Our Cars: 1998 Toyota Avensis 1.8GS
17 December 2014: An alarming incident.
The Details
| Current mileage | 148,950 |
|---|---|
| Actual economy | 35mpg |
By Martin Gurdon, Contributor
I’ve been posting Facebook links for these banger blogs with some interesting results.
One was a series of reposts from a colleague who edits a Mercedes-themed magazine. He really didn’t believe the free Avensis would cut it as a daily driver.
He had a problem with its image too, suggesting it would make me look ‘like a Chav,’ and said it might be good ‘for a few weeks’ as an adjunct to brand new press cars, but could not otherwise be relied upon.
Well, I’m not sure a T-plate Avensis has an image, beyond ‘old and bland,’ and really can’t work up the energy to care what people think about it, or my driving it, especially when I'm using it for something like visiting the dump. I really have relied on it as my main means of getting about, racking up about 7500 miles so far. It’s had some issues, but these have either been straightforward to botch, cure or ignore, and so far it’s never failed to complete a journey.
The most recent malady related to the ‘open’ buttons of both sets of remote central locking keys, which have died. Unlock the door on the key and lights flash and the alarm shrieks. Since work was about to take me from Kent to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire when the problem kicked off, a quick fix was needed.
The Haynes manual told me the alarm unit lived behind the glove box. The Japanese really pioneered elegant vehicle assembly, and there’s a relentless logic to the way the Avensis is put together, so generally taking it apart is straightforward.
A couple of pins secured the glove box, and a swift tug detached a plastic panel beneath it. There was the alarm, which had been busily alarming as I’d done this, wearing a pair of ear protectors to make the noise bearable. I yanked on a block connector and all was blissful silence. The car still locks on the remote, but needs the key to open it, and the interior light, which had a delay, now only works on the switch, which is annoying, but I can live with it, and if I should get another remote key, re-connecting the alarm would take ten minutes.
Otherwise my Lincolnshire odyssey went without a hitch, and as I made my way up and down the A1, taking a slightly fuzzy night time petrol station pic as a memento, I became aware of some of this unassuming vehicle’s qualities. The ride is really very good in an unsporting, soft sort of way. At motorway speeds its lack of mechanical hubbub, including road, wind and engine noise, betters a great many brand new German executive cars with their huge wheels and low profile tyres. I like the driving position, and the seats are extremely comfortable. After two days and 430 miles I climbed out of it ache free and relaxed.
The steering is boringly numb, and it rolls in bends, but to be honest I can’t find much wrong with the handling. There’s a lot more grip than you might expect, and when it does start letting go, it does so with gentle, rather than terminal understeer. Not interesting, but not bad either.
I can’t claim to like this car very much, but I’m developing a sneaking admiration for it.
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