Faults:

Faulty brakes.

Mirrors make a noise when the doors are closed.

ECU does not work well and the car is "shaking".

Noise from the engine.

General Comments:

For a brand new car the problems, are huge.

At the first 300km, I had to change the brakes (I went twice, because at first they fixed them at the screw machine, and after 100km they replaced them).

The RPM was not stable, and the car was shaking.

The service informed me that the problem was existing from the beginning, and Toyota is looking for a solution.

After 3 months, they changed the ECU, but the problem was the same.

They are still trying to find what is happening, and of course they didn't accept that the car has a problem after they replaced the ECU.

As for the mirrors, at least now I hear noise only from the left one.

The engine is noisy at low and high speeds.

I was thinking to buy a Corolla for second car, but now my only thought is how I will get away from this Avensis.

Bad for the reputation of Toyota.

Gerasimos Provatas

Faults:

None so far.

General Comments:

I have bought the car in Denmark in their Executive version that comes with extra HID (xenon) lights. I have purchased it without the navigation system as this is rather unreliable in certain conditions and not all of the tiny roads in Switzerland are noted there.

The car handles fine under all conditions. Below 120 kph it feels very steady and quiet. Between 125-145 kph I can hear a slight vibrating sound in the engine that disappears when you reach higher velocity. This is somewhat disturbing as most of the highways have speed limit around 130 kph. At the speed over 160 kph (Germany) it feels nice and you have the control of the vehicle. Above 190 kph this becomes untrue as the car tends to float slightly above the surface. Even with the 215/45R17 tires that come with it and are designed to hold fine up to 240 kph. Also, at the speeds over 160 kph the lights are not properly adapted to speed and are positioned too low. This comes with the HID lights where you cannot adapt their height yourself.

With some side wind or if overtaking a big truck in a windy weather the car tends to be shaky.

It is made nicely and the interior as well as exterior are precise. That is - the doors close nicely without too much pressure needed, seats are comfortable, radio and controls are where you expect them to be.

The only few things that I found missing were - the seat of the person next to the driver cannot adjust its height, the seats in the back are separated 60/40 and in Switzerland I miss the hole for the skis in between so four people would fit in. The heating of the front seats is fine, but I would at least welcome extra air vents in the back as the dual zone air conditioning allows you only to regulate the temperature in the left and right side. The people in the back usually suffer from not getting the proper temperature.

Overall I would say that the car is great. The new design is very similar to some of the other cars in its class and become standard. It does get all of the new electronic features included in it - like traction control, ABS,...

Maybe it doesn't have all - like MP3 player, curve adaptable lights,... but it provides the full comfort at high reliability figures - I have checked the oil in the engine after 5000 km - I was almost not able to properly read the level on the scale as it was almost clear.

Its consumption is also moderate - on the Swiss highways where the limit is 120 kph it is around 7.2 liters per 100 km, in Germany at 160 it is about 8.5 and in the city about 9.7 liters per 100 km.