DeafDave76

Alright as far as I recall... Now yes Holden's SV6 and Ford's XR6 are in similar specs but their category were large where Toyota Aurion and Honda Accord both were medium large category Honda Accord with its V6 and FWD is the Toyota Aurion's direct competitor. Both have different levels of specs but the main difference was Honda only had 2 specs (can't remember what they were called) where Aurion had: ATX, Touring, Sportivo SX6, Prodigy, Sportivo ZR6 and Presara. That's 6 specs compared to Honda's 2. Price wise: on different levels. The ATX, Touring, Sportivo SX6 were aimed for budget where Prodigy, Sportivo ZR6 and Presara were aimed for people with money to burn! Honda's 2 specs were not aimed at budget at all. Both were priced above in the Sportivo ZR6 and Presara area. As for other V6's in same size wise as Honda Accord and Toyota Aurion, it was actually VW Passat and Chrysler 200C. I also remember another V6 and it was Mitsubishi 380 before its demise (to this day I still lament the loss of it as it allows more choices to pick. Ex owned Magna). Although I had to laugh a few years back when Ford Mondeo came out and annouced the competition was against Aurion until they realized the error and changed it to Camry. As OP mentioned, the Mazda 6 and Honda Accord Euro (which is no longer on sale here) both are 4 cyl engines but are direct competition to Toyota Camry. Camry's direct competitors are actually: Ford Mondeo (now with new engines, one of them a potent 177kw. Have yet to test drive this one. One of the 3 to have wagon form) Mazda 6 (now with SkyActiv engines. Have yet to test drive those. One of the 3 to have wagon form) Honda Accord (the 4 cyl engine one that effectively replaces the Euro) Skoda Octovia (the RS version could give Aurion a run for its money. One of the 3 to have wagon form) VW Jetta Holden Malibu (although I know it is discontinued but there is another one coming soon) Suzuki Kizashi (recently got a turbo engine but still isn't powerful enough) KIA Optima (non turbo ones. Turbo ones would be closer to Aurion area) Hyundai Sonata (known as i40) Um i think that's it.

Actually i never follow Choice. Each to their own anyway

My car is a 2011 Touring SE bought new with 0kms in odo and had stock Bridgestone tyres. That was 2012. That didn't last long and was already worn out at 30,000 kms this year. Those tyres were Bridgestone Ecopia something. I ended up switching to Michelin tyre Primacy LC as my previous silver Aurion prior to its write off had Michelin Energy XM2 tyres and was the most quietest I ever had. Best in fuel economy as well. The reason I picked Michelin Primacy LC for my current car was because I wanted quiet and comfort with the benefits of fuel economy for good measure. So far it has been so good that I end up filling my car once a month! I really wanted to get Energy XM2 but Michelin stopped making them. So if you wanted a Michelin tyre, http://www.michelin.com.au/AU/en/tires/Toyota/Aurion/2011/Touring Special Edition/6Sp Auto 3__5L V6.html I am not sure on other brands but these are the ones I would go for: Pirelli - had Pirelli tyres on my old Magna prior to its write off with new rims on it. Great tyres! Kumho KU22 - have this on the family's Toyota Spacia van. Good grip in wet weather and was comfortable on roads no matter where you are at.

Further update to this thread... my car has hit just under 47,000 kms (probably will happen this weekend) so that means in the time during 14th December to now, I had done only just under 7,000 kms. Yes it had 45,000kms service just done recently 2 months ago. Before you go off, yes I did follow the log book when i had my car under warranty but that has since finished on January 2015 (15,000, 30,000, 45,000 each year since new). The new service centre I went to refused to follow the log book saying my car has too low kms in order to have the 60,000 kms and above and can't justify the cost for doing it when the car has too low kms. They will follow the kms on the odo instead of the log book. What do you think? It will continue to have serviced at the same place as well as brake checking at the same place. Cos they have capped servicing there. I wouldn't go for ultra tune as I heard horror stories about them.

Yup I like the guys at City Toyota in Northbridge perth too. They are good people and respect my deafness and explains what's what. And it is a good 20 mins walk from there to my work so having an exercise instead of using taxi or their courtesy is a bonus! They fixed the oil leak issue I had late last year which turned out to be the cheap service centre's own fault. They refunded the money back to me which I used to pay for City Toyota to fix.

You guys got lucky in cheap prices. In perth average price is $1.30 on any given days with cheapest on Mondays and Wednesdays at very far away spots which renders having cheap petrol point moot! You drive all the way just for cheap petrol and waste that petrol going home in traffic.

Hmm interested in this...let me know how that goes after installation. You should be able to plug and play most of it?

While Hyundai Genesis is V6 with about what 27kw and 61Nm more than Aurions and is a rear wheel drive, i wonder whats its fuel usage is like around town before taking it on a good freeway/highway run. And yes, like phandrew I have also been eyeing KIA Optima GT with 180kw turbocharged engine but I want to see how reliable their turbo is first. My next car will not be a Toyota. I have been tossing up between KIA/Hyundai or Mitsubishi as they offer good long warranty and capped servicing.

Not sure how you will sell for a profit, but yes you may fetch a bit extra $$ for the lower kms. provided oil has been changed regularly..... I have seen people change oil by kms and not time before. not good!. i bought my 2011 Touring in May this year for 13k with 134k kms on it. i think its more important to look for a good maintenance record than kms. i test drove a sportivo with 50,000km and it was worse to drive honestly. my advice would be to get out and drive your car, its just an aurion. just my 2 cents. Actually, I have been driving the Aurion far north and far south this year in effect to get more kms out of it And the darts winter season finished up for me 2 months ago, (tuesday night for south, thursday night for north) so the car won't be driven as much and there's Adelaide next month which I am flying over. It will be driven once i get back. Yes it has been serviced by toyota scarborough until the warranty finished in January this year (i still can't fathom why when it was supposed to be expired in June this year but i did follow log book servicing anyway). I went to a cheap service centre in late August before I went up to far north. I will not go back cos they over tightened the oil filter, damaging the seal and causing engine oil loss. I had to get it fixed but lucky only cost be just $100 ($20 for part and $80 for oil refill). Cheers! Have a nice day!

My car 2011 make (built september 2011) Aurion Touring SE had done only just under 40,000 kms. Bought it new with 0 kms on clock in June 2012. Most cars in 3 years would have hit 60,000 kms but not me. I aim to keep kms as low as I can so I can sell for good profit next year or 2. I have not yet to hit 45,000 kms. Not bad for a car that's 3 years old when owned (technically 4 years old from build date). All still totally stock except I had to get new tyres (oem tyres wore out so quickly at 30,000kms) in March. UPDATE: Car has hit 40,000 kms last Thursday evening.

Man that looks wicked! Where did you get the parts from and who installed them for you and how much?

mg85, Yeah I think you may be right. Could be an apprentice mechanic doing this Regards Dave

UPDATE: Took my car in at a separate Toyota garage near Perth CBD. This garage is not linked to dealer car yards. The car yards are at 2 different locations: one in Northbridge and one in nedlands. Cause of oil link: damaged oil filter seal (probably the cheap service center I went to may have over tightened the filter damaging the seal in process - I will never go back there!) Replacement: new filter plus engine flush and new oil in = $185. VVTI oil line no issue according to them. It still held. No pin hole leak. Today is black friday but i got extremely lucky this time! No damage inside the engine. Happy days. Thanks Full Throttle. One of your guesses was spot on.

Hi Full Throttle, Service was done on 17th July 2015. so that means in just under 4 months, oil was gone! I will bring the matter to that servicing place to complain about it. I suspect they may have not tightened either sump nut or oil filter. But I will check the lines, the rear and front. You could be right that I may have got pin hole leak in either one of them. I will have to take it to Toyota mechs to have them replace those 2 lines with metal ones but last thing I need is to go to stealership garages. My warranty expired this year in January. Regards Dave

Hi guys, Car has done 39,128 kms. Last night i caught for a few secs the low engine pressure oil warning light came on then disappeared after i suddenly braked to avoid hitting a duck near my place. There was no more warnings all the time I was driving. This morning, something in my guts told me to check the dipstick and sure enough not a drop of oil in the stick. I went to supercheap to get more oil and put it in before i went to work. Valvoline Armour 10W-30 (pays to check the FAQ) was on special here for $33 for 5 litre I just checked my car during lunch time for any leaks and found none which bothered me. Before I book the mechanics to have a look and potentially waste $$$ over what could be nothing, i thought i could ask the brains here. I remember on FAQ something about VVTI leak but my car is built 2011 and should have metal hose instead of rubber as the first 2006-2009 had so that potentially rules that out(?). Regards Dave

Congrats on getting the Touring model. You won't be disappointed. I own one but 2011 late september build sold in 2012 with 0 kms. It was one of the last ones before the new Aurions came out and it's now over 37,000 kms coming up to 38,000 kms soon. Yes the car should have hit 60-70,000 kms by now but i often mix public transport and driving to work in city (have free parking). You are right the 2GR-FE engine doesn't stay hidden. That's the beauty of it. I recently did a long drive from Perth to Geraldton. Great car to cruise. Overtakes the cars with ease but the speed can creep up on you without you knowing it. I got a fright of my life when I was overtaking a double long road train on overtaking lanes (single lane to 2 lanes for about 1 kms then back to single lane). I didn't realize my speedo hit 200kmh as I was focused on overtaking a double long road train safely and it wasn't until the car started to lift itself off that's when I noticed the speedo and I was like f*** that and let off the accelerator only after i have been in front of the truck a good 5 cars length. Yes the infamous pull to left issue can be sorted if you go to a wheel alignment place. I only do that once i need to check where the steering wheel is going. If it goes left fast while driving slow 40kmh on a street. Best way to test it. I haven't upgraded the interior lights yet. I will do that next year after I return from Deaf Games in Adelaide. Fuel economy is a beauty too. I did 6.8 l/100kms on the drive from Perth to Augusta back in May this year and 7.2 l/100 kms on the drive from Perth to Geraldton just over 2 weeks ago. In city, my fuel tank goes empty in 3 weeks with BP Ultimate when it's cheap. I think i go about 8-9 l/100km and yes that's mixed with stop start and suburban driving. And on that note about petrol brand, for some reason Caltex petrol, i go empty very quickly (1 and half week) when I have been nanny driving my car (probably crap fuel?) and with Shell. 2 and half weeks. I have yet to try PUMA branded ones (they are GULL before).

Thanks prometheus

duhhh , you just answered your own question buddy !!! short answer why else would it have a usb port if you couldnt use usb drives ? Excuse me! No need to be so sarcastic and rude! I always had that port for charging my phone but never for music as I mainly played radio. I found out the hard way when going out of city into country the radio doesn't even work in late May when I went down south. I love listening music with bass while driving my car on a cruise.

Hi, I have question regarding playing music thru the usb port on the stock Touring SE audio system using a USB stick (8gb or thereabouts) Is it possible to plug the USB stick in and have audio unit play music from there? As I am preparing for a road trip this weekend, I thought i should have some music to accompany me while i am driving on my lonesome. As you all wonder, my car's a late 2011 Touring SE Aurion which is one of the last few before 2012 Aurions came out, it has a reversing camera but totally stock audio unit.

Are you kidding me mate? I thought Aurions were unstealable on account of security system being superior to VE commodores (don't know if VF commodores has addressed the security issue) or Ford Falcons.

Good read. Wow your car still going strong! Mine's a 2011 one of the few last model build of Touring SE before 2012 ones came out. It now has only 35,000 kms which should actually be 75,000 kms but i live close to the city so short car drive between work and home but i also go to play darts on tuesday night and thursday night so that involved alot of driving (some can be 20 or more kms from my home) plus cos i lost my licence for 6 months last year which meant i managed to save the car from having extra kms on it. Had a good long run during the weekend I spent in Augusta back in late may. I will do another long run in late September during queen's birthday long weekend over here in W.A. to Geraldton. Yet to make contact with large wildlife such as kangaroos etc in W.A. *touch wood* although occasionaly birds for unknown reason seem to not hear me coming until too late which i can feel a thump or when they actually fly straight to underneath my front bumper which again for unknown reason (I am still looking into what attracted the birds to my lower bumper in first place).

Vertani looks good and so does Lexani if it has red accents on it. I reckon you are on the winner there mate. You mentioned repainted the car in black? How much did that cost you to get the good quality mirror look with the paint protection on it?

Yeah in May I went from South Perth where I filled up my car with BP 91 to Augusta. When I went to Bunbury first stop for food shopping and lunch, the gauge still stayed at full needle. From Bunbury to Busselton, still full. Busselton to Augusta, the needle dipped a bit. I done 500kms at that point. By the time I went home on Monday, the tank had over a quarter of tank and the trip computer said 750kms. I refillled the tank in order to eliminate the risk of running out of fuel during my winery trip in Margaret River prior to going home. SHELL petrol 91 is where I filled up my tank for return trip home. So first tank 750kms for $70 = 10.70/100 kms 2nd tank to empty 650kms for $80 (Margaret River expensive) = 8.10/100kms I will do another long road trip later this month to Geraldton from home.

Not feastible mate. The only way you can increase your car's performance is supercharge it by sourcing parts from same supercharger supplier the TRD had on the Aurions in the past. But not just the supercharger, you need to upgrade your brakes from standard to brembo to handle that power

Try the wreckers in Maddington, Malaga and Welshpool/Kewdale areas. I remember seeing an Aurion trd on a flatbed truck that got front smashed other day on Mitchell Fwy south. Maybe worth checking Balcatta area too.