Faults:

Maintenance + wear and tear parts replaced.

General Comments:

A very dull and slow little hatch back car, but if you want reliability and ease of ownership, check out the Auris.

1.3 petrol will do 45 mpg and cheap insurance.

Repairs and servicing have been reasonable cost wise.

Quite a neat looking little car exterior wise in black with alloy wheels.

Interior is odd looking and a bit cramped, but not uncomfortably so.

Hard to say much more. It is what it is, reliability in a dull economy box on wheels.

Faults:

Nothing in two years and 18,000 miles except services and new tyres.

General Comments:

The Auris is your typical modern hatchback that is reliable, good to drive, smart looking, and being Toyota, never lets you down so long as you look after it :) Mine is blue with alloy wheels, looks very good for what it is.

Bought used, I went for the standard 1.2 petrol (not hybrid) and found the car fast enough and economical; over 50 mpg is realistically possible, even with the automatic gearbox. The car is also cheap to tax and insure, and service. A hybrid is not needed in my opinion. Plus, although obviously not a sports car, you can't beat the feel and sound of acceleration from a combustion engine.

The car drives very well, quiet and smooth. Icon model has plenty of electrical equipment. Center console is a bit fiddly and confusing at first, but OK when you are used to it. Plenty of space as well for a smaller family hatchback.

To conclude if you want a modern reliable car, check out the Auris.

Faults:

No major parts got broke, most parts that I have changed were the kind that get worn down with use (brakes, battery). The car is generally reliable. Most visits to the mechanic were due to regular maintenance.

The worst thing that happened was a small repair on the chassis and happily it didn't cost much.

General Comments:

The seats are comfy, the interior's quality is a little bit of a mixed bag, some things creak, but there is good amount of space inside for my needs. The light in the trunk isn't that bright at night; I might change that once I get around to it. The button that opens trunk is annoying and took a very long time to get used to.

The mirrors are quite nice and big, the visibility of them are nice. The car has some nice features like cruise control and it came with a stock multimedia system which seems dated, but does the work just fine. Watch out for the SD card upgrades for the maps in the infotainment system; the official dealer sells them for ridiculous amounts of money.

The motor likes a little bit more revs to get going, but it has just the right amount of power. It's by no means a fast car nor does it have great fuel economy, the car doesn't have the best power to weight ratio and one can definitely tell, although I have never found myself wanting more. It seems like the car does perfectly fine commuting around town or it can handle hopping on highways on a longer trips.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

I had been (and continue to do...) commuting to and from work in a 2008 Ford Focus TDI diesel since 2012, racking up about 15,000 miles annually. The Focus was reliable partner, but recently after it had racked up over 135,000 miles I decided to replace it. The commute journey is 40 miles one-way and a mix of suburban school drop-offs, country roads, hill climb / descent and a large portion of motorway (65% of the time).

After a year of research I wanted to look at a hybrid (as wanted a "cleaner" car and was worried about future resale values for diesel cars in UK with all the bad media reports). I did consider electric too, but concluded hybrid as being the most realistic option. This my family's "second" car as the main car is Ford S-Max 2.0 TDI (which is great family car and has been a faithful servant to my family of 5, also it is my wife's main commute car).

One of the features I most value is reliability and this led me to look at Toyota / Lexus models. In my past car history: Ford has been very good, VW has been bad, Honda & Volvo has been mostly good and Renault also bad. Dealers / service mostly good except VW (arrogant) and Renault (annoying!). Note: this is my own opinion. I was most disappointed in VW overall and I will never own a VAG car again in the UK (sad but it's my opinion folks and I am entitled to it...)

Anyway suffice to say the 2015 (facelift) Toyota Auris Hybrid has been a fantastic revelation!! :-) Dealer has been great "so far", got a part-ex and good deal with extended warranty and servicing deals. Driving has been surprising.... in a good way. Motor-trade online articles about the Auris Hybrid being a "boring car" to drive... what!?!? Totally incorrect and pointless. The car works as it should. OK so Toyota may not have brand cachet... so what! For what it is I am very happy. The acceleration / power delivery of the Hybrid is simply brilliant when needed i.e. from junctions and going up the hill on my work trips... I was concerned because motoring magazines say it doesn't compare with diesel torque... rubbish! It pulls very well indeed (comparing to my old Ford TDI cars). The power is great when needed so no worries. Yes OK the CVT transmission whines a bit, but hey it is not the normal mode of driving...

The "normal mode" is the whole point of the "Hybrid"! It is about MPG not MPH, and the Hybrid is great fun to work with. I used to try to "hypermile" in the Ford Focus diesel, but now this is great in the Auris. I just drive the car normally, but try to anticipate braking ahead, use "B" mode to charge the battery on the hill descents, cruise at 70mph (at constant revs the MPG is surprisingly good)... love it! Yes I drive in Eco mode 99% of the time, the EV mode kicks in automatically at lower speeds (below 42 mph I think) and I am trying increase my average MPG over time..

I only have two slight whinges: #1 the smaller fuel tank (due to EV battery location), but I have managed to get 550 miles from one tank and it is possible to improve so not too bad. #2 Headlight "spread" is not the best, so I may upgrade as Toyota offer this (improved headlights like on "Excel" trim).

My car is the Business Edition spec hatchback 2015, comfortable seats with good features. I like the Touchscreen Media / Sat-Nav / DAB and reversing camera to assist in parking etc. The usual stuff: climate control & A/C, LED lights, nice alloys etc all good. Honestly I am SO happy with my choice of car and my 3 x pre-teen and teenage kids like telling their friends that "Dad's gone all eco". Yep solar panels on the roof, wildlife friendly gardening bla bla... maybe a sign that I am mellowing in age... :-).

It's relatively early days, but all the signs are good... if not I will be back here posting my experiences! Thanks Toyota for having the balls to push hybrids as an option for us.