2005 Toyota Avensis Executive 1.8 petrol from Norway

Summary:

Fantastic Toyota quality

Faults:

Bought it from an estate, had not been used for several years.

Rear brakes seized so removed grit and rust.

Did normal service and fluid changes.

Replaced a couple of bulbs.

Rear muffler rusty so replaced it.

Stone chips here and there, did some spot paints and detailing.

Sprayed undercarriage with lanolin to protect it from rust.

General Comments:

Toyota quality at it's best. Relaxing and good to drive. Not very fast, but more comfortable than most new cars. Quiet.

These engines might burn oil, but this was OK.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 17th May, 2026

2005 Toyota Avensis 2.0 from Nigeria

Summary:

It's a fair deal for a car

Faults:

I have not really had any bad experience order than the weird level of poor fuel economy.

It normally hits between 14 to 16 litres per 100km, which I feel it is too high.

General Comments:

I love the sturdy nature of the build... it not so impressive on take off, but a more stable car at top speed perhaps due to its weight.

Roomy and compact is the best word I could use to describe it, and its presentation is okay for me.

I recently put on 215/65 rim 15 tires and that gave me the ground clearance I so needed.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 21st April, 2023

23rd Apr 2023, 14:26

That fuel is a bit high, should be around 7.5 litre per 100 KM on average.

24th Apr 2023, 21:45

Their review means around 6-7 km/L, that's pretty high. A typical medium-sized car with a 1.8-2.0L petrol and automatic should get around 8-9 km/L (11-12 L/100 km) with a fair amount of city driving. The car may be in unusually heavy city traffic with the aircon on, and not much chance of a straight run on a freeway. I live in NZ and what eats up the fuel economy is hilly uphill roads and constant stop-and-go traffic. Similar cars which normally get to 10.5-12.5 km/L (8-9.5 L/100 km) will usually be driven on very flat roads with not much city traffic - or where the car is in constant motion even if only 50 km/h. Oh - and regardless of what anyone says, a manual gearbox definitely is more economical on the same car. One thing though, if the Avensis has a faulty sensor like a coolant temp sensor, the ECU may be running the car richer than usual, causing a significant drop in fuel economy.

2005 Toyota Avensis Touring wagon 2.0 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

It's like a cheap, nasty toy...

Faults:

Some plastic part under the bumper kept falling off and scraped along the ground quite often, which was very annoying, as you have to get out of the car and try to put it back on. I took the vehicle back to Toyota; they replaced this $2,000(!) piece of plastic.

BUT AGAIN! This issue continued to happen, so I took it back to Toyota, and this time they said no, they were not going to replace it; simply terrible service!

So I put tape on this piece of plastic. It still fell off every now and again; very irritating.

Also, the bumper had a habit of popping out at the corners every now and again.

General Comments:

Plastic is not fantastic.

This car had a very poor quality feel about it, like nothing had really been put together properly. Parts fell off, and Toyota provided terrible service.

The car was very underpowered, and the transmission did not shift smoothly. The car was very low to the ground, and always hit driveways.

Terrible quality, especially for a modern car. After five years of having the vehicle, many pieces of plastic had fallen off, and the car had worn terribly.

I do not want another Toyota.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 24th June, 2012

25th Feb 2013, 14:33

I wish to share my remedies for the listed faults. The add on spoiler on the front bumper is indeed literally a spoiler. Fortunately it can simply be detached and thereby solving the clearance and bumper popping out at the corners.

Initially I too was not amused by the apparent under power soon after acquisition of my Avensis Wagon from a previous owner. I took closer interest and replaced the air cleaner and fitted a new set of iridium plugs. In addition, I attended to the rear diff that had been neglected for want of lubrication.

The remedy above was all that was required to unleash the remarkable performance that a 2 litre VVTI engine is capable of, to the extent that the car is so fast you would not imagine that it is a 4WD!

George Ochodo.

21st Mar 2018, 10:28

Hitting curbs too often may explain why plastic parts were falling off. The car being "not high enough" is hardly the fault of the manufacturer, is it?