Dipping a toe - Buying a 2016 Auris hybrid
Discussion
So, I've driven a few hybrids but never owned one. Mrs70R is a well-meaning eco-weenie, and we do most of our miles within the M25. To that end, and as someone who cycles in London regularly, I'm determined to try and minimise our impact on air quality where possible. Going EV isn't feasible due to the locations of various family folk, so that's out of the question.
We're looking to run a 2016 car for 2 years (by which time London will be a distant memory), on the basis that we'd like to stay within the generous 5yr warranty. While I've done my due diligence of reading various journo and owner reviews, I don't feel like I've come much past scratching the surface. A few questions to those who've owned, I suppose...
We're looking to run a 2016 car for 2 years (by which time London will be a distant memory), on the basis that we'd like to stay within the generous 5yr warranty. While I've done my due diligence of reading various journo and owner reviews, I don't feel like I've come much past scratching the surface. A few questions to those who've owned, I suppose...
- What is it actually like to live with?
- How did you find reliability generally?
- Have you had any experience of dealing with Toyota warranties?
No long term advice but I rented an Auris in Greece for a week
I averaged 3.2l/100km in it.
I was actually very impressed, even though I wanted to hate it.
This particular one had around 58,000km on it, and being a hire car probably had a hard time. It had no issues aside from an intermittent warning about low battery level in the key fob.
If you are gentle of the throttle and clever with your use of the EV mode (active up to 31mph) or leaving it in "ECO" (where it will use electric till the little gauge goes over half way on the blue bit up to something like 50mph) you can get remarkable MPG out of it.
On the motorways the gearbox is a bit annoying on hills but you can work around it, and to be fair it's not ever loud enough to be annoying especially if you have some music on.
I also drove it for around 9 hours one day when we drive up Mount Olympus and explored some of the areas around it.
I got out the other end without much discomfort or pain and had "enough" room.
I averaged 3.2l/100km in it.
I was actually very impressed, even though I wanted to hate it.
This particular one had around 58,000km on it, and being a hire car probably had a hard time. It had no issues aside from an intermittent warning about low battery level in the key fob.
If you are gentle of the throttle and clever with your use of the EV mode (active up to 31mph) or leaving it in "ECO" (where it will use electric till the little gauge goes over half way on the blue bit up to something like 50mph) you can get remarkable MPG out of it.
On the motorways the gearbox is a bit annoying on hills but you can work around it, and to be fair it's not ever loud enough to be annoying especially if you have some music on.
I also drove it for around 9 hours one day when we drive up Mount Olympus and explored some of the areas around it.
I got out the other end without much discomfort or pain and had "enough" room.
Just bought a Prius + as a taxi.
Two weeks and 1500 miles in, it's metronomic. Dull as ditchwater to drive. But, that's not why I bought it - for excitement.
There's a reason you see so many as taxis. They just do what they say they will.
My impressions..
You change your driving style quite noticeably. In Eco mode there is no significant engine braking (unless you engage B mode) and you find yourself arriving a junctions a lot quicker. Once you are used to this, it means you 'coast' up to junctions with associated fuel savings.
It's a lot more economical in traffic (stop start slow moving) than it is on the open road. In heavy town traffic I get around 80mpg. On the open road about 52mpg. I went from Devon to Gatwick last week and it would have been more economical to take the 1.6hdi Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. But then, on the open road it is effectively just a 1.8 petrol.
If much of your driving will be in heavy town traffic, then it really is a no brainer. If you are going to be out on the motorway, then perhaps it's not the car for you and a stop start petrol/diesel auto would be a better choice.
Have you totally discounted the plug in variants? If so, is it the range that's the problem?
Two weeks and 1500 miles in, it's metronomic. Dull as ditchwater to drive. But, that's not why I bought it - for excitement.
There's a reason you see so many as taxis. They just do what they say they will.
My impressions..
You change your driving style quite noticeably. In Eco mode there is no significant engine braking (unless you engage B mode) and you find yourself arriving a junctions a lot quicker. Once you are used to this, it means you 'coast' up to junctions with associated fuel savings.
It's a lot more economical in traffic (stop start slow moving) than it is on the open road. In heavy town traffic I get around 80mpg. On the open road about 52mpg. I went from Devon to Gatwick last week and it would have been more economical to take the 1.6hdi Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. But then, on the open road it is effectively just a 1.8 petrol.
If much of your driving will be in heavy town traffic, then it really is a no brainer. If you are going to be out on the motorway, then perhaps it's not the car for you and a stop start petrol/diesel auto would be a better choice.
Have you totally discounted the plug in variants? If so, is it the range that's the problem?
Tyre Smoke said:
Just bought a Prius + as a taxi.
Two weeks and 1500 miles in, it's metronomic. Dull as ditchwater to drive. But, that's not why I bought it - for excitement.
There's a reason you see so many as taxis. They just do what they say they will.
My impressions..
You change your driving style quite noticeably. In Eco mode there is no significant engine braking (unless you engage B mode) and you find yourself arriving a junctions a lot quicker. Once you are used to this, it means you 'coast' up to junctions with associated fuel savings.
It's a lot more economical in traffic (stop start slow moving) than it is on the open road. In heavy town traffic I get around 80mpg. On the open road about 52mpg. I went from Devon to Gatwick last week and it would have been more economical to take the 1.6hdi Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. But then, on the open road it is effectively just a 1.8 petrol.
If much of your driving will be in heavy town traffic, then it really is a no brainer. If you are going to be out on the motorway, then perhaps it's not the car for you and a stop start petrol/diesel auto would be a better choice.
Have you totally discounted the plug in variants? If so, is it the range that's the problem?
Appreciate the first-hand feedback. The plug-in variants are out for now because of where our families are located. Whether or not it's valid, I don't have the faith in a full EV being the right solution for us at the moment, in spite of me being a huge fan of the i3 and Tesla.Two weeks and 1500 miles in, it's metronomic. Dull as ditchwater to drive. But, that's not why I bought it - for excitement.
There's a reason you see so many as taxis. They just do what they say they will.
My impressions..
You change your driving style quite noticeably. In Eco mode there is no significant engine braking (unless you engage B mode) and you find yourself arriving a junctions a lot quicker. Once you are used to this, it means you 'coast' up to junctions with associated fuel savings.
It's a lot more economical in traffic (stop start slow moving) than it is on the open road. In heavy town traffic I get around 80mpg. On the open road about 52mpg. I went from Devon to Gatwick last week and it would have been more economical to take the 1.6hdi Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. But then, on the open road it is effectively just a 1.8 petrol.
If much of your driving will be in heavy town traffic, then it really is a no brainer. If you are going to be out on the motorway, then perhaps it's not the car for you and a stop start petrol/diesel auto would be a better choice.
Have you totally discounted the plug in variants? If so, is it the range that's the problem?
Much the same as Tyre Smoke says.
I've access to 2 (2017) Aurus. Both about 10months old. One on 40k and the other 50k miles. Its flat around here so can get good MPG, best is 72mpg over 130miles. Last September to March I averaged 62mpg, April till now I'm on 67mpg. I'll expect the mpg to drop come the winter when the lights/heaters/wipers will be used more. My previous car was a diesel Mondeo gave about 45mpg. Most of my driving is evening/night, so quiet roads and no need for the A/C to be used.
Not the biggest cars inside especially compared to the Mondeo. Not much leg room in the rear if the front seats are far back. I'm tallish (6'2") and need the seat far back.
One of the cars needed a new wiper motor as it was making a racket (It did it one night I wasn't working), it was taken into the main dealer the next morning where it was still making the noise and replaced the day after. We know a few taxi drivers that have them and not needed anything until around 120k when the brakes needed doing.
Most of the new taxis/PHV saloons being put on up here are the Toyota Auris with a few Prius. One company is now running 70+ Nissan Leafs and NV200 and all the rest of their fleet are Aurus/Prius now, and 1 Mondeo hybrid.
We did look at the Mondeo Hybrid (had to go to about 6 dealers before we found one), but couldn't drive it as somebody had left the lights on or something and they were waiting for a new battery to be delivered. We dismissed it as it only came in the one spec (Titanium) and wasn't a hatchback.
I've access to 2 (2017) Aurus. Both about 10months old. One on 40k and the other 50k miles. Its flat around here so can get good MPG, best is 72mpg over 130miles. Last September to March I averaged 62mpg, April till now I'm on 67mpg. I'll expect the mpg to drop come the winter when the lights/heaters/wipers will be used more. My previous car was a diesel Mondeo gave about 45mpg. Most of my driving is evening/night, so quiet roads and no need for the A/C to be used.
Not the biggest cars inside especially compared to the Mondeo. Not much leg room in the rear if the front seats are far back. I'm tallish (6'2") and need the seat far back.
One of the cars needed a new wiper motor as it was making a racket (It did it one night I wasn't working), it was taken into the main dealer the next morning where it was still making the noise and replaced the day after. We know a few taxi drivers that have them and not needed anything until around 120k when the brakes needed doing.
Most of the new taxis/PHV saloons being put on up here are the Toyota Auris with a few Prius. One company is now running 70+ Nissan Leafs and NV200 and all the rest of their fleet are Aurus/Prius now, and 1 Mondeo hybrid.
We did look at the Mondeo Hybrid (had to go to about 6 dealers before we found one), but couldn't drive it as somebody had left the lights on or something and they were waiting for a new battery to be delivered. We dismissed it as it only came in the one spec (Titanium) and wasn't a hatchback.
We bought an Auris 1.6 Diesel and have done over 30k in the two and a half years we have had it. It gets most usage crawling into Birminghmam an average of 18mph but still returns 42 mpg. Thinking back we should have bought an Auris Hybrid but we found it difficult to justify the price premium over the standard ICE packages.
Totally reliable, but expensive to service to keep that lovely 5 year 100k warranty.
Personally I would still find it hard to pay the extra for ecofriendliness ( V8 Cobra's and 5 pot turbo Volvo do that to you) but I would say that given your motivations an Auris hybrid would be an excellent choice.
I also have to say that it does go quite well in the twisties....
Cheers,
Tony
Totally reliable, but expensive to service to keep that lovely 5 year 100k warranty.
Personally I would still find it hard to pay the extra for ecofriendliness ( V8 Cobra's and 5 pot turbo Volvo do that to you) but I would say that given your motivations an Auris hybrid would be an excellent choice.
I also have to say that it does go quite well in the twisties....
Cheers,
Tony
given the Auris is a small car those real life hybrid numbers don't win me over.
a real world 2002 Yaris gets 50mpg. modern ICE is achieving good numbers.
I'm sure technology and engineering will improve things swiftly now all manufacturers are fully focussed on electric, and by 2025 we'll have hybrids/EVs with regen braking getting much better returns. current crop feels a little too early.
a real world 2002 Yaris gets 50mpg. modern ICE is achieving good numbers.
I'm sure technology and engineering will improve things swiftly now all manufacturers are fully focussed on electric, and by 2025 we'll have hybrids/EVs with regen braking getting much better returns. current crop feels a little too early.
CABC said:
given the Auris is a small car those real life hybrid numbers don't win me over.
a real world 2002 Yaris gets 50mpg. modern ICE is achieving good numbers.
I'm sure technology and engineering will improve things swiftly now all manufacturers are fully focussed on electric, and by 2025 we'll have hybrids/EVs with regen braking getting much better returns. current crop feels a little too early.
Totally agree. Whilst the Prius + makes an excellent taxi. I feel an overall 52mpg (So far) is nothing special. A modern diesel or petrol with stop start would be just as eco friendly.a real world 2002 Yaris gets 50mpg. modern ICE is achieving good numbers.
I'm sure technology and engineering will improve things swiftly now all manufacturers are fully focussed on electric, and by 2025 we'll have hybrids/EVs with regen braking getting much better returns. current crop feels a little too early.
nmd87 said:
I think you'd be hard pressed to find an automatic petrol or diesel car of equivalent size that could do 50+ MPG in the conditions that a Toyota Hybrid can do it.
Bearing in mind that for us, it's a solid mix of town and open road, then the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso does 55mpg against the Prius + 53mpg.Appreciate that for 90-99% town driving the Hybrid is going to boss it, the Citroen is a good car that does exactly the same as the Hybrid.
Or to put it another way, if a significant part of your car use is above 40mph, then a Hybrid may not be the most cost effective or eco friendly option.
Thanks folks. Really appreciate the brutal honesty.
The economy point is less of an issue for us, as the bulk of our mileage is likely to be covered by the other half's generous car allowance. Our motivation is more the fact that we might do a few thousand miles a year inside the M25, and we're both conscious that we minimise our impact on the already declining air quality.
It looks like there are no major 'watch outs' for the ownership prospect, and that the platform/powertrain is pretty well proven. So, unless we hear anything major to the contrary we're probably going to plough ahead.
The economy point is less of an issue for us, as the bulk of our mileage is likely to be covered by the other half's generous car allowance. Our motivation is more the fact that we might do a few thousand miles a year inside the M25, and we're both conscious that we minimise our impact on the already declining air quality.
It looks like there are no major 'watch outs' for the ownership prospect, and that the platform/powertrain is pretty well proven. So, unless we hear anything major to the contrary we're probably going to plough ahead.
Tyre Smoke said:
Don't discount the Prius+ it has 7 seats and a lot more room than the Auris. I can't comment on the relative availability or price differential though.
As you suspected though, essentially the same car underneath.
Thanks, but I don't think it's a goer. It's only the two of us, and it looks like you get a lot more/newer Auris for your buck. One of the important things for me is to be able to buy and sell within the generous 5yr warranty.As you suspected though, essentially the same car underneath.
I have come very close to buying an estate one a couple of times now - great family "appliance" motoring IMO. Only didn't because first time round a cheap lease deal on a Golf R estate came along and I thought "what the hell", then last time round an even cheaper lease deal on a Golf GTE came along - so we do all of our local trips on battery plus get the other EV perks like pre-heating, but use petrol for longer trips. Not quite sure what next move will be 18 months when it goes back, but a used Auris hybrid estate is definitely still a solid option.
The motoring press don't seem to like them, because they all seem to live in the middle of nowhere and assess on how fun things are on twisty lanes, or how squishy the dashboard is. I liked my test drives and thought it was great for typical traffic-laden journeys or motorway slogs - OK you get the drone of the engine when it's under heavy load (like joining the motorway) but otherwise very quiet and refined. Inside is not the last word in luxury but everything feels like it'll last. Double DIN stereo would be easy to update for a more modern one (all I really care about is DAB and Apple Carplay these days).
That 1.8 engine & hybrid system is incredibly well proven - there's some great tech articles about it and it's genius how mechanically simple it is. Even the most abused batteries can be rebuilt cheaply - there's a good market for it now in London with all the high mileage Prius minicabs, and they tend to cover the battery vents with seat covers which can shorten life. It's one of the few modern cars I'd be quite comfortable about running out of warranty.
The motoring press don't seem to like them, because they all seem to live in the middle of nowhere and assess on how fun things are on twisty lanes, or how squishy the dashboard is. I liked my test drives and thought it was great for typical traffic-laden journeys or motorway slogs - OK you get the drone of the engine when it's under heavy load (like joining the motorway) but otherwise very quiet and refined. Inside is not the last word in luxury but everything feels like it'll last. Double DIN stereo would be easy to update for a more modern one (all I really care about is DAB and Apple Carplay these days).
That 1.8 engine & hybrid system is incredibly well proven - there's some great tech articles about it and it's genius how mechanically simple it is. Even the most abused batteries can be rebuilt cheaply - there's a good market for it now in London with all the high mileage Prius minicabs, and they tend to cover the battery vents with seat covers which can shorten life. It's one of the few modern cars I'd be quite comfortable about running out of warranty.
If you want something a little more premium a Lexus CT could be another option.
My mum has a Yaris hybrid which she uses for around town driving, although it doesn't have the same drive train she averages around 50mpg during the summer months and 38mpg during the winter months. She's had for just under a year and not had any issues with it.
My mum has a Yaris hybrid which she uses for around town driving, although it doesn't have the same drive train she averages around 50mpg during the summer months and 38mpg during the winter months. She's had for just under a year and not had any issues with it.
C70R said:
Thanks folks. Really appreciate the brutal honesty.
The economy point is less of an issue for us, as the bulk of our mileage is likely to be covered by the other half's generous car allowance. Our motivation is more the fact that we might do a few thousand miles a year inside the M25, and we're both conscious that we minimise our impact on the already declining air quality.
It looks like there are no major 'watch outs' for the ownership prospect, and that the platform/powertrain is pretty well proven. So, unless we hear anything major to the contrary we're probably going to plough ahead.
If you're looking at a 2016 car, test drive the new shape Prius from 2016 in addition to the Auris. Superior hybrid system and based upon the TGNA platform, so not a sports car, but far better to drive than non-TGNA cars from Toyota. The new Auris will also be built on the TGNA platform and even offers a performance hybrid version too! The economy point is less of an issue for us, as the bulk of our mileage is likely to be covered by the other half's generous car allowance. Our motivation is more the fact that we might do a few thousand miles a year inside the M25, and we're both conscious that we minimise our impact on the already declining air quality.
It looks like there are no major 'watch outs' for the ownership prospect, and that the platform/powertrain is pretty well proven. So, unless we hear anything major to the contrary we're probably going to plough ahead.
It may be worth noting that, AFAIK, the new Prius >late 2016, which I have just bought, is the only one with the GenIV powerplant. All other Toyota/Lexus hybrids with the 1.8 L motor use the earlier engines/technology. I drive the factory demonstrators all over the country, so have done many thousands of miles in all variants.
The difference is notable; I average ~65mpg driven briskly on open roads, Mrs Rooster regularly gets >80mpg around town without trying. It is difficult to get it to drop below 55mpg even when flogging the brains out of the thing, to be honest!
The GenIV unit is also significantly quicker & quieter than all others, too.
Edit for date of GenIV
The difference is notable; I average ~65mpg driven briskly on open roads, Mrs Rooster regularly gets >80mpg around town without trying. It is difficult to get it to drop below 55mpg even when flogging the brains out of the thing, to be honest!
The GenIV unit is also significantly quicker & quieter than all others, too.
Edit for date of GenIV
Edited by littleredrooster on Tuesday 24th July 21:36
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff