4-5k Toyota avensis advice pls?

davekdk

Am looking to get a Toyota avensis limit 5k euros. Can anybody give me some advice on what I should be looking out for specifically on say models from 2004 - 2007?
Is there much difference in mpg between 1.6 and 1.8? Or should I go diesel?
Is there any way of finding out if a car has been used as a taxi?
Anyone recommend any alternatives, am after large saloon and figure avensis is the best way to go.
Lots of questions... thanks in advance for any advice!

colm_mcm

You doing much mileage?

davekdk

colm_mcm wrote: »

You doing much mileage?

Na man <20k km per year

Rolli

davekdk wrote: »

Na man <20k km per year

Definitely looking at petrol so..

Have a look at the 1.8 Volvo S40, really nice cars

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/S40/S40-1.8-/201207206950753/advert?channel=CARS

davekdk

Rolli wrote: »

davekdk wrote: »

Na man <20k km per year

Definitely looking at petrol so..

Have a look at the 1.8 Volvo S40, really nice cars

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/S40/S40-1.8-/201207206950753/advert?channel=CARS

Cheers Rolli thats a nice car alright are they reliable? Anything to be looking out for?

bazz26

S40 is alot smaller than the Avensis though.

1.8 Avensis is no heavier on fuel than the 1.6 but has a little more poke in it. I'd also be looking at the Mazda 6, cheaper to buy than the Avensis and nicer to drive.

Eg: http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201209207120835

Rolli

davekdk wrote: »

Cheers Rolli thats a nice car alright are they reliable? Anything to be looking out for?

Quite small compared to an Avensis, but just as reliable in my opinion. I was talking to a young lad across from me has one from new (2006) and he hasn't had a lot of trouble with it.

bazz26

I owned a S40 for two years and while it was generally reliable and they are well built I was spending money on numerous small things, while it shares alot with the Ford Focus some of the parts are not common between both and these tend to be on the expensive side. Don't even bother with main dealer prices.

Imo the cost of ownership on the Mazda would be lower overall.

Rolli

bazz26 wrote: »

I owned a S40 for two years and while it was generally reliable and they are well built I was spending money on numerous small things, while it shares alot with the Ford Focus some of the parts are not common between both and these tend to be on the expensive side. Don't even bother with main dealer prices.

Imo the cost of ownership on the Mazda would be lower overall.

+1. OP, definitely take a look at Mazda's. Very, very reliable

Leonard Hofstadter

Rolli wrote: »

+1. OP, definitely take a look at Mazda's. Very, very reliable as long as you avoid the diesel

FYP:)! The petrol engined Mazda 6 is bulletproof and much better than an Avensis. The diesel is a disaster though - do not under any circumstances OP buy a diesel engined Mazda 6, or any Mazda with that 2.0 RF diesel engine.

Farmer Pudsey

You may buy a mazda or volvo cheaper howeverat the moment pre 2008 avensis are great value 5000 euro will definetly get you a 06 1.6 petrol 6 speed and maybe a 07 one I had a 05 1.6 for the size of car it was doing 36mpg and that was running around droping and collecting kids etc so if you can get a 6 speed one she will do a bit more.
They are not the sexist of cars but if you have kids and want to head somewhere you can fill the boot and away you go

You milage is low however it is looking more likely that the government will rearrange the car tax system so a clean 05 diesel may be an option as at present car tax around 670 may well drop to below 500 euro

Problem with mazda's and volvo they are not as maintenance free as toyota so will cost you a bit that way
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3039605

Here is an example of a of a 06 a bit outside you budget but if you arrived with 5300 euro would he let you walk away????
These 6 speed diesel do 55mpg 5.5L/100k

If you are loking for a car that you have the option of holding onto for 6-8 years the boring toyota avensis is your car on your milage you will put up 160000k in 8 years so you are looking at have 300k on a car a toyota will not break a sweat doing it

but43r

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

You may buy a mazda or volvo cheaper howeverat the moment pre 2008 avensis are great value 5000 euro will definetly get you a 06 1.6 petrol 6 speed and maybe a 07 one I had a 05 1.6 for the size of car it was doing 36mpg and that was running around droping and collecting kids etc so if you can get a 6 speed one she will do a bit more.
They are not the sexist of cars but if you have kids and want to head somewhere you can fill the boot and away you go

You milage is low however it is looking more likely that the government will rearrange the car tax system so a clean 05 diesel may be an option as at present car tax around 670 may well drop to below 500 euro

Problem with mazda's and volvo they are not as maintenance free as toyota so will cost you a bit that way
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3039605

Here is an example of a of a 06 a bit outside you budget but if you arrived with 5300 euro would he let you walk away????
These 6 speed diesel do 55mpg 5.5L/100k

If you are loking for a car that you have the option of holding onto for 6-8 years the boring toyota avensis is your car on your milage you will put up 160000k in 8 years so you are looking at have 300k on a car a toyota will not break a sweat doing it

Not a chance that tax will go down on pre 2008 cars. They will just increase it on post 2008 cars...

colm_mcm

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

You may buy a mazda or volvo cheaper howeverat the moment pre 2008 avensis are great value 5000 euro will definetly get you a 06 1.6 petrol 6 speed and maybe a 07 one. ... it

6 speed 1.6 didn't come out till the current 09 model

I'd agree with pretty much everything else you've said. The 1.6 avensis is the car everyone loves to hate, but they have their advantages.

davekdk

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

You may buy a mazda or volvo cheaper howeverat the moment pre 2008 avensis are great value 5000 euro will definetly get you a 06 1.6 petrol 6 speed and maybe a 07 one I had a 05 1.6 for the size of car it was doing 36mpg and that was running around droping and collecting kids etc so if you can get a 6 speed one she will do a bit more.
They are not the sexist of cars but if you have kids and want to head somewhere you can fill the boot and away you go

You milage is low however it is looking more likely that the government will rearrange the car tax system so a clean 05 diesel may be an option as at present car tax around 670 may well drop to below 500 euro

Problem with mazda's and volvo they are not as maintenance free as toyota so will cost you a bit that way
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3039605

Here is an example of a of a 06 a bit outside you budget but if you arrived with 5300 euro would he let you walk away????
These 6 speed diesel do 55mpg 5.5L/100k

If you are loking for a car that you have the option of holding onto for 6-8 years the boring toyota avensis is your car on your milage you will put up 160000k in 8 years so you are looking at have 300k on a car a toyota will not break a sweat doing it

Good info Farmer cheers. will have a look at a few 1.6 avensee so! Goodman.

Tea 1000

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

You may buy a mazda or volvo cheaper howeverat the moment pre 2008 avensis are great value 5000 euro will definetly get you a 06 1.6 petrol 6 speed and maybe a 07 one I had a 05 1.6 for the size of car it was doing 36mpg and that was running around droping and collecting kids etc so if you can get a 6 speed one she will do a bit more.
They are not the sexist of cars but if you have kids and want to head somewhere you can fill the boot and away you go

You milage is low however it is looking more likely that the government will rearrange the car tax system so a clean 05 diesel may be an option as at present car tax around 670 may well drop to below 500 euro

Problem with mazda's and volvo they are not as maintenance free as toyota so will cost you a bit that way
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3039605

Here is an example of a of a 06 a bit outside you budget but if you arrived with 5300 euro would he let you walk away????
These 6 speed diesel do 55mpg 5.5L/100k

If you are loking for a car that you have the option of holding onto for 6-8 years the boring toyota avensis is your car on your milage you will put up 160000k in 8 years so you are looking at have 300k on a car a toyota will not break a sweat doing it

Not really great advice, the 2 litre diesel in the Avensis is not a great engine really. And recommending one with 106k miles isn't fantastic either, they'll have to spend money on it. And I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that a Mazda will need more maintenance. Also this is the second post where you suggested that tax will decrease. What dreamland are you posting from with that crap? There's more chance they'll lower income tax to 10% than reduce motor tax!
OP, look for a 1.8 petrol Avensis with 1 owner and low miles and bargain hard. Most people are looking for either diesel or 1.6 petrol, leaving the 1.8's a much better bargain. There is no difference in fuel consumption, and marginal difference in tax.

If you must go for a 1.6, something like this might be worth a look. http://www.carzone.ie/search/Toyota/Avensis/AURA-4DR/201151206266579/advert?channel=CARS

Leonard Hofstadter

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Problem with mazda's and volvo they are not as maintenance free as toyota so will cost you a bit that way

.....

If you are loking for a car that you have the option of holding onto for 6-8 years the boring toyota avensis is your car on your milage you will put up 160000k in 8 years so you are looking at have 300k on a car a toyota will not break a sweat doing it

With respect, this is absolute bullcrap, especially the bit highlighted in bold.

It just goes to show the stranglehold Toyota has over the average motorist. It never fails to amaze me what a badge can do to someone's perception of a car. People still believe stuff to be true just because it was true 20 odd years ago even though we know from last year and the year before with all the recalls that Toyotas haven't been "the best built cars in the world" for ages!

Whatever about a Volvo, the petrol engined Mazda 6 is more reliable than a petrol engined Avensis, easily.

Does a Mazda 6 burn oil? No!

Does a Mazda 6 suffer from bearings in the gearbox giving up the ghost? No!

The Avensis can burn oil (the VVTi oil burning problem is well documented) and suffer from gearbox issues - the bearings in the gearbox of the Toyota can give up the ghost, which if you're not careful can result in needing a new gearbox!

Added to that the fact that the Avensis by your own admission is "boring", and it becomes clear that the Mazda is the better car. The Mazda is much better to drive and more reliable to boot.

Why would anyone want to drive a boring car just because it's reliable when they could drive a car that is not boring and is more reliable?

In defence of the Toyota, the high spec Avensis have a nicer interior (the poverty spec Aura and Strata interiors are just awful with all the shiny black plastic) and the 1.8s in Luna spec with a few toys and the much nicer interior with the faux Titanium effect are a nice car, but really, there is no contest here, especially when in all likelihood the Mazda will be usefully cheaper to buy. That does not make the Avensis "great value".

The 1.6 Avensis has very short gearing, so it is heavy on juice at higher speeds; on a motorway it feels as though you should be in a higher gear even when you're in fifth! It also results in the car being very noisy at higher speeds, because the engine is running at very high revs. The 1.8 has more sensible gearing so is more economical and is much quieter.

Now the diesels are a different story, a Mazda 6 diesel should be avoided at all costs, but as I recall there were reliability issues with the Avensis as well, the Dual Mass Flywheel in particular has a habit of needing to be replaced more often than it should.

daredevil360

Am looking to buy an avensis soon ,prolly 06 or 07 defo want a petrol which is best 1.6 0r 1.8 ?

Leonard Hofstadter

As has been suggested, something other than the Avensis is better.

A Mondeo or Mazda 6 really, probably the Mazda if reliability is important, but both are good. As a Toyota owner myself, I cannot understand why Irish people have such blind loyalty towards the brand, when there are far superior cars out there that will be as reliable and probably more reliable, and are available for less money.

daredevil360

Drove Toyota's all my life may not be the most exciting car's to drive but they are reliable ,cheap parts and to in my opinion 07 Avensis looks better than a Mazda or Mondeo

Tea 1000

daredevil360 wrote: »

Drove Toyota's all my life may not be the most exciting car's to drive but they are reliable ,cheap parts and to in my opinion 07 Avensis looks better than a Mazda or Mondeo

1.8 is better.

daredevil360

Yeah i agree drove both 1.6 and 1.8 today in the local dealers ,prefer 1.8 ,cant find a high spec Aura model with cruise control .

Tea 1000

daredevil360 wrote: »

Yeah i agree drove both 1.6 and 1.8 today in the local dealers ,prefer 1.8 ,cant find a high spec Aura model with cruise control .

That's because most Irish Avensis buyers only wanted an Avensis, and asked the dealer "which one is the cheapest?" To which he replied "The 1.6 basic one, but the 1.8 is better..." and the reply back to that would have been "1.8? Holy crap... I didn't win the lotto like... sure you couldn't keep fuel in that, and you'd want a mortgage for the tax..."
That sort of shít really. Hence nearly all the used models are dull, basic 1.6's.

Farmer Pudsey

I never tend to worry about a diesel engine burning a bit of oil I have driven VW, Puegeots, Nissans, Fords etc and most of the diesels versions burnt oil after 50,000 miles. Also I never worrry about Toyota recalls as they tend to be the only manufacturer that recall car's with problems. Mid noughties VW Transporters had a problem with a water pump placed in the oil sump no recall, Opel had lot of issues over the years no recall, Landrover Freelanders ( owned by Fords at the time) has a head gasket problem that caused the head to warp no recall so I tend not to worry about Toyota recalls and most of the noise about Toyota maintenance was from the USA where it just happened Toyota nearly wiped out there car industry.

Very hard to find a diesel car 5 years + without 150000Km on it especially a Toyota.Walk past 10 taxi rank's and see which is the most popular car and it neither a F##king Volvo or a Mazda

At present the difference in price between post and pre '08 cars especially 2l diesels is huge at about 7-8000euro between 07 and 08 Avensis even with a difference of 330 euro in car tax it is absurd. When the government rearranges the car tax as Toyotas 2l diesel fall into band C if and i mean if the same tax regime is used for all age of cars then the Toyota Avensis pre 08 will be one of the winners or one who loses least

daredevil360

Tea 1000 wrote: »

That's because most Irish Avensis buyers only wanted an Avensis, and asked the dealer "which one is the cheapest?" To which he replied "The 1.6 basic one, but the 1.8 is better..." and the reply back to that would have been "1.8? Holy crap... I didn't win the lotto like... sure you couldn't keep fuel in that, and you'd want a mortgage for the tax..."
That sort of shít really. Hence nearly all the used models are dull, basic 1.6's.

Yeah very true ha ha ,"would you like to alloys wheel's sir ?" " WHAAAAA :eek: how much :eek: ??? no thanks hub caps will be grand".

Tea 1000

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

I never tend to worry about a diesel engine burning a bit of oil I have driven VW, Puegeots, Nissans, Fords etc and most of the diesels versions burnt oil after 50,000 miles. Also I never worrry about Toyota recalls as they tend to be the only manufacturer that recall car's with problems. Mid noughties VW Transporters had a problem with a water pump placed in the oil sump no recall, Opel had lot of issues over the years no recall, Landrover Freelanders ( owned by Fords at the time) has a head gasket problem that caused the head to warp no recall so I tend not to worry about Toyota recalls and most of the noise about Toyota maintenance was from the USA where it just happened Toyota nearly wiped out there car industry.

Very hard to find a diesel car 5 years + without 150000Km on it especially a Toyota.Walk past 10 taxi rank's and see which is the most popular car and it neither a F##king Volvo or a Mazda

At present the difference in price between post and pre '08 cars especially 2l diesels is huge at about 7-8000euro between 07 and 08 Avensis even with a difference of 330 euro in car tax it is absurd. When the government rearranges the car tax as Toyotas 2l diesel fall into band C if and i mean if the same tax regime is used for all age of cars then the Toyota Avensis pre 08 will be one of the winners or one who loses least

Walk past a taxi rank and I'd see more Skoda's than Toyota's, but i wouldn't go by Taxi drivers anyway. Only some of them have a clue.
And if Toyota's diesels were so great, they wouldn't have bothered turning to BMW to provide them with their engines from now on!
Anyway, you can't be serious recommending a diesel with 170k km's over a 1.8 petrol Avensis with a third of the mileage for the same money. The OP doesn't do many miles, so stay away from diesels.
And the Government won't lower the tax rate on any car. They'll only increase it.

daredevil360

I see lots of automatic 1.8 petrols for sale ,is the auto box reliable ?
what about mpg :eek:

dodderangler

daredevil360 wrote: »

I see lots of automatic 1.8 petrols for sale ,is the auto box reliable ?
what about mpg :eek:

gearbox very re;iable never had much problems with auto boxs on em
as stated 1.8 have more comfort lined interior than 1.6 both excellent cars
do not go for ford stick with jap cars cheaper parts and less problems plus easier to work on and in my opinion easier on petrol there was always a reason why toyotas were known as taxis man car cuz of reliability
you cant go wrong
atb

daredevil360

dodderangler wrote: »

gearbox very re;iable never had much problems with auto boxs on em
as stated 1.8 have more comfort lined interior than 1.6 both excellent cars
do not go for ford stick with jap cars cheaper parts and less problems plus easier to work on and in my opinion easier on petrol there was always a reason why toyotas were known as taxis man car cuz of reliability
you cant go wrong
atb

going to look at a few more tomorrow,mind made up 1.8 petrol ,06/07,
man /auto not bothered ,no doubt sticking with Avensis wont rule out auto .

cheers ttyl

bazz26

Most 1.8 auto Avensis were ex rentals that hire companies kept them on their fleet alot longer than manuals because their was less demand for them. Alot of them however may still have had a hard life.

daredevil360

Looked at 2 cars today ,first one 07 1.8 Avensis the guy pulled and immediatly said to myself what the hell ,the car was filthy dirty the alloys black with brake dust !. so i started looking at the car only to realize that that the reason the car was'nt washed was to TRY and hide the scratches on the paintwork and kerbed alloys .

Not impressed at this stage next the guy tells me that car had a small tip on the front driver side ,on closer inspection bumper cracked ,cracked headlight and resprayed wing :eek: .So told the guy NO THANKS good luck .

Drove on to second car 06 1.8 Avensis ,very happy on inspection 4 brand new tyres ,fsh,high spec Luna every thing except cruise control .not a mark on the body ,47,000 kilometers on the clock.The guy was retired and had the car from new ,shook hands on a great deal HAPPY DAYS .

Now to sell my 1999 avensis http://www.adverts.ie/1441839

davekdk

What about Ford Mondeos...any thoughts?