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Thanks guys. Turns out the best place was the Toyota dealer! Shock I know but they have an offer on for a full ac service, check and re gas for £49. Including decontamination! Thought if anyone would use the rite gas it would be them so it’s booked in for tomorrow

2 weeks in, and an annoying rattle has now gone. Spent hours putting foam pads everywhere in the back trying to stop an annoying tapping nosie. Today I took the rear trim off the hatchback, and the insulation pad (hard and brittle) had come unglued and was loose inside , stuck back on, aaaahhhhh so quiet.

Hi Tomato The 2ZZ bore is 82 mm (3.23") and the stroke is 85 mm (3.35") with a compression ratio of 11.5:1 It's recommended that 91 octane or above fuel is used, so they will run quite happy on normal unleaded here in the UK. It will run perfectly happy on premium fuel too. The only thing a higher octane fuel will assist with is that the fuel will be less likely to detonate prematurely during compression before the spark plug tries to ignite it.

You need to see and compare the two alternators. The position of the mounting points need to be identical, so the belt is straight. The main plug has to be the same too. The belts are the same gong by the following - http://www.japan-parts.eu/toyota/eu/2004/camry/acv30l-aemnkw/3_284570_001_/tool-engine-fuel/1605_v-belt#16361A http://www.japan-parts.eu/toyota/eu/2004/avensis/azt250l-awmehw/3_273550_012_223W/tool-engine-fuel/1605_v-belt#16361A Looking at the diagrams from the following, the alternator plugs may be different :- http://www.japan-parts.eu/toyota/eu/2004/avensis/azt250l-awmehw/3_273550_012_223W/tool-engine-fuel/1903_alternator http://www.japan-parts.eu/toyota/eu/2004/camry/acv30l-aemnkw/3_284570_001_/tool-engine-fuel/1903_alternator/1 You need to contact the sellers and tell them what you actually have and need, swap photos, so you know what you are buying before committing. I am being general and because you are non-UK cannot recommend specific sellers.

Not all roads, or should I say that some area of UK get gritted more than others due to the colder winters there. Northeast of England have much harsher winters than the Northwest for instance. We lived in the east of Scotland for some years, and it was a huge problem, but down here in the Far Southwest, we don't have harsh winters at all and consequently we don't get or need gritted roads very often. We've had our Yaris for just on twelve months now, and the rear end of it is the dirtiest car I've ever owned. The tailgate area gets absolutely filthy, so I'm in no doubt that salty winter roads will take it out on the tailgate. Any weaknesses in the paintwork will make it rust. None of this helps you though. Sorry. Mick.

Yes 17" wheels. There are a couple of quite big hills on the route, but the last portion of my journey does has a very slight down grade where the engine can be off for a good period of time. My battery is usually on 2-3 bars by the time I get to work. The journey home usually gets hi 60's, mid 70's due to having to get the battery charged back up again and the slight grade on the initial starting leg. Overall its a very good figure for the day. I couldn't be happier and thats driving the car in Normal mode and driving just like I have always driven, not Miss Daisy, but I am a pretty steady driver.

Moved to the Yaris club.

Toyotas have three warranties: 1. A five year/100,000 mile warranty new car warranty. 2. A 12 year anti corrosion and perforation warranty - cover that protects against rust perforation affecting sheet metal body panels as a result of a manufacturing fault. 3. A three year paintwork and surface rust warranty - cover protects against defects and surface rust as a result of a manufacturing defect Presumably as the tailgate doesn't appear to be perforated, the initial repair was done under the three year paintwork and surface rust warranty. As this warranty is only for a period of three years, this is why Toyota have declined to cover the full cost of repair on a car more than two years outside this warranty. However, they have offered to cover half of the cost. Other manufacturers may or may not make a similar offer for a repair outside the relevant warranty.

Beware as the tow hitch / stand alone cycle carrier options for Gen4 Prius do not fit the Gen2 PHV as the rear body structure is not the same so the brackets do not fit and there is no pre prepared mounting point installed in the PHV. We had a customer wanting a rear mount cycle carrier on a Gen2 PHV contacted Toyota who said no, ordered the kit for a Gen4 Prius, stripped the PHV back end off and quickly realised there was no way the kit was going to fit, the customer also tried several options all saying they were compatible but they all ended up being returned as they were for the Gen4 and not compatible with the Gen2 PHV

Changing the rear door glass is one thing, but having to change the rear quarter panel glass seems particularly harsh when you consider that the saloon version doesn't even have a window in that position! Unfortunately it seems that in England every council is allowed to make up their own rules on taxi specifications. Some don't care in the least about rear privacy glass whilst others go to these ridiculous extremes.

Well, some test drives today sorts a few things. Both cars were grey, 60 odd thou on the clocks, T-spirit Gen 3 Prius'. 1 car had mismatched tyres all round and some quite bad stone chips on the bonnet (like a lot, down to the white). Same car had a very dirty engine bay. Car 2 had some billy-no-brand tyres on the front that looked like they were perishing. The brakes could have done with a good clean as well (rusty and decent lip on the front discs so don't know how much life is left). Car was also flat (12V batt flat) but once jumped, it was fine. Both cars seemed to have healthy HV packs with around 212 Volts and <0.05V cell differences. Drove them both. Both drove very well; smooth, quiet, easy. Really felt "at home" in one. I have to say, comparing back to the Auris, I think I'd take the Prius any day of the week, it just feels more cohesive. Absolutely loved all the different displays in the dash! So thats it now.... I want a Prius and I think it's probably worth a little extra in the budget to get one. ETA: Should you feel a bit of vibration through the wheel at motorway speed? I got up to 70 and I thought maybe it was a wheel imbalance, but then it felt more like the surface of the road coming through the column. Unfortunately, both places with the cars didn't seem to keen to take my Abarth in PX. I can see why, it might be a bit hard for them to move on and it wouldn't appear in their valuation tools for some reason. So if I can't PX at a big dealer who can just punt out to auction i'll have to sell it privately/we-buy-any-car first.

There is............but it's a button 😉