Catweazle

Quick update: Ben Hau did a good job fitting my rear bushes in 3 hrs, and showed me that the the originals were indeed split, but not that bad in his opinion. He says that the rear geometry is sound, so probably not the culprit with regards to pulling left. He recommended a good tyre fitter/ Alignment specialist in Dudley to have the tracking done (again) as they have the correct set up on their machine. The rear driver side un-even tyre wear is very common on the Gen 1 apparently, and not a lot I can do other than go heavy duty tyres, which I already have. Still can't believe that Toyota don't have a way of adjusting this part of the suspension set up.....:( The very annoying rattling from the passenger rear door area is still as prevalent as ever. I've removed the door card and checked for anything untoward-can't find a thing there either.....at a loss to what it could be now. Also removed everything from the car not bolted down, and put foam around seatbelt mount bolts, and behind plastic wheel arches. It could be the door itself on it's rail, but the driver rear door rattles just as much when wiggled with the door half open, and doesn't make any noise when driving so not convinced it's that either.... Doing my head in.

Bravo indeed!

When camping, I turn off the electric doors with the dash button to the left of the Wheel, and just use the doors manually in the night.

Good shout.....do you think that they just bolt the rear subframe back up in to a set position, or if it'd on an elongated hole to allow some kind of adjustment? It seems odd that Toyota wouldn't think of a way to adjust. I guess if not, then an entire new rear subframe would be necessary, due to being bent.

Booked in with Ben hau at Harmony motors in birmingham on Monday for rear bushes to be done. He has quoted £350 for the job, which seems reasonable. Hopefully he uses decent quality bushes... Alphie is still pulling to the left, with a lot of rear knocking which sounds like the passenger rear door area. Noticed today that the rear driver tyre that i've had on for 8 months or less is seriously worn on the inner edge. I'm praying that this will be a miracle cure. Fingers crossed.

Hi Jim, I lurked on Elgrand forum for 3 years before buying an Alphard instead....think I know your name from there? Estima is similar to Serena as in smaller version of big brother. There seems to be mixed reviews about 2nd hand hybrid reliability, though hopefully Hybrid owners will chip in and allay that. I have 7 seater 3 litre v6 gen 1 facelift from 2005. If it was 2006 it would be ulez comp. It should be anyway as the emissions are well under, but the cut off is 2006. I get 24-28 miles to the gallon depending on foot down or not. 340 miles from brim to warning light on 60 litres leaving 10 in reserve every 10 days. I only use posh fuel. I've done about 50k since buying, and it's been great. No Cat issue to worry about. Stereo will need replacing to get rid of Japanese, but buttons are marked in english apart from toll reader. New stereo means you lose front and side cameras but not rear with a specific cable. I believe you can keep front cameras too with a considerably pricey cable and head unit. You can get a speedo chip behind binacle to convert both odo and speedo to mph. Mine has many options already as it's the mz v spec including most of the things you mentioned in your other thread. All the electrics are sound as are the bodywork and mechanicals. it's better than most cars I've ever been in and still puts a smile on my face after almost 4 years of ownership, though I'm starting to get a few creaks and rattles from the rear seats and doors over Very rough roads. Hopefully this completely biased report helps

How much did you put in Dave? If there's supposed to be around 8 litres and you removed 2, did it need 6?

https://www.japeurocarparts.co.uk/search.php?id=0&vid=2117&make=7&modelID=2104&id=0#results

Mine is an 05, and also has exactly the same wear on the same buttons. I got it with 58k on the clock 3 years ago, and now on 90k and the wear hasn't increased.

I think it's sensing that there is a key or fob in the vacinity? I could be wrong. Make sure there isn't one hidden somewhere in one of the cubby holes that you don't know about....or move your key further away from the vehicle, or a faraday pouch.

Hi Geralt, I live in Kidderminster and work in Worcester so fairly close to you. My Alphard is my only car, so get's lots of use meaning I don't have too much trouble with it. Happy to be of assistance if possible

Could be a few things obviously....try plugging a cheap OBD reader into the plug below the steering wheel to see what error codes are present. Check that there are no loose connections from the sensors under the bonnet below air filter. My speedo wasn't working once, and replaced the speedo sensor on the gearbox and it fixed. Could be the speedo convertor chip behind the main binacle...again, I gave my convertor chip connections a check and found them loose.

If they are giving you a good price for writing it off I would take it but then insist on purchasing the car back from them. Do all the necessary work and get re-insured with it as a Cat C/D whatever....I did that with my Vauxhall zafira for 3 years and the insurance was just the same. The only negative is the re-sale value, but who cares about that if they've already paid you for it?

Looks great !

The search function doesn't seem to work very well for me. i put in HEATER in the box, and all i get is this thread....