2011 Avensis Tourer - 1.6/1.8 Petrol Or Diesel Engines?

[DavyW]

Hi All,

Total newbie to the forum and must confess to not actually owning a Toyota yet, but after much nosing about online and speaking to mechanics, I'm going to get a 2011 Avensis Tourer and was stuck between the 1.6 petrol and any of the diesel models.

My last car (a 2008 1.9 CDTI Zafira - never, ever again, not even if they're free!!) died suddenly after DPF faults and I'm reluctant to go for another diesel in case it happens again. Having said that, I've not heard of any major issues with the Avensis - they just seem to go for ever!!

It would be used for small commutes - bout 10 miles to work and same back again - and infrequent longish drives, and we plan to keep it til it dies!! Hopefully, a long way away :-)

I'm just dipping my toe in the water here, and was wondering if any of you guys have any thoughts as to do's and don'ts for the Avensis.

Thanks for letting me bend your ear, looking forward to getting a decent, reliable car!!!

Ta,

Davy.

[AJW1100]

Hi Davy.

Welcome to the TOC, there are some similar questions posted here so perhaps a good place to start would be http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/158346-making-the-leap-avensis-18-v-matic-petrol/

This may give you some thoughts on Petrol v Diesel but if your drives are only doing mostly 10 mile trips then you will probably have DPF problems unless they are on a motorway for 9.5 miles at 60mph.

I maybe wrong but I think you'll find it's a 1.8 petrol for a 2011 model.

Have a good hunt around the threads there is a lot of info to look at!

Regards

Alan.

[alan333]

I'd go for a petrol too if your journeys are mainly short.

[Heidfirst]

Yup, from what you say I would go with the 1.8 petrol.

TR spec. imo is the best value unless you desperately need/want leather or something else only offered on a higher model (& there are quite a few TRs around with the optional half leather).

If you are buying a 2011 it will have the 5 year warranty so still ~2 to run (& further extendable for a fee).

Only real potential issue is whether you can get on with the electronic parking brake (& potential repair costs down the line should it fail out of warranty).

P.S. strangely enough I was in a friend's Zafira when it expired on the M74 down by Abington) - had to be trailered back.

[DavyW]

That's great, thanks for all replies so far. I've been through as many threads as I can find, and like you guys, they all seem to say go with the petrol. I reckon I will, the zafira has put me off diesel for life, and if the emissions levels are further reduced for diesels, as one mechanic told me, then I reckon the whole dpf hullaballoo is only going to get worse.

My in-laws have a 12 plate avensis with all the bells and whistles, it's the dogs danglies, and the electronic brake thingy didn't take that long to get used to. As to the interior spec, my two kids and big daft dug will put paid to it remaining nice and clean for any length of time, so I'm not overly fussed about the extra toys/leather interior. All said and done, I'm looking for reliability and the load space.

I'm just off the phone to the dealer and he says it's definitely a V-Matic 1.6 Petrol T2. Ideally, I'd like the 1.8 for the bit of extra oomf, but the budget just won't stretch.

Thanks again for all your help, going on Wed to get my grubby wee paws on the car hopefully!!

[Heidfirst]

Arnold Clark Bishopbriggs?

You should be able to find a 1.8 TR of that age for ~9-9.5k sticker price (always negotiable) but you may have to travel a bit.

[DavyW]

The Bishopbriggs one is the fella! The sticker is £8700, hoping to get it for £8400/8500 + bits and bobs. Unless I win the lottery, that's me at my limit unfortunately! I'll let you know how I get on.

[Valvematic]

I have a 1.8 tr tourer for sale.

[Cyker]

The Toyota diesels are a joy to drive, but they need to be USED - Either distance driving or hauling heavy loads - on a regular basis or they tend to develop problems.

Would tend to agree the petrol would be a better match!

[DavyW]

Just back from the dealer and picked up my car, well chuffed with it.!!! I'm rubbish at haggling, but from a sticker price of £8700, I got it for £8600 with 6mths tax, 2yrs servicing and mot, and he gave me £3200 for my zafira - I nearly bit the hand off him when he offered that - there was a nasty burning smell coming from it and white smoke out of the exhaust when I drove through. Reckon I got rid of it just in time!!

Anyway, thanks very much for your replies, I'm away to see which are the best roof bars to get - not content with the massive boot space, we need a roof box as well!

Cheers,

Davy.

[Heidfirst]

Congrats & welcome to the Avensis Owners Club! ;)

Mmm, don't know if I can mention this here but my car came with Toyota roofbars & realistically I can't see me ever using them (1st thing I did was take them off) - open to offers.

[jonny123456]

Just back from the dealer and picked up my car, well chuffed with it.!!! I'm rubbish at haggling, but from a sticker price of £8700, I got it for £8600 with 6mths tax, 2yrs servicing and mot, and he gave me £3200 for my zafira - I nearly bit the hand off him when he offered that - there was a nasty burning smell coming from it and white smoke out of the exhaust when I drove through. Reckon I got rid of it just in time!!

Anyway, thanks very much for your replies, I'm away to see which are the best roof bars to get - not content with the massive boot space, we need a roof box as well!

Cheers,

Davy.

Ok I'm going to be outright nosy here and ask if you'd mind sharing some more details of your purchase?

Was it from a main dealer? Did you get. 2011 1.8 TR Tourer for £8600? What was the mileage?

If so I'm doing something wrong, because I can't find anything similar in that price range (which is exactly where I'm looking).

Incidentally I'm the starter of the post linked to earlier on, and took a 1.8 saloon out for a try today to get a feel for it. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to become a proper owner, but am struggling to find a bargain at the moment :(

[Heidfirst]

Iirc he bought a 2011 1.6 T2 Tourer from a main dealer Arnold Clark, Bishopbriggs). Can't remember the mileage & it's off their website now.

A 60 plate 1.8 TR Tourer in main dealers is listing from just under 10K (Vantage Scarborough have a white one with 18k miles for £9970, Inchcape Oxford have a silver one with 22k for £9975) for a 2010, 2011 registered should add another £500 or so. There is a Dec. 2010 silver one with 40k in Leicester for £10700, several around ~£11k - you have to be prepared to travel.

When I was looking manuals & CVTs could be had for very similar prices with no real premium for the auto.

Facelift models came in December 2011 on a 61 plate & these will be notably dearer..

P.S. seems to be a dearth of 60/11/61 plate 1.8 TR Tourer CVTs in the dealer network at the moment going by Toyota's used car search. Autotrader is showing a few more but they might be gone (one in Bristol at £11k).

Obviously more if you go outside the dealer network.

[DavyW]

Hi there,

Hi Heidfirst, the roofbars sound good, I'd be interested in them, but are they the ones which come down from the roof line, and hook into the door frame as well? I'd rather get the ones that fit in the roof line and don't come down over the top of the edge of the roof line.

As to the general enquiry about our car, not probs, be as nosy as you like. We were proper stuffed and needed a new car quickly and couldn't travel too far to get it, the Toyota avensis seemed to be the one that suited us and everyone raved about it. I hunted about on the usual places, car auctions, autotrader, eBay, and found one in an Arnold Clark main dealer in Bishopbriggs. It was first reg'd end of Jan 2011, and is a 1.6l petrol T2 tourer, so doesn't have a lot of toys in the car - my father in law has the top of the range avensis with everything, there's a lot of toys on offer! It has a full Toyota service history, obviously, there's still 18mths manufacturers warranty left (I didn't want the extended arnold clark one - the bloke that does my cars says they're p*sh! Better hope the EPB doesn't go now), it has 22580 on the clock and two previous owners - I was a bit worried about this, but I checked the V5 and it was first reg'd to the dealer, so only effectively has had one proper owner. As I said, there was no tax on it, it was £8688 - he came down to £8500 + 6mths tax, and I got the two years servicing and MOT for an extra £100, so £8600 all in. I'm no good at haggling, so am pleased with that!

It was quite cheap, but folk seem to stay away from the 1.6 as it can be underpowered, so I reckon it was priced to sell. It had been in the dealer for a month before we got it, and was a trade in from the original buyer, who bought it from that same dealer -same salesman, if you believe his patter!

Hope this helps in your search, any other questions, let me know!

[jonny123456]

Thanks for the replies.

Heidfirst, I had my eye on the white one, and it looks like it went at some point Friday/Yesterday :(

DavyW, how are you finding the new car 1 week in?

How's the 1.6 engine? The specs list it at only being 1 second slower to 60 than the 1.8, but I wonder how it feels to drive on the whole. To be honest I've hardly seen any of the 1.6 models on my hunt for a car, but at that discount I'd certainly consider one if it came up in my hunt :)

[DavyW]

The car is great, the 1.6 engine is not an issue at all. It's a six speed box, so the changes are frequent as there isn't much between the gears, but you get used to it - I drive a lot of bigger diesel engines at work and am used to a lot of torque under the pedal. Overtakes aren't too bad, just drop a couple of gears and rev it high if you are really that desperate to get one car ahead! The engine certainly doesn't labour, it drives very well, smooth and quiet - it just feels a tiny bit like there's not much there under the pedal when you put your foot down, especially for such a big car - like I said, I thought this would be the case, and I'm not buying this car to throw it around. It is £200 for a years' tax and gets about 38mpg, which for the driving we're doing, I'm happy with.

Overall, we're delighted with it, if I'd had an extra grand I would've held off for the 1.8 with a bigger spec, but in our case, beggars couldn't be choosers. And I do think we got a good price, Glass's and Parker's put the car at £9.5k ish. This was the only 1.6 I'd seen just about anywhere, and I'm surprised it didn't go earlier.

More importantly, our daft Weimaraner fits in the boot, so we're all happy :-)

Good luck with your hunt, I'm glad I got mine.