Leaderboard

Going completely off topic, and with tongue in cheek, I once had an old Moskvitch car which came complete with a starting handle. I wonder if the boffins could come up with an e-starting handle to deal with the battery isssues on hybrid cars. 😉

I will never put my money on Chinese cars regardless how cheap they are. They steal tons of our intellectual properties, make it cheaper and kill our industry. They can get away with it just because the Dictatorship single party rules everything. There are too many stuff they stole from us. Wind turbine controller and program, telecomunication devices (Cisco protocols, etc.), frame and body design, microprocessors, battery technology, etc. They may also intercept all the data through the devices in the car and phones just like what China did in African countries by giving them telecomunication network. Who knows this MFG brand warranty quality, spare parts, fire hazzards, etc. If Tesla, VW, or Hyundai cought in fire, their response, remedy, and settlement are often great. But never expect Chinese company cultures match any western companies.

It shouldn't go on and off that quickly, that is usually a sign of low pressure.............. i will let you jump to your own conclusion

I am working in Li battery and it is the nature of physics that we cannot avoid. The lifespan of the battery mainly determined by the stability of the metal oxides in the cathode that cracked and erroded much faster rate as lithium in and out at full 0%. The same thing in the Anode that do not like 100% fully charged. So, no there is never going to be 100% charged state if you want to keep the car 200k+ miles. Newer phones like Samsung S20 have option to charge up to 85% usable range (via BIOS or Windows App) and tremendously improve the lifrspan of the battery. Probably 3-4x longer. Dell, HP, Lenovo has power management that will only charge the battery up to 50-80% and I have done it for the past 10 years. My XPS 9560 amd 9570 still have more than 90% of their original battery capacity after more than 5 years. If i do not do that, within 1 year, it drops to less than 50% original capacity. The NiMh battery is more durable and can handle temperature fluctuation better but heavier. That's why we still have NiMh in Toyota Tundra trucks 2023. About the German hybrid cars, I do not know but I assume they always design things break down right at the warranty time. As you can see, their BEV are so stupid. Way more expensive (especially Daimler), less range and power, fckig heavy, and not better than KIA/Hyundai, GM, Ford, and notably Tesla. I don't recommend any Toyota/Lexus BEV yet, they are inferior to KIA/Hyundai ioniq5 or Tesla 3. These 2 are the best deal for today with Tesla power train designed for 1 Million miles durability. Wait for the Solid State battery release that may take another decade. I hate Tesla CEO dictatorship.

I agree that Auto licence holders should not be able to drive a manual, 90% would probably have an accident in the first week, driving an auto gives the average student much more time to analyse a situation with less multi tasking in difficult situations.. The key thing that seperates a good student from a poor one is the ability to check there mirror, trust what they see and then make a decision to slow down, speed up or maintain there course and speed, you would be amazed how many people struggle with this 🙄

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/bmw-halts-the-sale-of-all-police-cars-to-forces-in-the-uk-with-immediate-effect/277526

At my local indie body shop is a MG with the front corner damaged. The owner is hoping it’s a right off ‘cos in his words “it’s the worst car I’ve ever owned, don’t buy one”. Looking at it, it may be repairable.

It is normal. It takes power to turn the computer on in Ready mode. In P the HV battery is being charged if the engine is on but not in N. That's the proper way to charge the 12V and HV battery if it sits more than 2 months for 30 minutes. The 12V battery is charged by DC/DC converter regardless the engine is on or not, the hybrid battery is at low or high bar. It only depends on the 12V voltage reading. It could be as high as 20 Amps to 0.1 amperage or lower. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10190469-9999.pdf If the HV is too depleted this is an expensive service. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10213900-9999.pdf

Manual gearboxes need ridding asap. It’s people’s inability to use them that’s the problem and chasing about with the engine howling is standard practice these days. It seems that Ford Transits only have first and second as they go up to 40mph according to Amazon drivers. The sooner we take the weak link out of the equation, the sooner we see the benefits of low emission engines.

Appears new Prius registrations were at least 3000 in 2022. https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/toyota_prius_hybrid But no doubt the low sales will have been a big factor in the decision, but then sales are dependent on the design and appeal of the actual product and the current Prius has some weaknesses, the front end design and styling is not attractive to many buyers, the acceleration isn't great and boot space in the PHEV is very limited. The new 2023 design addresses all of those weaknesses, so has the potential to do a lot better. There's still a market for efficient saloons, look at the BMW 330e PHEV and the huge success of the Tesla Model 3. Given how company car drivers and salary sacrifice drivers are strongly pushed toward plug-in vehicles it is amazing how few Toyota have to offer

See: https://www.michelin.co.uk/distribution#:~:text=ATS Euromaster is a distribution network owned by,tyre and vehicle repair services in the UK.

Im not sure about that. The Jazz is faster and more practical, although might be an acquired taste in looks. As far as this thread is concerned, it is also cheaper and the poster seemed to not want to spend too much. The poster is also apparently happy with Honda, and it will be reliable. On the other hand, the Yaris is more economical. At the very least, it would seem like a viable alternative, as you can probably get the latest model, whereas the yaris is too expensive.

I passed my test in an army Land Rover with the old crash gearbox and continued to drive manual geared cars for the best part of my adult life. Only after a long holiday in Australia I discovered the relaxed driving mode of an automatic and since then I would not consider going back to a manual car. Maybe it’s an age thing but there is no doubt the modern automatic gearbox has improved greatly over the years.

Learned to drive in a manual because automatics were almost unheard of for ordinary motorists. Maybe a few of luxury cars had them, but automatic transmissions were generally out of reach and avoided like the plague. For best part of sixty years I was happy enough with the stick shift. But over the last four years I’ve driven Yaris Hybrids automatics. Now I wouldn’t own a car unless it had at a minimum of two things which are automatic gearbox and a/c. I still drive my wife’s manual Yaris occasionally without a hitch. However, I think that automatics are the coming thing and manuals are becoming less and less popular.

I’ve got the Excel with the city pack and the smaller screen. On the up side, it’s got the buttons which seem in favour these days, I’m not that bothered either way. It’s slightly disappointing that when Toyota developed the later system they didn’t make it compatible with the city pack. The remote AC will cool so for a setting of say 21, it will heat in winter and cool in summer. It won’t flatten the battery so don’t worry about that, if it gets to a situation where it might, it simply won’t run. A couple of poor things. The interior light isn’t just bad it’s a joke. A two euro piece of Chinese tat that they should be ashamed of and nothing for the peasants in the back, they have to fumble. LED bulbs can be fitted in the front which is a big improvement but not everyone can do it. There’s no drive away locking which is another ridiculous omission these days. They do give you some braille dots on the lock button so blind drivers should be OK. I have a car park pass but is there somewhere to put it? Not a clip or a fold of vinyl in sight. I like the vehicle and the engineering but they need to think things out a bit more. There is a switch panel by your right knee. It would be better in the boot where you wouldn’t risk crashing to use it. If there is the risk of auto lights dazzling someone, the switch should be immediately accessible. The heated steering wheel switch lives down there too where you would intuitively put the heated feet switch. I’ve probably not finished on that but it really deserves a new thread.

That article highlights another thing I've started to see in newer cars that I hate - Electronic door locks, as in the door locks are electronically controlled without a physical lever to open them! It's so dumb, like the EPB - Why take something that works perfectly well and make it worse?! At least Tesla have a physical backup for theirs, but it seems like the MG doesn't, which I'm sure it some sort of safety breach, as that example illustrates...

It's just typical of Toyota UK's apparent obliviousness to their customer base - They wasted effort trying to market the older Prius models to people who had no real interest them, then when they make one that even the automotive press is wetting themselves over (I never thought I'd see the day when so many people were raving about a *Prius*!!) they decide 'it's not aligned with what UK customers want' and decide not to sell it. I really don't understand their thought process...

While everyone has been having a good chat Bob has not come back with his thoughts yet, it'll be interesting to hear his take.

Our Austin Cambridge had a starter handle, i don't think it was ever used. This is not ours but you can se the hole above the number plate where the handle would go -

Ford Zephyr 6's used in the long running TV series Z-Cars were 'daffodil yellow' as they showed up better than white on videotape .....

Or Triumph 2.5Pi's - as long as they replace the original wheel trims to reduce them slicing into the tyre valves .... Or Wolseley 6/110's with bells instead of sirens.

They'll have to go back to V8 SD1s

Dad's old Morris Minor had a crank handle. I learnt a lot of swear words listening to Dad trying to start the car. 😆

Same with my PHEV results, I just ignore the numbers and treat more as an indication rather than the absolute truth.

The city pack gets auto parking and 360 cameras.

The radiator cooling fan needs to / will run while the air-conditioning compressor clutch is engaged. It's perfectly normal for the cooling fan to run when the A/C is selected by the driver - but it shouldn't cycle on / off that quickly. The refrigerant level is very likely low & needs to be topped up.

It's also how my aircon at home works when it's cold outside. But i never counted the seconds at home or in the Aygo.

The Gen 5 differs from the boring but durable Gen 4 model in every area. Like comparing apples and oranges I would suggest

Always noticed this fan on / off switching on my previous Aygo II It did that from new. Topping it off would not change a thing IMHO. That's just how it works...

The Vauxhall Victor was another with the 3 geared column change.

The same person asked me to set the time to 6,57 instead of 7,00 which is difficult as the app only has 5 min increments 😂😂 but this was a year ago in all fairness

Yuasa is one of the best,if not the best battery brands available today.

There is indeed a campaign of inverter replacement on 2010-2014 Prius in USA. I believe all prius 3 are assembled in Japan not locally. But it does not mean all have problems. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2018/RCMN-18V684-8352.pdf The same thing with the brake booster. But I think you can take a look on the cylinder sticker orientation. If it is wrap around the cylinder, we have the revised unit. If it is along the axis, it is the old unit. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020MC-10181800-9999.pdff Unfortunately, we do not have such campaign in europe. Only in USA because NHTSA is more active and tons of Law suits will follow if Toyota did not do that. Clean the EGR and intake manifolds regularly 75k miles interval to prevent head gasket failure. It usually starts with oil consumption issue, clogged the EGR, increase temperature from pinging (restricted EGR), failed head gasket (rattling >10 s cold start), fail water pump, dead catalytic converter. So, change the oil <10k miles/1 y before your car consumes oil. Take a note that these problems only occured beyond 150k miles. Often more than 200k+ miles that many American had reached these days. Americans treat cars like horses, just fuel and go, oil change as cheap as possible <$30 in Jifffylube,Walmart,Tireplus, etc with coupon. Never change brake fluid nor transmission fluid. They do 10k miles but not using full synthetic oil like 0w-20 Toyota recommended. Less than 30% maintain the car in STEALership. 2ZR-FXE head gasket revised in fall 2012, piston and piston rings in fall 2014 production.

I don't know why people are questioning if the battery is actually dead. Car sits all the time, goes for a 1km run, which when you turn the lights, heating, radio, is not enough to recharge the battery. Starting also takes a drain. The longer drive is also not enough to replenish the battery. If it was 2x longer, it would be ok. Go to Tesco, get a new battery. Considering your usage, even if you recharge the old one, this issue will happen more often. Open bonnet. On the old battery, remove the red wire first, then remove black. Take old battery out. Connect red wire, connect black wire. There you go, battery changed. Start the car. Let it idle for 10 minutes to re-learn idle position. Then go for 10-20 minute drive. That's it.

Do not use your hybrid to jump start any other vehicle! Yoi can jump start a hybrid but not the other way around. If you try it may get yourself into a trouble. Just buy a new battery for your Auris 1.6 and a smart charger and once a month charge the battery to maintain healthy condition.

If that's true.... Just wow!

We were posh with a gas meter under the stairs and I was terrified. It shared the space with demons and a gas mask

Ah well, checked the gas meter against the bill and it would appear to be correct. I did also ring Gritish Bas to ask if it was possible that they had made a mathematical error what with all the kWh rate changes, and had a very frustrating conversation with a representative who to be fair, gave a very convincing impression of a particularly dense potato. Some of you may have had these kind of conversations, you ask a question, and they reply with an answer to another question that you have not asked. I think that I might have to consider selling one of my gold Krugerrands at this rate.😂 Still, with global warming, I might use a lot less gas next year.

Yes, I had a mk1 cortina with the column gear lever. And can you remember on some of the older Fords and might have been on some others too, the click button on the floor to dip headlights?

1st paid lesson was in a BMC mini with crunchy gears and my knees around my ears to fit in. A company called quickpass, and it was £1. Rest of the time learning with friends in their cars and topped it off with the official lesson. Not done that way now, I know. But I am pleased that I learned in manual cars first though, and have the choice of buying any kind of car without worrying about the transmission type.

The MK4 Yaris is superior to the jazz in most departments, there really is no great reason to get the jazz. Besides I think jazz gets cat stolen as its not at the manifold. iirc preciously looking at the top spec of the jazz, it doesn't have auto folding mirrors. I agree that the transition to automatic will accelerate a lot faster than people think.

A thought, look and see what the driving schools are using. If you have any particular school you might approach, consider getting what they use. I learnt with BSM and was 'horrified' when I was allocated an instructor and a Hillman Minx. He had been an armoured car driver and there must have been similarities. I now suspect it might have been his own car. A couple of years later my father bought a Minx and I had no trouble driving it.

Good point Tony. Prius has aluminum knuckle, 5x 100 mm wheel pattern not 5x114.3 mm, smaller brake disc, thinner tires 215/45R17, torsion beam suspension, aluminum hood, drag coeff. 0.25 not 0.28 (in auris), exhaust coolant heat changer. I still prefer Auris TS with larger trunk and much better handling than Prius or Prius +. Prius+ is the heaviest and lowest MPG for obvious reason. The Auris fall 2015 facelift has better insulation and safety sense 1 (sign recognition, emergency breaking, auto high beam, collision avoidance, etc.). Something that even Lexus NX 2015 do not have. It is much harder to find prius here than Auris so I decided to get Auris TS instead of Prius.

I am not so sure. I think twenty years life is probably the mass market limit. On that basis 2050 might see ICE in the vintage collectors niche. That assumes supply of ICE does not diminish before 2030 and emission zones don't expand rapidly. It also assumes that manufacturers will continue to supply the popular mass market with obsolescent cars with a sudden stop in 2030. I can envisage ICE production stopping by 2028 and even earlier for many models. I can also see that the traditional starter car will become EV sooner. Sooner not because its a starter car but because small and EV best fit the needs of a daily commute.

Aye Roy, I saw that article if it was the one about York council. £8 million wasn't it ? On EVs and no usable charge points.😃 For 25 transit size cage pickups. Maybe it was a committee decision, then they can all blame each other.

I'll disagree with that to some extent, though there are more now than in years past. My wife only has an auto licence, so it's not a case of "want" - we have to get autos. In some respects it's good because it does reduce the possibilities to a manageable number when looking for a car, but sometimes it's a bit too few. However, autos are mostly more complex and expensive to repair, so used reliability is a worry. And having been driving autos for about 40 years now i can assure you they are not all equal - there are some truly terrible boxes out there. (I had two Ford's that were dire, and from what I've seen online they haven't improved as their Powershift seems to get a lot of flack.) The best still seem to be old the torque converter types but they can be inefficient.

This is true, but in reality how many jobs demand driving skills? Many in London do not have a car or have been priced off the roads. We are also seeing EV appearing in business areas. Our Royal Mail van has been EV for over a year. Yorkshire CC has EV refuse trucks, OK, they have the trucks but can't charge them. My neighbour is a salesman. His leased car is a Tesla.

Any lead acid battery that has been discharged below 12V always degrades permanently. It is called suphation process. The Lead is coated by insulating surface of PbSO4 and it is not reversible. You may make the battery back to be useful but will not hold the original capacity. Very often it drops less than 50% original capacity once the voltage dropped below 12V even for one time incident.

The screen is a bit horses for courses; If you're going to use ACP/AA via your phone it's mostly moot anyway, but I actually prefer the older screen as it has more physical controls. I often use the left knob to select specific folders/songs to play as it's much easier, more accurate and much safer than trying to poke the touch screen while driving, but that's omitted from the newer display. The screens use very different interfaces and software, but TBH I don't think it'll matter that much. The Yaris is unusual in that all the window switches are one-touch open and close; It's the first Yaris to have that, as previously it was only on the driver's window. There isn't a button to do all of the windows, but the dealer can turn on the remote window control, so you can hold Lock on the remote to close all windows, or Unlock to open them. It's not on by default tho'.

My car is with the mechanic and the clutch has been ordered. I was going to order it myself, but the mechanics have done it already. The clutch is a Luk and I already research the part numbers: 621 3087 33 for full kit, 621 3087 09 for the kit without the slave bearing, and 510 0133 10 for the slave bearing. I took a few photos of the new clutch before they go to the mechanic with my car to be installed - Clutch plate from Luk. Notice the Valeo brand. Pressure plate. The concentric slave cylinder bearing from different angles. Hopefully the next report is when I get the car back.