... not that I thought you would!
Had a minor fender bender last month – no escape route so I was forced to watch a dozy Ford Ka driver pile into my back bumper. The insurance company loan car was initially a Toyota Avensis 1800 estate with 5K on the clock.
Although it is styled in homage to a house brick, there is nothing remotely solid about it; everything feels as loose as the morning after a dodgy phal. The front wheels tramp horribly in first and second and the front end lets go at every possible opportunity. Combined with brakes that snatch, I would say the car is lethal.
There is plenty else I could mention but little things that stick in my mind are the bright green idiot light that urges you to change up a gear every time you go over 1500rpm and the figital handbrake switch cunningly hidden at arms length and out of sight somewhere under the steering wheel. On the plus side, the engine is pretty gutsy for an 1800, and it returned over 35mpg in moderate town driving.
Just as I was getting used to its all-round uselessness the air bag light stuck on, which I took as an excuse to get a replacement. This turned out to be an Insignia 1800 SRI with 6K on the clock. Oh joy! It has suspension, steering, reasonable road holding (for a WWD) and brakes that work properly. OK, somebody has let a limp wristed designer loose on pointless curves that compromise functionality, but only on unimportant things like switch positioning and rear visibility.
So would I recommend this car? Errm... no. Although it feels nicely planted, there is roughness at most revs and the engine is totally gutless, especially lacking in grunt at normal overtaking speeds. Drop from 6th to 3rd before an overtake and you need to set an alarm clock before pulling out.
Just to cap it all, it averaged 31mpg which, considering it was mostly motorway use, is worse than my 2.6.
... or perhaps I should say worse than my 2.6 was before its thermostat stuck open
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Topic: Don’t buy an Avensis (Read 2402 times)