RobKeeble

I agree, these macho bullbars make a little cutie like the iQ look even more cute. But I'm in two minds. Adding these would undo some of the excellent work Toyota put into achieving the NCAP 5* safety rating. Unforgiving protection bars are the complete opposite of lightweight flexible bumpers on the pedestrian safety scale.

Yes those are the ones - you've heard of them too then! Nah, there is actually quite a bit of dirty gravel that flies up from the tyres onto the doors and the rear corners, so the flaps do a great job.

Absolutely essential for the rear, even for good money, as the high speed missiles from the tyres will destroy a large part of the rear paintwork. I live along a gravel track so all four flaps are certainly necessary to protect my paintwork.

I've always known that air con. does contribute to fuel consumption, but I don't know why. Anyway, why on earth do you have it on up here in Scotland? Rob

Only stalled twice swindonblackiq? Done it several times myself, though never did in my old Vitara being a noisier 2L engine. Now having such a quiet 1L it is difficult to hear if you've got enough revs. I guess it's a common teething problem until we all get used to our new toy. Rob

I've got a lovely little shoebox that fits perfectly between the two seats and below the seat handles. Just need something exactly the same size but maybe a bit classier. Still, it stops the milk bottle falling over.

I went though a comparison site for two fifty year olds with full NCD in Aberdeenshire, and found several fully comp quotes around the £100 mark. As I was already with Swiftcover, I stayed with them for £115. It seems so much lower than other premiums in the forum that I guess it must be down to the location, being a lightly populated county. Rob

Hi crb1011 I thought about going down that route myself as it does look great on some cars. Decided against it in the end as it I felt it was a bit too racy for me personally, so I'm going for a more subtle effect with some dark blue vinyl bits on my black MaveriQ. It is a very cheap mod for small cars and there are loads of suppliers out there selling what have become known as Viper Stripes, although history tells us the true story. Rob

Hello everyone, This is Rob aged 50, originally from Gloucester and now living at Rattray Head in North East Scotland for the last 7 years with my darling Val, Dango the Newfoundland, and Rufus the Golden Retriever. I was a computer programmer between London and Bristol for 25 years (yawn), and escaped the rat race to embark on my second career starting up a tourist hostel in former lighthouse keepers cottages. Started on two wheels at 17 and progressed to a VW Polo as my first car in 1980, then onto Saab, Volvo, Jaguar, Subaru, Suzuki - no brand loyalty at all. Pretty much always regarded cars as just a means to get from A to B, except the Jag of course, which was so much more. Recently needed to replace my broken Suzuki and looked around at various economical town cars. Found it rather depressing as they are all much the same inside and out, so decided to check out the Aberdeen dealers on 6th July. Happened to visit Toyota first, and saw my very first iQ in the showroom, a shiny black one. Looking at the front I thought "what's that?, it's like a mini Mad Max, even rather menacing". So going against my 'don't rush into anything' principle, I bought that specific car on the spot. I love him to bits, and he has rekindled the motoring excitement I had experienced with the Jag. What a big little car he is. I am making small cosmetic changes to personalise him with a little chrome and vinyl, and I will post photos soon. His name is MaveriQ. Rob

Hi macabeus, I just searched for them on ebay and found packs of 2 or 10, so I chose 10 so that I could do all four seatbelts. They also post to the Netherlands. Even if other members are happy with the rear retaining slots, the buttons are still an ideal way of raising the front buckles to a more useful position. Rob

Hi Jaine, Yes I should have had some close-ups of the buttons, so here they are. This is one in place holding the buckle higher up on the front seatbelt. And this shows both the original button lower down, and the new one near the top for comparison. Hope that's clearer now. Rob

Hi all. I know it's been two months since the last reply, but I'm another newbie so I've only recently found the forum. I hope you find my tip useful. It's only a small niggle, but as the interior of the iQ is so beautifully designed, I find it irritating that the rear seatbelts are twisted when the unused buckles are inserted into the retaining slot. ;) I wanted it to look as neat as the rest of the car, so my solution was to buy a pack of ten Seat Belt Retaining Stop Buttons for £7.70 and fit one to each seatbelt. Now the buckle hangs just above the boot cover where it looks much tidier and doesn't knock the side. :) Regarding the front seatbelts, have you found yourself reaching through the small gap between the seat and pillar to find the buckle which is hidden out of sight. I have, and it also contributes to the scuffing marks on the pillar, so I used the same fix for the front seatbelts as well. Now the buckle is visible just over the shoulder and comes to hand very easily, and the pillar is less prone to scuffs too. If you fancy trying it for yourself, you could buy the special pliers for the job, but you should be fine with a standard pair of pliers to squeeze the two halves together. Just be careful as the small plastic spike on the male half of the button is easily broken - I broke two while fitting my four buttons. The only difficulty I found was squeezing the spike into the indent on the female button, so I put a tiny crosshead screw upsidedown on the spike first which worked very well. Good luck with that, and thank you everyone for all the interesting posts and replies. Hope I can be as helpful. Rob