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.

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!

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.