Charlie Brown

There is a catch on the bottom hinge that activates if you open the sliding door when the window is open, I think it is a safety feature. Have a look next time it happens, if it is activated it works in both electric and manual mode.

You could try Simon Pilling, Auto keys Ltd, www.autokeysltd.com. Operates in the South West. Not cheap, ours cost £200, but in my view he really knows his stuff.

Hello Chris We don't sleep in our pop top. We have a very comfortable rock and roll bed. Personally I think sleeping in the pop top is for young agile people. As for weight, on our conversion there is a large almost full width area, about half a metre deep at the front, where the roof of the original vehicle is still in place; that holds a lot. Also on our conversion the 'upstairs' is made of four or five 30 mm thick blocks. We leave one of these in place which makes for another storage area as big as the front. When we roll up for the night, the pop top goes up first thing and all our stuff is moved up to these two areas. It only takes a minute as it is all in boxes.

Hello Chris We would not be without our pop top. It gives ample headroom in the whole standing area when the bed is away. It makes cooking, changing clothes and just moving around so much more convenient. We also use some of the space for storage when we are camped up. When the pop top is stowed away our van is 1970 mm high at its highest point. hope this helps.

Also got ours from Odyssey carpets. Very pleased. Recommended

Hello There is a whole section on this forum about insurance with many contacts with different insurance brokers going back quite a while. Look for the insurance tab at the top. That is where I found our insurer, Lifesure, but many other owners have found satisfactory deals with other insurance companies. Good Luck

Hello All I've just renewed the insurance for our 2008 2.4 Alphard camper van with Lifesure. New premium is £323.19. This includes a full motor home package, legal expenses and NCD protection and one named driver as well as myself. Last year it was £365.48. I renewed it practically painlessly on line. I got some other quotes. Caravan and Motorhome Club was £438.26! ClubCare, the insurance for the Camping and Caravan Club, was £337.27. Tried LV direct on line, but they would not insure the vehicle.

Hello Adam You've done some good research. There are numerous choices, which one is right. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and strip it down some time.

Hello. I have this problem as well but with the passenger side. The fact that you can hear the motor working indicates that the fault is in the motor mechanism. I found a video on YouTube that showed a broken plastic cog in the mechanism. My local Alphard experts, Funky Ram, at Avonmouth, said they could get a mirror from Toyota with the right mechanism and cannibalise it. This would cost just under £200, but with fitting this would be near £400. I don't think you can just source the relevant cog. I wish I knew which mirror would have the right bits in. I wonder if anyone else has successfully cured this problem? Myron

I had this problem when we bought our Alphard. Took it back to the garage where I bought it. Took them a while to find the problem. Initially, the diagnostics indicated a faulty oxygen sensor but replacing it did not solve the problem. Clever mechanic at the garage then reckoned it was another sensor, lambda I think. Replaced that and problem solved. My point is that apparently the faulty sender was creating adverse conditions which upset the oxygen levels, and the oxygen sensor was actually working correctly. The faulty sender however did not throw up a fault. Hope that helps.

We would endorse the comments Pete made about the person who runs this company. We couldn't get along with him at all. We ended up buying a Funky Ram conversion from JMT Leisure near Weston Super Mare and are basically very pleased with it.

Hello Rojie This link (Toyotaalphardepc.com) does not seem to work. I have the same problem. Do you have any more information? Thanks

We are staying over on Saturday night, at Burton Hill Farm, Burton Dassett, Southam. It's about 5 miles from the museum. It is a Caravan and Motorhome site (CL). I think you need to be members.

Hello Gareth. It is a side conversion and the total figure did not include bikes or bike racks. Hope this helps.

I've been following this post with some interest. From comments made I found that the export certificate for our 2008, 1st generation, 2.4 Alphard was for 1830 kg unladen and 2270 kg fully laden. The log book confirms the unladen weight, but gives no figure for max permissible mass. This fits in with the comments that Toyota apply a load of 440 kg. The van has been converted to a camper van, with all the usual including a pop top. I then had it weighed. 1/4 tank, myself and the wife, our normal gear and enough food and clothes for a weekend. It came to 2220 kg.

This is a really good idea and we are interested in attending. Particularly like the idea of meeting other owners and looking at other Aplhards. Also be great if there were trade stands and experts attending. Like the idea of camping. Our Aphard won't win any competitions but its tidy enough to put on show, so might enter that.

I've just had to do this job. I found this video helpful. I think it's extremely difficult to get the lens out without damaging the two little plastic tabs on the top side of the lens, but not sure if they're really that important.

Hello All Thanks for all the info on insurance, it was most useful. We have a 2008 2.4 V fully converted. Went with Lifesure. £365, full NCD + protection and legal. Also internal kit. My wife as named driver. They seemed to know what they're talking about. Adrian Flux wanted £475. Carole Nash would not insure us as it was not registered as a Motor Home, but Private Light Goods. Happy motoring.

Hello Everyone We picked up our Alphard today. It's a 2008 2.4 that has been professionally converted to a camper van. Impressed with the Alphard Club which has a wealth of good information on it. Latest info on insurance was very useful and we have also bought some items through this club. Thanks for taking the trouble to share your knowledge.