Used Toyota Avensis Saloon 2003 - 2009 review

What's the used Toyota Avensis like?

This is such an easy car to live with. It's a doddle to get comfortable behind the wheel, the dashboard layout is intuitive and the well-weighted controls work with real precision.

It's practical, too, with plenty of oddment spaces around the driver, and four passengers won't be short of room in the solidly screwed-together cabin. The boot is one of the largest in the class, too.

Overview

Safe, dependable and spacious family transport

Pros

• Masses of safety kit and a five-star Euro NCAP rating

Cons

• Noisy petrol engines, firm ride

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You also get plenty of equipment to keep you safe and comfortable, and the car secure (an alarm, deadlocks, marked parts and etched windows are standard).

On the road, too, the Avensis is similarly impressive, and the engines are refined, although the petrols can get noisy when you rev them hard. In this respect at least, the diesels are better and cruise in near silence.

Whatever engine you have under the bonnet, the Avensis goes round corners tidily, with little lean, and the firm ride is fine until you build up speed, when it can become jittery. Wind noise is well contained on the motorway, but road roar does intrude.

Our recommendations

Which used Toyota Avensis should I buy?

This saloon's main attraction is that it's slightly cheaper than the equivalent hatchback, but we'd pay the (very small) premium to have five doors. Access to the hatch's luggage area is easier and its split rear seats fold completely flat, whereas the saloon's sit slightly proud.

We'd also take the 114bhp 2.0-litre diesel for its smooth, refined pull and mile-stretching fuel economy. If you think that still won't be enough, there's also a very fine 148bhp 2.2 diesel, linked up to a six-speed manual gearbox, for even more punch.

That said, the petrol engines are all decent enough. The 1.8 can feel a little underpowered at times, so the 2.0 is a better bet, while a 161bhp 2.4 direct injection motor tops the range.

You'll certainly not want for safety kit, which includes twin front, side and curtain airbags, as well as one for the driver's knees, plus electronic driver aids. Air-con and a CD player are standard on all models; T3-S, T4 and T Spirit have sat-nav.