Rojie

Hello Gordon, Welcome to the Forum. There is an Introduction Section. Click on the Forums button top left of your home page. There is also a For Sale section, where you may find just what you need. There are several specialist companies that are able to provide both converted and non converted Alphards and Vellfires. You could make a good start with Funky Ram; a trade member of this Club. Plenty of reading to do. Good Luck.

Hello Michael, Welcome to the Forum. Sorry to hear your early Alphie ownership has been problematic.

I can't advise on an awning. I don't have one. Many members do though, and there are lots of threads on here about their experiences. Will you need to tether the cat; to prevent it running off when you are parked up? Technical, dogs must be restrained when travelling. I assume cats would need to be also. Cooking implements. We have a Melamine table set. Simple cruets, cheap kettle for gas hob, cheap cutlery. Three good kitchen knives and a bread knife. We also have EHU (Electric Hook Up, 240v) for low power appliances. Cooking in your van is a challenge as you do not want steam or fumes inside. Salads, tinned fish and meat, make life much easier. There is an increasing number of pubs offering free overnight stays. They do expect you to eat there. Some have EHU and showers too, for a very reasonable charges. I feel sure you will have most of what you need from your caravanning days. Visit Go Outdoors and have a browse at what is available. You will be surprised.

Hello again Chris, As a solo Alpharder you should have plenty of room, but, I guess, it depends on the duration how long your trip. You will soon develop a "place for everything, and everything in its place". Presumably you have a leisure battery and split charger to power your cool box. We only 'go way' for short spells and, we find, the biggest challenge is drying wet clothes and a wet dog. We bought clothing that doesn't get wet, Goretex is shake dry and the moisture does not penetrate the surface. There are other technologies/brands that achieve the same. The dog is a different matter. We have a storage box for dry towels, and another for wet towels. Many campsites do have drying facilities. Were the middle row of seats removed a s part of your conversion ? Do you have a hard floor, or carpeted ? Where there's a will there's a way. Will you be travelling in winter ?

HelloTahir, Welcome to the Forum

Where do you intend to visit ? How well is your van equipped already ? Description or photos please.

I'm sure you will receive plenty of advice. That is what our community is all about. Help and advice, and opinion ! Can you elaborate on the type of touring you expect to do. That should help us all provide sensible advice

I believe Clearcut Campervan Design in Barnstaple do flat pack units.

Hello Chris, Welcome to the Forum. So very sorry to hear about your late wife. Acquiring an Alphie is a good choice. May you enjoy many a mile in her and reminiscing about your 15 years of caravanning.

Any MOT station should be able to test your vehicle. Taking corrective action, should any be needed, is a different matter. Many official Toyota dealers will not work on imported vehicles. However some will, so it's worth checking your local dealer. There are less expensive approaches though Any garage that is competent, and experienced, working on Toyota vehicles would, ihmo, be a far better choice than Halfords (or Kwik Fit).

Hi Alasdair, From the plan above, your bed looks very narrow. Great for one, rather tight for two ! Is that a kitchen sink / hob behind the passenger seat ? I ask as they are normally fitted behind the driver's seat. That way, ingress and egress is to the safer nearside !

Yes, good point Steve. As they are a broker, they should be open to a little haggling; as in your case

As Alasdair says. The messages should be there waiting for you.

Hello Pauline, Welcome to the Forum. You have correctly put this in the Buy and Sell area. Thank you. However, please read the information you are required to provide to sell through this medium. You should also include a reasonable number of photos, to enhance your chances of interest. Please add the required information, and, hopefully, you will get some enquiries.

Hello Declan, Welcome to the Forum. The JPNZ Owners Manual is excellent, but, as you have discovered, it is pretty grim regarding 'in car entertainment'. If you still have the OEM HDD system, try eightseater.blog.com, as he covers it in English very well.

Wow. That is a good price. Their quotes seem to vary wildly. Just be a ware that Adrian Flux is a broker; you should enquire who the actual underwriter is and check them out.

Hi Ian, Have you tried your local official Toyota dealer, or Toyota Direct ?

Hi Gill, Did you receive my personal messages ?

I have sent you a PM.

Thanks for the reminder. As a BT customer we have access to the BT WiFi Hotspots, although, actually, have never used any of them. Something else for me to work on. Should be easy . I bought a second PC just for the van. I use the older Dell XPS, very robust. I have been thinking of a small sound bar, but storage on the move is a real issue as my dog takes up so much room.

Hello Gilly, Welcome to the Forum. I can recommend a rear conversion specialist who does exemplary work, at reasonable cost. BUT They are near Exeter ! If you need a 'must have' reason to use him I could send you (privately) a photo of my fully veneered Maple rear kitchen. And, btw, some members believe you cannot cook 'indoors' with a rear kitchen. You can (but not a fried breakfast). All you need is a EHU and a induction hob.

Hi Nigel, We use a 17" PC with DVD, and an attached HDD. The PC uses a cigarette power adapter running from our leisure battery. I did look at Cello, but went with the HD PC that I already had. Plus, where do you store a delicate TV when travelling? I was going to fit a TV gizmo to the PC, but, so far, haven't needed to. My wife watches films mainly. News and directions we get from our phone. The PC sits nicely on our rear kitchen and our rear facing Captains seats provide armchair luxury. Sound is by Bose noise cancelling wireless headphones (benefit is I can read !). As the van is, effectively, a Faraday cage, you will need a very good aerial. Ideal for us. No installation hassle, easy portable storage with folding laptop. HD films, DVDs, etc'; and no aerial issues. Food for thought, maybe.

Karen if you still need this service, the guy I can recommend will come to your house and program the keys and demo them.

You will have a separate fob for it. Just three buttons. Lock, unlock and tailgate. The reason I ask is it can, when programmed through the head unit, perform all kinds of tricks with the locking system. I was just wondering whether it has some bug or other malfunction; perhaps needing a new fob battery. Doors can be programmed to lock after you drive off, etc. Is your rear hatch electrically assisted? On another line of thinking, I believe the rear hatch has obstruction detectors. perhaps there is a malfunction there. I am just guessing, as no-one else (in my recollection) has reported such a situation !

You don't need to change the head unit, if that's what you're considering, to use a Sat Nav. There are phone apps or discrete Sat Nav units