Toyota Auris 1.4 D-4D T2 5dr

I hired one of these in Spain recently. In 23 years of driving, it was the second-worst car I have ever had. (The first-worst was a Nissan Micra about, er, 23 years ago.) The Toyota would be the perfect car for anyone who hates driving and is quite happy for things to remain that way.

Where to start? Exterior dull, but I can live with that. Interior cheaper and more unimaginative than most. Switchgear illogical and awkward - why do Toyota and MB still insist on putting the headlight switch at the end of a flimsy stalk?

Transmission unbelievably bad - hard to see what 3rd and 5th gears were for, while to go up a hill slowly one had the choice of kangarooing in 1st or stalling in 2nd. The "shift gear now" indicator was far too crude to be useful and was just intensely irritating.

Engine generally very weak - impossible to accelerate uphill beyond 100km/h other than in absurdly low gear, watching the fuel gauge go down. Steering so sloppy it occasionally felt dangerous at 120km/h.

Front seats quite good, even on longer journeys, didn't use the rear seats. Fuel economy 5.3 l/100km over three weeks of mostly expressway driving - acceptable but unremarkable for a small diesel.

The question I kept asking myself was whether anyone had actually *intended* the car to be like this, or whether the designers just trusted to fate and got unlucky. If they had put as much thought into their breakfast as they did into this car, they would have ended up with cornflakes on toast.

i am very satiesfied about my toyota auris 1.4 d4d.No extra money needed for repairs,only diesel and payment for revision, nothing more.

If you're not looking for anything special from a family hatchback, the Toyota Auris is a way to go. It has decent looks outside, decent looks inside, decent handling, decent ride quality and decent space. The engine my test car had was a 1.4 litre diesel, which returned with quite nice mileage, which you'd expect from a diesel of this size. The engine provides good low-range torque, so around town the Toyota Auris has no problem at all. But then there's the power. 90 horsepower sounds quite adequate for me, but I have no idea where Toyota decided to hide those horses. The engine gives its load of torque in a quick burst, coughs, and is completely out of ideas after 2500RPM. Just like any other diesel, in fact.So the Toyota Auris is not very frugal. Also, its powered steering felt too light for me, so it's not especially fun to drive to either. However, you can be sure the car is of high quality, the engine will go on forever, there's enough space for all passengers and their luggage (boot space is 350 litres, which is not the biggest in its class but should be pretty high on the list anyway). You also have a fortress of airbags surrounding you. EuroNCAP ratings are high (5 stars adult, 4 stars child, 3 stars pedestrian).The Toyota Auris is a dull car, just like the Corolla. But it's also a safe bet.

Toyota have maintained their usual reliability. Ease of drivingComfortable rideGear lever in good positionSmooth road sense.