Auris Commuter Car

[BigGingerBob]

I have very recently moved about 35 miles from work. My commute is now 80% A1M with a non exciting A-road to finish it off.
I need a commuting car for £4k max and after looking, the Auris seems most appealing as somewhere to sit.
I am seriously debating a TVR so excitement isn't a necessity as I will be able to get that elsewhere.
I need cheap, reliable and very fuel efficient transport.
My dear old Rover seems to be feeling the effects of 17 years and 100,000 miles. It is now returning about 30MPG and so is annoying me when I have to refuel so often.
So, are these nice and reliable or will it bite me in the arse? Suggestions are welcome.

No V8 7 series cars please as although they are nice I can't stomach the fuel!

Cheers,

Bob

P.S. I'm thinking about the 2.0 D-4d

Edited by BigGingerBob on Friday 10th October 12:04

[Sensibleboy]

We have a 1.6 T Spirit. Awful seats, brakes don't Inspire confidence, gear change is awful. It's tall so body roll discourages anything other than gentle plodding along. It's spacious and I'm confident it will run forever but that about it. Painfully slow in sixth gear at motorway speeds too.


Climate control buttons are unclear if you aren't very familiar with them.

It's only cost us tyres and servicing so in that sense I'm happy with it.

Edited by Sensibleboy on Friday 10th October 12:20

[Matt UK]

Proceed with caution!

I bought one a couple of years back (based on a boring tale of employer opt out cash working on a complicated sliding scale of age, engine cc and Co2).

10 plate car, 1.3 engine, manual - ticked all the boxes to maximise my monthly payments..

God I hated that car:
Uncomfortable on anything more than a 30min journey.
Utterly joyless and forgettable to drive - and I'm not talking about 10/10th handling balance, just driving off in it each morning was like death by a thousand cuts. Dare to even occasionally take a sliproad at an enthusiastic pace and the front end wouldn't just wash gently into understeer - it would just give up and collapse into 'ploughing straight on' submission as if whimpering "this is madness, have mercy on me, you'll kill us both driving like this"
Performance was incredibly poor. I wasn't expecting much from a 1.3, but it was both unwilling to rev and also had no torque - I can live with one or the other but that is a horrid combination day to day. Trying to make progress (ie keep up with other traffic) was just a futile exercise in rowing through different gears and being rewarded with nothing more than varying engine noises and no noticeable improvement in forward acceleration. And when you did rev it the engine was coarse and made clear it was not having a good time.

And to cap it all off? The ultimate insult?? The horrid hateful little flucker returned an actual 31.1 MPG over the 6 months and 8,000 miles I had it. POS.

The car was garbage so I chopped it at a significant % loss and bought a 2004 Diesel Passat 1.9 tdi with 130k on the clock. I enjoyed that aging Passat far more to drive and to own - and that really should tell you everything you need to know about my opinions of a Toyota Auris.

Writing this post has somewhat reignited my annoyance at owning that distasteful little white good.
Sorry to get carried away. If you decided you like them, then enjoy, we are all different after all.

I'm off for a rest in the quiet room

Edited by Matt UK on Friday 10th October 12:25

[Howard-]

Sensibleboy said:

We have a 1.6 T Spirit....brakes don't Inspire confidence, gear change is awful

My other half has recently bought one of these... I'm glad these two traits aren't specific to her car

Otherwise I think it's a perfectly decent medium-sized hatchback. Overall a better car than a Focus, IMHO. It's well-equipped (in T-Spirit guise) and the interior is very spacious and well thought-out. Practicality and reliability were the requirements so it ticks all the boxes for her.

The seats aren't amazing but I've sat in worse. It makes a good cruiser for its class I reckon.

[Justin Case]

It depends on what you want. Mrs Case has a 60 reg 1.33 which we share for local running around. It is roomy (you can get an adult comfortably in the back with two child seats in place), the seats are comfortable and the driving position is good; all the controls fall easily to hand. After that though it all falls apart. It is an absolute slug, painfully slow to accelerate, and you need to change down on motorway 'hills' The ride on rural A roads is hopeless, even the dog escaped from his cage, opened the window and tried to make a bid for freedom within the first twenty miles. In fact dynamically it was worse in every respect than the Nissan Almera that it replaced.

Economy is the one saving grace; it does about 36mpg around town and you would probably get around 45 on your type of commuting and so far the only expense in 18 months has been a £135 service at a Toyota dealer.

[Sensibleboy]

Does the Autocar website still have the Auris review? They didn't love it.

[BigGingerBob]

Bugger. That's a shame as they look good and seem very frugal. I might take one for a drive to see for myself. One man's meat and all that.
Does anyone have an opinion on the Honda Accord 2.2 diesel? Similar MPG and the interior seems very nice.
Sadly this time these are the most important things for this car. A shame but needs must.

[Jezzerh]

I've only been a passenger in one but my god the seats were completely unsupportive. Try a different car, maybe a Golf? My wife has a 62 plate 1.6 TDi and its so comfy inside I ofetn take it instead of my CC.

[Blakewater]

I had a 1.6 as a hire car once. I was sitting so high up with so much body roll it felt like I was sitting on it rather than in it with the possibility of falling off at each corner. The sixth gear was utterly pointless, even for motorway driving, because there would be absolutely no acceleration available whatsoever. The fans also came on full blast uncontrollably nearly every time I started it, presumably to clear the windows, even though I had no need for them to.

[Justin Case]

Blakewater said:

The fans also came on full blast uncontrollably nearly every time I started it, presumably to clear the windows, even though I had no need for them to.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten that; it also switches randomly from fresh air to fug-stirring mode when you start with the air-con set to 'Auto', but I'm often trying to get stop-start instead of stop-stop when I get to the main road.

[BigGingerBob]

I might stick to a Civic or Accord then!
You can get the spaceship Civics for my budget and around an 04 Accord.
A shame because the Auris looked good.
I will have a look at golfs too.