Ptarmigan

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?

Once you have the part number, call your local Toyota dealer and see if they can order them in. Toyotadirectparts.co.uk are sometimes cheaper than my local dealer, although often you have to put in a request with the part number for them to create a web page for that part that you can order from. Another option if you get no luck finding one locally is to put the part number into zenmarket.jp and search Mercari and Yahoo (called JDirectItems outside Japan for legal reasons) auctions. Those tend to have more used parts available if there's no UK stock. You pay a fee for then handling the purchase, shipping in Japan for the item to their warehouse, shipping from Japan, and VAT on top. They do make sure that taxes are paid so the parcel doesn't get stuck at UK customs awaiting fees.

That looks rather handy... I have some headlights to do soon so I'll give that a go. Thanks for the videos btw, they've been very useful on the beginnings of my Alphard journey.

It may help to get a clamp meter to measure DC current and measure the current flow at various points. Is there current flowing from the alternator, is it flowing into the battery? Is it going into the dash, the indicators, etc? Check both sides positive and negative. If you find current is not flowing, then measure the voltage along various bits of wiring. eg if there's a wire that goes from the battery to the ignition, put one multimeter probe on the battery terminal and another where the wire meets the ignition. A good wire should have a low voltage difference along it (substantially below 1V), but a bad (high resistance) wire will have a much greater voltage. The same would happen if something is interrupting the wire, for example a blown fuse. When a high current is flowing, there's more voltage drop along a wire and you should see that in your voltage measurement. That's why the lights dim when the starter is running. This is the sort of thing an auto electrician will do to try to narrow down the fault. My stab in the dark might be to suspect a grounding fault - it's easy to check a positive wire that's obviously there, but if the return current relies on the component having a good chassis connection then that could get corroded and be overlooked.

What's the first part of the chassis number? The hybrid is the E-Four, that's ATH20. The petrol version has a 4WD version which is the ANH25 (2.4l engine) or GGH25 (3.5l engine). As these aren't hybrids I believe it's a classic propshaft and mechanical differential box between the rear wheels. If it's an ANH20 or GGH20 then it doesn't have 4WD. I think it's the same for the 10 series - ATH10 is E-Four, ANH15 and MNH15 are differential box, other 10s are 2WD. If you do have an ATH20 there's an electric motor on the rear axle. I'd be very surprised for that to not work but nothing complaining.

Schutz is a generic name for a bitumen based under body coating. It's similar to the kind of tar used on flat roofing. It's derived from crude oil and contains a solvent which makes it flow (eg white spirit). Once applied the solvent evaporates leaving a tarry layer. Unlike paint it has some flex in it, so it can stay stuck to a surface which changes shape through eg thermal expansion, where a rigid paint might flake off. When applied it has the consistency of whipped cream, although you can thin it for spraying. Lanoguard is perhaps the most heavily advertised (ie expensive) of various lanolin based products, including Fluid Film and various DIY mixes. Lanolin is a wax that's a waste product of the wool industry - basically Australian sheep farmers had this wax left over from wool processing and wondered what they could do with it, and found out it had similar flexibility properties to the bitumen above. Again it's thinned for application and the solvent evaporates leaving a waxy layer behind. I've used both, and while I'm no expert I'd say the lanolin wax often comes out as a thinner layer than the schutz, but on the other side lanolin has more compatibility with rubbers and plastics where an oil based product may cause degradation. So schutz is more for bodywork, where lanolin is safe for hoses, gaiters, suspension bushes etc. But the lanolin layer being thinner is more susceptible to stone chips etc so needs redoing regularly, while the schutz is more of a one time application. As your car already has schutz I might be looking to top up the schutz on the body and perhaps use lanolin on the mechanical parts. I don't really have a recommendation on brand - I did a car in black Waxoyl schutz underneath and clear Waxoyl wax (which is more like paraffin wax) on the mechanicals and in the cavities and without further treatment it lasted 7 years before signs of rust started to come. More recently I've been using Fluid Film - too early to say but it looks to have stopped the rust. What I did do on my Waxoyl job was spray surfaces with penetrating oil first, to displace any trapped water and provide an oily surface for the wax to key onto - that seemed to work quite well. One downside of the schutz though - as it never fully sets, if you later work on the car you do tend to get black marks on your hands, clothes, etc. But that's just evidence it's doing its job.

Sounds interesting. I might be interested in buying it... I've sent you a PM.

For anyone who has tried both, how do you rate the seat comfort between the 10 and 20 series? I'll be carrying someone who has a bad back and for whom seat comfort is very important. I've been looking at 20 series as I like the look of the captain's chairs on the 7-seater, especially those which have an ottoman on the front passenger seat. But there's an 8-seater 10 series local to me and from pictures the seats look like well padded chairs, even if there's no ottomans. But people talk about how the 20 series is more luxurious - how does that compare with regards to the seat comfort?

From the photos the 20 series one is physically different so doesn't look like a drop in fit. Toyota doesn't list a part, but it's possible one from another model will fit. If you click on the Amayama link for the 84140-32240 it takes you to a page which lists 22 Toyota models the 10 series stalk fits - click on 'view ... on diagrams'. Perhaps you can find one that was sold in a market that requires a rear fog and find out the part number of the version with the extra fog switch. Might take a bit of sleuthing but Amayama often shows you a picture of the actual part, or you can search eBay/AliExpress/Zenmarket with the part number for photos. I bought a cruise control stalk for my Prius and the AliExpress listing said it fitted a huge number of models, so I suspect there's lots of commonality. It's also possible a stalk will physically fit but the connector is different - but that can be changed.

No, Amayama says that's just for the 20 series. The headlight stalk for the ANH10 is 84140-32240 which is discontinued but about £10+fees+ship+VAT from Yahoo auction: https://zenmarket.jp/en/yahoo.aspx?q=84140-32240 However, Amayama doesn't show a separate part with fog light functionality - 84140-32240 is the only stalk listed and the picture only shows front fog controls. So I'm not sure if there is one with rear control.

https://toyota-club.net/files/faq/03-03-29_e77-04_eng.htm (that site is always a very useful source) indicates that part number is 08886-02105 for 4 litres. Searching on that does seem to suggest a lack of stock in the UK, but: https://yoshiparts.com/parts/toyota-0888602105 is in Belgium and shipping is £14 so not awful. You could also try ringing a Toyota dealer with the part number and see if their supply chain has any stock. The above link says the spec is JWS 3320, and there are some aftermarket fluids to that spec if getting OEM is awkward.

There are plenty on Yahoo Auctions Japan, £20-40 (+fees+shipping+VAT): https://zenmarket.jp/en/yahoo.aspx?q=84140-42080&p=1

Ah, thanks. I've been watching too many videos and maybe I was confusing the 30 series 😀 . There there's a space inside that has the spare wheel, and I think some have a tray that sits on top: https://youtu.be/vL5it8ucvuU?t=596s Looks like on the 20 series the spare wheel carrier sits underneath and the space is under the floor instead: https://youtu.be/qW1cS9syak4?t=56s

Under the back of the boot floor, below the seat rails, there is a storage area. I think there is a shallow plastic tray between the rails and then a deeper space below that. Would anyone mind measuring this larger space, ie the full depth with the tray removed. I'm interested in measurements for the 20-series 2WD petrol, the hybrid and the 4WD petrol - I'm not sure if the rear diff or the rear motor occupy any of this space. Thanks!

I have no experience, but I noticed somebody is selling the 30 series hybrid model report for £200 on eBay. A model report is evidence that an example vehicle has been through a type testing procedure (a bit similar to new cars but not sure if it's as detailed) and you can use it to get through the IVA without having to redo all the checks. I think it needs to match though, so eg a different engine size would need a new model report. Not done this myself and no connection will the seller, but the listing number is 352934268787. What I would be interested to know is whether the model report allows you to get access to lower tax bands based on the CO2 figures for the hybrid. I've seen one or two older hybrids advertised as having £20 tax, so perhaps they went through IVA with a model report before they were 10 years old? Or maybe it's a mistake by the seller? (it seems basically impossible to find out tax liability for a vehicle you don't own) After 10 years (early 30 series now) you just need an MOT - I'm not clear if you can voluntarily choose the stricter IVA route if you had a model report. I've not managed to find anyone with a 20 series model report which might potentially be useful for importing hybrids if that was the case.

Hi all, I've just joined the forum. I've been gradually disappearing down an Alphard rabbit-hole for my next car, having started at Estimas and then fallen down the slippery slope. I'm particularly interested in the hybrids - I'm an electrical engineer, already have a Prius and a Yaris Hybrid and have spent too long on PriusChat, so I'm fairly familiar with how the systems work and am interested in how it's been applied to the larger vehicles. Don't have a specific vehicle in mind yet, but leaning towards a 20-series Alphard/Vellfire hybrid, either importing from Japan or looking for a UK one with a poorly hybrid system that I might be able to work on. Open to suggestions, leads, etc in that direction but also other technical chat.