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With regular and on time oil changes, the timing belt shouldn't need replacing. Service intervals are 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever occurs first, and there are Intermediate services alternating with Full services (eg Intermediate at 10,000, 30,000, 50,000, etc, and Full at 20,000, 40,000, 60,000, etc). So a 2019 car with 50,000 should have had five services based on the mileage basis - if on 50,000 now it should have had the 5th service already or be due the 5th.

The tyre pressure impact on ride/handling may vary with tyre brand too. I am looking for a softer ride on the rear when towing so am sticking with the 33psi for now. I also need to research tyres with softer side walls to help given I am getting no where with finding aftermarket shockers.

I'm not used to asymmetrical designs in cars, so the first time we noticed only one reverse light turned on, we obviously thought it was a defect. I saw many cars in Europe with two reverse lights, so couldn't get my head around the idea that someone would want to save two pennies thanks to a regulation that mentions only one should be the minimum required... Fortunately, forums full of valuable people like this one exist, and we didn't went with the dealer and asked for a repair under warranty... 😅

In the UK since January 2022, insurance companies can legally no longer offer preferential rates to new customers which aren't available to existing customers - so this practice should no longer occur.

Getting excited now - collecting 11am tomorrow

Ha, ha, the cake fund, sounds awesome. How do I donate? If we meet face to face one day, I will tell you about a dream, a bit like Martin Luther King but mine involved 300 doughnuts from Tesco.

Hi Hasan, I think you really summed it up, STICKING WITH IT and GREAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE. I thought I was pretty good at fault finding on cars, now I realise that I am QUITE good which is humbling and have to say this knocked my confidence, but with Bob helps (flash22) and your morale boost we got there but total kudos to Bob he got the car and I to the finish line. Really appreciate your input and everyone else on the site. I do need a lesson in how to use Forums, I know I am speaking to you guys but that is because I was searching the internet for anything and anyone that could help solve my problem. This is the first forum I have ever used and I want to give back. How do you dip into the Forum and help others? How do I follow the likes of You, Flash22, BathTub Tom, etc.

Glad you got it sorted, at least you didn't resort to firing the parts cannon at it sorry, i don't drink, it will have to go into the cake fund instead

Well it looks as though it may have been a moth coming out to play each evening. Alarm went off Saturday evening, opened car felt a moth however was unsure if I had got it out. Alarm sounded off again Sunday evening and this time saw the moth fluttering around under the sunroof. Opened roof and off it went. Hopefully finally sorted. Next quest is to find a bug zapper for a car……

Seems to me that Toyota Europe are not running the system and servers in a true production mode. My previous experience with Volvo On Call was far superior and I can't really remember not being able to sign in remotely. They need to invest in making the system production ready and resilient because we as customers see it as part of the overall product offering.

Leaky gaskets are the best rustproofing there is. For a price of few liters of oil per year, you get a nice, thick coating. Bonus points for being easily removed, and does not damage anything. Too bad MOT places don't agree.

In Europe, the Corolla only has one reversing light.

And try to buy it from an official Toyota Dealer.

All above as described plus a good look around the engine for any oil or coolant leaks and coolant level in the reservoir. Just to be on the safe side. Also rear hatch door hinges for rust and condition of the tyres especially if the car comes with 18” wheels. 50000 miles are not that much for this car if had been well looked after. Hybrid battery cooling fan has a filter somewhere around rear seat, this needs to check clean or replace. That’s pretty much all.

Yes, the 1.8 excel does have the isulation

They've been pretty reliable so far, can't think of any common issues that have popped up for them. As frosty says, the timing chain should last the life of the engine as long as it's had and continues to get regular quality oil changes. I'd say the service history is the first thing to check - Make sure none have been missed or late, and remember it's by time (a year) AND mileage (10k miles). Other than that just the usual things to check on a 2nd hand car, e.g. tyres are okay, no damage, all panels straight, look for any rust, check engine sounds okay and isn't smoking etc.

Yes, it wants a special character. Somewhere on the forum there is a thread where the special character was thought to be the issue with the password and MyT. If I remember correctly, the "&" character seemed to be the issue, with "!" being acceptable.

Only the direct injection system high pressure fuel pump is noisy & it doesn't run using direct injection all the time.

Running at 1 , 2 or 3 psi above the recommended value assumes we all have accurate tyre pressure gauges. 33 psi on one gauge could be 35 psi on another. Does anyone get their gauge calibrated ? I’ve never done so. Tend to replace after a few years

Just bear this in mind when changing tyre pressures from those the manufacturer reccommends. If you have a serious accident the first thing the police do is check your tyre pressues as part of the evidence gathering process as to how the accident happened and any potential prosecution case. How do I know this? I spent 30 years in the Fire Service and have seen it more times than i care to mention and the second reason, one of my best mates has just retired after 30 years in the Police and has spent the last 20 as a traffic cop, he was also the SIO (senior investigating officer) and coeverd 3 counties for serious and fatal accident investigation. His simple message "stick to what the manufacturer reccomends and not what you think you know, or you could very well end up in the dock"

Whenever I set the tyre pressures I make sure that there is no sun, prefer a cloudy day where the temperature is even. As Tony said above the sun can make a massive difference and if the car is in the sun one side and shade the over the pressure will be be all over the place.

Pretty sure that's only a thing on Excel and trek trims (UK anyway)

You will likely to get more road noise and worse handling. Best to stick with recommended numbers and very important to set correct pressures on cold in the morning preferably before the sun sees the car and before driving off. The sun can offset the pressures a lot. I have my car parked on the drive and on sunny days the pressures goes easily up to 2.4 bar and above from 2.3 set previously. But even with that the tyres become very soft and the drive is quiet and soft. 👍 Who asked for softer tyres can look at Goodyear, they do very soft walls and good tyres indeed. https://www.goodyear.eu/en_gb/consumer/tires/efficientgrip_2_suv/225-60-18-100-H-4038526076342.html https://www.goodyear.eu/en_gb/consumer/tires/results.html?w=235&h=55&r=19&l=101&s=V&type=size

Fair enough. If it gets bad then I'll take it to another mechanic as I don't have the equipment at home. Thanks Edit: I know what you mean now, like this..

No, they are similar to what Peter shared. Here you can look at them and perhaps silicone grease should be applied but I am not 100% sure about that, I never worked on a car like yours. 👍http://www.catcar.info/toyota/?lang=en&l=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

On the pricelist both a spare and TRK available on 1.8 Hatch Icon, Icon Tech & Design, the Excel & GR Sport is TRK only

Which probably means that they will just increase prices to everyone across the board.

I have been to France, Germany and Italy in three different cars, one head halogen lights and needed the deflectors. The other two, Auris MK2 and RAV4 MK5, have led lights and have the flattish beam. Have never been flashed by oncoming cars or stopped by police. To be honest, police in Europe are more interested in catching British drivers speeding, especially in Calais on the way home.

Most of those that you look at say you can 'order yours now' in the description. Little bit misleading when the ad itself says brand new and has a photo of an actual car. Clickbait basically. That said there will be some new cars out there but they'll be few, far between and not discounted.

I will disconnect the battery now and check rpm when it reaches temperature tomorrow after soldering of course.

Good morning Bob, I think you cracked it (just before it cracked me :). I can't thank you enough, the beers are on me if your up for a pint or five 🙂 The car run 100% last night and did not miss a heart beat, I have not had 2 nights with no problems since this misfire started. It is definitely running sweeter even though I have not plugged back in yet. Even the little average mpg screen has been going up steadily normally I get 42.5mpg on a mixed drive, I'm already up to 43mpg and I think it will climb so more. The brief misfire I had after installing the new gasket I think could have been wiring. It's my niece's birthday today so no car repairs today. Tomorrow will solder injector wires back correctly and replace under bonnet cowling.

They serve the same purpose. Service manual should be look at because these on some cars are dry fit and applying any grease will cause pads to stick to the discs, but if grease needs to be added then it should be. Also they have to be ideally clean and shiny before installation. 👍

The whole situation was very difficult. I am no car tech expert (and I'm happy to be that way) so I had to go with whatever the dealer told me. I was without a car and needed to get mine fixed. I emailed the CEO having heard nothing from Toyota through normal channels. Within 48 hours I heard from a customer adviser. There was a protracted period of emails the upshot of which was; I was advised that the head gasket was blown. Coolant had got into the exhaust system and the cat converter(s) needed to be replaced. I had to take the dealers advise over this. Toyota paid for all the replacement parts and the dealer reduced the labour charge. The car was not under the extended warranty scheme due to covid and my reluctance to travel to the dealer for servicing (I'm an old guy and part of a vulnerable group). I had the car serviced locally which meant no extension to the warranty. The car was returned to me and everything now appears to be fine. As and unrelated aside, Toyota have withdrawn their franchise from the dealer (Arnold Clark). I live near Aberdeen, Scotland and the nearest Toyota dealers now are in Dundee and Inverness. Totally ridiculous!

and must have already been factored into the cost of buying the car in the first place. The MyT app features strongly in any product release documentation.

Pollen filter change once a year is a very good idea. Manufacturers recommend two or more years but these filters get clogged with exhaust particles and although look clean they can have a reduced air flow and smell of car fumes. AC regas service once every 2-4 years also helps. They add some oil too while doing that procedure and it’s easier for the compressor to work. 👍

Does the CarPlay work with all the USB ports or is it just the one under the Infotainment? Thanks

i had to reset my password just before i got the car and it asked for a special character in the password.

Thank you that may be the case here i think

Yeah, it makes sense - I did notice that my AC never cooled properly and that it would always become really strainy on the engine after a few kilometers. It seems perfectly happy now!

I bought my car second hand so didn't have the choice, also not an option on the Excel

... which is absolutely fine for non-directional tyres. To do this for directional tyres, one would need to remove the tyres from the rear rims and refit them the other way around. Or, as Ernie suggests, simply swap front to rear keeping the wheels on the same side of the car. 😉

Disaster

This is the recommended rotation procedure...

it should idle down to 750-900 rpm, disconnect the battery and let the ecu reset again, it may want to relearn

One thing I like about the Mk4 is the reverse light is in the middle so all this becomes a non-issue

There is only 1 reverse light, if you want 2 you will have to wire it your self if you just had a blanking plate it the light its self, but it has the connector it's just not wire up as it's meant for a different market - LHD and RHD have the rear fog light and reverse light swapped to opposite sides IIRC reverse light on the left makes it a RHD car, so you're possibly in Australia 2 reasons for only one reverse light, cost savings, they don't have to produce LHD and RHD lights and only 1 type of wiring loom, the lights are also designed that way to make the rear look symmetrical and more ascetically pleasing

My car looks like been shot at multiple times. Front bumper, bonnet, top edge over the windshield, roof, wheel arches, some places deep dings to the bare metal., and many tiny ones that almost impossible to fix unless re spray the whole car. One door now the paint is peeling off like on American Priuses. Well I found a solution and works great, camouflage wraps. I will make the whole car look like a testing prototype in near future 🚗😀

Got great deals on my last two cars by buying in December. I think that is a natural quiet time for trade in most industries.

In the UK sales figures for new cars are usually quarterly so deals are March, June September & December are when there are deals, but that really only makes a difference if the car is physically in stock as the bonuses are based on registration date, not order date.

If only one reversing light, it will be ok on the near side. The driver side may well be a red fog lamp. If only one fog light fitted (which is legally ok) then it has to be on the offside.