Just out of interest which Toyota hybrid have you got on order?
Corolla Touring Sport 2.0 Icon MY 25 spec.
Its been very difficult finding a suitable replacement for the excellent Superb PHEV but the wife found the new model impossible to get into because of the seat bolsters. The car did have a few issues for me as well, the quality has taken a dive inside (me thinks Skoda have been told to make their cars worse since they were upstaging Audi and VW) as has the standard kit. The consider the simple fact that being over £40,000 there is an extra £410 a year VED to pay for year 2 through to year 6 would quickly eat away at any savings. And then there is the stupid position VAG have decided to move the gear selector to, what is wrong with the console, putting it on the RH side of the column seems daft and alien to most of us.
Finding estates and large hatchbacks is getting more difficult by the year so we initially looked at the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson. Both nice cars well priced and kitted out but just like the Superb the wife could not get in.
Looked at VW Passat Estate and it was a definite step up on the Superb inside. Same stupid place for the gear selector as the Superb and the wife could not get in. Tried a Golf, still the wife could not get in (no proper hybrid or PHEV either).
But the surprise was the Touran, despite being way higher wife was OK since the seats were "better" designed. But could not bring myself to buy an SUV or spend over £40,000.
So off to look at Toyota. Went to see the dealer we bought the Yaris from armed with the CarWow price (like we did when we bought the Yaris). No demo cars and no interest in matching the price. Bad start. Called in at the local dealer who had been an obnoxious liar previously and the salesman repeated the old performance. Made a complaint to Toyota.
Then spotted a used 2 litre in Derby, not that far away so rang and checked and popped down. Not a car I wanted (GR with 40 profile tyres, sports suspension and seats etc) but at least it had the right engine. The car was 18 months old, 2 owner and 1900 miles, a bit suspicious. Sales manager gave me the keys and said you have an hour. Quite disappointed, the engine was very quick to rev at a slight press of the throttle, just like older CVT's. It made the car a bit noisy and unpleasant. never noticed the ride or seats, took it back after about 20 minutes.
With nothing else of interest it looked like we were keeping the Superb, nothing wrong with it but our 5 years change cycle is approaching.
Got an e-mail from the Sales Manager at the local Toyota dealer asking me to call him, seems the e-mail had been forwarded. After a few e-mails he agreed that much of what the salesman had told me was incorrect and suggested we went a drive in their brand new 2 litre Touring Sport Excel demo car. What a revelation, it was great. Very little rev flaring and even with the 40 profile tyres and sports seats the ride was quiet and comfortable. Did not expect him to come up with a deal and was not to be disappointed, not heard from him since. But it did make me wonder if the car I drove at Derby was an earlier CVT spec car or with the low miles a car that had been rejected.
So we did a deal for a 2 litre Touring Sport Icon for late May delivery via Carfile (as usual). The Icon has all the kit we want except rear tinted glass but a unit about 200 yards from home has quoted me £160 to do that and the insurers want no extra. Just need to sort a spare (a full size wheel/tyre will fit in the well under the boor floor with no loss of space). The Icon has 205/55 profile tyres thus cheaper and a better ride.
Hopefully it will be happy days.
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