Advice for possible owner.

[Voodoo101]

Hi all. Looking to change my and get a nice MPV and my eye has been taken by the Alphard / Vellfire. I worked out that it is the same car apart from the Vellfire is a bit more luxurious. Don't know yet whether to go ahead so I thought I would ask some advice from owners.

 

First this is servicing. How easy is it to get these serviced and parts when things go wrong, with them being imported. Second thing is to do with the language. The car is imported from Japan so I assume that the incar equipment is in Japanese, can this be changed. The third is the dashboard, as miles and miles per hour is not the thing they use in Japan, I assume that the dials are metric. The car I have at the moment has a digital dash that can change between metric and imperial, I am guessing that this is not the case on the Toyota. Do they do replacement dials.

 

If anybody has any other advice for a could be owner that that would be great.

 

Thanks in advance 

[Jellybean]

Welcome. I guess it depends what you're prepared to spend.

Series 10 only came as the Alphard, up to 2007. 

Series 20 came as Alphard or Vellfire from 2008. Differences are cosmetic front styling and rear lights, other than that they are the same. We have a 2008 Vellfire 3.5Z.

The 3.0 engine in the earlier cars has a belt driven cam. The 3.5 in the Series 20 has chain drive, so no servicing.

Many parts are common to other Lexus and Toyota models which are marketed in the UK. Servicing is generally not a problem. There are garages that are happy to work on these cars, and there is info available on the forum.

Some leave the distance in km and just change the scale on the speedo. The km can be changed to miles, and again, browse the forum for info on this.

If you're stuck, just ask. No questions are daft, we are all still learning!

There is a gathering at Castle Coombe Circuit on 2nd July, where you will be able to talk to owners and experts. Depends how soon you are looking to buy.

Enjoy, whatever your choice. 

[Rojie]

8 hours ago, Voodoo101 said:

Hi all. Looking to change my and get a nice MPV and my eye has been taken by the Alphard / Vellfire. I worked out that it is the same car apart from the Vellfire is a bit more luxurious. Don't know yet whether to go ahead so I thought I would ask some advice from owners.

 

First this is servicing. How easy is it to get these serviced and parts when things go wrong, with them being imported. Second thing is to do with the language. The car is imported from Japan so I assume that the incar equipment is in Japanese, can this be changed. The third is the dashboard, as miles and miles per hour is not the thing they use in Japan, I assume that the dials are metric. The car I have at the moment has a digital dash that can change between metric and imperial, I am guessing that this is not the case on the Toyota. Do they do replacement dials.

 

If anybody has any other advice for a could be owner that that would be great.

 

Thanks in advance 

 

Hi Voodoo,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

Are you hoping to buy a 2020 ? What years are you considering

 

I agree with all points made by Jellybean.

 

The Vellfire is not more luxurious, but more 'sporty'; and the sportiness is all in the 'looks' department.

Whilst they are all pretty luxurious anyway, more 'luxury' comes with better trim levels and options.

 

You should be aware that, as your vehicle will be a grey import, most official Toyota dealers will not service it or otherwise get involved.

There are exceptions so it is worth checking with your local Toyota dealer.

Other than body parts and trim, mechanical parts should not be an issue.

 

Jellybean is correct about the belt driven cams, but the 3L engine is of the non interference design.

That technology ensures that if the belt does break (unlikely) the pistons and valves will not collide.

You would be stranded, and need a new belt and the valve timing resetting, but you wouldn't need a new engine.

 

With Gen 1 cars you are stuck with Japanese. I believe (some) later vans are changeable to English.

 

There is a chip available for Gen 1 vans, up to 2008, which facilitate converting the odometer to miles.

There are faceplates available for MPH too.

 

None of these comments apply to Gen 3 as I have no knowledge of the newest vehicles, except that they are expensive !

 

 

[Voodoo101]

Thanks for your answers.

 

The car I was looking at was a 2007 3.0L Alphard with 51000 miles. Its advertised at £10500, but I am not too sure at the price. It has the double sunroof and the two seperate middle seats as opposed to the bench seats.

[Jellybean]

Thats the 7 seater layout, same as mine. I particularly wanted this layout.

[Rojie]

2 hours ago, Voodoo101 said:

Thanks for your answers.

 

The car I was looking at was a 2007 3.0L Alphard with 51000 miles. Its advertised at £10500, but I am not too sure at the price. It has the double sunroof and the two separate middle seats as opposed to the bench seats.

 

Hello again,

 

Alphies, and Vellfires, are becoming very popular. Quite rightly so, imho.

But that popularity leads to price pressure.

Furthermore, there are many 'new' dealers entering the market.

 

Is the one you are considering at a Dealer, or private ?

Is the auction sheet available from when it was imported ?

If so, the mileage can be verified and most issues will be identified on the sheet, scratches, dents, scrapes, etc.

 

Also affecting the value is the level, and conditions, of options.

 

£10k5 doesn't seem too bad to me, bearing in mind the market atm. (and it's summer !)

For the same money, you could consider an very early Gen 2, 2008 onwards; V6 with a 6 speed auto.

 

Middle seats that swivel are sort after.

The 'middle bench' seats do normally swivel.

If they swivel the they will have a lap belt strap as part of the seat (that swivels with it).

 

2008 onwards do not swivel