Toyota Auris 1.4 Diesel automatic?

lightspeed

Hey all, i only drive automatic cars and im thinking of getting a 1.4 diesel automatic toyota auris. From what i have read, they get about 60 mpg and tax is only 225 a year. However, I've read that some the newer versions late 2009 onwards have multimode transmission which has received terrible reviews. So can anybody comment if they have any experience of this car?

There are very few in automatic and any I've seen for sale from 2008 and 2009 just say automatic so I'm hoping that these are actually multimode transmission cars.

colm_mcm

The old corolla hatchback had the 1.4 D-4D multimode too, its best avoided to be honest. It actually takes a lot of effort to drive one, you have to be constantly anticipating gear changes because the car jerks unless you control the throttle when it changes gear.
The auris doesn't come with the option of a traditional autobox (except the hybrid which is cvt) so they'll all be multimodes.

The autobox is tuned to do well on the European emissions cycle, I.e on that predetermined route it will do slightly better mpg than a manual as it changes up early etc, this doesn't actually translate to better mpg in real life though, it makes it really annoying as it'll change from 2nd to 4th back to third etc hunting for the right gear. You can switch into manual mode which is miles better but that kind of defeats the purpose a bit.

Then there's the reputation of the manual gearbox on the auris itself which isn't exemplary, this is te same box as on the multimode.

Unless 95kmph straight line fuel economy is your thing, then a Prius does things a million times better and is a safer bet for reliability.

lightspeed

Damn , i kind off had my heart set on the 1.4 auris diesel but this does maje me reconsider. From looking at wikipedia again it seems your right that all of the automatics diesel auris i was looking at use the multimode transmission. Can you advise further as to what the manual gear change is like? I assume that would mean abandoning the multimode and driving the car as a tiptronic. While not ideal, it might be something i could get used to.

The hybrid seems good too but i like the look of the auris more and the fact that it runs on diesel, so i assume at around 60mpg on diesel it would be cheaper to run than even a hybrid achieving similar mpg on petrol.

ninty9er

The multimode is really an auto clutch box suited to manual mode. Opel's easytronic is another example of this driving misery.

It's made much less miserable by using it in manual mode and lifting off the accelerator when changing up as you would with a manual, so if you could live with doing the gear shifting yourself and the clutch is your main woe, it's not a bad compromise.

lightspeed

if driving it in manual mode, do you know if the gear changes are smooth?
Ive read that this MMT system is the same used in the smart cars. Im actually selling my smart car and had quite a bit of bother with the clutch actuator. On the smarts the clutch actuator gets knocked out of alignment and the gear struggles to change causing the car to go like a kangaroo.

It gave me nothing but heartache and i read a review that somebody was driving their auris on to a roundabout and it started kangarooing. Now if this problem could be avoided by driving in manual, i don't think it would be an issue but if the car is prone to such problems even in manual it would be a total no go. Id need to get a loan of about €10000 and spend about €4000 in savings so it will be a few months before i get my new car. I'm at the stage where I'm sick of buying older cars at medium to high miles only to be replaced and pay out for repairs. If I'm to spend that much on a car, i want to make sure i can get around 8 to 10 years from it so now I'm looking for a newer car at low miles from a reliable brand. From what i hear, toyota are supposed to be one of the most reliable car manufacturers.

colm_mcm

In manual mode you need to ease off the accelerator or it jerks,

You do know you won't actually get 60mpg right?

I could only get an average of 60 mpg in a straight line open road journey on the ones I had. Youll get much less if you go over 100kmph.

I'd get a Hyundai i30 1.6 crdi auto, claimed mpg is lower but its just a better car. In fact most cars in that class are superior. Not toyotas finest hour.

lightspeed

Most of my driving will be on the motorway so from what you are saying, if i stuck to under 100 klm could I do near 60 mpg?

Its been a while since I've drove a manual car but given that it also has the paddles for shifting gear it might not be much of a pain having to adjust.

Are hyundai reliable as a car manufacturer?

The other car i was thinking of is a VW golf but they are more expensive and seem to be higher miles for the same price range i was looking at for the auris.

They are also give less mpg as most are 1.9 and it seems that only the golfs from 2008 onwards are cheaper on tax at around €225 per year. Up to 2007' the Vw golfs are €710 a year from what ive seen quoted on donedeal.

Casati

lightspeed wrote: »

Most of my driving will be on the motorway so from what you are saying, if i stuck to under 100 klm could I do near 60 mpg?

Its been a while since I've drove a manual car but given that it also has the paddles for shifting gear it might not be much of a pain having to adjust.

Are hyundai reliable as a car manufacturer?

The other car i was thinking of is a VW golf but they are more expensive and seem to be higher miles for the same price range i was looking at for the auris.

They are also give less mpg as most are 1.9 and it seems that only the golfs from 2008 onwards are cheaper on tax at around €225 per year. Up to 2007' the Vw golfs are €710 a year from what ive seen quoted on donedeal.

I'd also look at a Kia Ceed auto - first cousin of the Hyundai and very reliable. The economy might be 5mpg behind the Corolla, but they are a nice drive and are very well spec'd - plus you should get one within budget. The days of Toyota considered more reliable than anything else are long gone

mullingar

You wont go too wrong with a hyundai with its 7 year warranty.

Gael23

The ceed is band C road tax=€390!
My grandparents are also in the market for a diesel auto but the prices they have been getting are crazy so its looking unlikely at the minute.
The VW golf is a great car with the DSG but not for €28k.

mullingar

Why do people get so hung up on the tax.

Band C is only €150 extra a year. Ask yourself, how many thousands would you lose every year in depreciation?

ba_barabus

mullingar wrote: »

Why do people get so hung up on the tax?

I can understand it with anything over 2l on the old system but for the majority of cars now its just a feature to entice misers to change the car.