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0W-20 has been Toyota's preferred oil in the 1.6 Valvematic Auris since April 2009 - which is in the owners manual.

Glad you got it sorted, and well done for holding your nerve, as you say these things take a while to sort out, but you get there in the end.

Just after swapping the belts around a pig of a job even with the car on the ramp. Very little space to work with but new belt fits perfectly. The noise is gone and there was a lot of play on the aircon pulley which was also leaking a lot of the dye used when I got a leak test done on the system in the summer. Thanks for the asvice and correct belt size its after saving me a lot of money not having to get a new ac compressor.

It's easy to check if the turbo is seized without dismantling. Remove the suction hose and with a thin screwdriver - attempt to rotate the impeller - it should rotate with virtually no resistance and there should only be perceptible lateral movement on the shaft. In the majority of cases, turbos will squeal before the shaft seizes or breaks and thereafter will be silent and the reduction in engine power will be very noticeable. Again in the vast majority of cases - it's the turbine wheel that's damaged and bits will end up in the cat - it's quite rare for the compressor wheel to fail so it's unlikely that bits would end up in the inlet manifold. Whilst there may be an issue with the turbo - this would not affect the engine turning over, so if there's something stuck as you describe - it's not because of the turbo, and you have another issue. If the turbo is damaged, it's important to ascertain the root cause - the key thing is to check the oil feed and return lines for restriction. If the turbo is original, then 146K miles is a very good life.

Well done Loz, for not caving in to pressure from the others insurance, obviously they were just trying it on, and you got through that.

So, does one buy a used car privately or from a dealer. My experience buying privately earlier this year was very positive, whilst Chris Dance is extolling purchasing only from a Toyota dealer. I no doubt each of us will have stories to tell about experiences, good and bad, when buying privately or from dealer. When I bought my gen3 privately in Jan18 I paid £5750 for a 59 plate 2010 with 105,000 fully serviced, 11 month mot vehicle and it proved to be one of my best second hand buys I ever done, privately or dealer purchase. Following me raving about Prius hybrid cars to a friend, he did his own research and decided to go for one. He bought a 60 plate with about 60,000 miles from a Toyota dealer and not too happy with what he got, and it cost him over £4000 more then I paid. Whilst promised body marks would be sorted, they were not. Promised a full valet, which was lacking in detail. It had been a smokers car, and whilst a smoke bomb had been used the head lining was still very stained. And the worst thing, at least one seat belt was so badly frayed the dealer has now accepted it would not pass a MOT test and has replaced. Whilst my engine didn’t use any oil over the 5000 miles I did (taking it to 110,000 miles) his car with only 60,000 miles is using oil which is noticeable as a drop in levels on the dipstick, and that’s in just a few thousand miles - and don’t forget probably 40-50% of that mileage has been done without the engine rotating ie on electric only. i not saying never buy from a dealer, nor only buy privately. What I am saying, whether buying privately or through a dealer, is make sure you getting good value for money. Not all private sellers are rip off merchants, and not all dealers have a halo above their doors either. Buyer beware in all circumstances.

Jay the gen 4 was averaging 63mpg, but it spent a lot of time in the Peak District, if I did a run to Nantwich which for me from Stoke is almost flat it happily did 70. Just before I sold it when we had that nice weather a few weeks back, we spent a lot of the time exploring new cafes around the Peak District, it’s a hard life being retired but someone has to do it! I was amazed that it was doing over 80 mpg and I measure tank to tank. If I did a run down to London not sitting in the outside lane for too long it was happily doing 70. A run down to Gatwick airport returned 75. In the 2 1/2 years of ownership it never went below 60 on any tankful. I noticed on my last run in the PHV to Hartington lots of steep hills, about 25 miles each way. I went out on battery, on one hill I had 17 miles left by the time I had got to the top it was down to 10. It regenerated 5 miles going down. I thought that was impressive. The gen4 would race the engine on long descents to burn off the extra generated electricity when the battery was full, so this one is making better use of the regen power.I came back in hybrid mode after emptying the battery, and it was showing 180mpg. After the battery was showing some charge the ice hardly kicked in. Just hope it keeps it up, will have to visit more cafes. 😁 ☕

Some very good points in your post It's a Q3, but to be honest for my commute I prefer the Aygo. I admit the Audi is more my partner's car than mine .. she drives it more than I do. Maybe long journeys and motorway runs ( particularly in filthy weather) the Quattro is supremely competent. Interesting your reference to Volvo ... the other half fancies chopping the Q3 for the new XC60. If for no other reason than the company she works for gets a very good deal with Volvo as a business partner. It is indeed a branch of Dixons on wheels and the tech hugely impressive. But not as much fun to drive as the Aygo! The only point I might take some issue with is the keyless entry/ start. I haven't had a car that you need to turn a physical key for 6 or 7 years. The very though of a normal key makes me shudder !!! Maybe you need to stand in the rain holding heavy shopping a few times while your wife tries to find the keys in her huge handbag to appreciate the merits of walking up to a car opening the door and starting it with the key still in your pocket (or handbag). If it helps .... you can unlock and start the new Volvo with your phone.. I could even send an electronic key to your phone so you could drive the car. 😉 Whatever happened to the starting handle?