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You're bringing back memories, looking for distilled water to top up the battery.

The batteries in the older days were lead-acid with individual cells that you kept topped up with distilled water. The caps were variously little screw-tops, a three-cell lift-off cap, or a six-cell cap. The batteries had to kept the correct way up or the acid leak out via the breather holes. Later cars had a semi-sealed top, but they were still lead-acid and still had to be kept the right way up. These days, you'd struggle to find a non-sealed 12v battery. Probably all gell-based too AGM or otherwise and all sealed for life. Mick.

Happy Easter! I believe that they are there to prevent stone chips and scratches appearing on the bodywork from the rear wheels. My Auris has them too.

As Tony says, it depends greatly on your use patterns. The first 'official' Plug-in Hybrid was the Prius PHEV launched on the UK in 2012. Depending on average temperature and usage patterns, it could only do 8-13 miles on pure EV (winter/summer), but after that it ran like a normal Prius. More recent PHEVs like the 2nd Gen Prius plug-in and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV can do 30 ish miles on EV, a few can do even more. The forthcoming RAV4 PHEV is said to do almost 40 miles EV, and AFAIK will be the only Plug-in Hybrid with a spare wheel. Since I semi retired at the beginning of 2011 and fully in 2014 even the first plug-in Prius would have suited me down to the ground, just plugging into an ordinary 3-pin socket overnight on off-peak electricity would fill it, so no need for a fast charger. Topping up during the day between local trips would mean for 27-28 days a month I'd use almost no petrol, and I could do the longer trips I do once or twice a month with no worries. The only reason I didn't get one was the lack of spare wheel, something I'm still not ready to compromise on. Early PHEVs needed to run the engine to heat the cabin when cold, but newer ones have a heat pump system that runs off the battery fairly efficiently. People I've known who've had Plug-in Prius say the mpg when doing long trips in Hybrid only mode is actually still slightly better than an ordinary Prius, which has been suggested is due to the charge/discharge efficiency being of the PHEV's LiON battery being better than that of the NiMH in the standard Prius (although your Prius Plus with have LiON). Some people have managed to get new or second hand Prius PHEVs as a very good price, so there hasn't been a big issue of value for money, but many a full priced PHEV will never repay the extra cost in fuel savings. This may be of some interest too:

Hi all, used to have a Celica T Sport but had to let her go two years ago [emoji17] Adored that car...anyway fast forward to three weeks ago and I posted on Facebook how this was my favourite car I’d owned (had 30 cars now!)....didn’t think anything else about it until about ten days ago...when the wife turned to me out of the blue to say she’d bought me another one as a second car! Now it need some love but it’s solid and everything works and she goes as she should...going to start work on it once the bits arrive, keeping it standard and want to get it back to its best so if anyone has any bits knocking about please let me know [emoji4] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi everyone I've had my toyota corolla for just over a year now and I'd like to replace the backbox to give it abit more rasp but I dont want it to be too aggressive, has anyone got any suggestions or solutions I could achieve a better sound. Many thanks

Thanks for your help as always chaps! 👍

The Estima seems to have SO many options..it almost seems that no two would be the same..lol Depends on what was ordered from the factory as to seating and many other things..the choice was a very wide one.

The seat back folds back to make the seat flat like a bed it does'nt fold away. You can lift the seat base up and slide the bench forward as Neil has said. I think it was the early Estima Emina that also had the fold away seats.

I think the earlier Previs had the rear back row seats that folded up against the sides of the car. I don't think the later ones do, mine has a bench third row seat.

I would have thought that the majority had a 3rd row bench seat.?...Mine does...but no 60/40 split...but it can be laid flat or folded up..and moved forward to increase the boot space..quite a bit more space if you move the middle seats forward too of course.

I'm probably going to get slated for this 🥺 and I'm not saying anyone is wrong, but personally I can't see the fuss over AGM batteries. 1.How many times has anyone on here had a collision that caused the battery to burst ? 2. Any battery acid that comes out of the battery has to get through quite a few layers of trim, seats etc to get to the occupants. 3. "Scarred for life" is a bit extreme considering the amount of battery acid, if any, does get to the occupants. Of course it it's a personal choice and up to you, but for me it's not a big deal.

I see he had a Standard 8. I was living in Gibralter at the time, and the family car was a Standard 10. Petrol there was tax free at 5d a gallon, just under 0.5p per litre. My father drove us home to the UK in the Standard the following summer. Two adults plus two children plus camping gear made it interestingly cosy!

Here we go, this weeks show has just gone live. Please remember I film these about 8-12 weeks in advance. Take care and stay safe.

It’s the best looking Prius 👍

The plugin is great!

Some of us are old enough to have owned a Mini or two. My first was a 1968 Mini Van, and over the years I've owned eight Minis ranging from vans and estates to saloons. Two saloons were brand new. The battery in the vans and the estates is behind the driver's seat, and in the saloons it's in the boot. As far as I know, there's never been an issue with Minis in crashes with battery acid. Correct me if I'm wrong. Mick.

Hi Guys Thank you for all the input. I normally do around 30000 miles a year so I don't really think a plug in would repay in mileage. I'm sure that in future it will all become more efficient and then I shall reconsider my options. My new Prius plus is doing great mileage, and I must say it's more comfortable than my C-HR was. I just wish I had purchased a Toyota before because I'm as impressed as hell with both the vehicles and service I've been getting. It also seems that Toyota owners are like the cars, reliable and always ready to help. Thanks again. Ian☺️

There is one Technical service bulletin that mentions 12v battery drainage ref: BE-00141T-TME and it relates to a software update for the Sat Nav control unit ( Called MEU ) To determine what version is installed in your car press SETUP > GENERAL > scroll down to SOFTWARE UPDATE if Navigation version is lower than 1530 then an update is required. Subject: Toyota Touch 2 with Go (MM17) - Software fixes for MEU - Running Change 6 Area of Application: All Markets Models – Model Codes: Camry - ASV70, ASV71, AXVA70, GSV70 ; Corolla - MZEH12, NRE210, ZRE210, ZWE211 ; Mirai - JPD10 ; Prius - ZVW50, ZVW55 ; RAV4 - AXAA52, AXAA54, AXAH52, AXAH54, MXAA52, MXAA54 ; MEU Software release 1530 is latest for all MM17 Toyota models List of solved issues for MEU: Multimedia Extension Unit (navigation module): MEU Software release version 1530: Unlogical traffic information (showing 4.5 million km on right side bar) Map in map screen changes to 2D North from another orientation after IG cycle, not keeping customer preferred view. (This does not solve having only 2D North in home screen). Missing fix speed cams in Austria. Map appears wrongly displayed due to map rendering algorithm. RDS paying TMC not available. Emergency incident pop-ups appearing when incident does not happen on current road. 12-V battery flat due to MEU not getting into sleep mode after short IG ON-OFF cycle. MEU Software release version 1520: Wrong navigation guidance speech in Hungarian: translation of word "street" said twice by the navigation unit. Wrong side of navigation traffic information for left-hand traffic countries. Not enough When using voice recognition to input an address, it does not recognise voice input. Due to error related to sampling frequency mismatch. When using map, it appears loading endlessly. Navigation cursor turning more or less than vehicle due to gyroscope wrong calibration. MEU Software release version 1512 After ignition on the map view is not displayed and the driver will see a black screen. The functions of the DCU remain fully functional. To install save and then extract the attached file to the root of an otherwise empty USB once complete go to the car power it up into Ready mode go back to the Software update page and insert the USB and follow the onscreen instructions.

Hi, Plugs in just gives You a range of some miles 15-30 etc on pure electric like full ev car, that’s all the rest is same as normal hybrid, even in the self charging hybrid you still drag battery weight but smaller, and so in plug in hybrid you still use the traction battery even you out of ev range. Those plug in cars are exclusively suitable for people that have short commuting journeys that they can do on pure electric, so savings will be noticeable and pollution reduced., for anyone else self charging is the better option. My average daily drive is 200+ miles and plug in hybrid or full electric will not be suitable, but for someone who travels 20 miles to work and back and then 200 miles week end trip often plug in will be great.

Your Prius has the battery in the boot, which is really part of the passenger compartment. A conventional battery will work fine until you have an accident and the battery is damaged. A conventional battery will result in you sharing the compartment with the liquid battery acid. The AGM battery (afaik) is a gel type that doesn't have this problem, so is much safer. The gen 4, and gen 2 plugin, both have the battery in the conventional position in the engine compartment, so this is no longer a problem. Edit: My apologies if this is a bit out of time or context. I clicked on the next unread topic, and I got taken to the original post. So my answer above is to the original post, a week and many other responses later.

They also incorporate a blade to cut through the safety belt. Handy for when you u hanging upside down after a crash.

Yeah, the short journeys aren't enough to get a good charge on the 12V battery. The only journeys I'm taking in the car now are to the supermarket every two weeks or so, and that's about a 3 mile round trip so not good enough. I think Toyota Ireland's guideline of half an hour every 15-20 days is a good one.

My sons gen 3 Prius battery. lasted 7 years. He does long journeys some across France to the Alps. My Gen 4 battery lasted 3 years. problem is as an "oldie" our car does only about 3,000 miles a year and most of that for short distances.

Toyota Ireland are recommending to run hybrids for 30 minutes every 15-20 days: https://twitter.com/toyotaireland/status/1245381049766612993?s=20 I would agree "every few days" is overkill. I saw one of my neighbours jump starting their normal diesel ICE car yesterday - this issue is not exclusive to hybrids.

You will be lucky to get anything off the shelf for that vintage

Sorry, old age memory problems, need to plug in some more new RAM. If it turns out to be what Rosgoe mentions, seems aftermarket complete driveshafts are now readily available for about £50, but not sure if the TS ones are the same as the basic models ?

I had this problem on a 1998 Toyota rav 4 it turned out to be a damaged/corroded reluctor ring on the outside end of the driveshaft. The reluctor ring is related to the abs and detects when the wheels are about to lock up under heavy breaking, does the break pedal pulsate slightly? Mine also done this at low speed, although the abs light on the dash did not come on. it is possible to replace this ring although most mechanics would replace the whole driveshaft as the ring is a press fit on the driveshaft as far as I am aware.