Hello, I am new on this forum, so apologies if posting in wrong place. I am on verge of buying a 2008 Alphard privately and would appreciate any advice re costs, parts access etc. re probable eventual repair required based on recent MOT advisory below. The same advisories have been noted since 2023 and I am not sure how much of a concern it is. Many thanks for any feedback/info.

I'd get them repaired about £25 for each part and an hour to fit youself or an hours time for the Garage.

Thanks for speedy reply! The van is a hybrid and just heard that dislocation of battery can be a costly issue, especially with age. Mileage is just short of 90,000. I guess it’s a bit of a lottery/luck but I don’t have much re latter, so, again any advice/info much appreciated.

Rubber suspension bushes do wear, so this is maintenance that you should expect to do every so often. The ride will typically feel better afterwards too, and so replacement is something you might expect to do at midlife on a used car. I don't know any Alphard specifics about these particular ones/parts/etc, but they are just bits of rubber at the end of the day.

What do you mean about 'dislocation of battery'? The high voltage hybrid battery or the 12V one?

Thanks for info. I mean the hybrid battery to help run the engine.

Can you expand on 'dislocation'? I've not heard that term before. Do you mean physically coming loose? Or failing in some way?

59 minutes ago, Ptarmigan said:

Can you expand on 'dislocation'? I've not heard that term before. Do you mean physically coming loose? Or failing in some way?

It was a garage that services Toyota campers that mentioned it as a risk, something about gel and sealant causing physical disconnection I think? I just called them on spec to get a price for fixing the bushes and when I mentioned it was a hybrid he said that was a potentially bigger issue that I should be mindful of.

There seems to be an issue with the IGBTs overheating in the inverter of the 2003-8 hybrid - either the inverter coolant pump fails or the heatsink grease dries out and they don't make good thermal contact with the coolant block, resulting in them cooking and failing. Perhaps that was what was meant?

(I don't know a whole lot about the Gen1 hybrid system but I've seen this fault mentioned a few times)

Thank you. That sounds like what garage was talking about. Can cost several thousand to repair. Thank you very much for your help.

As you are in Stirling, if you are potentially looking to do a bit of preventative maintenance on the hybrid system then look up Hybrid Battery Repair of Glasgow. They can do the thermal paste replacement on the IGBTs, amongst other hybrid related work. I haven't used them personally, but they seem to get good reviews.