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Liked My Hybrid So Much I Bought The Missis One!


valmiki
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...as mentioned above, I'm really 'enjoying' (read low maintenance and running costs) my Prius and two years down the line I've done the deal on a two-year old Auris Hybrid T-spirit with nav and leather, in metallic grey. Car being delivered on Monday!

It's replacing a Civic EX 2006 56 plate, and to be fair the Auris wasn't my wife's first choice, naturally lol, but I've managed to talk her into it. Let's hope it's reliable otherwise I'll never hear the end of it.

Can't wait to take it for a spin, a shame it doesn't have the HUD like the Prius, and I'm curious to see how the dials spin round to show charge/eco/power mode.

Any others on here who've done the same thing?

valmiki

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She'll probably love it.

Mrs Cabbie had a 2008 Honda Civic 1.4 and changed to an IQ. Whilst obviously not a hybrid, what she loves about Toyotas in general is that they are light to drive. I know this is going to sound sexist and Mrs C is with me on this but being of a smaller frame and 5'3'' tall she found the Civic way too heavy. I guess many European cars are built to satisfy the journo's who love a car with 'weighted' steering (which means heavy) and hard suspension. That's great for (male?) professional driving enthusiasts but does this exclude 50% of car owners; women? Some women will love to drive enthusiastically but many just want something that's easy to drive. What percentage of motoring journalists are female? 5%, 10%? 25%? or 2%?

She said she'd never go back to the Honda and wonders how she ever managed to lug it about. I know what she means. It wasn't a big car but it was heavy. The doors were heavy, the steering much so and the gear shift etc. Not badly so and not in a 1980's VW Golf way, but also not light like Japanese cars used to be.

So perhaps your Mrs will also love the lightness of the Auris, the smooth transmission, the quiet serene driving experience even in heavy traffic, the zero road tax and also the economy.

I just hope Toyota don't decide to follow Honda and 'Europeanise' their steering and suspension. If they do they'll lose at least two loyal customers.

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Hello GC, glad that you can backup my idea, you're right about the Civic, a heavy car with rock-hard suspension and I know that's one thing the my wife won't be missing! I'm just hoping she can live with the smaller boot, but now the kids are a little older it's rarely ever full.

It's a shame, but the Auris does suffer from an image problem - my wife seems to be of the opinion that no-one under 60 in their right mind would buy one, but then again that's probably why I'm getting such a good deal!

Then again I read articles like this (posted just now):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/11007326/Diesel-car-drivers-betrayed-as-EU-cracks-down-on-Britain-over-air-pollution.html

and I wonder how long before people cotton on to the advantages of a hybrid drivetrain...

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It's a shame, but the Auris does suffer from an image problem - my wife seems to be of the opinion that no-one under 60 in their right mind would buy one, but then again that's probably why I'm getting such a good deal!

It's funny, because the NZ equivalent Toyota is the Corolla, and across the board, has consistently been Toyota NZ's best selling model. Granted there are fewer models to choose from, but across all age ranges, the Corolla is recognised as a good solid economical and reliable vehicle.

:)

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I have convinced two friends about the advantages of a Hybrid and they are well pleased with their new Hybrid purchases. I will not go back to driving a non Hybrid. Wish I could convince my neighbour about how good the hybrid is. He is convinced diesel is best. He states new diesels are cleaner and more economical than a hybrid!!! I will keep working on him.

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He has a point - almost.

The latest Euro 6 diesel available on some brand new models and all diesels sold from next year ALMOST meets the same emissions for nasty NOx as a Euro 5 petrol car. The benefit of a hybrid is that the engine isn't running when stationary (as do some start stop diesels) but importantly the engine is off in slowly moving traffic too and city traffic is often crawling at about 5-10 mph in rush hour. A time when diesels are chugging out s***e.

But all that emission equipment stuck on the new Euro6 diesels will make them even more expensive and potentially unreliable.

I also try to lead by example rather than trying to convert hardened diesel heads. If they're stubborn they'll never admit they're wrong. Just give him a friendly wave next time you see him in a courtesy car whilst his is in for a new DPF. Word is slowly getting out there that diesel is evil.

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You are right grumpy, I just placed my order for an auris hybrid and the kids are excited. Everyone they see they tell them they are getting a car with batteries and it stops in traffic etc. They wouldn't have said anything normally so it's good to hear that the youngsters appreciate what is possible with the new tech.

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...as mentioned above, I'm really 'enjoying' (read low maintenance and running costs) my Prius and two years down the line I've done the deal on a two-year old Auris Hybrid T-spirit with nav and leather, in metallic grey. Car being delivered on Monday!

It's replacing a Civic EX 2006 56 plate, and to be fair the Auris wasn't my wife's first choice, naturally lol, but I've managed to talk her into it. Let's hope it's reliable otherwise I'll never hear the end of it.

Can't wait to take it for a spin, a shame it doesn't have the HUD like the Prius, and I'm curious to see how the dials spin round to show charge/eco/power mode.

Any others on here who've done the same thing?

valmiki

I did it the other way round. My wife got an Auris and I liked it so much I got a Prius a year later.

I still drive the Auris a fair bit myself. It's a great car; I like its anonymity and it 'handles' much better than the Prius - there's a lot less roll round corners. Interestingly, bearing in mind GC's comments above, I find the steering feels just a tad heavier as well. It also feels much better put together than the plastic creakfest which is the Prius's dashboard. In fact, the only real downside is the boot space and the lack of HUD. I do miss being able to see the eco meter without taking my eyes off the road.

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I too did this the other way around.

The missus has had a 2010 Auris Hybrid for 18 months and I found I was leaving my £20k diesel-chugging Ford on the drive in favour of the Auris.

I have now chopped in the Ford for a Prius and I love this car. A bit less fun to drive than the Auris, but a bit more gadgety and I love its solar roof!

I have also gained 10+mpg on the diesel as my car spends most of its life urban commuting.

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Brief update - the wife now been driving it for almost a week. She's got used to it very quickly and likes all the gadgets the t-spirit comes with. The boot is much, much smaller than the Civic, at least it will help focus her mind on only keeping the stuff in there she really needs! Must be a 'handbag' mentality lol. The lack of emphasis on 'handling' funnily enough means that she drives that tad little slower (and hence smoother) especially round corners. She misses the digital speedo too, which just seems like a no brainer especially when there's speed limits wherever you go nowadays.

Overall a winner (and I save on running costs!).

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Overall a winner (and I save on running costs!).

Take her out one night and tell her it's with the savings you're making with the new car.

If she's ever tempted to go back to the Civic that'll give her a little prompting not to :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I posted in another thread about my Gen2 Prius and whether to swap or fettle it.

In the end I decided to swap it, and went for a 2011 Auris T-Spirit with nav.

Having now had it a couple of weeks, there are good points and bad, in comparison, but I guess that would be true of any swap. I'm mostly happy but there's some bits we miss.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Like the OP I also have a two-year old Auris Hybrid T-spirit with nav and leather, in metallic grey. I bought it last year coming from a diesel Merc E class - a very different car. I liked the Merc for its performance but I don't miss the bills. The Auris has been a great car so far and I'm thinking of passing it on to my wife if and when we get something bigger - possibly a Prius if I can get over the image thing.

My Auris is one of the ex Toyota cars - FL12 reg. Toyota registered lots of hybrids themselves and sold them on after a year at a big discount from new price. Not exactly sure what Toyota did with the "management/demo/fleet" cars. When I bought my Auris the dealer had lots of them coming in all the time. I had a choice of 5 different cars in various colours! That helped keep the price down as the dealer had plenty to sell. Looking at the prices now they are about the same as last year even though the mileages are typically greater being a year older. Overall I am very pleased with my Toyota hybrid.

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The wife's Auris is an FL12! Originally from Oxford I think, and yes the first couple of services were 'charged internally' ;-)

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The FL registration is for Nottingham which ties in with Burnaston. My car's first service was done in Burton so it could well have been a company car for someone working at Burnaston. Another Auris hybrid I saw had a connection with Toyota's Epsom HQ.

My brother in law used to work for Peugeot. He had a new company car every 3 months. I remember him saying that they were encouraged to have certain new models which Peugeot were trying to promote to act as "adverts on wheels" giving the impression that the new model was popular. I wonder if Toyota, by registering so many Auris hybrids themselves, were not only keeping the factory busy, but also trying to promote the hybrids.

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It isn't unusual for car companies to have management schemes or employee schemes where cars are used for six months or so, and then moved onto the used market as ex-management/ex-manufacturer fleet cars.

Going back to the 90's and 00's, Rover and the Ford Group of companies had similar schemes ( Ford Group = Ford, Aston Martin, Jaguar) which were widened out to all employees.

A relative who worked at Longbridge, had a different car every six months, and the nominal payments made by the employee each month included insurance and servicing. A cousin who worked at Aston Martin took advantage of a similar scheme with Ford.

These sort of schemes have a number of benefits - including increased new registrations, advertising for the company, a supply of young used cars for the dealerships to sell, and of course, it looks good if a high proportion of that firm's employees are seen to drive products made by that firm.

A couple of manufacturers also have links with driving schools:

1. Vauxhall, before GM went into bankruptcy protection, had an agreement with BSM, where Vauxhall supplied Corsas and Astras for no cost. The cars were used by BSM for six months, and returned to Vauxhall. Returned cars were serviced, and faults rectified, and sold through Network Q as young used cars.

Vauxhall now have a different arrangement with BSM, where I believe BSM pays a contribution towards the cars.

2. Ford have an agreement with the AA driving school for the supply of Fiesta and Focus cars - these are returned to Ford after six months, refurbished and sold through Ford Direct.

Again, both arrangements give the dealerships a supply of young used cars to sell, provide advertising for the car company, and the car companies benefit from the scenario where learners are likely to buy the same make/model of car they passed their test in.

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