Buying New Avensis

[MrMe]

Hello everybody!

I am new to the forum, and I am in France right now. In fact I am thinking of buying a 99 Avensis Liftback (hatch), 1.6 110hp Linea Sol.

I was choosing a Golf 4 when I have seen this Avensis. It looks to be a nice car, and it is a Toyota, so I guess the mechanics should be not. It has 138k km (arround 85k miles). The seller is the first owner. Please let me know if I should pay attention at anything special...

I have been a VW guy, and now I am looking at Hondas and Toyotas... do you think I might be disapointed somehow?

Thanks!

[p89dc]

milage doesnt matter check the performance buddy...........toyota is d best

[sjrainsford]

They are very reliable cars in general, no matter what the mileage tends to be.

Don't epect the interior build quality to match that of volkswagens though, but they are still well laid out and fairly comfortable. But expect them to be better refined than similar aged VW's.

You may want to drive the 1.6 model for a while though, and maybe compare it to a larger engined model. I fear a 1.6 engine could be a little underpowered.

Welcome to the world of Toyota/Lexus. you won't regret it thats for sure!!

[Mkuk0]

France eh? surely you should be Monsieurme??

Welcome aboard mate, my advice would be look to the larger engine, I agree with Stuart, the 1.6 might be a bit sluggish, other than that, the car's a goodun!

[MrMe]

Thanks guys,

In fact I have a Golf 3 right now (1.8 90hp) and I agree that the Avensis seemed to me quite boring. It does have 110hp but the torque is not very high. The problem is that it is tough to find a good Avensis hear for a fair price, and even if I do find one with bigger engine, I am affraid the insurance will kill me...

After driving/testing the car I have noticed a weird sound coming from the steering wheel, nothing bad... but still... I have found on the internet (on some russian web-pages) that it is something 'normal' for the 98-00 avensis and it is supposed to be a easy fix. What else should I pay attention at?

There is also a sound coming from the trunk-cover (it is a hatch), I guess this should be an easy fix as well. The price for the car seems really fair to me - 3700 euros (4600 before negotiating ) and that's about £2400 I suppose.

Thanks again for your help....

[Mkuk0]

Good point about the steering column, go back through the posts here, I remember somebody else having issues with a squeak on an earlier model, might be worth looking at before you commit.

[MrMe]

Good point about the steering column, go back through the posts here, I remember somebody else having issues with a squeak on an earlier model, might be worth looking at before you commit.

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Everybody is saying it should be an easy fix with grease... can it be something else? I know that on VWs that noise is not welcome at all! But I am new to Toyota, so I am confused....

[sjrainsford]

The steering column on them can be noisy due to a rubber gaiter that rubs on the shaft from the steering wheel where it goes through the bulkhead. Also the power steering pumps are quite noisy too.

Yes by all means get it checked, but just be aware that they can be noisy though with nowt wrong.