What 'What Car said about the Estima Hybrid.

[TAPAJEN.MARK]

What Car? Q&A - Where can I get a green MPV?
Q: I have a large family and I've been looking for a large alternative-fuel MPV for a while.

I came across information on the Toyota Estima hybrid early last year, but Toyota GB said there were no immediate plans to bring the Estima to the UK.

I also asked if garages would be able to service the car if I imported it. My local Toyota dealer said that they would not.

If Toyota can't service the Estima, could you tell me of anywhere that can? Have I overlooked an alternative model already on sale here in the UK - something as large as a Previa?
Phil Gayle

A: The Estima was known as the Previa when Toyota sold it in the UK, but the company decided to stop importing it in 2006 to concentrate on bigger-selling cars.

There's been no change in that strategy, so there's no prospect of any Previa turning up on these shores as an official import, let alone the four-wheel-drive hybrid version.

If you did decide to buy a 'grey import' from Japan, having it serviced would be tricky. Even a franchised dealer with all of its kit and training wouldn't necessarily have the expertise to service such a car.

While Toyota dealers have experience of the Prius hybrid, the system used on the Estima is entirely different, and may well require specific tools that no workshop in the UK will have.

An independent garage is likely to find it even harder to work on the car and keep it running smoothly, so it looks like a lot of unnecessary trouble to us.

As far as models already on sale in the UK go, the biggest you'll find is Lexus' 4x4, the RX450h, from £36,393, but, like the Prius, Lexus GS and Lexus LS hybrid, it only seats up to five, which may not be suitable for you.

If you need more seats and want to be as green as possible, here are the cars we recommend on the basis of their CO2 emissions and fuel economy.

1 Renault Grand Scenic 1.5 dCi (105) Expr'n 144g/km VED Band C 52.3mpg
2 Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 1.6 HDI Exclusive 150g/km VED Band C 49.6mpg
3 VW Touran 1.9 TDI 105 DPF S 160g/km VED Band D 47.1mpg
4 Kia Carens 2.0 CRDI LS 163g/km VED Band D 46.3mpg
5 Vauxhall Zafira 1.9 CDTi 120 Club 165g/km VED Band D 46.3mpg

[Andy Capp]

Glad to see they love the Estima too

[leevor]

oh praise be to the almighty estima

[ClintJ]

Toyota`s petrol engines have a good record and the only problems that the prius has on occassion is a bad cell or bad battery link.
I like the idea of what it offers and I know what its like to chase up support for the lucida in australia.
The cause of most problems is always something simple that if you can read the codes that you can chase it down and fix it.
I know how daunting it can be as well when where ever you turn no one can help.
All I can say is thank god for this website...

All I can say that is somebody did buy one of these hybrid busses then Im sure that there would plenty of fine people from this site who would be willing to help should problems arrise. Not that I think there would.

[JJ]

Why dont the club fund for one to come to the Uk? then we all can learn how to fix it when it goes wrong .......JJ

[Andy Capp]

We can pull to bits, then give it in boxes to Bob and he can show us how to put it back together I would find some money from somewhere to donate.

Opps, forgot I don't have any money

[ClintJ]

Originally Posted by Andy Capp

We can pull to bits, then give it in boxes to Bob and he can show us how to put it back together I would find some money from somewhere to donate.

Opps, forgot I don't have any money

You could buy one now and pull it apart and I could come over and drink some beers and put it back together.

[TAPAJEN.MARK]

People I have spoken too are very dissapointed with the 30mpg they are getting from the Estima Hybrid. They were spun yarns of 50mpg and believed them.

[kim s]

Originally Posted by ClintJ

You could buy one now and pull it apart and I could come over and drink some beers and put it back together.

Oh blimey, theres a thought that worries me,

Clint, by the time you had finished with it, it will have a small nuclear reactor to replace the batts, the engine would only be there to suck the air out from underneath like the old Brabhams formula 1, and the moon roof would open up to act as a solar panel or to catch the rain and use in the hydrogen maker fashioned out of an old turbo bolted onto a bit of exhaust pipe coupled to an intercooler from a road train lorry.

think I'll stick to veggie oil

Kim

[Father Ted]

Originally Posted by kim s

Oh blimey, theres a thought that worries me,

Clint, by the time you had finished with it, it will have a small nuclear reactor to replace the batts, the engine would only be there to suck the air out from underneath like the old Brabhams formula 1, and the moon roof would open up to act as a solar panel or to catch the rain and use in the hydrogen maker fashioned out of an old turbo bolted onto a bit of exhaust pipe coupled to an intercooler from a road train lorry.

think I'll stick to veggie oil

Kim

Now now..you'll give him ideas