2005 Toyota Avensis D-4D Sol 2.0 turbo diesel

Summary:

Huge disappointment

Faults:

There has been engine problems from day one with rough running and dealers has not been able to fix. Has been in contact with two different Toyota dealers and neither can help me. The car also uses a lot of diesel and sometimes "smokes" and engine warning light comes on and off.

Also there has been a series of smaller issues repaired by local dealer, like front light stopped working and one of the front lights had fallen into pieces which was a manufacturing defect. I think the other one needs to be replaced as well since there is moisture inside it.

General Comments:

I've been running different japanese cars for the last fifteen years and never had any kind of problem, even some of them has been second hand cars. So I thought the Avensis would fall into the 0% error category like most other japanese cars, but I was definitely wrong. This car is bad and after what I understand the Avensis has some serious problems in general.

I imported it from a dealer in Denmark and my local Toyota dealer has a "I don't give a damn" attitude even if I have a 3 years EU wide warranty.

So be aware!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th February, 2007

24th Feb 2007, 09:23

Yes I'd agree with the reviewer. I also had a Toyota Avensis (2004 model) with it's fair share of complaints.

28th Mar 2009, 09:42

Japanese cars are way over rated. I ran a BMW and my friend ran a Honda. Yes I had a few more problems than him, but when it did go wrong it was twice as much to repair!

In reply to 28th Mar 2009, 09:42

29th Jan 2015, 13:48

Well, I had a 15 year old Peugeot 306 and then I had a 20 year old Toyota. Toyota parts were twice as expensive, but over the course of 4 years for both cars, I had spent two times more money for repairs on the Peugeot than on the Toyota. Not to count the time lost and hassle of something going wrong all the time.

Japanese cars are still machines, and as such they need to be maintained. Japanese reliability is often misunderstood as "thrash it and it will never go wrong", whereas it should be seen as "take care of it, and there will be no unpleasant surprises".

2003 Toyota Avensis SOL Estate 2.0 D4D (turbo diesel)

Summary:

A comfortable, safe and reliable car, buy one and you will not regret it

Faults:

I have experienced no problems whatsoever with this car.

General Comments:

Having owned a Carina E for 3years previously and had nearly 50,000 trouble free kilometers I decided not to change a winning formula so I bought the new Avensis, the main reason for going for Avensis was safety and reliability.

I'm really impressed and happy with this car. The road holding, ride comfort and quietness is very impressive compared to the Carina E and the first Avensis model.

The diesel engine has been a blessing since day one, I drove the car on a long trip (1050 km) with a kayak on the roof- it used only 4,7 liter pr 100 km. I have also pulled a camping trailer on a shorter trip (100 km) where the car used only 8,5 liter pr 100 km- and the engine gave me all the power I needed. So far the engine has impressed my greatly.

The driving skills have also been more than great for Norwegian roads; the car has been a real pleasure from day one, it has been a pleasure living with the car from day to day, week to week with no problems at all, knowing it would taking me all over Scandinavia and Europe hassle free.

Some positive remarks will be good space for the passenger's legs in the backseat, good space for rear faced child seats, good and practical luggage space and it is one of the safest cars on the marked!

The local dealer in Stavanger has also been great, they gave good prices and have been really service minded when I have contacted them.

Great car, great specification, buy one and you will not regret it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th October, 2003

29th Nov 2003, 20:34

Is the Toyota Avensis available with a Diesel engine and automatic transmission?

I don't think so.

If so it would be a nice taxi.

26th Mar 2004, 17:41

That's no Diesel in the pictures. It's the directly injected 2.0 fuel engine. The diesel engine is called D-4D.

29th Mar 2004, 02:32

Sorry the diesel engine is not available with automatic transmission!

Another sad ting is the fact that TTE (Toyota's Racing Team) don't provide a original chip-set to the Avensis diesel engine. If you by a Toyota RAV 4 with diesel engine, Toyota can supply you with an original chip-set that increases the engine from 116 hp and 280 Nm to 150 hp and 320 Nm, and you will still keep the original 3 year warranty from the manufacturer.

12th Sep 2005, 02:32

I have now owned this car for 2 ½ year, and I am not that happy any more...

1) Main front lights has been changed 3 times… due to dew.

2) Toyota wants and insists on changing out the main light bulbs from normal to so called long life bulbs. I tried that, and the luminous intensity was reduced with approx. 25%... there was a real fight to get them reassemble to the Normal light bulbs. So if any one out there having poor light on your Avensis, change over to normal light bulb. The only sad factor with normal bulb is a bit shorter operating time…, but it’s worth it.

3) There was some noise in the steering worm, which was replaced…

4) The brakes are whistling when braking, and Toyota doesn’t seem to be able to fix this…

5) Finally the driving computer has started to show wrong values….

I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed since there have been so much minor faults with a new Toyota. The local Toyota dealer in Stjoerdal (Norway) is probably the worst car dealer in Norway, I have never experienced more lack of service than there.

I am really thinking of getting a new car before the warranty is going out in September 2006.

26th Mar 2009, 04:07

The Avensis 2003 with D4D engine IS available with automatic transmission. We have them here in Israel.