r.welfare Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 This will be going (back) on eBay later this evening but I thought I'd offer it up again - I wrote a combined FS thread for this and the Accord a while ago but now I have pretty pictures. MOT until 28 September 2015 with only one advisory (engine light on - now sorted with a new oxygen sensor). 206k miles but drives like a champ. My wife said the clutch was slipping occasionally but I drove it over 500 miles last week and it didn't slip once. 147bhp so goes a bit but surprisingly good on fuel - coming back from Milton Keynes doing a steady 65-70 along the M1 I got 46mpg on the computer. I reckon it will average 35mpg no bother. I've had it four and a half years and have put 80k onto it. 2 owners before me, it was a lease car for the first 3 years of its' life. I've maintained it very well and there's a stack of receipts over an inch thick totalling more than 4 grand. It's had a new clutch, new shocks, a new battery, all four oxygen sensors, suspension bushes all round, air conditioning pipes, discs and pads all round and two vacuum switching valves plus the usual filter and coolant changes by the book. Chain cam on this one. There's also a matching set of Michelin Energy Saver tyres with plenty of tread left, they've done about 20k on the car. Loads of kit including trip computer, PAS, electric windows all round, climate control with ice-cold A/C, roof rails, a Witter towbar with single electrics (I've never towed with it), remote locking, radio/CD, factory privacy glass, traction control, rear parking sensors, ABS and 15" alloys. Everything works and it always starts first time. The interior is in really good nick for the miles with the only noticeable wear being on the steering wheel rim and gearlever gaiter. Externally, the paint is sadly rather ropey as there's lacquer peeling on every panel apart from both bumpers, the bonnet and the wings. The roof is a bit Pogweaseled. Also the car was written off last year after a very low speed bump which dented the offside front wing and put a 3cm split in the bumper below the indicator - it's now CAT C (although it passed a Vehicle Identity Check). I replaced the wing but the colour match isn't perfect. Changing up from 2nd to 3rd is also a bit notchy but it always goes in and is better if you don't rush it. There's no gearbox whine. It also drinks a bit of oil - a litre every 2,000 miles or so - but it might be better now I've changed the PCV valve. Overall it's been a great car for us and it should still have a good bit of life in it, I see no reason why it wouldn't pass another MOT. £350 and I'm about 10 minutes from J6 M3 or J11 M4 near Basingstoke (RG26). M'coli and willswitchengage 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetleysmooth Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Don't let the mileage put you off people, Richard looks after his cars. I know this first hand. r.welfare 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabergé Greggs Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 How much of a pfaff would a clutch change be? Reckon the engine light is to do with oil consumption clogging something or other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 Thing is I don't think the clutch needs changing - it had a new clutch plate, cover and release bearing at 159,000. I reckon there was some air in the hydraulics, possibly, or some liquid on the plate; I did spray a load of Plusgas around the oxygen sensors a couple of weeks back to get them out which may have found it's way in there. In any case, I was quite brutal with it last week and it didn't slip once. It engages half way up the pedal travel and it's not heavy. I think my local garage charged me £400 to do the clutch last time, their labour rate is £60+VAT an hour and they supplied the parts. So it's about the same difficulty as most modern FWD cars; not as easy as a Mk3 Cavalier but not insurmountable. Autodata quote 4.4 hours book time to do the job. A point to note is that the slave and master cylinder were not changed. The engine light was due to P0420 and P0430 codes - catalytic convertor below 95% efficiency. This is a well-known issue with the 2-litre and is caused by over-sensitive parameters in the ECU; it has three cats in total with two in the manifold. When the car was in for a fuel pump recall Toyota kindly offered to replace the maniverter and ECU at a cost of £1,800 - £300 more than I paid for the car in the first place... The light's been on with this code pretty much constantly since I bought it. I used to reset it once a year before heading to the MOT station. It would always come on again on the way home but the car goes through the emissions test no bother. The reason it wasn't reset this year is that it was with the garage for new subframe bushes. However - a few weeks ago with the wonder of Google Translate I found a load of Estonian Avensis owners talking about oxygen sensor spacers that you fit to the two downstream sensors; I fitted two (hence the use of PlusGas and the possible source of the temporarily-slipping clutch) and, voila, no engine light for the last 500 miles. That's the longest it has ever been off. I had to replace the offside lower oxygen sensor at the same time because I mullered it trying to get it off - the other three were new at 126,000. All four are pukka Denso jobs. Having the light off makes a real difference, it now revs cleanly through the range whereas when the light was on it felt strangled up to 3,000 before taking off. The fuel economy has improved too. Also, the oil consumption might be down to the fact I still use 5W30 synthetic even though it's done astronomical mileage. 10W40 might help. It's not blowing any blue smoke at any time, nor dropping any on the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 Anyway, eBay link here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171526915103 Starting at 99p no reserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 Just been down to the shops in it. Gave it a bit of shoe and clutch was fine. Behold the self-healing Toyota! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nacho man Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 I think alot of these older vvti toyota engines like a drink of oil, some of um suffered with gummed up rings and ovalling of the bores, just keep it topped up, no bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 I'm pretty sure the 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 were worst affected by that - one of the reasons I went for a 2-litre. But, shit, a litre every 2,000 miles or so in a petrol motor that's done over 200k ain't too much of a bind. M'coli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 Spoke too soon on the self-healing bit following this morning's drive into work. If you go like hell through the gears (like changing up really quickly at 5,000 rpm then getting back on the throttle hard) then it will slip in 3rd, 4th and 5th. However, if you're in gear and then boot the throttle it's fine - I got it up to 110 (*cough*) the other night and it was still accelerating hard absolutely fine. It's like the clutch is taking a long time to disengage. Hydraulic fault? In any case, OFFERS INVITED... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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