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Our family wagon for the last 4 years is a NZ new Avensis GL 1800 manual. We have loved this car but the kms are up over 260,000 and it's starting to feel a little tired. We are starting to travel further with the two kids in the back and all the camping gear etc loaded up and the engine power is now lacking, lucky to keep up above 90 in third gear to make it up hills! We really value the safety (9 airbags) and the styling of the car. We are looking at the jap import 2.4 Li and Qi top spec wagons. After reading on here there are many responses to steer clear of the D4 engine imports, are they really that bad? I can't find much literature to support the claims, and would love to have the same up-spec'd wagon but with a bit more power. I got excited when I found a recommended alternative - a NZ new 07 Avensis 2.0 manual, low kms etc without the D4 engine apparently, after inspection and test drive I was very very underwhelmed by its performance and budget feeling interior and basic un-metallic paint, manual seat adjustments, it felt very no frills and cheap compared to the same year jap import Li model with leather interior and nice paintjob etc. The NZ new one I test drove had the D4 vvti plastic valve cover and not one part of the car felt like an upgrade nor did it feel like value for money for it's "desirable NZ new status" high asking price. Is there a fix for the D4 running issues, do all engines actually suffer the problems? I really want an Li but can't understand why a whole run of an engine type would be so bad. Thanks for your help and advice in advance.
The earlier D4 engines do not have a great reputation but as technology evolves we expect that they have improved and reliability shouldn’t be such an issue anymore.
The year model vehicles you are considering shouldn't be a problem. The majority of car manufacturers use direct injection engines these days due to the strict exhaust emissions standards and therefore it is difficult to avoid.
The same applies to CVTs (Continuously Variable Transmissions). The older versions do not have a great reliability track record but we are told they have improved - time will tell - and nearly every Japanese car manufacturer fit them into their vehicles.
Another vehicle to consider is the Mazda 6/Atenza wagon fitted with the 2.3L or 2.0L motor.