Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £16,485 to £27,515
Low running costs, well-equipped, fine engine range.
Unadventurous looks, diesel makes a racket when worked, excessive road noise.
New Avensis is still dull, but thanks to its low running costs, remains one well worth considering.
Toyota has built and developed the Avensis to be class king for running costs and a quick glance at the range's incredible fuel consumption and emissions suggests the brand has succeeded.
It's no coincidence that the most efficient Avensis in the range is also expected to be the most popular. The 126bhp 2.0 D-4D averages 55.4mpg while emitting 134g/km of carbon dioxide. This means the large Toyota slots into the VED band C, while company car users will pay 18% in Benefit-in-Kind company car tax. That compares extraordinarily well with the latest Vauxhall Insignia, which is in a band higher for road tax and in the 20% BIK company car tax rate.
It's a similar story for the petrol 1.8 that averages a fine 43.5mpg, while emitting 154g/km of CO2.
There's just one fly in the ointment. Premium rival BMW petrol and diesel engines are both more efficient. Case in point: the diesel 318d averages a stunning 60.1mpg while polluting just 123g/km of carbon dioxide.
On paper, it would be all too easy to rule the German out on price (the 318d is £4,000 more than the Avensis), but if a business is leasing instead of buying outright, the BMW lease rate may fall close to the Toyota's chiefly because it loses less money in depreciation. This could mean the 3-Series is the better business proposition.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Toyota Avensis
wrote on 27 03 2008