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There are plenty of reasons why we choose the car we drive. I chose my car - Mk3 Tourer because it was the right car for the money and I need to look for a practical car for future needs. Also it was a lucky find being very local to me. I actually wanted a Honda Civic 1.8 2008 - 2010 five door, because it had reasonable space, practical, and reliable. My main concern is that I sometimes carry a Dahon Cadenza folding bike, which have 26" wheels, 16 speed, light weight and very fast. It is much larger than a Brompton bike, so the needs a boot space of 90cm x 95cm, with the seats up and the parcel shelf/cover in place. My Mk1 Avensis did this easily with space for other items. It also good for security as nobody will suspect there is a bike in the boot! The Civic cannot do this. The cover will need to be off or the bike stored in the passenger area, or the seat folded down. Have you noticed that load space is measured is litres and not dimensions? Not helpful if you want to chose a car for a specific purpose. The Tourer has no such issues. I got a spare wheel (space saver), extra for the Civic. The passenger space is much bigger than my Mk1, especially the rear seats. Next was the engine and reliability. Both engine are the same size, performance and fuel economy. The Civic is geared slightly lower compared to the Avensis, and I preferred a more relaxed engine. Fuel economy is close too! The Civic is know to have a rock hard ride. The Avensis has a firm ride with tiny bumps filtering through, but comfortable. The one thing I am not a fan of it the EPB, only known issue. This initially put me off the Avensis, but after some research and experience with my brothers Renault Grand Scenic, I am more confident. Slow compared to a manual handbrake but fine. What really swayed was brand loyalty! Having been on the forum and gathered plenty of knowledge on all 3 versions of the Avensis. The Mk3 suits my driving style. I was also looking at Mk2 Avensis hatchback (2007-2008) but the Mk3 was close in price and a better buy. If the Mk3 came in hatchback, that would have been my car! The only thing I did not get with my Mk3 Tourer is the motorised folding mirrors. That would be very useful. May be a retrofit? Parking sensor and rear camera are not missed, as I have no problems parking. Cruise control, speed limiter and dual climate control standard on the car, also Bluetooth handsfree which I added to with my Bluetooth/USB adaptor, since my car is the earlier model with AUX only. This feature was updated in the later face lift. As you realise I may have bought a Honda, but it did not suit my needs. I liked the looks though. My next target cars in the future will be the Auris Sports Tourer and the Civic Tourer. That way I downsize slightly without loosing the space and practicality.

OR get it straight back on to Ebay. Sorry, Bob, couldny resist that. At least it settles any questions about it bein' an interference engine.

With the usual 'fit' lasses crossed-arm watching and giving u tips, huh Tom? :) :) :)

Low Rolling Resistance I believe - helps better MPG apparently. Is LRR more important than say quality all season tyre s performance? I got Michelin CrossClimate all seasons on my Auris - good low resistance and good wear and very good all weather - based on online reviews / spec What size are your Michelin CrossClimate tyres? My Auris Hybrid came with Michelin Primacy HP 215/45 17 85W and it seems there is'nt a CrossClimate for this size, I do also have my winter tyres on some 195/65 R15 wheels but I was hoping to put all season tyres on the original wheels that came with the car, also it seems the Goodyear Vector 4 are'nt available for me wheels either.Until Michelin releases more sizes, for now there are no EXACT tyre size for the 17" Auris. So with the help of this forum - I opted for 225/45 R17 XL :) U can also try looking up Nokian WeatherProof all season - which was my 2nd choice .. Uniroyal RS3 is awesome according to many online - as they are excellent WET tyres and therefore also good at dissipating snow quickly hence better than a lot of pure summer tyres (I read)....but they wear very quickly apparently so I then considered the all season tyres as the latest all season tyres are very good (Cross climate + weatherproof) :)

The EU tyre labelling system should help you find all season tyres which rate well for fuel efficiency (ie low rolling resistance) - see http://www.blackcircles.com/general/tyre-labelling/tyre-label The Primacy HP RP GRNX (215/45/R17) tyres fitted to some Auris hybrids as OE weren't specifically LRR tyres.

I'm sure someone will give you the seal numbers but in the meantime have you seen this post about the bungs next to the lghts actually causing leaks in some cases? http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/106503-aygo-leak-in-rear-back-corners-of-hatchback/

Low Rolling Resistance I believe - helps better MPG apparently. Is LRR more important than say quality all season tyre s performance? I got Michelin CrossClimate all seasons on my Auris - good low resistance and good wear and very good all weather - based on online reviews / spec

Low Rolling Resistance I believe - helps better MPG apparently.

No, just a plastic clip, similar to these...

The modes behave differently across the Toyota Hybrid range. My gen3 Prius has ECO, NORMAL and PWR (plus EV). The difference between the modes is the accelerator pedal mapping. There is no difference to the actual power available to drive - You just have to move the pedal further. Also when in ECO mode, the system throttles back the aircon and doesn't fire the ICE as much in stationary traffic. My wife's gen1 hybrid Yaris has ECO and NORMAL (plus EV). ECO mode in the Yaris is somewhere between my NORMAL and PWR modes in accelerator pedal response. I have no idea what ECO mode does to the aircon and ICE. ECO mode in the Prius is nothing like ECO mode in the Yaris. Just saying...

It's from the perception that the hybrid won't have a chance to charge the battery if driven at a constant speed for so long, and can be noisy due to the ICE being revved up. The thing with hybrids isn't that they have particularly efficient engines - The atkinson cycle is supposed to be on par with diesel for efficiency but in reality it isn't because it has such low torque. The thing that makes hybrids efficient is the regen braking - They waste far less energy to braking than normal cars. All the energy you use still comes from the fuel (Plugins-excepted!), so it's all about conserving momentum and maximising regeneration to extract as much energy from the fuel as possible. It is quite amazing how much energy gets converted into heat when braking, and even being able to recover 20% of that will give the ol' mpgs a healthy boost! Although hybrids can be beaten by the some of the more efficient diesels on the motorway, they actually do pretty well as long as the car isn't too heavily loaded. The HSDs with the 1.8 do better than the ones with 1.5 as they have enough baseline torque to keep the car rolling at motorway speeds without having to raise the revs too highly, which saves a lot of fuel. For instance, I know the Mk3 Priusesusesusas can cruise at 70mph far better than the Yaris Mk3 HSDs because the 1.5 in the Yaris doesn't quite have enough torque to keep it moving at idle rpms. (That slippery kammback design also helps vs the slightly stubby Yaris body at those speeds!)

Only if you don't press the pedal harder to make up for it (although the changes to H&V might still help a bit) :D H&V? sorry - Heating & Ventilation in ECO, it may run the engine or A/C a little less and the fan a little slower and try slightly less hard to maintain the requested temperature

You could of coause use post it stickers like this guy did David

Thanks! Do you know the part number of the rubber? Or can I use another brand?