Hi everyone,
I am looking to buy a new old-car. Currently drive a 2011 Auris 1.6 Valvematic that has done 90k+ miles, we bought it 5 years back with ~50k miles on it. Yes it shows signs of age but we have had absolutely 0 problems with it especially because we were very new drivers when we got it, so its done very well. Ours is a Toyota family - we are spread over three continents and all preferentially drive Toyotas. My dad drove a diesel one for many years with 0 problems, his employer preferentially used Toyotas and they loved it for its low maintenance, reliability and parcticality. My brother on the other side of the pond drove a Corolla for 7 years, bought it at 70k+ miles and then sold (yes still functional and someone bought it!) at ~150k+ miles.
So obviously we are looking to buy another Toyota. Candidate cars are Auris 1.8 hybrid TS, Corolla 1.8 hybrid TS, and Lexus IS 300h. Here are my questions and will be very grateful for your suggestions/inputs/advice.
1. I am inching towards Auris 1.8 hybrid TS because it will be the cheapest of the three. But not sure if coming from Auris 1.6 valvematic which has ~135bhp - how sluggish/slow would Auris 1.8 hybrid feel like? Would we find it to be too dull to drive coming from a petrol Auris? We also had Fiesta Ecoboost for a little while. And in terms of handling and fun there was a lot of difference between the two ICE. Fiesta felt nippier and fun to drive than Auris and also was quieter. We are both very low fuss drivers and value reliability, comfort and safety more than performance. After a while, we did get used to the Auris driving. Between the two us, I prefer to have a more engaging car but I complain the least about Auris. My wife who wants a totally fuss free driving complains the most about how Auris struggles to accelerate on the slip road before merging into a faster road! I find it to be ok, if on rare occasions I want to accelerate faster then I drop a gear and rev up. So, now, not comparing it to Fiesta or any other car, just comparing to a manual 1.6 petrol valvematic Auris, how different/slow-to-accelerate would Auris 1.8 hybrid be? If not too much then high mpg of hybrid Auris should win us over.
2. Would Corolla 1.8 be a better option for a longer term family car? But then why would you choose used Corolla 1.8 hybrid over LExus IS 300h? From the approved used stock on Toyota and Lexus websites, 20-30k Corolla 1.8 hybrid TS is similar in price to Lexus IS 300h with 30-40k miles. Both are hybrid so good mpg, Corolla TS would have a bigger boot but Lexus IS is a saloon too so there should be adequate space, plus Lexus should be more reliable and we will have a chance to own a more posh car 😛 !! On paper Lexus IS has more bhp than Corolla 1.8/2.0
Many thanks