the progress on increasing build quality may have slowed down.