I bet there are more old Vectras and Mondeos about than Avensis.Regarding my friends Toyota Avensis taxi his comment just know was wan't did go wrong I think it was mainly engine problems nothing major but consistantly taking the car of the road.They did a special lease deal to try and get into the German taxi market but you will rarely see one today as they could not stand up to the work like the Mercedes with taxi build.These vehicles are not changed till they have done 1000000km.

Thanks PD,

I am actually looking for a car that has a 4 or 5 star Euro NCAP rating, ESP, decent reliability and fuel economy and costs around £5K.

04 model year (1st to get ESP as standard) S60 D5 SE manual would be top of my list to meet that criteria.

Avensis is a fine car, just a bit boring and if you're concerned about handling it isn't exactly fun to drive - very competent but not fun. Accord should also probably be on your list.

I think that answers youir own question Avensis's are not liked by dealers because of their ability to go wrong and cost a fortune where as the Accord will probably outlive you.

If I were spending £5 on a saloon the Accord would be top of my list, it looks classy, it's reliable, handles well and is reliable. The Mondeo is probably a slightly better car (the best in its class for the dosh) but the Accord is a little bit different - which is nice. The Avensis does everything well but is dull.

I had extensive use of a 03 Accord s-type (2.4) it was a cracker but a bit firmly sprung for me around town but smoothed out on the motorway. The softer executive would have been my choice.

You won't find a car which doesn't have some inherent weakness - they all have a "they all do that eventually" feature somewhere.

I really wouldn't get too caught up in the whole DMF issue - nearly all larger cars have them, petrol or diesel. The ones you here about are the poorly designed or faulty ones - the ones in cars which do not go wrong it can be hard to find out if it has DMF or not becuase no one has ever replaced one.

Worst case it adds £300 on a clutch change - more like £120-£150 on most cars.

If you buy a 5 year old car and run it for 5 years something will go at some point unless you mothball it.

TBH, I am actually leaning towards the Avensis at the momment. I'd rather have a trouble free motoring experience and use the money save towards something truly inspiring. Like sailing or even flying lessons, IMHO :-)

I was using the Accord for 120 mile round trips (London/Leeds) I found the driver's seat to be very comfortable and supportive, the owner thought it put pressure on his thigh, I suppose there's no such thing as a perfect seat! I'm 6'2" he was 5'11". It was exceptionally good on the motorway, the slightly fidgety ride at low speeds completely disappeared at motorway speeds smoothing out beautifully - almost being a match for my Jag XJ8 at the time. The car really did work as a back road scratcher and a high speed cruiser. The traction control was rubbish needing care when pulling away in the wet which was the car's only real fault. Friends/family commented on how nice the car looked (in Silver) it's a classy, premium looking, car for Mondeo money.

To the thread originator - why the obsession with ESP? On stumpy town cars it's a life saver but with longer wheelbase cars I can't see the appeal. All it seems to do is neutralise midcorner understeer - which the driver could do with the correct articulation of the throttle.