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As this is only 12v I would say no. To open the bonnet would necessitate switching off the alarm. Disconnect the earth wire first which will be the one nearest to and secured to the wing

It is more than a claim, it is an AGM battery. The Bosch S4 is basically a flood lead/acid in the B24 footprint. As such it is a drop in replacement. Perhaps I should have written "says" rather than "claim". The doubt arose when I saw it retails in UK @ £200+ and was wondering how Toyota manages it in £95 (including labour)! Guess that's how the manufacturer says - if you want this, go to the dealer!!! Was going through the latest BCI battery replacement data book (for equipment manufactured in or imported to US) and it does state that the OE battery supplied (in Gen 2) is indeed a AGM but it doesn't mandate that a replacement needs to be (AGM). On the other hand, it does state a replacement in Gen 3 Prius must be a AGM. Okay, so if I need to have a AGM fitted then there is no option but to go to Toyota because no aftermarket AGM is available in the UK (at least I could not find one) for under £95, or the other option is to "downgrade" to a flooded acid battery like Bosch S4. Aftermarket AGM battery for Gen 2 Prius: Optima DS46B24R (8171-767) Exide FP-AGM51JIS

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread and a the others on the same subject. My head gasket went on my '98 Auris SR180 on New Year's Day. When I finally got home on the back of an AA truck I googled the problem to try and find out how much it would cost to get fixed and this was at the top of my search results. I have only had the car 6 months and couldn't afford a massive repair bill. It was only because I saw what everyone was saying on the forums that I actually went to Toyota to get the problem sorted. I got a phone call yesterday saying they are fitting a new engine and I can have my clutch done for £300 as labour is already covered. Well pleased, thank you!

Most likely cause of poor cold startabilty on a AD series (2.0 & 2.2) engines is a faulty SCV ( Suction control valve) see here: http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/142960-starting-problems-20-d4d/

Half of the cover that runs along the back edge of the bonnet (passenger side) is removable to enable you to reach the battery This cover is held on by clips with a flat screwdriver slot.turn these 1/4 of a turn and that should then lift off. The cover may "stick" when you lift it Hope that helps Del

Its the same CVT gearbox used in the 1992-1995 Fiat Panda Selecta (We've 2 :D) and is an amazing bit of kit. Electromagnetic clutch, and capable of silly MPG if driven well, our record was 61MPG from Liverpool to Norwich - and this was with a 1108cc 8v FIRE engine.Makes you wonder why they change these things. One of the problems is the EC MPG testing system. You can't compare it with the old one where you could get the figures quoted. I used to look at the urban and the extra urban and average them and that was pretty much what I would get. Few people seem to be getting better than about 70% of that these days. I've no doubt emissions are down but I'm not sure that the small petrol engines are as much more economical than we are led to believe.

I think it's also because a lot of people enjoy just driving their cars in this country. There is a certain amount of joy you get from moving all the controls around and stuff, without even going anywhere in particular. I still find it very satisfying getting silky smooth synced up shifts. Even in the US, driving 'stick' as it were will get you more cred than driving an auto because of its perceived difficulty by auto-only drivers. Auto-drivers on the other hand tend to be people that just want to get from A to B with the minimum of fuss and effort. (Or are old and/or american :P). I'm sure if you did a survey on people that really want self-driving cars, it would be similar to people that prefer autos over manuals ;) Obv. in some countries, it is a necessity - If you drove a manual in, say, Hong Kong or Japan you'd probably need a new left knee by the time you got to work since you basically have to glue yourself to the car in front and inch everytime they inch or everyone will try and cut in front of you (The kind of road etiquette we have is practically nonexistant over there; If you let one person out the person behind them will be so close you won't be able to stop them, or the next person, or the next coming out too!) I will say one big advantage manuals have is that they are much simpler and still a crap load cheaper to fix than any automatic. Any half-trained grease monkey can change a manual clutch, but with a lot of auto boxes, esp. newer ones, you need to go back to the dealer a lot of the time and both the parts and the labour can be ruinous because they are always unique and specialist, whereas a clutch plate is a clutch plate; In the worst case, as long as it's the right size you can whack it in. My own experience with autoboxes is that for the most part they're great when the car is new, but as soon as you put a few years on it and it starts to develop problems, you're better off selling the car and getting a new one than trying to repair it. Some are better than others; Any auto-box that relies on friction wearing parts (e.g. MMT-style semi-autos, CVTs, DSGs etc.) are the worst as eventually something really expensive will go on it, while others (HSD, torque converters) tend to be more reliable as long as they're looked after and serviced regularly. My brother got bitten by an Audi Multitronic CVT gearbox not long ago so I'm still not a big convert for CVT's (CVT's biggest weakness is they cannot handle anywhere near the torque the other auto-boxes can, so avoid on powerful engines!). That said, the newest Toyota CVT seems to have done pretty well; It's been out for a while now and I still haven't seen many reported problems which is a good sign. I think Toyota have been smart in limiting it to lower-torque engines, and also limiting the torque output of the engine via the ECU, esp. in lower gears, to protect it from premature wear. But if you want an automatic Toyota, and you can afford it, the HSDs are the best choice by a country mile. (Or, if you've got £50k-£80k burning a hole in your pocket, sod the gearbox entirely and get a Tesla )

UPDATE - I *might* have found the problem and fashioned a fix but its too early to tell. Taking the glovebox out I can see a yellow thickish loom that goes to the airbag which also plugs near the glovebox lid. This loom is ribbed and I think it may have been rubbing on the radio inside the dash creating the noise. I have re-located the wire away from any surfaces and now just seeing how it goes. The initial drive home didn't result in any noise even at my attempts to force to problem to happen.

No, not like that though you wouldnt be the first to make that error. A safe driving campaign warning drivers of the dangers of over-correcting or jerking their steering wheels in icy conditions has been pulled after people were offended by the double-entendre. Trevor Jones, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety, told the Argus Leader that although the allusion to masturbation was deliberately inserted to get peoples attention, it was now distracting from the adverts message. I decided to pull the ad, he said. This is an important safety message and I dont want this innuendo to distract from our goal to save lives on the road. In the advert for the campaign, the narrator says: Resist the urge to jerk the steering wheel. Nobody likes a jerker.

Yes I've seen the figures & if you go on other sites you get variations which will probably be due due to the driving styles & terrain where these people are submitting their mpg figures live. The other good point you brought up is the other cars which are more economical & what they cost to buy compared to the yaris hybrid & other hybrids. As one other reviwer said, that technology hasn't advanced very far in the sense of getting more fuel efficiency. I'm afraid I won't ever be convinced that hybrid cars are the way to go unless they get the battery output sorted when you see the full electric cars only getting 80 to 100 miles per charge & need 8 hrs to recharge & I know these figures aren't accurate either. A hybrid is really a robbing peter to pay paul scenario & for the time being are nothing more than an expensive gimmick in my opinion. But I certainly hope that as one reviwer said, there may be changes to the way mpg figures are obtained. However, since this is now just going round & round in circles, I have nothing more to add to this topic.

I know this is sad but the Lego part number is 4541455 Tyre Low Narrow 024x7mm at £0.24 each! Portocksboy