Leaderboard

We had a Clio from brand new in April 2001 and had it for over sixteen years. Sold in September 2017. 1.6 16v with all the extras including air con. In the 100,000miles or so that we had it, the air con was NEVER switched off. Never had or needed a re-gas ............... and the air con worked perfectly for the whole 16years and 100,000miles. Changed the pollen filter three times DIY. Mick.

See http://blog.toyota.co.uk/new-toyota-aygo-geneva-2018

My car was at the dealers yesterday, for a full service, i.e. it's fourth. Silly prices but they do now include a brake fluid and pollen filter change, which used to be separate items. They offered me a service plan for the next three, this inludes two intermediate and one full, for the princely sum of £535. However, there are exclusions which include the brake fluid change and pollen filter change - charged extra if required/requested. Now here's the bit where research and arithmetic is needed. They seem to foget that my car will be eligible for the "Essential" services at five years old +. These are £110 and £190 for the intermediate and full respectively. These do not include the brake fluid and pollen filter but do look to include just about everything else. So adding up they would total £410. Get my drift? They really must think customers are that gullible! They did try the "upsell" too when I originally phoned to book the service. Their website lists an aircon re-gas at £45 or that plus "sanitise" for £89! (a £5 aerosol) I requested just the re-gas plus M.O.T. What would they do all three for? "We no longer do the re-gas without the sanitise service. " The excuse for not offering just a re-gas, "Oh, the price of gas has recently doubled." So they just got the service. Nearby garage re-gas £40 while I waited and witnessed the operation. Sanitise - did it myself with said £5 aerosol. M.O.T., same as they quoted but local, while I waited.

We won't be getting a service plan. Ours will get a Toyota service when it's due - August this year - for it's fourth birthday. I'm not sure what we'll do for 2019 as the warranty will expire then, so maybe shop around and probably get a service from an independent local garage, or even DIY it like I've done for years. It's only a car: brakes, oil, filters, plugs. As for the hybrid health check, dunno what we'll do as yet. We could forget it for a couple of years. Mick.

True, but I have been tracking it over a year or 2, so the relative values are interesting.

Thanks guys - that is now all sorted. I had been looking in the main Avensis owners manual, I did not think to look in the Navigation manual. Thanks again!

Good news then. Not good that you have a problem, but good that you've found it. Mick.

By contrast the facelifted Citroen C1 according to media reports.

I didn't comment on the cause of fridge and freezer fires. My comment stated that those with plastic rear panels are more susceptible to fire, which is a fact supported by the various Fire Services and by Which?

As regards fridges and freezers, the main issue regarding fires is with those that have plastic rather than metal backs - the ones with plastic rear panels being more susceptible to fires.

It is also far more flammable - so much so that Mercedes tried to stop it being used. Similar things happened to our fridges and freezers at the behest of Greenpeace - they now use hydrocarbons as the refrigerant (Greenpeace designed - unbelievable) and so can explode and/or burn your house (or flats) down. I will try and stick to my 1995 vintage fridge and freezer because of this greenwash.

Hi Alastair, Switch on the ignition and on the Touch 2 go into SETUP - Page 2/2 - Vehicle (wait for it to be highlighted) - Vehicle Customisation - Door Lock Settings - Lock / Feedback Lights - Tick. Hope this helps.

Hi Michael, welcome to TOC, Do you know where the water leak is? It is common for the water pump on these cars to weep. As for head/head-gasket issues : The synopsis is that a small % of all AD series engines in the Avensis built before the end of February 2009 do develop head/head-gasket issues. Toyota had a free remedial programme in place but that is no longer in operation due to time constraints (the youngest would now be 9 years old) & your potential car wouldn't have been covered either at 142,000 miles. There is anecdotal evidence that the risk increases with the engine power & that therefore the 177bhp version as the most powerful may develop the issue at a higher rate than others. The official Toyota-sanctioned fix was a part-engine replacement as they do not recommend skimming (although we do know of people that have, apparently successfully) & the cost of that would be more than the car would be currently worth.

Another way to clean/ operate the rear brakes is to reverse quite fast in a safe area and brake. This way the weight of the car is transferred to the rear and the rear brakes will apply harder. Also Regen braking does not work in reverse as far as I know. HTH

Hybrid Assistant (Android app) can tell you if you're using friction brakes (brake icon goes red). I can hear the disc brakes at lower speeds. One thing to watch out for is the slider pins on the rear calipers can seize, which can lead to uneven wear and noise. One of my rear discs had significant corrosion that wouldn't go away because the pads were not coming into contact properly - after replacing one seized pin and lubricating the rest, they're looking a lot better now (and no noise). Probably worth lubricating them every 2 years or so. I haven't check the pins on the front brakes as they seem to be working OK.

My T3. Full T-Sport exterior conversion, lowered 40mm on Apex springs, and has an eBay short shifter.

When braking gently the car uses regenerative braking - you can easily see this on your hybrid indicator on the dash which will show recharging under braking. In this state, the retardation is only at the front wheels, and the mechanical brakes (ie the pads and discs) are not being used at all, the car is being slowed by the electrical resistance of the motor generators. At low speeds (under 7 mph I think) the mechanical brakes come into use. This is often not enough to keep the brake discs clean of the surface rust which affects the discs on all cars. When you brake hard, then the mechanical brakes come into use - and work on all four wheels, although biased towards the front as Catlover explained. The parking brake operates only on the rear wheels. So you can effectively clean the discs by braking hard as you've now discovered. However, as Harters says, when you select neutral the car does not regenerate at all, and when you brake in neutral the car uses only the mechanical brakes. This is a more comfortable and arguably kinder way to keep your brakes clean. I do this regularly on the way to work - there's a gentle downhill about 100 yards long leading to a give way and I simply select neutral and brake gently down this hill, select drive at the bottom and drive on normally. I do it about once a week, it seems to do the trick. Brake pads wear much slower on hybrids than on conventional cars due to them not being used much in this setup, but the risk is that they can end up needing work doing through lack of use - rusty discs, seized calipers, that kind of thing. Incidentally you can't (well, at least I can't) feel any difference at all whether the braking is regenerative or mechanical, which I think is rather impressive engineering.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Personally, if I noticed that comment about a used car I was looking to buy I might think "aah good, the previous owner has cared enough about the car to get some type of problem sorted". I do think though that Toyota/dealerships could resist using so many abbreviations on their invoices etc., appreciate that the service receptionists do make a valiant attempt to explain what's been done, but I've usually forgotten their explanations by the time I get home.

Great! Let us know how you get on. In colder weather, the engine runs more often and for longer to keep you warm. We set our temp to 21.5degC or sometimes 22degC. We could make it so it's cooler and wear more clothes, but we prefer comfortable temperatures. Add that to cold weather engine inefficiency, and the winter means less economy. If you had an electric car, you would lose range in the winter due to the car heater and air con working harder. Mick.

Hi, Its certainly not a very clear sound, though think I can hear something slightly metallic on those time periods ? Prime suspects, if not the clutch thrust bearing /gearbox etc , would be the components on the auxiliary belt. Drop it off, and have a feel at the alternator, water pump, a/c shafts/bearings and see if they spin smoothly or have any play. Also the two idler bearings can be noisey, again feel for play and smoothness. With the belt back on and running, check the A/C pump is not dragging around when switched off. Assume the aux belt is in good condition ?

Save yourself £90 and make one from 9mm m.d.f.. Just waiting for 1sq.m of black car carpet to finish it off. Hole is for removal. Made a cardboard template as a guide for cutting the m.d.f.. Parcel tape in the centre is to facilitate removal while trimming to fit.

Quick update, the headlights have been changed under warranty. Advise other owners to check theirs for the same issue before the five year UK warranty expires.

I agree you have to do your homework. I just booked my Auris in today for service, MOT and aircon regas. I had compared the 'Full +' service at £395 with the 'Gold' service for older cars costing £200 for the Auris. What is odd is that the Gold gets replacement air filter and a brake fluid change whereas the expensive Full + does not. The brake fluid change is noted as every two years on the Full + and with just an inspection of the filter. This is my first service outside a service plan which expired last year. I had 7 services that included MOT's and brake fluid changes for £15.15 per month (actually less because that is the price before VAT increased). What irked a little last time was that a new pollen filter was recommended. I had it fitted and was charged not just for the part but for (presumably) 15 minutes labour as well. Seeing as inspection of the part is included... so its in someone's hand already, then charging another £15 or £20 or whatever it was to replace it with a new one seems a bit off imo. Splitting hairs maybe but it certainly didn't feel good at the time.