Leaderboard

Hi fellow toyota owners i need some advice following a recent minor prang. I came round corner where i live onto a minor side road where there was a stationery car in the middle of the road and i could not work out what he was doing so after some hesitation i decided to maneuver around him at which precise point he decided to reverse colliding with the rear passengers side quarter of my car leaving a scratch and a dent. We both exited our cars and he begun apologising over and over and we exchanged names insurance etc and he said he would phone me the following day. The next day we discussed settling outside of insurance which would suit us both considering my car is an 03 plate and would most likely be written off as total loss. The issue which now arose was that the guy was willing to settle for £100 cash which to me considering the damage to my car was insulting the car would need dents pulling out and a respray to look half decent. So long story short i decided to phone my insurance who began the process of evaluating the damage to my car etc and today as i expected when i took the car for evaluation at there approved choice of bodyshop after a short inspection of the car and taking pictures of the damage and the cars mileage the assessor informed me that the whole quarter panel would need replacing and then respraying which would be over a thousand pounds and not a viable option. The car is otherwise in great condition mechanically sound and well looked after with 6months MOT still remaining. My question to anyone here in the know would be does anyone know if the car will be allowed to be sold back to me following being written off and which category is it likely to come under as the damage is only superficial body panel dent and scratches would that be a Cat N or S and would they require me to carry out a new MOT in the event they allow me to buy it back. My insurers are Hastings direct and i will try to attach a couple of photos of the damage than you all for reading

The day finally came on 13th July 2019. My new car arrived to the dealership on Friday and after they added the Toyota protect to the outside and the inside, we picked it up on Saturday. I have to say, the pictures don't do the car justice in this case. I'm so glad we went with the red color because it's stunning! It looks great on pictures but has an extra WOW effect in person. I went all in on the car, 2.0 hybrid, panoramic roof, HUD. JBL and Adaptive suspension were the only things I didn't go for. I'll add some pictures so everyone can see 🙂 As for the car itself, coming from a 2006 Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi, this feels like a space shuttle 😄 The level of noise in the car can't even be compared, the ride comfort, acceleration, ease of driving. I really feel like I'm driving in a premium class and brand car.

Episode 42 of my car show has just gone live for you all. Please take a look, thanks.

No problem ... in his opening sentience Don (Anchorman) says "I was recently reminded by our good friend Fujisan that as some 4.3s will be due for the first MOT this year that it might be a good idea to review this subject and I will pin it for future use" - i.e. the concern was raised some time in 2008 / 2009 when the first of the 4.3s, with their then 'new' AWD system, became due for their first MoT. A decade on we know from experience that it really isn't a concern - and probably wasn't then either - and MoT testers really do know what they are doing ... 🙂 The 'tutorial' is still useful as it explains how to disable the VSC (should you ever want / need to do so). Enjoy your RAV!

Hi - easy one I hope! The chunk in this photo has been there for ages and is not a problem (Toyota tell me). But the crack in the sidewall is new. Is it an urgent job? Or is it just normal? Thanks Glenn

Mileage has a lot to do with how a clutch 'feels'. New cars always have super light clutches and then as the miles build up the pedal hardens. I've never owned or known a car where that has not been the case although quite what the precise reason is for that effect I'm not sure. My own Auris (same 1.33L) has covered around 63k and is 9.5 yrs old now and I would describe the pedal as 'moderate' but that got put into perspective when I drove a new Kia Picanto. You could press the pedal with a feather on that car. The biting point on mine is quite close to the floor and the take up is very smooth. Normally when the pedal bites at the top of its travel is when you start wondering whether there are problems as that signifies the friction material is well worn. You need to try a few more, simple as that imo.

Joe, I used to use it very occasionally for looking at the apps and downloading Nav routes created on MyToyota journey planner on my PC. The apps have expired now (apart from a couple of free ones I think) so I can only use it for downloading the routes, although as Stephen said it's actually quicker using a USB stick.

Hey bud, im new on here but not new to toyotas or modifying cars! Id immediately suggest a 4age engine and gearbox, very easy to work on and maintain, should fit with minimal fuss and make nice power for the effort etc. Youll want a donor car for the parts, including the complete clutch system inc pedal etc, a manual brake pedal although ive seen people cut the auto pedal down i wouldnt really recommend it, the cables and shifter mech for the manual gearbox, (dont forget the biscuit that covers the hole in the firewall the cables travel through)the engines wiring loom including the ecu, gearbox and engine obv, all mounts and radiator hoses etc. It sounds a lot but if you can source a good donor and get all your parts from one place you shouldnt find it too baffling, just a good bit of labour.

Be aware that while most policies don't hit the NCD for windscreen repair/replacement, they can affect the renewal premium (but not normally too much) and you are required to inform other companies of the repair/replacement if you get a quote. If they will do it, it's worth getting the chip repair done (IMHO) because it reduces (but does not eliminate) the chance of it turning into a larger crack, but also in the event the crack spreads after the repair, some companies (like Autoglass) vow to do the replacement free of charge. I had a small star shaped crack on my last car (a Gen 4 Prius) and my Insurer (Direct Line) preferred Autoglass. They repaired it for £10 excess and said the repair was guaranteed as long as I owned the car, and if a larger crack emanated from the same place, they would replace to screen FOC. If they'd replaced the screen first time, the excess would have been £75. A few months later the crack grew until it covered over half the width of the screen. I was worried about the extra work around the safety sensors, but I elected to give them a try as: it was free! (under their crack repair warranty) my dealer said with the extra work around the sensors (including a new housing for them) their total cost would be around £600 (if I used a company other than my insurer's recommended one, they would only pay up to £150). I needn't have worried. Autoglass used a genuine Toyota windscreen, calibration of the car's camera and sensors was a piece of cake, all done in their workshop in one 2-hour visit (if it hadn't needed the safety system work they could have fitted the screen at home). Their technician was very impressive and polite (and he was quite knowledgeable about the features of the latest Prius!).

My head unit connects to my iPhone hotspot automatically and as far as I can tell you get access to the Toyota Apps like Weather etc. and live traffic updates. I thought it was going to give me a google earth overlay to the sat nav, but you can only get google earth images when you are stationary which seems pointless. Also I thought the car created its own hotspot when connected, but from what I can tell people just jump onto my phones hotspot. I may be missing other things I can do, but thats what I use it for. I know I can connect to my home network from the garage, but I dont see the point of that. Any data transfer for updates etc would probably be quicker using a USB stick?

Yes, that's what I use when I'm near a hot spot or on the drive at home as I don't have a data plan with my phone.

Mine has - but I not connected yet.

Yes you are right thanks. After lots of searching the internet this afternoon i now think that the actuator is working correctly. I probobly mis-read your write up. I initially thought it gradually opened and closed rather than either fully open or fully closed .What i gather is that the arm is meant to be against the stop all the time until approx 3000 rpm is reached when the arm then moves away from the stop. when the rev counter drops below 3000rpm the the arm hits the stop again. This is happened so hopefully im now sorted. Need to get an emission test done as the replacement actuator appears to be working fine with no vacuum leak. I use two websites called 24/7 spares and breakeryard.com to source second hand parts for scrapyards. Took me about 6 hours to do this job. 2 hours to clean old bits of gasket of the mating faces of the manifold to engine block and the same with the throttle housing and clean up the inside of the manifold with manifold cleaner, and then 4 hours to change manifolds, quite easy just access is difficult. £50 for a second hand manifold with actuator and £17 new gasket. Cheers for your help again with this Konrad, much appreciated.

My Avensis space saver steel wheel does not accept the normal wheel nuts for the alloys, very well. The alloys nuts are the same thread but have a parallel section that fits tightly into the wheel hole and locates the wheel precisely.The steel wheel is made for nuts with a small dome end and there is no hole for the nut to enter. The alloys nut on the steel wheel does not locate the steel rim very well, ok for a mile or two but not any distance. Other models may be different but you have to have to actually uses the space saver to be aware of this. I got a set of steel wheel nuts for about a fiver off e bay, probably pennies from a scrap yard.

Availability/Spec is set by the factory and in the UK is largely dictated by Tax on emissions levels, where a wheel is not available it is usually because the addition will impact Co2 figures 1.2L Hatchback Icon: - TRK as standard - SW is an option Icon Tech: - TRK as standard - SW is an option Design: - TRK as standard - SW is an option Design with Pan Roof: - TRK as standard - SW is an option 1.8L Hybrid Hatchback Icon: - TRK as standard - SW is an option Icon Tech: - TRK as standard - SW is an option Design: - TRK as standard - SW is an option Design with Pan Roof: - TRK as standard - SW is an option Excel: - Only available with TRK 2.0L Hybrid Hatchback Design: - SW as standard - TRK is an option Design with Pan Roof: - Only available with SW Excel: - Only available with TRK 1.2L Touring Sport Icon: - Only available with SW Icon Tech: - Only available with SW Design: - Only available with SW Design with Pan Roof: - Only available with SW 1.8L Hybrid Touring Sports Icon: - SW as standard - TRK is an option Icon Tech: - SW as standard - TRK is an option Design: - Only available with TRK Excel: - Only available with TRK 2.0L Hybrid Touring Sports Design: - SW as standard - TRK is an option Design with Pan Roof: - Only available with SW Excel: -Only available with SW Any one who has a Hatchback with TRK can order a Spare wheel kit from Toyota as an accessory which include the wheel, tyre, tools and all the trims required to change the boot from low floor to high floor. Part numbers are: GBNGA-SPARE-CO £100 +VAT GBNGA-SPARE-C1 £340 +VAT Toyota obviously say that it is best to order the car with Spare wheel as it is a FOC option where possible Note the kit does not fit 2.0 HB