New To The Auris Hybrid Experience

[RTJ]

Hello,

Just bought a 1. 8 Hybrid 2013 with 10k on the clock after trading in my RAV. I really liked the look of the car in white with its clean lines at the dealer in Aylesbury, Bucks. I took a test drive and thought that it was enjoyable to drive and had enough gadgets to keep me busy. My wife also liked the car and found it easy to drive. I read extensively about what the motoring pundits have said about the car and I have to say that I disagree with most of it. The economy is great, acceleration in power mode is good, it handled well on the twisties and was fine on the motorway both at crawling and quick speeds. Driving position was comfortable even after 4hrs.

The rear camera works fine as long as you use it with mirrors etc and I liked the navigation system which I used extensively to avoid jams today. Blue tooth allowed me to stream world wide radio stations on my phone through the sound system which is really clear. I am still finding my way about the car but I am impressed with it so far. In 300 miles of driving I only saw one other similar car. I think that I will get a space saver wheel as I don't like the thought of being without a spare, and fit cross bars to carry the odd load. Plenty of space in the back as the seats fold flat.

So, just sharing my first impressions with this forum. I am sure that it will prove most useful to me for advice etc in the future. Best wishes, Roger

[Uncle Buck]

Glad you're enjoying the car Roger. I'm sure others are or will be considering the jump to hybrids very shortly. :)

[Joe2014]

I too am new to the hybrid system. I bought my car 4 weeks ago. main findings so far:

1 I am happy with the mpg at 50 plus

2 I have difficulty seeing the screen presentation on the central display unit even with the skyroof closed. The screen could have been set in to the dash a bit more to enable better driver visibility. This can be a bit disconcerting whilst driving.

3 The engine does have some unusual noises compared with other cars I have driven, it does tend to be a bit noisy particularly when in the Power setting during acceleration.

4 The tyre pressure monitor reset switch is located in the glove compartment.

Any others have experiences to share?

Joe

[RTJ]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for your comments. I have now done about 1000 miles. My wife loves to drive the car and I have found it most enjoyable myself. It is a bit quirky as the engine winds up like a two stroke on acceleration and in car parks it seems like a stealth bomber as it glides around noislessly. I keep my headlights on to ensure that I attract attention as I have been right behind pedestrians and they clearly have not known the car was near them. I am not afraid to use the horn as well to attract attention.

I like the road holding and also the light feel to the wheel and have flung it around the twisties to see how it reacts and there have been no problems. The seats are comfortable even after a long journey and there is plenty of space when you fold the back seats down for trips to the dump etc. I like the Satnav system although it dims considerably if you use lights during the day ( I must read the guidance to see if you can alter the settings) and the audio and bluetooth connections work well. Interestingly, we have not seen many similar cars on the road which is surprising.

On MPG I have been averaging over 60 which brings a smile to my face. Paradoxically we are using the car more because of the good mpg return which isn't very green of us and did a 4 hour journey to the coast yesterday (there and back) just for the hell of it.

I took out a service cost plan over 3 years as well as a paint repair plan and made good deals so what with the 4 year guarantee on the car and 7 years on the batteries, and no road tax I would say that we are happy with our choice. We still have to pay the congestion charge for London now the goal posts have been moved on emissions. My criteria is would I buy another one tomorrow and the answer is yes.

Cheers,

Roger

[sgh]

Another newbie here to the auris Hybrid experience. Also a 2013 model with approx 8.5k on the clock, only picked up today so like Roger will probably be asking a few questions before long!

Steve

[redadair]

Hey Roger, I too am enjoying the new experience as is the wife!

It's quite a relaxed drive and I find myself trying to be super economic rather than drive at normal speed (especially when no one is behind me).

However, I can't get a shot as the wife loves it and uses it all the time (we consolidated 2 cars into 1)!!

But I do have a few gripes that I will post up later. Red!

[zippyioa]

Hi to all fellow Auris Hybrid owners,

I just joined you after trading in a 2006 Honda Accord 2 litre petrol.

I went for a used 2013 Auris Icon Hybrid in white (which looks lovely!!). I felt it was a bargain with just under 17k miles on the clock and a price tag of just £12k. After getting a much higher trade in offered than list price it was rude not to switch.

My main reason for going hybrid is that I have recently changed to mostly doing cross town driving with lots of stop/start, a commute that meant my Accord was averaging around 19 MPG!

Electric cars appealed to me, but range anxiety didn't. Diesel was a no go as I only do around 6k miles a year, so I was naturally drawn to hybrid.

It's only been a few days, but so far I am quite confident that I bought a perfect car for my driving style and regular commute!

I covered 67 miles after filling up the petrol tank and zeroing all screens on the trip computer. With some VERY carefui driving along a mix of roads with changeable speed limits (mostly 50, 40 and 30 MPH) I was gobsmacked to get home and see 82.5 average MPG on the dash (and that's not the Eco average, which was higher at just over 91 MPG)

I know the trip computers are often not that accurate, but even so, if I get anywhere near this when I work out actual MPG on my next refill, I will be extremely happy!

The only slight negatives I have so far are:

1. The annoying "BEEEEEEEEEEEP" while reversing (I am planning a visit to my local Toyota garage to change this to a single "beep" when it's in for a "voluntary customer recall" that flagged up on the Toyota websites recall checker so this shouldn't be a problem for long)

2. The loud and high revving noise when you floor it (to be fair, I knew about this pre-purchase and can live with it as I don't plan to drive it with a heavy right foot anyway - my days as a boy racer are a distant memory now!)

3. The tyre repair kit (I plan on getting a proper space saver ASAP as I don't see that tyre gunk as a good option for a small puncture due to it usually writing off the tyre. Most garages wont touch it with that stuff all over it and it's certainly no good for a blowout!

4. The lack of voice recognition for the bluetooth phone connection (apparently this is an option if you have the Touch & Go Sat Nav installed, but my Icon only has Touch!? - a bit misleading and weird to have a dedicated button on the steering wheel I think!

5. The retro calculator style dashboard clock which everyone has commented about so far.... why Toyota? It's such a modern looking car otherwise.

Aside from those slight niggles, its a superb car and so far it's been a total pleasure to drive. I hope for a long, happy and low cost life of motoring ahead :)