Advantages: Looks good. Lots of gadgets. Responsive, quiet engine.
Disadvantages: Not very economical. Stiff ride.

...of which is too wide for the hole and has been partially forced in at an angle before giving up; the automatic choke takes ages to kick off and, finally, the front armrests squeak like hell all the time when you rest your arm on them. Typical British build quality (the car is made in Derby). One thing I have noticed that I never noticed before is that a lot of Avensis are used as taxis, which doesn't do my 'street cred' any good in the eyes of my children! NB: Someone who read this said I should have mentioned what I paid for it. Well, the model I actually bought is the T180 (which isn't featured on Ciao) and the dealer was asking £21,800 with the metallic paint option and we settled at £19,200, with 12 months road tax and £10 worth of diesel. The dealer also insisted on having cleared funds in his account before I picked the car up... Read review

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Advantages: Well built, smooth gear changes, very safe car
Disadvantages: Handling not so good

...this is an issue for me. Having spent many hours searching for a vehicle, and after altering my budget many times, I filtered out all options until I was left with the Toyota Avensis VVT-i 1.8 T3-S. Performance wise on paper, this was as similar to my Honda that I would be able to get to. It was supposedly more fuel efficient, and due to the low cost of Toyota part, this model was cheaper to insure than my Honda. I have only managed to get between 120-130 Mph in this car, which I was quite disappointed. Being the same engine size as the Honda and also possessing variable valve timing technology, this car just doesn't feel like it has the same 'ooopmh', maybe im just nit picking or bitter that I lost my old car. With features such as front and side airbags, which is becoming a standard feature in all cars, this car has basic protection... Read review

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Advantages: Comfort, economy, performance, space
Disadvantages: Estate better for work, indicator stalk issues, gearing, heavy steering

...A decent efficient performer with a surprisingly good level of refinement, comfort and good build quality. It is let down by it's relatively poor Sat Nav which doesn't take post codes and by the persistantly annoying indicator stalk which will reset with the slightest movement (in common with most Toyota cars). The car is best on the motorway by far, returning an average (according to the car) of up to 51mpg. The gearing makes it awkward to drive at times until you get used to it but otherwise no complaints of the driving experience. No known faults to watch for in this car but do look out for heavy steering. This may just be down to poor tyre inflation as there is some confusion over the correct tyre pressures. I set mine to 35psi and it made a big difference in handling. Also in higher mileage cars (around 100,000 anyway... Read review

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Advantages: Economy, features, performance, comfort
Disadvantages: Cabin Road noise, eats tires

...After being an owner of Japanese cars for the last few years, I figured i would stick with them when choosing my new company car. However, I have left the Nissan stable and jumped ship to the Diesel powered wonders of Toyota. What a great move this was! When debating with my wife over what we needed from a car, I initially turned my nose up at a Toyota. A completely illfounded judgement now that i look back on it. It ticks all of our boxes as well as the company boxes. Let me tell you all about my Toyota Avensis T3-X D4D 2.2 5 door wonder car! Reasons for buying - Personal. We needed a large family car that was reliable,economical preferably diesel, spacious and comfortable to ride long distance in. It also needed a hatchback to throw all of the kids belongings in. Speed isnt everything but I wanted a car that responded when i put... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Well equipped; Fairly Quick – and silver.
Disadvantages: Acceleration only “good”; a few rattles.

....” The Avensis is an extremely capable motorway cruiser – I think it is hard to beat. The Avensis isn’t strong on straight line acceleration – it doesn’t feel as fast as the Carina it replaces - but it makes up for this with great suspension and brakes which means the Avensis can comfortably corner much faster than the Carina ever did. The stereo is fantastic (though others might find the standard in-boot 6 CD changer limiting.) Security is good too (much better than that on the other cars I considered) with a full alarm activated from the key. This is a car you grow to like – for the little things too – like its enormous capacity washer bottle! The unexpected bonus with this 150Bhp car was group 10 insurance – 3 groups lower than the 130bhp Carina it replaces. Maybe this is because boy racers aren’t impressed by the lack of spoilers... Read review

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Advantages: Great value for money, reliable, looks good, very safe car, loads of gizmos
Disadvantages: no rear wash/wipe, no MP3 dock, not brill on MPG, expensive parts

...I have the 4 door saloon from 2002, bought ex-dem at £16,000. List price at the time was £21,000 I think. Mine has done 45,000 miles and has cost little to service and look after, It is a beautiful shade of dark metallic blue. Lovely! I used to have an E class Mercedes and it hard to move away from a car like that but I couldn't afford another one and mine was getting old and unreliable. The Toyota was the only other car I found with a such a big boot. I can get a big pushchair, a pile of random junk, a week's shopping and baby paraphernalia in it with no problem. I think it looks great - though the boot does stick out. It is one of the safest cars on the market - it got top marks for in-car passenger and driver safety according to Which (5 stars), though only slightly below average marks for pedestrian safety if you hit one. I... Read review

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Advantages: nice styling, nice drive, lots of good gadgets
Disadvantages: reliability on early models

..... is that worrying or what??? Don't get me wrong here - I love this car and would probably buy a one with my own money now it's been around a while - Toyota have had a good 3 years or so to iron out all the early faults (which I still say they shouild never make it to the road until it is this way but..) All in all - a very nice car to drive, stylish, reasonably economical (use the economy light), but just hope you don't get the Friday car like I did !!!... Read review

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Advantages: Reasonably priced. Extremely reliable. Economical to run and maintain.
Disadvantages: A bit sluggish. Lot of road noise. VERY intrusive seat belt warning.

...;, and even today you can still see hundreds of this excellent car, and the old model Avensis, on the Dublin taxi ranks. The Avensis took over where the popular Carina left off, and the newest model to hit the showrooms will without a doubt continue to increase Toyota’s considerable share of Irish new car sales. For 16 of the past 17 years Toyota has topped the charts in the family, fleet car, and public service market here in Ireland. ~ ~ But while the old Avensis was/is a favourite buy of taxi drivers and cost conscious motorists alike, one area where Toyota could never boast of being market leaders was in styling. In the past, Toyota cars (with the notable exception of their luxury Lexus marque) have been bland to the point of being positively boring. They simply didn’t turn heads when you were stopped at the traffic lights... Read review

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Advantages: Fuel consumption, space, price
Disadvantages: design, bumpers are completely varnished, no parking-assistance system

..., if I won't had bought the Avensis. - Okay, that's not quite true, but reading some articles and test of these class I found for myself, the Avensis is best value for money. Audi is unreasonable expensive, and Mazda - I don't trust in the quality of Mazda yet, and the Avensis is a real European car (designed in France, manufactured in England), so it gives work to Europeans, not to some guys somewhere. And a short funny thing by the way: Toyota?s getting to import the Avensis and the Yaris from England to Japan! :-) So I got the Model T3-x in Germany called 'Sol', but in Germany you won't get the alloy wheels in that package, but Vehicle Stability Control and Break Assist System and Traction Control, that's part of the UK 'Spirit' Edition. As technical functions are more important to me than good looking (that's why I could buy... Read review

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Advantages: Safe. Big Interior & Boot. Very Refined. Superbly Built. Easy to Drive.
Disadvantages: Not many.

..., indeed the Corolla has been the worlds number one best selling car on and off during its now several decades of build and various incarnations. However, a Toyota Owners Club, that set me thinking, just how much is there to say about this most anonymous of marques? We took a table upstairs, overlooking the Owners Club meeting and I could barely stifle my amazement as photographs were passed around of Corolla's, Land Cruisers, Celica's and MR2's. Then I started thinking about Toyota a little differently, yes of course apart from some very mundane, four wheeled tin boxes, they do, and have in the past, also produced some surprisingly desirable sports cars. My mind then turned to the Avensis, current medium "upper" segment saloon and hatchback, a strong Ford Mondeo competitor, just in truth, the very type of (company) car that I myself am... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful