T3 1.4 D-4D 5dr Auto Hatchback

Decent drive but Dreary, Jerky and downright unreliable

After a few weeks searching for a low mileage, diesel and automatic vehicle - a Toyota Auris cropped up in 'near perfect' condition; full Toyota service history, one previous owner, decent body work, the whole lot! It's MMT (Multi-Mode Transmission) gearbox was a 'automated manual', similar to a Semi-Automatic but this never concerned me at all, I had previously owned a 2007 Smart For-two, which was quite fun.

So after arranging a test drive, I inspected the vehicle as thoroughly as a University student was capable, I had bought 5 vehicles which turned out OK, so why not? The car drove fine, it's suspension felt a bit too soft, but I wasn't buying a sports car after all, and all the HPI checks cleared so I decided to hand over 4 grands worth of hard labour - it's a Toyota, so everything should be OK for over donkey years right? I mean I have witnessed Toyota's which had been around the world, twice! Nope, I couldn't be further from the truth.

After a weeks worth of average driving, to University and back, the usual shopping journeys and to my place of part-time work, I noticed the gearbox was lurching out of gears on the dual carriageway when driving at 40 mph. I thought I could brush this aside after driving home fine, and It didn't do it for another fortnight, this was when I consulted the Toyota dealership nearest to me - who said my vehicle was due a recall - happy days as my already lean wallet didn't get beaten into oblivion with a gearbox problem.

After dealing with Toyota, who were brilliant, the vehicle was completely fine - albeit the other issues this car had started creeping up on me; namely the gearbox changes interfering with the radio - and after a month down the line, starting up the car became something you would commonly encounter in a Minnesotan Winter, turning over for many seconds before catching.

Thinking the starting problem could be an ageing battery, I went to Halfords and replaced it myself, I actually found myself staring in awe at my handiwork, which offset the sixty odd quid I'd spent. This new battery paid off - for a few mornings. The next month, the car refused to start; turning over till I'd felt something called 'Mechanical sympathy'.

This bit of disappointment meant I had to catch the bus that morning, and led to me ringing the AA for help in the afternoon - who didn't get it started but gave me a little yellow slip showing a list of Engine codes to show my fuel pump had an issue - at 40,000 miles?! Outrageous, I was mortified knowing these were very expensive parts to replace. So I took it to my nearest Independent Toyota specialist, who quoted me around 800 quid to replace this part, after giving it a bit of thought, I had to stump up the cash, as it was either this or lose thousands and advertise on the 'Spares or repairs' section, I was not prepared to lose a car in the process too.

The vehicle was fixed! Great. After driving the whole summer with no real issues, winter was here. I carried out all the normal checks I'd learnt over a couple of years, everything was good, I was thinking this vehicle may not have been a mistake, but again, I was wrong. On a frosty November morning, I started the car, waited a minute or so, turned the heating on and drove off, hitting week-day traffic, but something felt odd - I had sat in traffic for 30 minutes and was still rubbing my hands together, did I forget to turn the heating on? I had not, something had gone wrong again. After consulting my local independent again, my Radiator was leaking and I had nearly ran out of coolant, the technician said I was lucky the car was still running, and was quoted approximately £450. Needless to say I had pay up - and another issue was fixed.

So the 'reliable' Japanese car was back on the road, and still works as a car, but my ongoing issues in the past meant I was researching the Toyota Auris D4D MMT thoroughly, and after reading the horror stories in relation to the Toyota MMT gearbox coupled with my short and disappointing history with my Auris, you could say selling is at the top of my priority!

Report as offensive