Hi, thinking of changing our car and wondered if any one tows with a Toyota Avensis diesel? What are they like as a towcar and are you happy in general ?
Hi I tow with an Avensis diesel Estate but only tow an Esterel so can't really comment on towing performance with a "full size" caravan. The Avensis is one of the best cars I have had, from new it has only ever been in the garage for a service, never had a problem with it.
I considered one when deciding on a new car but they didn't seem to have much towing capacity in terms of car to caravan ratio. I settled for a Passat... phenomenal!
We have a small two birth caravan & i tow it with a 2001 Avensis D4D, i have owned this car for around 7 years & its done almost 200,000 miles. yes i have to spend a bit on it for its MOT (Handbrake cable this year) but at that milage what can you expect? The car is always towing, either the caravan or my heavy box trailer that i use for work, i cover around 300 miles per week and it never lets me down, it still has the original exhaust & clutch & that's my only worry as the clutch must be getting ready for replacement which will probably cost more than the cars worth, i am not looking to change the car as its so reliable, it drives & feels like it could go on for ever, a local taxi driver once told me that they are good for around 400k at least
The newer shape has quite a good towing capacity, but the older shape 03-08 were quite low, 1.2t for the diesel & 1.3t for the petrol. My BIL towed with the petrol model. Don't think it was the best tow car.
It's a shame because the D4D engine is excellent, but don't go paying much extra for the 180hp model, the 140hp is more than adequate.