yr 2015 1.8l. Petrol/2.0l diesel Tourer opinions

[pnbrown]

Hi Everyone,

Hope a few of you might be able to give me some advice/feedback on the Avensis Tourer yr 2015 with the 1.8l petrol engine and manual gearbox.  Car I am looking at is a pre-facelift model as from what I can see they had an upgrade to the Avensis in late 2015.

Mostly after opinions of reliability of the car, especially engine, any known issues of faults, realistic mpg for general running around as a family car with relatively short journeys.

Looking to upgrade from a 2.0 D4D Auris which has been a very good car but getting worried about well known engine problems with them!

Any help appreciated, many thanks.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The facelifted Avenue was announced in March 2015, with deliveries commencing June 2015, rather than late 2015.

[Konrad C]

18 hours ago, pnbrown said:

Hi Everyone,

Hope a few of you might be able to give me some advice/feedback on the Avensis Tourer yr 2015 with the 1.8l petrol engine and manual gearbox.  Car I am looking at is a pre-facelift model as from what I can see they had an upgrade to the Avensis in late 2015.

Mostly after opinions of reliability of the car, especially engine, any known issues of faults, realistic mpg for general running around as a family car with relatively short journeys.

Looking to upgrade from a 2.0 D4D Auris which has been a very good car but getting worried about well known engine problems with them!

Any help appreciated, many thanks.

Hi Peter. The known issues with early T27 and they are rare, the electronic parking brake - EPB, and the front door strap mounting point paint cracking. Both "should" be sorted by 2013. I have the early T27 Tourer and it has the paint cracking, which I have limited by using wider washers to reduce the metal flexing, by spreading the load. The drivers door suffers more due to use. As I said, later cars should be fine. The EPB has been upgraded since 2012. My car has the old unit and works fine. I avoid deep puddles. More makers are fitting them to cars.

The overall good news is the reliability of the Valvematic engine is very good. Mine does not use a drop of oil, and I do a once a week check on the fluids. Fuel consumption is not bad for a heavy petrol estate at 35 mpg. I live in south east London/Kent (Belvedere), a hilly area. On longer journeys like on the motorway, mid 40's maybe higher.

Question, have you also considered the Auris Touring Sport? Allegedly a larger capacity, but the engine is the slightly smaller 1.6 Valvematic with less power is a touch smaller body. The gearing is lower and I think the economy is similar. It has a standard handbrake. I would look at the Hybrid. Sorry to put that in!

Driving is okay when running with traffic. The engine warms up quick, though it can rev a little high on cold starts. The torque is not as good until 2000 rpm, so don't drive it like diesel. I do drive at around 1500 rpm or lower, when in town traffic. On the motorway the revs are in the upper 2k rpm. The CVT auto is another option.

I do my own servicing - oil (0w-20), oil filter, spark-plugs, air filter and cabin filter. Have also changed the wipers front and rear. The brakes were changed all round too.

Overall the car has been great to me, and I added a couple of things that was I wanted - USB with bluetooth adapter (my car has voice only Bluetooth), and a full size fifth alloy wheel, in place of the space saver. I have one of those "Easipark" lens which I find helpful with parking, though I not had much issue with parking.

Just a matter of spec and condition. Definitely avoid the base spec.

Good luck with the car hunt.  

Edited January 16, 2017 by Konrad C
grammar correction

[Heidfirst]

Konrad has pretty much covered it. I would be quite happy buying a 1.8 Valvematic Avensis (indeed I may well at some point).

Fyi, the original T27 Avensis came out at the start of 2009 (production started a few months earlier as usual to build launch stocks), there was a facelift Jan 2012 (again production started earlier) & then there was the somewhat more substantial facelift in 2015. It's pretty easy to tell which is which just by looking at the front grille & lights.

[pnbrown]

Thanks to everyone for your help, out of interest as my current Auris is a diesel, how do people rate the 2.0l d-4d engine in the yr 2014/2015 avensis, do they suffer from more issues like the previous Toyota diesels and is fuel economy as good as they claim? Also how do they fair on short/medium length journeys as I assume they have dpf as well as egr?

[Heidfirst]

2 different engines potentially. The 2014/ early 2015 would have a 1AD-FTV as per your Auris but improved & if it was the mid-2015 facelifted Avensis it would be the BMW N47-derived engine.

Both will be fitted with a DPF in addition to EGR.

Fuel economy is very rarely as good in the real world on any modern car as the Euro NEDC test results suggest.

[pnbrown]

Thanks for the engine info, I hadn't realised it was still the same basic engine as in my current Auris!

Anyone got any experience of the diesel engine with the DPF?  Does it give much trouble and what is its expected lifespan?

Going to have a look at a 2.0l diesel one tonight, had a go in a 1.8l. petrol and it just seems sluggish pulling away compared to what I am used to although it was very smooth compared to two existing Toyota diesels.

[Heidfirst]

re. trouble with DPF it  is going to depend upon your typical drives. If you are going to do lots of short drives with the engine never fully warming up you are going to have problems at some point if the car doesn't get long runs to allow for regeneration.

Iirc HonestJohn says lifespan  of a DPF typically from 80,000 miles but again it's going to depend upon how the car is used.

Driving a petrol like a Valvematic is totally different to a turbodiesel. TD has peak torque ~2000rpm with peak power ~4000, petrol will probably hit peak power/torque ~2000rpm higher respectively than on the diesel. The TD is a lazier drive whereas the petrol is for someone who likes stirring the gears for fast cross-country work.

Iirc HonestJohn's favourite is the 1.8 Multidrive S - a bit slower in acceleration but no DPF, no DMF & the gearbox seems as reliable as the engine (although very expensive to fix if it does give problems).

[pnbrown]

Thanks for everyone's help and advice about the T27 Avensis, did a deal on 2015 model 1.8l petrol today so hopefully have another 8-10'years of trouble free Toyota motoring!

[Heidfirst]

Enjoy your "new" car.