TonyHSD

Well done mate, good choice. These cars are very popular in London and already plenty of them to be seen as PHV. Good engine choice too. All the best 👍

Hi, Nexen tyres are quality tyres mid range, they are as good as Kumho and Hankook but for each model and size there are differences that needs to be considered. Goodyear efficient grip performance is the best tyre on the market in terms of comfort, performance in wet and quiet touring on motorways, their drawback is that they have a fairly soft walls and they are prone to side walls damage plus not that great at high speed cornering. For an average driver or someone who drives a lot and normally not racers this is a great choice.

Hi, the main dealers technicians most of the times knows very well what is all about but they have rules that follow. They also don’t clean throttle bodies but wait until it’s properly clogged and triggered a fault code than they will offer a change with new at cost of hundreds of pounds , it’s a business and we are forum for sharing experience and help each other. If you know some good mechanic or local garage that you can trust, you can explain them the car behaviour than ask them to look at the body, not so difficult and if it’s dirty they can clean it. It’s not a repair nor guarantee that will fix the problems, it is just like periodic maintenance for all petrol cars that has 50-60k plus miles and older than 5 years. If the car doesn’t do it all the times maybe just leave it like that, and if you get a engine management light on than you can have the car hooked to the diagnostics anywhere and you can have the fault code that will point you to the direction of the things straightforward. Regards

When comes to tyres for our cars (Auris Hybrids) I have in mind two sets that I know well and use them over the years. Premium tyres my choice is : Goodyear efficient grip performance, the name give us the answer why and if you are on a budget I can recommend Kumho Ecsta HS51 , these are almost as cheap as budget tyres despite are rated mid range but easily can outperform top end models like Dunlop , Pirelli, Uniroyal etc. Hankook tyres and Nexen also good. My winter tyres are Nexen winguard sport 2 , ultra quiet winter tyres , great for motorway journeys. 20 k miles with them and only down 1.5-2mm all 4 , I rotate them every 10k miles. For the Goodyear I had only done 12k miles and they are down about an millimetre, so far so good.

Yes , there are some factory settings to increase rpm while changing gears but if engine pulsating on idle it’s more something that needs attention than that. Redex it’s fine , I also use it once in a while but redex it’s a fuel system cleaner and will not help with cleaning the throttle body where only air passes through. If fuel supplies is the problem engine will cough and possibly stall, when air supply is inconsistent will rise the rpm and pulsating. Throttle body may not be the reason every time but is common issue with the time when carbon deposits buildup, there maybe a vacuum leak or dirty MAF/MAP sensors for example but the car needs to be checked. I suggest body cleaning as a maintenance procedure only, can’t say for sure will fix the problem., and also after cleaning the engine will misbehaving for a little while, this is normal but will settle after that and will be smoother and more responsive. Same as on the hybrids egr , egr pipe, throttle body and intake manifold cleaning procedure. Regards.

If the car has never had throttle body cleaning done it’s good time to start from there. Very often especially in a hot days if the throttle valve is dirty may cause similar engine behaviour and no trouble codes will be generated so technicians can’t find the problem with diagnostic tool. Get it clean and inspected by someone with experience , don’t forget to disconnect the battery before work to reset the engine ecu. Regards

Yes, Toyota hybrid synergy drive ( now called “self charging hybrid”) is simpler than conventional petrol or diesel drive trains, however hybrids from other manufacturers like Vw, Mercedes BMW etc ., their hybrid drive trains are more complicated, and here is why people love Toyota- Lexus hybrids, well that is the point of a hybrid car: 1. Reliability 2. Efficiency 3. Less emissions and less noise pollution. Please refer to YouTube videos plenty of info about Toyota hybrid drive trains

Just buy from carparts4less through Ebay for £18.69 this is where I am getting mine, delivery is 3 days max with dhl

Yes it’s good. They generally use 5w30 semi synthetic because of the cheaper price and higher margins to them. It’s ok to continue with 5w30 as long as you change it max 12 months, if you go fully synthetic it’s even better protection for your engine, but again do not leave any oil in the engine for longer than manufacturer recommend.

Well even in your case with limited miles per year oil change can even be at 6 months intervals but never more than 12, using the car for a short trips - school runs, shopping in town it’s not great for the engine. If it’s me I will use only full synthetic 0w20 and change every 6-12 months, it’s relatively cheap to do oil changes. My choice for oil is Petronas 0w20, it’s cheap and it’s good too. Been using that oil in winter short drives and in extremely hot for prolonged motorway journeys and no problems at all, no consumption as well, nothing after 10k miles, not even a drop add to the engine. I change mine every two months, driving a lot, and use genuine Toyota filters. Every second change I do engine flush too.

Hi, do you change your oil every 2 years or every year? If you don’t change every 12 months no matter how many miles you drive than you are risking to sludge your engine, get piston rings stuck and increased oil consumption. Fill in quality full synthetic oil and genuine filter or exactly same equivalent within manufacturer specs . You can also do an engine flush if the old oil is too dark and contaminated but this is up to you. Regards

Maybe it’s just me but Prius has has always better seats than Auris / Corolla, probably same with the latest generations. Prius seats are softer to touch especially on the sides and has better all around comfort. Maybe it’s just me.

38mpg for Avensis petrol- auto is a realistic fuel economy. Large car plus not so powerful engine and a cvt auto box, maybe if you drive extremely careful you can get few more mpg but not much of a difference.

Even you don’t plug in they are still more efficient and much cleaner than the rubbish diesel cars !

Ops, Toyota Ireland yes, thanks for that. 👍 Once I had problems with a nearly new car bought from Toyota dealer and they told me to contact directly Toyota uk and they will redirect me to the nearest dealer, for him maybe the dealer that is willing to help. I think maybe another dealer not the one he bought the car from originally.