Thinking Of Geting Avensis

[Realspeed]

Hi all.

I am not new to the club but at present I have a 2 yr old Amazon, however with the announcement in the next budget looking like they are going to clobber 4x4 owners I am thinking about jumping the gun and swapping cars beforehand.

The car I was looking at was the new T180 against the next spec down new Spirit. there are a couple of things you all may be able me with. (the estate version)

First seating, whats the difference between leather seat facings and the leather seats in the T180

Second I am going to if I buy the full pack ie sat nav etc, I cannot see if bluetooth is built into the car or not, only the Amazon does and the mic is built in and uses the car Speakers. Is this the same on the Avensis.

Obviously economy is going to double from my present car but what MPG do you get from the 2.2 diesel only press reports and manufactures tend to add on a few miles.

Also is there any nagging points to lookout for.

Thanks in advance

Realspeed

[Bootman]

Sorry mate, i thought you said changing a 2yr Amazon for an Avensis

You did! are you for real? If you can run an Amazon for 2yrs you can afford it ok, why would ya swap for somethin way down market?

[bristolmotorspeedway]

The T180 has alcantara seat facings I believe (with leather bolsters?). Haven't sat in a T180, but it sounds way preferable to full leather to me, but others may see it differently.

bluetooth comes as part of the £500 tech pack, along with DAB radio. Didn't spec it on my T3-X but was tempted.

2.2 150 in the T-Spirit - same engine in mine is averaging a touch over 50mpg. Last week, a 200 mile 80-90mph late night run back from Cornwall plus 300 miles of normal commuting produced 52.5mpg. Possible to push it higher going gently, and down to mid 40s if taking it less easy. The T180 is just a handful of mpg worse according to official stats.

(NB What Car stated recently that the Avensis 2.2 D4-D was one of very few cars that outperformed it's official figures)

Finally, I'm very happy with my T3-X, but if I had wanted to spend a couple of extra grand it would have been for the T180 not the T-Spirit. More power and nicer trim in my opinion. The T-Spirit has a few extra gadgets, but the leather would actually be a demerit for me. Incidentally, read somewhere on here that UK spec Avensis doesn't get seat heaters with the leather - sounds like a big no-no to me. But, whichever you choose will be a great car, so good luck! :)

[Shoto]

I have a T180 Tourer and I'm very happy with it. I've done nearly 8,000 miles since it was new on Oct 3rd.

The car is very quick with a nice torquey engine (I moved from a BMW 320d Tourer) and I'm currently getting around 42mpg. The T180 doesn't emit any black smoke on acceleration either (unlike BMWs or Audis I have owned).

The leather/alcantara seats are fully electric for adjustment but don't have heaters. The car has lots of space and is very well put together.

I tried both the 150bhp and the T180 2.2 diesels, why not do the same and then pick the car you want?

Happy hunting.

[Electric]

For 10pence worth mate I have to agree with bootman here!

Is your LandCruiser the 4.2 TD by chance? if so it's one of the best 4x4 EVER built! (200 plus house power and enough torque to pull a house down.

They are one of the longest serving 4x4 as well only at over 50 odd years, only beaten by the US army jeep and the old trusty (or not) Landrover. it's gets street respect with people in the know. :)

Its a true off road machine unlike and I wont mention them some of the harry dash crap you see people driving...

The Avensis is a perfectly good little car but it lacks the reliablity of the corolla.

Just my option of course buddy so carry on :)

[Realspeed]

For 10pence worth mate I have to agree with bootman here!

Is your LandCruiser the 4.2 TD by chance? if so it's one of the best 4x4 EVER built! (200 plus house power and enough torque to pull a house down.

They are one of the longest serving 4x4 as well only at over 50 odd years, only beaten by the US army jeep and the old trusty (or not) Landrover. it's gets street respect with people in the know. :)

Its a true off road machine unlike and I wont mention them some of the harry dash crap you see people driving...

The Avensis is a perfectly good little car but it lacks the reliablity of the corolla.

Just my option of course buddy so carry on :)

The reason for downsizing is because I am retiring and the Amazon would be too costly to keep.

Oh it is the 4.2 auto Amazon I have at present

Realspeed

[Bootman]

For 10pence worth mate I have to agree with bootman here!

Is your LandCruiser the 4.2 TD by chance? if so it's one of the best 4x4 EVER built! (200 plus house power and enough torque to pull a house down.

They are one of the longest serving 4x4 as well only at over 50 odd years, only beaten by the US army jeep and the old trusty (or not) Landrover. it's gets street respect with people in the know. :)

Its a true off road machine unlike and I wont mention them some of the harry dash crap you see people driving...

The Avensis is a perfectly good little car but it lacks the reliablity of the corolla.

Just my option of course buddy so carry on :)

The reason for downsizing is because I am retiring and the Amazon would be too costly to keep.

Oh it is the 4.2 auto Amazon I have at present

Realspeed

Bad news mate. Makes you wonder why we work all our lives to have the things we work for taken away when we retire, stinks dont it. I bet you are gutted having to give a car like that up for one worth a fraction of the price, and Im gutted for you, chin up.

[Realspeed]

As you see I was looking to buy an Avensis estate and went to Toyota Wolverhampton with the intent to buy one.

The new car sales person I saw went through the usual proceedure and was going to ring me back with an offer on my car as part exchange by today.

Unfortunately I have not received that phone call up to today as promised and I have gone elsewhere to another brand. To me it is just another sign of Toyota slipping up on their customer care. Don't get me wrong I have had many Toyotas in the past and love the vehicles at least up to the latest which has been back 3 times in a year for faulty parts with an Amazon only having done under 27000 miles.

So with somewhat regret I have to say goodbye to Toyota and hello Honda who not only gave us a test drive straight away but also gave such a good deal on their CR-V executive I couldn't refuse.

May be its just me and getting old and grumpy, but a customer intending to buy or just browse at new cars should be treated as potential new owners and every effort made to encourage the purchase of a car, and in this case Toyota has failed miserably.

Sorry to give the bad news but Toyota has lost a sale from a regular customer of theirs for many many years.

Realspeed

[Shoto]

Just shows the difference a dealer can make. I looked at Honda and Toyota when I changed my car. The Honda dealers in Nottingham and Derby gave a very poor impression with their lack of cooperation regarding a test drive. When I finally got a test drive the Honda was beset by very noisy rattles that the salesman tried to blame on his colleague who usually drives the car. Apparently it was the driver's fault for not having the rattles fixed. Not impressed by being given a car that was virtually out of diesel either, especially after a long and patient wait for a drive.

The Toyota garage in Ilkeston were in a different league for service so I voted for Toyota.

Whatever you buy, the local dealer has to instill confidence.

[Steve84]

It the old story of great product backed by patchy customer service. When william a lewis shrewsbury messed up an engine replacement on my corolla due to burning oil, i was not expecting a new engine to go bang after 2k. It turned out to the the keyway had been over torqued and failed dropping the valves on the pistons. I then went looking at honda, two things put me off the civic i did not like the accord does not have a hatchback, so it was back to toyota has a brand but to my workplace to find a avensis.

[bristolmotorspeedway]

The individual dealers make so much difference. I was treated like a complete imbecile by the salesman at a Bristol Toyota dealership, so they lost my trade. I liked the car, so I gave Toyota 'one last chance' and Fish Brothers in Swindon got the business by treating me professionally, courteously and by being willing to thrash out a good deal.

[Mkuk0]

Hey Realspeed, you could have tried WR Davies in Stafford, got mine from there (company car) and they are SO much more helpful than my local dealers. Worth going outta my way for!

[matty2767]

slightly off topic but when i was looking at the avensis i also checked out the vectra estate. but the local vauxhal dealer wouldnt let me test drive it as i wasnt a business customer. they told me to hire one and if i then decided to buy it i could knock the hire price off the car.

[Shoto]

Seems that dealers can be very inconistent. I also live in Notts and like Matty I couldn't obtain a test drive from any Vauxhall dealers (I tried 4 of them). Their excuse was that I was a business customer and I should arrange something via the Vauxhall web site (I did manage this).

Does this mean that Vauxhall dealers don't do test drives any more? :(

My wife has a Vauxhall and we had no problems in getting her a test drive 18 months ago when we bought the car. What has changed?

[Mkuk0]

It makes me wonder if these guys actually WANT to sell cars, with attitudes like that! I went off Vauxhalls after 2 Vectras gave me nothing but grief. This isn't exactly encouraging me to come back.