Toyota Avensis 1.6 petrol, consumption/reliability?

Captain Slow IRL

The OH is looking to get a 04/05 petrol avensis, not doing a lot of mileage now so just need something reliable, comfortable and easy to tax.
Does anyone have any first hand experience of the 1.6 petrol models? What would be a realistic fuel consumption figure? Anything to look out for or common faults? Also, do these have timing belts or chains?

colm_mcm

They're timing chain, have no real problems a such.

Fuel consumption would be early 30s.

Worth noting that they don't have folding rear seats on the 1.6 saloon till the 06 facelift.

ofcork

I bought a 2004 1.6 petrol in 07 and i have to say the car has never let me down once,consumption can drop to the high 20s in town but can see 40s on the open road.I believe the rear seats do fold as its in my manual,i havent tried it.

colm_mcm

ofcork wrote: »

I bought a 2004 1.6 petrol in 07 and i have to say the car has never let me down once,consumption can drop to the high 20s in town but can see 40s on the open road.I believe the rear seats do fold as its in my manual,i havent tried it.

Models with folding seats 03-06

All Tourer models
All liftback models
Luna spec models

Models without folding seats 03-06
Aura saloon models
Strata saloon models
Avensis 2.0 and 2.4 Sol models

Models with folding seats 06>
All except Sol.

The manual will show you lots of things not fitted to your car.

wush06

Have a 04 for about 3 years now. Not once has she ever let me down.

johndaman66

I took a 1.6 for a test drive one time, cant remember if it was a 03 or 04. Granted I was only driving it around town but it didn't feel at all agile. Felt to me like that 1.6 engine was really struggling hauling a relatively car around. Obviously I didn't get an indication of the fuel consumption from this short spin put can't imagine it to be too fantastic for the afore mentioned reason.

By comparison the MK 1 1.6 Avensis would fell a lot more agile (not that its a performance machine by any means)

Also, were the 1.6 VVTI engines noted for their high oil consumption I believe?

colm_mcm

An 03 onwards 1.6 should be lively enough around town. No real problems on that model 1.6 for oil. 1.8 had issues though even on that model.

I Was VB

Also worth doing is the oil strainer gause in the sump, they can get clogged and block the oil lines on the engine. Got mine done only two weeks back new one cost €60, and labour €40.

I've known a good few of them to destroy a engine if they get blocked, purely a proactive measure.

johndaman66

colm_mcm wrote: »

An 03 onwards 1.6 should be lively enough around town. No real problems on that model 1.6 for oil. 1.8 had issues though even on that model.

I stand corrected. I thought the excessive oil consumption was a problem that affected all the earlier VVTI engines. I must say the 1.6 I drove felt particularly sluggish. No doubt you would keep up with traffic around town but it just felt lethargic, as if the body was too heavy for the engine...and I'd be by no means a demanding driver. Perhaps there was something niggly like a dodgy ignition coil giving trouble on the particular one I drove though...

colm_mcm

I had dozens of them as company cars, they're out of their depth at higher speeds but short enough gearing makes them lively enough at low speeds.


It's quite fashionable to slag these yokes but in all fairness they're really safe, big in the back, and don't have a list of niggly faults to empty your wallet.

I Was VB

johndaman66 wrote: »

I stand corrected. I thought the excessive oil consumption was a problem that affected all the earlier VVTI engines. I must say the 1.6 I drove felt particularly sluggish. No doubt you would keep up with traffic around town but it just felt lethargic, as if the body was too heavy for the engine...and I'd be by no means a demanding driver. Perhaps there was something niggly like a dodgy ignition coil giving trouble on the particular one I drove though...

Coil packs do go, they've 4, one per cylinder. Painless enough to change (if ya can change spark plugs you can change the coils).

I only replaced one in my Avensis two weeks ago, cost €55.

Farmer Pudsey

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

The OH is looking to get a 04/05 petrol avensis, not doing a lot of mileage now so just need something reliable, comfortable and easy to tax.
Does anyone have any first hand experience of the 1.6 petrol models? What would be a realistic fuel consumption figure? Anything to look out for or common faults? Also, do these have timing belts or chains?

They are a good car very reliable I had an 05 for a couple years it suprised for the size it was doing 36-38 miles to the gallon never had to do anything but service it 1.6 engine is a bit under powered for it however if your not going rallying in it you not find a better car that size plenty of room for two adults and 2or 3 kids and it has a big boot

Captain Slow IRL

I Was VB wrote: »

Also worth doing is the oil strainer gause in the sump, they can get clogged and block the oil lines on the engine. Got mine done only two weeks back new one cost €60, and labour €40.

I've known a good few of them to destroy a engine if they get blocked, purely a proactive measure.

Is yours petrol or diesel? I know the landcruisers seemed to suffer from this, didn't think it affected the avensis'

Thanks all for your input.

Damien360

I have an 07 1.6 avensis and the father-in-law has an 06 one. Neither has given one bit of trouble since they were bought in early 08. Toyota servicing is also cheap at the moment through the main dealers.

Town driving is good in it but at motorway speeds the cabin noise is high. It revs at 3500rpm at 120kmph and I always feel it needs another gear to help cut back on noise.

Interior is a very plastic which makes it very dull inside. Boot space is huge even in the saloon.

Very reliable and I am happy with it.

I Was VB

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

Is yours petrol or diesel? I know the landcruisers seemed to suffer from this, didn't think it affected the avensis'

Thanks all for your input.

1.8 Petrol, the same engine as the 1.6 only a 200 odd cc diffrence between them.

Leonard Hofstadter

1.6s are slow, noisy on the motorway and heavy on juice at higher speeds. As noted, the engine runs at very high revs on the motorway, it feels like you're in a gear too low even when you're in fifth at those speeds.

The 1.8 is a better bet. It runs at lower revs for starters so is quieter, isn't any worse on fuel and isn't so out of its depth at higher speeds with the extra power.

Problems with the Avensis are the well known fondness of some VVTi engines for burning lots of oil, plus the gearboxes aren't always the best in them. The bearings are a weak spot. There are also problems with the metal holder for the headlights melting, and it needs a brand new headlight kit.

Overall they are reliable enough, although a Mazda 6 (petrol, definitely not diesel) or a Honda Accord would be more reliable as well as being a better car.

My auld lad has owned a 04 and an 07 and has never had a single thing go wrong with them. I disagree with the above that they are noisey on the motorway. I found them to be very quiet and on par with mondeo and passat (only two similiar class cars ive also drivin on motorway). Agree that the gearing is not optimal for ~120Km/hr driving.

Damien360

captainspeed wrote: »

There are also problems with the metal holder for the headlights melting, and it needs a brand new headlight kit.

pretty sure there was a recall for that. It was in the pre 07 facelift ones.

colm_mcm

Damien360 wrote: »

pretty sure there was a recall for that. It was in the pre 07 facelift ones.

Yep, only 03-06 affected, problem is the warranty replacements are unmodified.

colm_mcm

Deleted User wrote: »

My auld lad has owned a 04 and an 07 and has never had a single thing go wrong with them. I disagree with the above that they are noisey on the motorway. I found them to be very quiet and on par with mondeo and passat (only two similiar class cars ive also drivin on motorway). Agree that the gearing is not optimal for ~120Km/hr driving.

For the ops needs, it should be just fine.

DanWall

I have a 2005 1.8 Avensis petrol. It does about 40mpg + on a run. They have got a design fault on the VVTi engines which can cause oil burning issues, which was not fixed until mid 2005. Mine has 110,000 km and presently does not use a drop of oil, it does however have a small bit of piston slap when cold. I like this car it feels solid and handles well.
I do not like the low front end which can ride up curbs when parking and damages the under engine covers when you reverse off, It cost me over €400 to have them replaced

Captain Slow IRL

Do the mazda's share anything with the mondeo? I never thought of one of them and a friend has been on about buying one as well :rolleyes:

I don't think an accord would do, currently trying to get rid of a 2 litre to avail of cheaper tax. I think she's her heart (and bank account) set on a 1.6 though.

bazz26

The difference in motor tax between 1.6 and 1.8 is less than €100 per year.

Nice Mazda 6 here:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=713261857446050

finbarrk

Very reliable anyway. I would recommend one of them.