Back To The Future?

[thiambal]

With the threat of gearbox and steerting problems, not to mention the old oil burning issue, hanging over my dear Avensis I have decided to get rid of the beast before something gives.

What next is the question? I was tempted to get an earlier Avensis with the lean-burn engine as I do like the car.

However, the grand plan currently is to get a late model Carina E with 60-90,000 on the clock - should get another 60-100,000 out of it and it will only cost about £1500. This was I realise some cash on the sale and still get a workhorse I can run for miles and miles (which was the plan with the Avensis).

I know that the Carina E is not the most stylish car but the late model look suspiciously like early Avensis.

What do people think?

[jamesholden]

The MKI Avensis was a very thorough facelift of the CarinaE, although the CarinaE actually was more practical for load carrying.

If you want a CarinaE or early Avensis go for a 2.0 3S-FE engined car, it's about the best 4 cylinder engine that Toyota ever made, and if you get it with the auto box then it's a perfect match.

For around £1500 though you could just get one of the old shape Honda Accords which IMO was a better car than the old Avensis, far more modern mechanically and with very good engines, we've had all of them and the Accord followed by the CarinaE was the best of the three.

Another option that would be good for you would be an old shape 2.2 Camry, there better than the Avensis in quite a number of ways and have loads of spec.

[thiambal]

The MKI Avensis was a very thorough facelift of the CarinaE, although the CarinaE actually was more practical for load carrying.

If you want a CarinaE or early Avensis go for a 2.0 3S-FE engined car, it's about the best 4 cylinder engine that Toyota ever made, and if you get it with the auto box then it's a perfect match.

For around £1500 though you could just get one of the old shape Honda Accords which IMO was a better car than the old Avensis, far more modern mechanically and with very good engines, we've had all of them and the Accord followed by the CarinaE was the best of the three.

Another option that would be good for you would be an old shape 2.2 Camry, there better than the Avensis in quite a number of ways and have loads of spec.

Thanks for the ideas, certainly food for thought. I had reall wanted to avoide larger than a 1.8 engine just for th fuel economy as I do quite heavy miles. I will have another look at the Honda - although generally Honda mpg is significantly lower than Toyota - certainly for new Avensis/Accord equivilents.

I like the sound of the Carna E being best for load carrying - going to have a look over an estate model today.