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Happy new year everyone! So the deal is I bought another car, and the wife won't allow me to have it on the drive until I get rid of one. The Corolla's going nowhere, but it needs to be on the road. So here I am! Under torchlight - as candle light isn't recommended - I started to remove the driveshafts. Everything came off easily enough. Until it got to taking the driveshaft off. I gave it a pull and it just came off, like this: Because I was an idiot and didn't have the proper tools or clips, the boot has separated and now it's left behind in the gearbox. Think it's worth noting that the gearbox was drained of oil at this point. I think last time I used a pry bar to get it loose, but for the life of me I can't find it now. It's one of them where I've seen it but God knows where it's gone. So for all my effort and trouble, here's what I'm left with tonight: I'm busy tomorrow night but Thursday I'll have found the pry bar - or at least found an alternative - to get the other part off. Then the other shaft will be off and I can sort of the mess I made when I last worked on it. But it's good to be back under the car getting gravel rash! As an aside, my friend had his Corolla smashed up by his idiot next door neighbour. It's a long story, but it ended up that the insurance didn't want to know because the neighbour damaged the car on foot before he drove his own car in to my friend's car at 30mph - twice. The upshot though is that I helped him get the exact same Toyota Corolla, and he let me nab the clear indicator lenses from his scrapped car. So they'll be going on as well at some point!

Been with my TOYOTA dealer for 12 years now. Contacted them today as require a noise issue investigation and was told that will be charged between £48 - £54. Should the issue be covered by my existing warranty then I will not be charged. Currently have 36K miles on the clock so well within its cover. I've never been charged for a primary investigation with TOYOTA. Is this correct ?

Hi when I had my Renault they charged for diagnostic even under warranty????

Dealers can charge for investigations, but these are waived if a warranty fault is found. This isn't just confined to Toyota dealers, and is common across numbers of marques. It is one way they can cover their costs if a non-warranty repair is required. For example, our Hyundai dealer has a similar policy.

Which engine? Was the AC on? Disable AC, try again. You said you were holding the rpm's steady, but sounds like the throttle was blipped a few times and sound increased with it. Was it exceptionally cold that time you started it? Cars also don't like cold weather, and cold start can bring a lot of weird noises. If when it heats up the sound is gone, and the car behaves normally, i would not bother too much,that way you will start obsessing with every tiny sound.

it is possible to retrofit HIDs to a car to standards that would comply but it could be very expensive (depending upon what light units were already fitted, & if levelling & headlamp wash already were). HIDs are legal for offroad use. 2 ( I didn't bother to check more) of the largest suppliers (powerbulbs & HIDS4U) of aftermarket HIDs also say on their websites (although you have to go looking ...) that they aren't road legal. The problem with these laws (as in many cases) is enforcement of existing legislation.

Does the 2nd key act the same?

Difficult to find. Underneath the trim above the pedals. Flimsy bracket with a small plunger button. Make sure your tyre pressures are correct, then switch on the ignition and press and hold the button to reset and re-learn. Mick.

I would not call 5w30 incorrect as you mentioned. There are grades of oil recommended as per vehicle usage, climate etc, and both oils are correct, though lighter oil should be better during cold starts, but the difference in mpg i would mostly attribute to cold weathers and car spending more time running lean. The actual difference between those 2 oils should be negligible in financial aspect of mpg consumption. Both oils are better in some degrees, but i would not call one more superior than the other, if they are both same brand. If 5w30 is stated in your manual, car should run just fine with it.

Toyota's electronics manage the battery charging to maximise life. When we see it as 'full' it really isn't. Similarly, it is never allowed to get near being properly 'empty' even when the battery graphic says it is. There is therefore no need to do any battery 'management' yourself, nor any need to worry about charging it fully and driving til it is empty. I'm surprised to hear Tesla doesn't have a similar system in place. That said, even with automatic management, the PHV battery will degrade slowly over time. I think there's something in the manual which suggests this is likely to manifest as reduced range, but not reduced performance. However, at what point any such range reduction will become noticeable above the daily impact on range of temperature and road conditions, is uncertain. The cars are all too new to have any meaningful data on this.

The rubber bungs are there to drain water out of the boot if it fills up for any reason. Most cars have them.

The Toyota keys I have had (5 cars) have all been easy to open and replace battery, your car manual may describe the action needed. Batteries have been large button battery similar to what goes onto a computer motherboard and can be got from Toyota, probably around £4 fitted, or at Tesco etc for that sort of price for 2 in one pack.

Should be very easy. Check in your handbook. It probably needs a CR2032 button battery

The trouble with a Zoe, is that the battery rental is the same cost as the petrol you would use in a normal economical ICE car. I've raised this with Renault, and they reluctantly agreed with me. We do about 7,000miles a year. This would cost £60/£70 per month depending on Zoe model. 50mpg at £6 per gallon(?) = £850 per year = £70 per month. https://www.renault.co.uk/renault-finance/battery-hire.html Mick.

All I can say is my wife's hybrid ICON cost £14500 in Dec 2014 on a 3 year PCP plan which was £67 per month interest free deal with I think a 3.5k deposit. She bought it for just over 8 grand at the end. We still have it because we have still yet to find a small automatic that does over 60mpg around town from cold ! That's what it's for and the motoring press don't get that.