Advice On Buying Avensis 1.8gls

[Faddy]

Hello All,

Discovered this forum tonight, looks like an excellent insightful place full of info and advice.

I currently have a company car and am thinking of opting out, keeping the money for a year and buying a car that i can basically run into the ground before i opt back in. I therefore want to avoid one that's already half-dead and apart from the obvious things to look for, i'm hoping you guys can advise me what to look out for on an Avensis 1.8GLS (1998 model).

The car i'll be going to see has 165k on it (yes i know!) but the previous owner has had it 4 years and can vouch for it's history. The mileage is due to him covering motorway miles, and i am looking to do the same.

Needless to say, the car is cheap, but will it be a money pit - i don't know.

Can you tell me what to look for in terms of engines/mechanicals? Or should i avoid altogether, pay a bit more and get a lower mileage example.

All advice appreciated.

[jamesholden]

Well it's pre VVT-i so the engine should last forever.

As for the rest of it, Avensis are a bit ropey in a few areas but they don't seem to get any worse with age, there things that either go or they don't, like manual gearboxes (auto's last forever), steering racks etc.

A friend of mine runs a fleet of 150k+ Avensis and other than the usual faults nothing major has gone on them.

At the right price (I would say no more than £1500) then it should be fine.

Don't worry about the mileage, at least you know it probably means motorway miles rather than being town-pottered.

[dazwan]

I've had a '98 1.8 GS for the last few years (3 I think), it;s coming up to its 100k miles birthday and it feels just as good as the day I bought it when it had 40k on the clock. In that time I've not really had any major issues. It's just had yet another MOT where it just passed with only a note that the front brake disks needed replacing (which it was already booked into the garage for anyway so it wasn't a surprise).

Just be aware that the old pre-VVTi engines have a timing belt that needs replacing every 60k miles, at 165k I would say you'll be need to consider the cost of a new belt in about 20,000 miles time as a factor in the price.

Hopefully the only real dissapointment you'll have is that you'll be keeping the avensis longer than a year.

[sjrainsford]

It should be a good car mate really. And welcome to the club!

The only real quality point on these models I thought was the interior build. It isn't fantastic so expect a few annoying rattles. However, most can easily be sorted with a little strip down and re-build with anti rattle pads etc.

I know the petrol tank split at the seam on mine, and Toyota reported that it's quite a common problem on this model.

Apart from that, expect 38mpg+ and reliable motoring! :)