Petrol or diesel Toyota Avensis?

I need to buy a second-hand car with a budget of €6,000. I do approx 25,000 kilometres/year (mostly motorway) and want to know do you think a 2004/2005 2.0 diesel Toyota Avensis or 2006/2007 1.6 petrol Avensis would be better.

Many thanks

Anna Powell (Dublin)

Feb 2012 Filed under: choosing used car

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Expert answer

Hi Anna,

As you're doing double the average annual mileage, and it's on motorway, we'd thoroughly recommend the diesel. It should save you a fortune on fuel, though of course you'll have to pay more in annual road tax. The downside is that you're likely to find that the 2.0-litre diesels within your budget have high mileage on them already. Seek out one with a perfect service history and as low a mileage as possible - and get it verified by Cartell.ie.

Hope that helps

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Adviser
@Shane_O_D