threepot

On the Rav4 what often happens is the wiring corrodes right where it plugs into the diff. Its just a solenoid, so you can use a bulb to test it if works, and you can check the resistance of the solenoid in the diff with a multimeter, I'd guess it'd be about 1 to 5 ohms.

Wow, so they half admit there is a problem but for only 3 years or 36000 miles! Yes, certainly if you put any good tape on my van and pulled it off you would certainly see primer 😂

I tried to hide mine with stickers for a year but when you look closely you find there is more delaminating paint than you expect, then when I removed the stickers all the paint came off with them. Really I was just after a cheap and quick fix as the van was looking scruffy and I was scared to jet wash it as more paint always came off. The white carbon effect wrap does blend in with the paint work once there is a layer of dirt all over the van. My Alphard/Vellfire is a work horse, always towing stuff, filling up the back with stuff for tip runs - used it earlier to push an empty skip into a better location! I wouldn't be scared of having a go at DIY wrapping simple panels, its really pretty easy to be fair. Just need a clean environment so you don't get any debris under it and the static when you peel the back off sure does attract everything.

Thought I would post this here as I can't be the only one with this problem. The paint has been peeling on my bonnet since I imported the Vellfire a few years back, it started from the stone chips and water got under the paint and lifted more. It was starting to get ugly, I put some small stickers over it to try and stop it, but the peeling grew and grew. Went to see a couple of different bodyshops where I know the guys, they warned me that because of the white pearl paint it is nearly impossible to match and blending in over panels stands out really badly, it would never be a case of just painting the bonnet 😭 So one night a few weeks ago I just peeled all the flaking paint off the whole bonnet and ended up like this:- Sanded the edges of the paint back to make it as smooth as possible then had a few experiments with some white carbon vinyl car wrap, came to the conclusion the hardest bits on the bonnet is where the 3 crease lines meet so tried those bit a couple of times with some off cuts:- Then went for! Got everything clean and layed that puppy down with the help of a mate as a second pair of hands, and seeing as neither of us have ever tried to wrap anything before it went surprisingly well on the first shot 🥳 no defects, bubbles, creases or anything at all! Anyway, hope that gives you a bit of confidence if you are thinking of doing something similar, it wasn't that hard at all, and it looks much tidier now for a rough daily work truck.

I've just booked yesterday to do Anglesey again on Monday 6th May, fingers crossed we get some fair weather. The view and outlook makes it a really nice day I think, and the layout is mega with those high speed rights and the tight stuff up top. Totally standard gearbox, and these ones with the later 6 speed automatic transmission seem like the better gearbox, but time will tell. I had to make a towbar as buying one was proving difficult, but I posted all about it here:-

My 2010 Vellfire 3.5 tows my track car on the trailer fantastic, I barely know its there. Done loads of track days with it over the last couple of years and its been great. Pulls like a train, those big hill on the A55 into North Wales are nothing to it. Super comfy, cruise control, automatic etc. Just what I want to drive half way across the country after a track day. Loads of tyres and tools etc go in the back no problem, and if it rains my van ends up being the hospitality suite for a bit. Keep in mind the Alphard/Vellfire doesn't have a chassis plate with any defined axle weights or towing capacity. It is not a type approved vehicle thus it never had those type approval features. Quite what VOSA would do if they ever pulled me over will be interesting as I don't think there is any guidance or ruling on it.

Excellent and great success! Its quite magic getting the V5c though the post - mission accomplished 🥳

Hope this hits the spot!

You have to look at the original import documentation, use that format, I can't remember now but maybe "-" hyphen can't be used. Also it needs to be on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) system which your shipping agent will have access too. Once its on the CDS then it can be NOVA'd

We all have to pay VAT on import. A vat registered car dealer claims it back, then adds it back onto the retail price. Thus you are paying the 20% of the resale price from a vat registered car dealer. While when you import it you only pay the 20% VAT based on the japanese auction price + shipping + fees. As for the auction sheet..... I found a few of the resellers were presenting "modified" grading sheets, they had doctored the grading and the KM's of the vehicle.... one of them got very aggressive when I emailed him over the original sheet 🤣

Yes, I tried to buy one from a few of the import dealer specialist guys. Not all are entirely honest, some pretend it was a Grade 4 or whatever, but it wasn't, they don't want to pay the Japanese hammer price for the really really nice ones! They were asking about £15k for one like mine back then.... I got mine direct from japan for about £10k I just resorted to bidding on one in japan myself using japancardirect.com I put down my bidders deposit, we bid on a few that we didn't win. Then I won my white 2010 Vellfire 3.5 4x4 for a reasonable price. The full spare set of alloy wheels in the boot and the gear knob were stolen during transport, but this is mega common... Its called the "Japanese knob robber".... that's why there are so many gearknobs for sale on yahoo auctions JP 🤣 8 weeks later I picked up my van from Bristol docs! No middle man, no dealers profit margin, no badly bodged fog light wiring etc. I'd totally recommend buying one direct if you dare 😉

Are you going to share what you did? And what sort of sounds system is in your van?

You don't have to answer those. There is no EU compliant emissions testing, these are not Type approved vehicles. I just gave them supporting documentation for proof of age, being the export Japanese export certificate, and an MOT certificate which was done under the chassis number. Included a cheque for the registration fee and 12 months tax. And 2 weeks later a V5C came though the post! It was amazingly easy to be fair! This is how I filled out my form.... And I sent it with all these docs.... And I got a V5C back like this!

Yes I've been messing with this, I've also removed the factory android microphone from the front of the head unit. I've belled out the wires to the Toyota microphone, colours and pins are all correct.... I put a post on here too... Currently my Dad is in hospital so all car tinkering has ground to a halt, but I think using the Toyota factory microphone is the future.

I would agree with chris.... Take the head unit out and look at the little brown box... or it might be a metal box. It'll just be loose behind the head unit. I'd be tempted to plug the original Toyota head unit back in to make sure it all works on that.