Toyota avensis

colm_mcm

what_car wrote: »

ok i get you, but wasnt the camry bigger...
anyways i rekon that smaller cars will be the way things go in the near future,
with nissan taking away the primera and patrol.
with oil getting scarcer,
i rekon small diesels like the 1.4 corolla etc will be more common....

Nobody's crying about the Primera or Patrol being axed.

what_car

colm_mcm wrote: »

Nobody's crying about the Primera or Patrol being axed.

no but people are crying out for toyota to make cars that arnt so boring or ugly!


take for example the avensis......

not to mention the Auris............ or Arse as it should be called...:rolleyes::eek:
enuf said..
by the way we are way off thread,:p:p

bazz26

cantdecide wrote: »

Isn't the passat around the same price? VW is far sturdier and refined IMO It makes the Avensis feel like a tin box.

One of our sales reps has an avensis and is lookng to trade in and I suggested vw and he said his son had one and "he couldn't drive it, it's far too heavy, it's like a bloody tank".

My Mother had a courtesy '07 Avensis (when her Passat got a slap of a bus) and it had a very funny road noise. We all thought at different times there was a flat tyre....

My uncle has a 07 Passat and it has been back to the dealers with numerous problems more times than my Avensis has been in 4.5 years.

Stupid electronic handbrake has a mind of it's own which took the dealer a week to sort, ECU has been updated with new software twice due to throwing out numerous false error codes. My uncle has lost all confidence in the car and is getting rid of it in January for a Mondeo. I have also driven the car and it is nothing to write home about on the handling front and it certainly doesn't feel a safer place to be than my 03 Avensis. Both have 5 star Euro NCAP ratings too.

VW bomb proof reliability is nowhere near the level their marketing department or commericals would have us believe. Yes they were bomb proof years ago but they have been living off their laurals for the last number of years instead of building on them. Most people seem to overate them imo.

To the OP, I'm not sure that the new Mazda 6 is released in January but if it is it should be seriously considered too. Others on the list maybe the Honda Accord?

cantdecide

I'd rather have a Passat needing warranty work than a tin box Avensis needing a soul.

Avensis is strictly a joyless commodity and if your passionate about cars, you'll have no interest.

bazz26

cantdecide wrote: »

I'd rather have a Passat needing warranty work than a tin box Avensis needing a soul.

Avensis is strictly a joyless commodity and if your passionate about cars, you'll have no interest.

I don't know what Passats you have been driving but the ones I have all been as boring as the Avensis.

BTW anyone really passionate about cars as you put it, would hardly consider a Passat either would they? Hardly sets the world alight, a mid range family car just like the Avensis.

colm_mcm

cantdecide wrote: »

I'd rather have a Passat needing warranty work than a tin box Avensis needing a soul.

Avensis is strictly a joyless commodity and if your passionate about cars, you'll have no interest.

Have you owned, or even actually driven either car.

From what you're saying, anyone who hasn't been in either car would think the Passat was far better than it actually is.

R.O.R

I've driven more or less all the options in that sector, with the diesel engine. Personally I'd be going for the new Mondeo, but I might be a bit biased as I've always had a soft spot for them.

Avensis is a good cruiser and comfy for long journeys, but doesn't handle as well as the Mondeo. Falls in to the same category as the Vectra in my opinion - does exactly what is was built to do and nothing else.

Passat is a nice car to drive, but I'll back up other's claims about reliability issues - doesn't stop them flying out the door though. By far the most popular vehicle in that sector this year, but the Mondeo might push it closer next year.

From week 46 production the Passat Comfortline will come as standard with Alloy Wheels rather than them being an upgrade. Puts the spec in line with the Mondeo Zetec and Avensis Luna.

Mazda 6 looks good and will probably be fairly popular to begin with. Current model hasn't been shifting at all for the past couple of years (at least not to fleets), but when it was launched in '03 it was almost as popular as the Mondeo.

cantdecide

Rep-spec Passat is the best of a bad bunch then. You can buy a passat with 4motion, V6's W engines, leather/ tiptronic. Basic chassis from the Audi RS4s
(obviously not same spec). I think that's a measure of their standing.

There's real substance in the Passat, even if it's only the stripped out rep models.

What's the Avensis ever done that's so special? Like I say, it's only a comodity. My dad has a lexus that has done nothing but give front suspensin and brake trouble- that doesn't make it a bad car. It's awesome actually. I've never heard anyone say that an avensis is awesome.

Reliability is ONLY ONE MEASURE of how good a car is- it's important but it's only one. Not all toyotas are reliable- I know a girl tha bought a new corolla that broke her heart. If it's going to have a warranty you may a well buy whichever one you fancy but don't say your heart told you to buy the Avensis.

maidhc

cantdecide wrote:

There's real substance in the Passat, even if it's only the stripped out rep models.

There is no substance to the new Passat. It is creaky and rattly and the 1.9 is woefully underpowered. My grandfather has an 06 one, and it has made plenty of return visits to the garage over niggly things. A Mk1 Mondeo handles much better than it too.

I'm no fan of the Avensis mind. I drove one to Dundalk from Cork over the weekend, and apart from having average economy (averaged 50mpg, which in my book is poor), is well worse than average to drive. I had the Mk1 D4D though... the current shape might be a bit better. Even for a 5 year old car it is very quiet though. It is souless, but the passat isn't much better in this regard either.

RobAMerc

The only good reason to buy an Avensis is if you don't care what you drive as long as its reliable.

If in your case you seem to care what you drive and you don't care about reliability ( companies problem not yours ) I cannot see why anyone would actually go and pick one over some very fine alternatives.

what_car

maidhc wrote: »

There is no substance to the new Passat. It is creaky and rattly and the 1.9 is woefully underpowered. My grandfather has an 06 one, and it has made plenty of return visits to the garage over niggly things. A Mk1 Mondeo handles much better than it too.

I'm no fan of the Avensis mind. I drove one to Dundalk from Cork over the weekend, and apart from havinga veragel economy (averaged 50mpg, which in my book is poor), is well worse than average to drive. I had the Mk1 D4D though... the current shape might be a bit better. Even for a 5 year old car it is very quiet though. It is souless, but the passat isn't much better in this regard either.

i would rate the current avensis ahead of the current passat... that push button hand brake thingy in the passat is a joke, i hear that some of the diesel passats are suffering from early fuel pump failure , and leaving you stranded on the side of the road..

with the avensis luna, they had nice sized tyres on the alloys, so that the bumps on the road were soaked up nicely, and it takes bad roads well... and the avensis is very spacious..compared to others..

ONE OTHER THING IS , THAT YOU GET 3 YEARS WARRANTY WITH TOYOTA, AND ONLY 2 WITH VW AND OTHERS...

the avensis needs new clothes, a new sportier body, etc and its a winner..
( for that price range of car)

i sold mine at 6 months old, ( bought it brand new) and overall not a bad car but boring and ugly.. however a good drive and comfortable...yet so boring..


you can add 4motion etc and all the fancy bells and whistles to the passat, avensis etc but they will depreciate hard.... eg who would spend 43k on a diesel saloon passat auto, when you can get an IS220 D for €43k

maidhc

RobAMerc wrote: »

The only good reason to buy an Avensis is if you don't care what you drive as long as its reliable.

Our Avensis has had "Alfa like" reliability... e.g. has spent far too much of its life in the dealership... So much so that we have more or less decided it should get abuse! ...hence it gets used for stuff like carting old washing machines and car bonnets around. It is so unloved in the family I almost feel sorry for it.

what_car

maidhc wrote: »

Our Avensis has had "Alfa like" reliability... e.g. has spent far too much of its life in the dealership... So much so that we have more or less decided it should get abuse! ...hence it gets used for stuff like carting old washing machines and car bonnets around. It is so unloved in the family I almost feel sorry for it.

did you buy it from new? ,, serviced regularly?

cantdecide

Are we all agreed that the avensis is probably the most reliable then?:rolleyes:

maidhc

what_car wrote: »

did you buy it from new? ,, serviced regularly?

We have had it from new, it has been serviced every ~9k as recommended. It is normally driven by my mother and it has had

1) A DMF
2) 2x clutches
3) New tailgate and part of the roof panel replaced (rust.. and it was never crashed)
4) Gear linkages replaced
5) Tape deck is broken now.. although it never was really used
6) Seatbelt inertia reel
7) Battery
8) Lots of the suspension has been replaced (shocks, mountings)

Not exactly impressive for a car with 106k miles up. My mothers last car (which I got at 70k miles and returned to the family) was a 1995 Mondeo is still on the original clutch and only got any money spent on the suspensions this year. That has 200k up.