stopgapcat

We got a competitive quote from Adrian Flux for our 3.0l campervan - they are certainly worth a try

We have a 2006 Alphard - I bought an ANCEL JP700 Automotive JOBD from Amazon for £55 - this is the specific version that includes JDM vehicles - works well

I think there are probably better examples out there if you are prepared to travel a bit to get the right one. And things like the speedo conversion, rear fog light and under body treatment (they don't use salt on the roads in Japan in told) really ought to have been taken care of before you buy.

We had the same symptoms and fault code on our 2006 3.0 litre - the garage cleaned the Mass Air Flow Sensor (for free!) when we took it in for a service, and this fixed the issue. Hope this helps!

Am I correct that you mean cam belt where you refer to drive belt? If so, my local garage says it's the same engine as the Camry. They now have 5 Alphards on their books, so they 'know their stuff'. If you are anywhere near Derby, I would highly recommend them - CK Automotive. Thanks for the info about the badge under the bonnet - will have a look later. Have you tried an online translation tool? As for fuel economy, following a full service, our 3.0 litre managed 30mpg on a long run recently - I suggest that isn't bad for such a big car. And there seems to be no issue with Low Emission Zones (I haven't checked London, but the others are all fine). So I don't feel any need to go back to a 'dirty diesel'!

Just be a bit wary of going for the smaller engine - I was advised by the company we got ours from that the smaller engine has to work harder, so might not be that much more efficient than the (absolutely lovely) 3.0 litre V6 - and for our year (2006), I understand that the 3.0 came with a five speed gearbox, whereas the 2.4 came with a for speed gearbox.

ANCEL JP700 JOBD OBD2 Japanese Car Scanner from Amazon worked on our 3.0l from 2006

Had to glue both of mine back in - the clips at the top and bottom of the reflectors aren't the greatest! I'd suggest going online and seeing if you can find them at Megazip - this is a Japanese supplier of auto spares - they have diagrams of every vehicle so you can work out the part number and order the right thing. They will then ship the part to the UK by your choice from five different couriers, including at least two well known ones (I think I selected DHL). We managed to find a tow hook cover for our 2006 Alphard for about £15 - with shipping it was about £45 and arrived with about a week. Hope the helps! Steve K

It's also worth trying "Megazip" - I managed to find an obscure part for our Alphard (silver towing eye cover), which arrived directly from Japan without any significant issues, and for a sensible cost, including shipping by FEDEX / TNT / DHL

Donnington Park has good access from both the North and South