Rojie

Mood lighting is difficult to detect when left on low, especially during the day. Any additional driving lights ? Most items are wired through the ignition, or should be, so check any after-market gizmos. Also there is a good chance your battery was in poor condition, or charge, when you bought the van. Get the battery tested at Halfords or Kwik Fit, under load. Check your battery lead connections at both end of both leads. Keep your battery fully charged at all times, especially in the winter months. A smart charger is recommended.

Hello Matthew, May I respectfully request you to update your location. UK is not helpful when seeking assistance from nearby Alphie owners.

Please provide details of Jeremy in the Servicing Section of this Forum. It is OK to post his business address and business phone number in that section.

You need to check the battery terminals for oxidation and tightness, at both ends of both leads.

Hello Denni, Welcome to the Forum. Regarding changing the head-unit. Caution is needed. This task is not as easy as it might be, It is a very popular topic within this forum, so you can search from your home page. Lots of reading for you to do before any decision making.

Hello David, Welcome to the Forum.

I have an earlier model. There is a fuse box behind the glove box (which is not difficult to remove) but it is extremely difficult to get at. You may need to be on your back, with a torch and a mirror too.

You make an extremely good point, which I overlooked, about the reduction in headroom. This often gets overlooked. I have 'played' with changes to seat arrangements; just scoping out possibilities. Hence my reference to rain, no point in getting the seat soaked, not much fun sitting a a wet seat ! Just a thought, do you have an 8 seater ? With the middle seats that reverse ? It could be worth checking whether the smaller middle seat fits on the front seat chassis !

Hello Andy, Welcome to the Forum. Are you suggesting your "managed to override and get engine running" allowed you to drive the vehicle ?

I have no experience with power stations. Are you thinking a side conversion or a rear conversion ? Side conversions tend to have narrow beds (if two are sleeping). Our rear conversion offers a full width, full length bed, very comfortable until you have 23kg pooch sleeping with you. ! He was not happy in the mini-tent, and nor was I ! So, what is my best advice for you ? Where is your greyhound going to sleep ? A hammock across the front seats ? That seems to be your real challenge ! You could get an Alphie with a tow bar (not easy) and that would offer many other possibilities. My own view is an EHU is essential, not expensive but opens up all kinds of options; just make sure you have somewhere to 25 metres of cable.! Some say less will do, but beware Cornish sites. Good Luck Happy Camparding.

They should be. The Alphies are wonderful vehicles.

Great, and simple, idea. Driving with a rear facing front seat, in the UK, would be illegal (as well as dangerous). I assert this as I am almost certain the front seatbelt will not be available or fully operative, and nor would the dash airbag. I guess OZ does not get the rain Bilghty does.

Ooopps

If planning wild camping your option is restricted to gas (with or without a power station). How will you recharge the powerstation ? If not then an EHU is worth the investment, imho. Alphies are quite small, especially when you load them with all the conveniences of home ! So consider where all these appliances will fit, especially when mobile. I have a gas twin hob, and sink. An EHU for a induction hob that is not built-in. A mains (low power) kettle, an electric fan heater, and a compressor cool-box (fantastic), and an electric air mattress ! I can assure you fitting these all in in both day and night configurations is a challenge, to say the least. Oh, and a large Sprollie dog. All this is even more exciting in the rain ! Wet weather departures are not a lot of fun. Depending on our plans we either run in night mode, with everything stored accordingly. In night mode it is totally impractical to do much other than boil the kettle. Cooking is performed under the open tailgate. In day mode, cooking and eating are possible, but not lie-flat napping; We are restricted in activities, but mainly due to 23kg of highly active, and affectionate, pooch. So, lots of deciding for you to do..

Hello Kevin, Can I respectfully ask you to add this recommendation to the appropriate section in the Servicing area of this Forum.

Hello Mick, Welcome to the Forum. Q1 No. Q2 Most do. Q3 To have a car exported (from Japan) it must have an Auction Sheet. A brief summary of the condition. It does not include mechanical issues. You should insist on sight of this sheet. It is a good starting point. Importer will need to get the vehicle registered at DVLA and MOTd. Q4 Early hybrids can be an issue. It is very difficult to locate competent engineers to work on the battery system. New batteries are very expensive, plus the cost of removal / refitting. General advice is be wary of the Generation 1 machines. prior to 2008. Q5 No, other than replacing the head unit, and that can be fraught with problems. Hopefully this proves useful, and other members will add anything I have overlooked. The vehicle will need undersealing, if not already. Worse thing you can do is drive one ! Result, love at first drive. Just do the due diligence, don't skip on it.

Hello Jonathan, Welcome to the Forum. Looks lovely.

Hi Paul, Welcome to the Forum. It is a common maintenance issue. I would not be worried about it yet. This topic is covered withing this Forum. You should be able to get an estimate to have it repaired from these pages. Don't assume any garage will work on your future purchase. Try and find a garage that will before you need one; preferably before you purchase one. I believe a semi-special tool is required to remove / refit the bushes. Some members have done a diy.

I wish I had a pound for every time I had to do that in my youth, especially with Fords. Glad you fixed it. Always suspect the starter battery but never overlook the battery leads and connections.

I haven't seen the video by cuttothechase. You could write to him, he is Ldrego on here.

I agree with Neville. It is a rat's nest in there, be careful

Can you provide a photo of the head unit you do have ?

I'm no mechanic; but it looks like a drive shaft coupling. Is it driver's side or nearside ?

Hello Jenny, Please share your method; albeit temporary. Thanks

Hello Stuart, Welcome to the Forum. You cannot change the language. The sat nav won't work either, it won't be able to locate the satellite. Even if the disc system works, you will need UK discs, and I don't think any were ever available. The DVD size is, probably, for CDs (and maybe DVDs, the smaller one is probably for minidiscs. Both should work, but may require region 2 DVDs (my later model does not). If you go the new head-unit route, as many do, proceed with caution paying particular attention to steering wheel functions, including cameras (if you have them. There is a ton of info on Head-units within this Forum. Good Luck