Rojie

Form, fit and function. When replacing the starter battery it is ESSENTIAL to ensure the terminals are in the correct places on the battery, AND that they are the correct polarity in those places. Some vehicles, and batteries, are fitted with different sized posts to prevent the problem of incorrect fitment. Those on my Alphie are the same size. Also, if you try and place a new battery 180 degrees incorrectly, the battery leads will not reach.

I would contact DVLA, and point out that no Alphards were fitted with Diesel engines. The document even notes engine number as 1MZ. I doubt the number of seats will be of much interest to them as some are frequently removed.

I am sure you will find the right vehicle. As with any pre-owned good, anyone can buy easily, but it can take time to find a problem free purchase. There are some poor vehicles out there, we read about them on this forum; but there are many well cared for examples too. The DVLA resource for MOT history is always a good place for an initial assessment of the condition. Ongoing advisories is not a history that I would be hoping for. However, it seems that the MOT testers are finding more and more advisories to demonstrate their thoroughness ! Good Luck with your search, it is the time when under used vehicles tend to enter the market, market seasonality and all that.

Hello Diran, Search this forum for head units. It is one of, if not the most, popular topic.

Hi Greg, On some of the earlier HDD head units a disc changer (stacker) was unnecessary as the unit would record CDs inserted in the slot (as Chris describes) automatically. There is also a process for 'erasing' recorded CDs should you run short of disc space.

I am not sure about the Gen 1, but very confident that Theatre System was available on the Gen 1 facelift. It was an option though, so not all vehicles have it.

Joseph, at Topsham Car Sales, has been in the importation business for many years.

Hello Russell, I believe you should be able to connect by BlueTooth, depending on which head unit you have. Try eightseaters.blogspot or something very similar. He provides a very useful article on one of the most popular head units, the HDD

Hello Shane, Welcome to the Forum. Your problem is not uncommon. Try searching the forum for head units, etc.

Hello Clair, Was the drivers seat leather ? As the vehicle sits quite high the the kerb, and most Japanese drivers are quite short the squab can incur quite a lot of wear with ingress and egress. Bit if the leather is 'just cracking' it should be able to be refurbished at reasonable cost. If the vehicle was clocked in Japan you will never know; but it is just not consistent with Japanese culture. The Auction Sheet is, imho, the acid test. You must insist on a copy. There are also BIMTA certification and CarVX reports regarding 'mileage'. Most imports have their speedometer and odometer converted to miles from km. The technique does offer the opportunity for clocking, not that I am accusing anyone of such activity.

Hello Russell, You will only get Radio 2. that is normal as the Japanese and British FM bands are different. You may be lucky and get a couple of other noisy stations. You can change the headunit, which can be easy, or not. You can also get frequency changers, or use modern gizmos to achieve your aim. This is a very common query. Search the forum for Head Units.

Unfortunately not. sorry

Check DVLA MOT History, as this does not appear to have been maintained much.

Hello Thomas, Welcome to the Forum.

Hello Greg, Welcome to the Forum. Can you please change your profile to correctly reflect the vehicle you have.

Hello Donna, Welcome to the Forum. The front seats do not swivel unless a special base plate has been fitted. They are not a common modification. Are your seats electric ally operated, or manual ? If you have a rotating seat, I assume there should be some lever mechanism under there somewhere ! Is there ?

Hello Chrissie, Welcome to the Forum. Try searching the forum. Door closure problems are not unheard of. Look in the technical section.

Sound, and particularly noise, is a subjective thing; different people will hear the same sound differently. Especially with increasing age. The only reliable method would be a sound meter used in the differing vehicles, at the same speed, across the same terrain, driven in exactly the same way. Or a rolling road scenario. I think your attention should be directed towards other attributes / differences.

Simple multi-meters are available at low cost. (Toolstation / Screwfix). Always worth having one in the domestic tool kit.

Hello Jonathan, Welcome to the Forum. The more gears there are the lower the rpm on motorways, etc. Hence the fours can be relative noisy and thirsty.

Hello Jacj, Welcome to the Forum.

Hello Malcolm, Welcome to the Forum.

Hello John, Welcome to the Forum. Chain.

Hello Simon, Welcome to the Forum.

Hello Philippe, Welcome to the Forum.