Making The Leap - Avensis 1.8 V-Matic Petrol

[jonny123456]

Ok so first of all I must confess, I'm not strictly a toyota owner (yet!).

I'm looking for an economical (both fuel and running costs), reliable, family car that's also comfy for daily hour long commutes on the motorway (sounds like a personals add ;)).

The Avensis 1.8 V-matic petrol has been recommended, and the reviews seem good - other than the repeated mention of parking break actuators costing £1500 to replace. This scares the life out of me, and may have (unfortunately) put me off the car, hence my topic poll here - to see just what proportion of T270 owners it has actually affected.

I'm considering a tourer - and really fancy the automatic version of the car. Hoping to get something low mileage and Toyota Approved, with a bit of warranty left on it.

My previous car (Nissan Primera Sport only cost me £4000 and lasted 9 trouble free years doing 115K miles under my ownership). I hope to get another 9 years out of whatever I buy next - Toyota certainly has the reputation to allow this.

I cover approx 15,000 miles a year, mainly motorway commute and family trips/holidays. My budget - £8,000 (key factors: cost of ownership, reliability and comfort).

So, should I let the potential for expensive parking break issues put me off?

Would you recommend your Avensis T270 (for a potential 9 years/150K miles ownership)?

[AJW1100]

Hi Jonny.

Welcome to the TOC, there is a wealth of info on these pages so have a dig!

I have now owned my T27 TR Spec manual 1.8 v-matic Tourer for just over a year, it has some very good points:

Comfort for all passengers

No center tunnel for the rear center passenger to straddle.

Touch & Go satnav which is useful if you can understand the manual.

Huge center console and glovebox for storage.

Smooth gear change, cannot comment on autobox.

Electric windows front and rear

Cruise Control

Speed limiter

Privacy glass

Huge load area with lots of under floor storage

Space saver not a can of useless squirt!

Seems well put together and does not rattle and squeak as my Passat did (all the time even after 3 removals and refit of dashboard!)

bluetooth and excellent hands free (Check your phone is compatible on the Toyota website)

USB with MP3 capability I have a tiny USB plugged in with over 1000 songs, the connection is in the bottom of the dark center console and a bit tricky to get right.

Daylight running lights.

Reversing Camera.

Good value fixed price servicing

No turbo to blow (As did on my BMW, fixed under goodwill or it would have set me back well over £2k)

Cam Chain not belt (My Passat needed a new one every 4 years at a cost of over £400 so that's saving you £100 a year)

28~42mpg, not great but as I do not do so much mileage there is no problem with a DPF (As on my Passat)

A five year warranty.

Heated Mirrors. etc etc.

Yes it is a bit bland, it is not very sporty but with a good boot does shift okay, its a bit like your favorite Mutt!!

I have been looking around to see if anything else around would suit me better, I cannot find anything unless I spend around £25~30k A lot of what comes as standard on the T27 TR is an option on many of the others and usually part of an option pack.

My heart says another 5 series my head says stick with the Avensis and enjoy some really great free holidays instead!!

I am sure you will get a lot more feedback. There are some really good deals from Toyota garages but you need to do your research on pricing and then haggle like hell, I got a lot (£k's) off the screen price, a free major next service a year later, and other goodies.

hope this helps

Alan.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello J - welcome over to Toyota Owners Club from the Honest John forum.

[Raistlin]

Hi, Welcome to the club... Enjoy

[Heidfirst]

Hi Jonny

Your mileage means that you are in the area where a diesel may make more sense for running cost (but then you potentially have DMF, DPF etc. issues to worry about) but the simpler petrol engine makes more sense from a long term ownership pov.

Your budget unfortunately probably only covers an early T27 (have you considered a late T25?)

1) iirc Toyota changed the position of the EPB switch & behaviour at some point

2) the car will be well out of warranty - in June 2010 Toyota increased their warranty to 5 years (extendable for a fee to 7 or 8 years) from 3.

TR spec. is usually the best value unless you desperately want leather.

Don't be too concerned if cars don't have factory sat nav as buying a Garmin/Tom Tom will give you more modern hardware that is cheaper (or free) to update than the factory system.

[Whitewagon]

I have the 2010 TR Tourer with the CVT box. I second all that has been posted by AJW1100 (but no DLR's on mine). Bought it at about 18 months old and extended the warranty. The CVT box is excellent and has a sport mode which gives loads of acceleration if used. Have had the EPB replaced under warranty. Getting 38mpg in the summer and 35 in the winter which I think is good for a car of its size and I don't drive slowly. As Frosty says there are lots of posts on here and probably more pros than cons which is unusual for an owners forum as people often only visit these places with problems. Hope you find what you want.

Have just read your post on HJ. In answer to the critic at the end the Satnav does not stay on permanently on the 2010 model there is a power off option. The rear doors lock automatically at about 15mph. They stay locked until either you put the car in Park mode, turn the ignition off or operate the unlock button on the drivers door.

As Heidfirst has pointed out I would suggest a June 2010 or later should be your target to get the warranty cover, I have extended mine by a year so far. Bearing in mind the cost of a new engine or a CVT box is probably in the region of £5k each it is a piece OS mind option.

I have the 2010 TR Tourer with the CVT box. I second all that has been posted by AJW1100 (but no DLR's on mine). Bought it at about 18 months old and extended the warranty. The CVT box is excellent and has a sport mode which gives loads of acceleration if used. Have had the EPB replaced under warranty. Getting 38mpg in the summer and 35 in the winter which I think is good for a car of its size and I don't drive slowly. As Frosty says there are lots of posts on here and probably more pros than cons which is unusual for an owners forum as people often only visit these places with problems. Hope you find what you want.

Have just read your post on HJ. In answer to the critic at the end the Satnav does not stay on permanently on the 2010 model there is a power off option. The rear doors lock automatically at about 15mph. They stay locked until either you put the car in Park mode, turn the ignition off or operate the unlock button on the drivers door.

As Heidfirst has pointed out I would suggest a June 2010 or later should be your target to get the warranty cover, I have extended mine by a year so far. Bearing in mind the cost of a new engine or a CVT box is probably in the region of £5k each it is a piece of mind option.

[rogersp]

Hi

Purchased my, pre registered, T27 1.8 TR Tourer about 11 months ago and am delighted with same.

Like you I previously ran all the premium German brands over the years which were not trouble free but were very good to drive. On retiring I decided not to use my hard earned cash/pension for the likes of BMW, Merc, Audi etc so after much consideration opted for the Toyota. To date I've been delighted and satisfied with the switch to the petrol option.

Regarding the EPB mine has been fine and can only think that there are many that are trouble free. That said I would not be too amused to fork out £1500 to fix it after the 5 year warranty expires.

Nice car

[jonny123456]

My heart says another 5 series my head says stick with the Avensis and enjoy some really great free holidays instead!!

Thanks for the detailed overview. They're the kinds of things that draw me to the car, along with the safety scores (now I have a family). I do like the look of it too (especially the tourer). My heart too says the 520d, though my head/wallet say not just yet, maybe for the next car (in 9+ years if I go for the Toyota ;))

Hello J - welcome over to Toyota Owners Club from the Honest John forum.

Thank you, and thanks for the welcomes from everyone else :)

TR spec. is usually the best value unless you desperately want leather.

Don't be too concerned if cars don't have factory sat nav as buying a Garmin/Tom Tom will give you more modern hardware that is cheaper (or free) to update than the factory system.

Fingers crossed the TR's what I'm looking for. Sat nav would be a bonus, though I have a tom tom anyway so no issue if not.

Have had the EPB replaced under warranty.

....

As Heidfirst has pointed out I would suggest a June 2010 or later should be your target to get the warranty

cover, I have extended mine by a year so far. Bearing in mind the cost of a new engine or a CVT box is probably in the region of £5k each it is a piece OS mind option.

What was the fault/symptoms/warning signs that prompted you to get the EPB replaced (so I can look out for it when test driving)?

I'll keep an eye out for the extended warranty on the 2010 plate Avensese (like Alan Partridges Lexi ;)) though I've seen a few used approved Toyota ones on 2009 plates that come with a 12 month warranty too.

[Whitewagon]

J,

I just thought the motor/actuator started to sound noisy in operation, it didn't fail as such. When the car went in for its second year service I mentioned it and asked them to check it. They diagnosed it was faulty and ordered a new part and fitted it the following week. No quibble. When operated there is a slight electric motor sound anyway but it's now far quieter than it was.

The 2009 T27 models only had the three year warranty as stated above but I guess that if it's a Toyota Approved car the they will give a one year warranty. I don't know wether or not you will be able to extend this further though. The cars that have the five year warranty can be extended further providing they have been dealer maintained to schedule.