Double Hybrid

Ahead of their imminent refresh, Jonathan Musk gets reacquainted with these stalwarts of the hybrid car scene; the Toyota Auris and Lexus CT 200h…

- Jonathan Musk

Toyota and Lexus are undergoing a bit of a change at the moment, with their Auris and CT 200h hybrids respectively commanding a good chunk of sales for each company and each receiving model refreshes at about the same time. However, do the existing models make more sense and are they a relative bargain as Toyota and Lexus give them each discounts ahead of their replacements?

It’s an interesting question to ask, as it’s actually further reaching than Toyota and Lexus. For many, buying a new car is the be-all and end-all. It’s a way of specifying a car to how they want it to be. It has no unknown history, no long-lost hidden gummy bear sweets stuck under the rear seats and the promise of nothing going wrong. The reality is far from this. While a new car is, of course, a delightful thing to buy and drive, the novelty soon wears off. The reality is that cars ending their first-owner lease are generally a sound buy and the typical depreciation hit has already been absorbed, so buying a three-year-old model can make a lot of sense. Likewise, so can buying an end-of-the-line model, such as the Auris and CT 200h. These are cars at the end of their production run, when the factory workers have turned putting them together into an art. When the engineers have ironed out all the teething problems over the years. When the cars have been bundled with all the mod cons to keep sales afloat. There’s no question, these are sound buys. Add to that the fact they’re very often discounted towards model replacement, because old stock doesn’t sit well and these are some great purchase options.

The new generation Auris will be offered only with petrol and HEV powertrains; similar to the decision Toyota took with C-HR in 2016, there will be no diesel version.