Toyota Auris: common faults & what to check

Which Toyota Auris are you looking at?

5 generation variants documented. Pick the shape you recognise: the faults, the servicing and the timeline below all narrow to it. Free, no account needed.

Petrol

4 variants documented

2006–2012E1502006–2012E1501.5 petrolPetrolDocumented issues3 knownSee faults & what to checkPhoto: Mytho88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

2006–2012E1502006–2012E1501.8 petrolPetrolDocumented issues3 knownSee faults & what to checkPhoto: Mytho88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

2012–2018E1802012–2018E1801.5 petrolPetrolDocumented issues1 knownSee faults & what to checkKickTyres illustration, not a photograph.

2012–2018E1802012–2018E1801.8 petrolPetrolDocumented issues1 knownSee faults & what to checkKickTyres illustration, not a photograph.

Hybrid

1 variant documented

2012–2018E1802012–2018E1801.8 hybridHybridDocumented issues2 knownSee faults & what to checkKickTyres illustration, not a photograph.

Now narrow it to the engine

A 1.8 and a 2.4 of the same car do not fail the same way, so the faults below narrow to the engine as well as the year. Free, no account needed.

Start your free check on this Toyota Auris

No plate needed. You get the risk score, the buyer's checklist and the guided inspection for the exact car you picked above — not the whole nameplate.

The checks worth doing on a Toyota Auris before you hand over any money. Every documented fault is listed below, each with its own page.

• Serious issue

  Arrive for a stone-cold start.

  See why

  2ZR-FXE EGR/intake clogging, oil consumption and head gasket failure (Auris hybrid = Prius Gen 3 drivetrain)

  The Auris hybrid uses the third-generation Prius 1.8 2ZR-FXE drivetrain and inherits its best-known failure chain: the EGR cooler and intake manifold passages clog with carbon, early engines (roughly 2012-2014 build) burn oil due to poor piston ring design (Toyota covers the repair; the US ZE7 warranty extension never applied to NZ/JDM cars), and the combination is widely blamed for head gasket failure - classically felt as a rough shake or misfire for a second or two when the engine kicks in after EV running. Toyota Owners Club Auris forums carry multiple dedicated threads on exactly this EGR/head gasket/oil consumption trio. An EGR/intake clean every 80-100,000 km is cheap insurance; a head gasket left misfiring can hydrolock the engine.

  What you would notice

  • Shudder, shake or brief misfire when the petrol engine restarts after coasting in EV mode, especially first start on a cold morning
  • Coolant level in the reservoir slowly dropping with no visible leak
  • White exhaust smoke on cold start
  • Oil needing a litre top-up every 1,000-2,000 km
  • Check engine light with misfire codes (P0301-P0304) or EGR flow codes (P0401/P0402)

  Typically $400–$5,500 to put right.

• Costly issue

  On the test drive, watch the energy screen: a healthy pack charges and discharges smoothly, a dying one bounces between extremes within minutes.

  See why

  Hybrid traction battery (NiMH) degradation and end-of-life failure

  The Auris hybrid's nickel-metal-hydride traction battery is the same technology as the Gen 3 Prius pack and degrades the same way: individual modules drift out of balance with age (typically 10-15 years or 150,000-250,000 km), eventually triggering the red triangle warning and P0A80 code, with the car leaning on the petrol engine and economy collapsing. NZ has a mature replacement market: reconditioned exchange packs run roughly $1,800-$3,400 depending on warranty length, new-cell packs from specialists like hybridbatteries.co.nz or Infinitev around $2,000-$4,500 fitted. Toyota NZ's battery warranty only ever covered NZ-new or Toyota-certified cars, so JDM imports carry the full cost.

  What you would notice

  • Fuel economy noticeably worse than about 4.5-5.5 L/100km around town
  • Battery gauge on the display swinging quickly between nearly full and nearly empty
  • Petrol engine running almost constantly, even sitting still
  • Weak or non-existent electric-only crawl in car parks
  • Red triangle master warning with hybrid system message

  Typically $1,500–$4,500 to put right.

• Costly issue

  Drive the car from cold: shudder is usually worst in the first minutes.

  See why

  Super CVT-i / Multidrive shudder and hesitation from neglected fluid (JDM petrol CVT)

  Japanese-market Auris E150 and E180 petrols came almost exclusively with Toyota's belt-type CVT (K310/K311 family), and like every Toyota CVT of the era it suffers shudder, hesitation and failure to take up drive smoothly when the special CVT fluid degrades - a near certainty on a JDM import with no service history, since Toyota Japan marketed the fluid as long-life. Owner communities list CVT shudder among the most common Auris complaints, sometimes compounded by software calibration on the E180. A genuine-fluid CVT service often fixes early shudder; worn pulleys or belt mean a used transmission. NZ workshops recommend servicing every 40,000 km with the correct Toyota CVT fluid only.

  What you would notice

  • Shudder or vibration accelerating gently from a stop
  • Hesitation or delay when pressing the accelerator to overtake
  • Rubber-band feeling - revs rise before speed catches up more than normal for a CVT
  • Whine rising with road speed
  • Clunk or delay engaging Drive or Reverse

  Typically $250–$4,500 to put right.

Toyota Auris service schedule

What falls due, and at what distance, for each generation of the Toyota Auris. These are the model’s intervals — the car’s own service book is the only thing that can tell you what has actually been done to it.

What these repairs cost on other cars

Some of the Toyota Auris’s documented faults are repairs other models share. Each page lists the documented NZ cost for every model it affects.

• Hybrid Battery Replacement Cost
• CVT Gearbox Repair Cost
• Head Gasket Repair Cost
• EGR Valve and Cooler Repair Cost

Other Toyota models