Reliability

It starts first time, had to replace the battery once, that’s it. The only issue was a rear suspension rattle. It was intermittent, but it was there for a number of years. Mechanics found nothing, though I don’t think they tried too hard. I sprayed various suspension parts, for little luck.

It only seemed to stop once I travelled with a full tank of fuel, front tyres at 32psi, and rears at 35. Very strange!

How it drives

It’s pretty quiet, I think I got into 7L/100km when on the highway, so it’s economical. It would handle better with new tyres, but the old Bridgestones probably have another 5000km in them. It’s a good mix of a city car and highway cruiser. The 3.5-litre V6 is a very sweet engine.

Ownership experience

Service costs are standard, not expensive. Being a Toyota, parts and dealers are everywhere, and I presume many Camry parts are interchangeable with the Aurion.

Features and practicality

I’m 64 years-old, so I’m not excited by the abundance of tech, screens, beeps and bongs in new cars. Thankfully the Toyota doesn’t have stop-start. It does have front and rear parking sensors, with a camera, and blind spot monitoring, which is wonderful.

It does have a small screen, but it’s basic and most features are controlled by physical buttons and stalks, that’s a bonus. The Toyota is a little bit narrower than a Commodore and Falcon, so that helps with parking and reaching for items inside the car.

The seats are hard, and not sure if they’re real leather. They don’t have that premium feel. Still, for the driver, they don’t leave you with a sore back. The car stereo, in what is the top model, is a shocker. Must be from the JBL bargain basement, it sounds awful.

But, download the right sound booster/equalizer app, and the improvement is 100%, at no cost. For me, as I’m getting on a bit, the car has just the right level of features and practicality; it isn’t lacking, and it doesn’t have 2026 features I don’t need.

Any other thoughts?

Toyota is reliability. A BMW, Audi, or Mercedes would be lovely, but at what cost? My car starts the first time, is economical, and goes from A to B exactly how you expect a car to do. It’s not a star, but like a footballer that plays a solid game each week.

Very hard to replace. As a mechanic once said to me, it’s a cheap Lexus.

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