BelgarumVenta

VERY neat idea - Keep us posted on progres and final costs/complexity of fitting. When's the toaster coming? :)

Nothing to worry about - all new-ish cars do this in my experience. It's the exhaust pipework cooling and contracting. Seems that after a few years they stop doing it (or making the sound at least). To me, it's a nice sound - like the smell of a new car, it doesn't last forever so enjoy. And welcome to the club :)

And what are the Lotto numbers for tomorrow please shutty :)

I wonder whether you have an ultrasonic or microwave (I think) alarm that senses when the window is broken? That is definately an upgrade to the standard. If you do have that, you should be able to identify some sensors somewhere on the A pillars towards the top, or maybe in the courtesy light/sunglass-holder bit? (They tend to look like mini reversing sensors) And your handbook (supplement) should tell you how to turn that sensing off so you could leave a dog in the car, or the sunroof ajar but with the standard alarm features on.

Prince, you a truly a star of the greatest magnitude

From a site that markets these: Q. What is the best way to colour code the sensors? A. Before fitting to the vehicle, mount the sensors in a piece of cardboard and apply two thin coats of spray paint followed by one thin coat of lacquer (for metallic colours). Do not apply the paint with a brush and do not apply too thickly. Seems simple enough I guess.

Most cars these days automatically switch on the hazzrd lights in the case of an accident. I would suspect the doors would unlock if this happened as well, would be nice if some one can confirm that though? Anyone willing to plough into a brick wall in the name of science? :D :D :D

I would suspect that this feature only locks the door rather than dead/double locking them. Therefore, in the event of an accident, the window can be broken and the door open from the inside.

Yeah - Good one Steve

Thanks for the info - any especially for the link which is fantastic! I think I'll try both the interior light and the rear parking sensors armed with this information. Do you have any other information on the ebay supplier of the recessed lights? I'd like to go for one either side. Thanks again.

As the title suggests, I'd like to fit a light in the boot/load area, automatically activated off the rear door. The load area is really quite dark at night and any light from the interior fitting is masked by the rear shelf. Has anyone done this and can offer advise on the best place to fit it (for the cabling etc) and the best light fitting unit to use/where to get it from? Ideally, I'm looking for a recessed unit (maybe one on each side) so it sits flush. Thanks :)

I am thinking about getting these ones: http://www.parkingsensors.co.uk/liberty_1_parking_sensor.asp Mainly because they are silver in colour to start with. I'm not sure that I'll connect up all 4 though - probably just the outside two. I find the rear extremes of the Rav more difficult to judge rather than the entire width when reversing (if that makes sense!)

For a couple of weeks now, I have heard some seemingly random bleeps that eminate from our '05 Rav4. Recently, I heard 4 beeps when the car was unlocked and the passenger door was open but I don't think any key was in the ignition. This morning, a couple of single beeps were heard when driving along. I've checked the handbook, but can't immediately see anything that might explain them. Any ideas out there in Rav-land? Also, is there any way of seeing diagnostic codes via the radio display? Does anyone have the sequence to get them displayed, and their meaning?

Nearly all speedos under-read - by design This let's the makers off the hook if you are caught speeding. And although it's acknowledged, a test case was thrown out when a motorist got caught speeding suggesting that he knew the speedo was under-reading so he went faster than the speedo read! With better electronics (and sat nav as standard in some cars) there will be a tendancy (or potential at least) for some cars to actually show an accurate figure. Clearly though, just because a car has (in built) sat nav, it isn't necessarilly linked to the speedo.

When it comes to part-ex, it's really the cost of change that is important rather than the individual amounts for the outgoing/incoming car. ie - How much will I have to write the cheque for! At the end of the day nearly every dealer will adjust the invoice in his favour to minimise the VAT aspect. The best deals are nearly always a private sale and a non-p/x purchase