USED Toyota Avensis Hatchback (03 - 09)

My car

We bought our new car in Sept 05, we were not impreesed with road noise but had to get used to it. After a month the car would not start and needed a new starter motor, so much for reliability! Still not happy with noise we took it to another dealer they thought it might be the fly wheel, we were told by Toyota customer care to take it back to the garage we bought it from, to be told there was nothing wrong with the car."You have RAC cover if anything happens!"

Got to Feb 06 noise was getting worse when car was cold but no one would come 50 miles to listen to noise and was told to get a report from the RAC, this we did to be told it could be the clutch bearing, so the garage got someone from Toyota to come to the dealership and have a look at the car. We were told it needed a new gearbox and components as it was an unexceptical noise to the customer. We can not understand why they would do such major work if there was nothing wrong. We have had this done and are now trying to change the car but have found out this is going to cost us.

We would never advise anyone to get a "top of the range!!!" Toyota car. We would love to hear if anyone else has had any problems of this nature.

My car

I bought this from a car supermarket in September 2005. Overall I am quite happy with the car - the boot is enormous and it has lots of goodies.

However, I am not happy with the urban fuel consumption.

Also, the warranty expired on March 27 2006, and I had to take it for its first MOT. It failed on one shock absorber (wear and tear).

It also failed on both headlamps - water was seeping into them, and the plastic cover at the rear had melted. I have since found this to be a design fault, but Toyata want £540 to cure the problem.

My car

I test drove this car and I really wanted to buy one. Rather stupidly, I thought I would be able to get cruise control without any difficulty - wrong.

I can only have factory-fitted cruise control if I buy a T-Spirit. What a silly marketing move by Toyota. It will have to be the VW Passat for me!

My car

I have been driving an Avensis for the last 4 months as my company car. Essentially the car is okay. However complaints would include: Lack of lumber support on the seats, bland interior, heavy clutch, a large turning circle and poor fuel consumption. This model is about the lowest specification available with electric mirrors but no heating.

Suprisingly I have also had a new clutch fitted at 7000 miles.

Overall the car is average. If I had a choice of company car I would have chosen the Mondeo which is better in most departments.