Voodoo101

Extension lead for 12v chargers. NDDI 120W Car Charger, Cigarette Lighter Splitter USB Car Adapter with QC 3.0 Quick Charge and Three 5V/MAX 5.5A USB Ports, 3 Cigarette Sockets with 4 On Off Switch, Car Voltage Display: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

I got my 2009 Vellfire earlier this year and had a nightmare. Some places would not quote because it was an import. Tried comparison sites but they only had they only listed 240X and 240S, but mine is a 240Z, so a few would not insure (if they put it down wrong, your insurance is invalid and the will not pay out). Phone Admiral who said they could sort out a price and would phone me back. That was 4 months ago and still no phone call. Ended up with Adrian Flux. My last insurance was a group policy with a company car, so they arranged for the claims free years to count as no claims bonus, then negotiated with the brokers to get a price cheaper then Admiral. They then covered my excess free of charge, so in the event of an accident, my excess is covered. Then there was a problem on the paperwork from my old insurance company that said that I had a claim but was not a claim. This cause confusion with Adrian Flux when they received it think I had not told them of a claim. When it was sorted they gave me compensation for the error and it was not even their fault.

The fuse box is accessable without removing the glove box, infact the glove box will not make any difference unless you need access to thread cables from the door. To remove it, open it up, on the left side you will see a plastic rod from the dash to the glove box, just pull it free as it comes off easy, then squeeze the sides of the glove box as you pull it open (make sure it is empty as it will just hinge on the bottom) then pop it off the hinges. Be careful when you put it back to make sure the hinges are correctly lined up when you put it back, otherwise it gets jammed and is a pain to get back out to align. Then push it back in place, hooking up the pole. The easy way to wire up a dashcam is to use a piggy back fuse. Saves any major wiring, the only problem is the fuse box lid does not fit after. If you remove the kick panel on the left of the footwell (there is a little plastic nut at the back and it just pops off), there is a bolt that is a good earth.

Yes, but you have to get a powered adaptor for the arial.

Wasn't arguing, just pointing out the otherside of the discussion so people can make a choice instead of just hearing scaremonger tactics of how bad it is. There are also people saying that it is not bad. People can decide on what they want to do once they get the full information. Without proper evidence, it is all just hearsay either way.

Well like everything. For every person who thinks you get more mpg, you will find somebody who thinks you don't. Maybe you did not give your ECU chance to make adjustments. Maybe you had a bad tank of fuel. Maybe it's was the placebo effect. I found this though from Australia. E10 vs 98 Ultra-Premium There is a popular myth that higher octane fuel like 98 UPULP will give ordinary cars more performance and better economy. Unless your car has been specifically tuned to run solely on 98RON UPULP this is simply not true, and any gains in efficiency would come from the improved cleaning ability of 98 removing built-up gunk inside your engine that was already hurting your fuel economy. Or this from the UK It should be perfectly fine to use a higher-octane fuel than the manufacturer recommends for your car – though it’s unlikely to offer any discernible benefit. Or this 6. Using premium unnecessarily If you use high octane fuel in an engine designed for low octane fuel, the engine will adapt up, slightly. The knock sensor will allow a small increase in ignition advance and there will be a slight increase in power. Slight. Certainly this adaptation will not produce as much additional economy/power as there would be if they increased the compression ratio and optimised for premium.

I already have, but threads like this won't show the difference. There are lot of factors that come into play about fuel usage. Driving styles, road condition, temperature, road layout, traffic, engine condition, tyre pressures, wheel size, additives used, windows or air conditioning, weight, body style. The only way this debate would be settled is if there was independent test done with the same vehicle on rolling road with proper scientific tests.

This theory does not seem to stand up in real life use. I have been looking for any scientific proof and could not find any, so did my own test, but had no difference. I fear that it is like the old standard v premium fuel adverts, that motoring shows tested on rolling roads and found no difference.

Hi Dave I have a 2009 Vellfire, so some of this might not be true for you. I was told when I bought mine to use E5 only, so I did some research. This is what I found. I am no expert so this if for information only, make your own decision. E10 has more ethanol so it can cause problems in older cars, by older the research I have found states cars pre 2000. The problems it can cause is rotting of rubber fuel hoses and welds in carburettors. As Alphards / Vellfires are fuel injected this last one does not matter. There is also reports that because it ethanol does not burn, there is lower MPG, however I never found any actual scientific figures for this at all, only conjecture. Toyota UK will not state whether imported cars from Japan are safe to use E10. They do state that European cars produced since January 1998 are compatible with the exception of the Toyota Avensis 2.0 litre with the 1AZ-FSE engine and the 2.4 litre with the 2AZ-FSE up to 2008. I have no idea of the engine that is in your car is one of these. I assume that Toyota design engines and fit them in different cars. My last car was a Mercedes with a Renault engine, so for cost cutting this may be the case. On the flip side, I found an article saying the Japanese government has been looking into adding extra ethanol in fuel over there since 2000, even stating that they want to get to far more then 10%, and the logic in me is saying that companies like Toyota, who build cars to last, would build cars with this in mind. There is also a video on Youtube of somebody with an Alphard running on E10. They show that the car can be jerky when you first change, however the ECU learns and settles to smooth driving. I just changed a battery and had the same problem for a while, so this seems to make sense. Now my own experience, like I said I have a 2009 Vellfire which came to the UK in 2019, however I only purchased it a month ago. I ran it on E5 at first and it seemed a but jumpy at the start then smoothed out. I have no idea what the previous owner ran it on. I was low on fuel and the only garage close had E10, no E5 so had no choice. The car was jerky for a while then ran smooth. I have seen no difference in fuel consumption, if anything it runs better of E10, maybe the ethanol is cleaning the injectors. With the cost of living and the limit of getting E5, I have decided to run E10. Only time will tell if there is a major problem, however many drivers run on E10 now and I have seen no horror stories of people having problems. With regards to an additive, there is one available, as to where you get it, what it's called and if it is any good I cant tell you. Unfortionaly nobody can make the decision for you. It is your car and you have to make the choice. There will be people on here that will say only use E5. There was somebody on a Facebook page blaming E10 for stopping the gears changing, and said running E5 will fix the gearbox.

I am putting a USB charger in the rear of the car as I have no ports at all on my 2009 Vellfire. I ran a cable from the head unit accessories 12v cable and permanent 12V cable to behind the glove box, then put in a four port fuse box to split the cable. The 12v permanent feed then goes to the dash cam parking monitor feed. The 12v accessory cable is split in three, one goes to the dashcam live feed, one goes to the USB charging port that is fitted next to the cigarette lighter port, the last is ready to be fed to the back, via the passenger chair to the centre console. Today I removed the back panel of the centre console only to find, in true Toyota fashion, the cables for the three sockets in other models. Yippee I thought, a 12V supply that i can just tap into, but no, there is no voltage. Does anybody know where these cables come out the other end so I can see if I can tap into them without having to remove the seat and centre console to run the cable?

This is the item you need for the 18 speaker system I think. Car Android Radio Cable Connector Socket Power Wiring Harness with CANBus MOST Decoder for Toyota Alphard Lexus IS250 IS300| | - AliExpress This is the one for the doors etc. Beware of the seller though as they are not helpful at all. They sent me just the cable and I'm still fighting with them to get it sorted, but it is the only place I have found the unit. Skyfame Car 16pin Wiring Harness Adapter Canbus Box Decoder For Alphard 20 Android Radio Power Cable - Speaker Line - AliExpress

I have a 2.4l 2009 Vellfire, does 28 mpg. I must admit that I don't drive the most economical way. There is a page on here where people list MPG

There is a post on here about that. You have to get some extra's to go with it. The unit will work out of the box with the normal system. You need an adaptor for the rear camera. If you want to be able to change car settings like door locking, window actions and want the unit to display the door status and parking sensors than you need a canbus cable (cost me £30). Then there is another box that you need for the 18 speaker system, which I don't have. I cant remember which post it is but if not that old, but explains what you need.

Yeah this was another problem. Spend the first few weeks turning with the indicators going. Just got used to it the borrowed the car, then spent days turning with the indicators going. Oh the joys of having an import.

It's very stange. Been driving since I was 17, many, many year ago. Driven all sorts from cars, vans, even a concrete mixer truck. Moved to Tenerife and found it easy driving a manual left had drive car on the other side of the road for 8 years. Brought the car back and drove a left hand drive car of the uk side, no problem. Then got a right hand drive car and drove to Tenerife and back through France and Spain, no problem. Moved to and automatic and after a few days of trying to change gear, all was ok. Drove an automatic for 7 years, then 2 days in a manual which was no problem, only to have trouble looking for gear stick and clutch. Maybe I'm just getting old lol

If it just that you want UK radio and not worried about a whole new unit, then you need this Car Radio FM Band Frequency Expander Converter For Japanese Car | eBay. You need to take out the unit, unplug the radio antenna, and put this in, then tap into the power lead and there is a metal bar behind, earth it with that. If you want a complete change, they you could go for an Android head unit, which you can have DAB radio, Reversing Camera, Satvav, Music, Spotify, Youtube, Netflix, infact anything you want. You can get ones that will fit in the double din socket and be the same size, a double din with a larger floating screen or you can get a 9/10 inch unit that comes with a full new surround. Depending on how electrically minded you are and how much of a mess they made fitting that one, they are plug and play. They can even mirror onto the rear screen, although it is a bit of a waste of time when driving unless the kids want to watch the satnav on a journey, or only watch films when you stop.

Yeah, don't forget the brake lol. I have just had to borrow a car over the weekend, my van was off the road with a flat battery and needed a boost box, could not get a car close enough for jump leads. The car was manual and have been driving automatic for 4 years. Didn't have a problem with the manual gearbox or clutch. Then got back in van and my left foot was looking for the clutch.

Im no expert in Auto boxes, but I think your box will still need the fluid changed at some point. Like anything with the word "lifetime", it still has an expiration date. It might be worth speaking to a specialist about it as even with oil, mechanical parts wear, just not as quick and that then sits in the oil. With regards to using N, then going back into D. I always leave it is drive. It's not like a manual car where you hold the clutch and then worry about the clutch wearing out. The transmission has what's called a torque converter which couples the engine to the transmission. Found this online - "The torque converter has a stall speed. This means it will not throw power/torque at the transmission until the engine gets to a certain speed. Once it reaches the stall speed, power and torque will then start being applied. Stall speed will always be above idle speed. You can therefor leave it in drive while sitting at a red light without worry of damaging any internal parts or causing any extra wear in the transmission, engine, or drive train (as long as you let it idle)."

My 2009 Vellfire only has buttons on the right side of the steering wheel. My Android head unit can read these buttons through the canbus and control the volume etc. I have seen that some have both right and left side buttons. I'm guessing these are for hand's free calling. I assume that Toyota, like everything else has the wiring in for these button and will also send signals to the canbus for my head unit to read. Has anybody added these button?

That is one sci-fi looking head unit. You will probably need a convertor to find UK radio stations. You will probably have to get an adaptor for the reversing camera, it has a 6v feed that normally comes from the original head unit, it's probably not been fitted. As regards to the rear screen, this you may have to just give up with.

Any double din unit will fit with a surround you can buy, then you need a cable to adapt the plugs to the new head unit. Or you can get an Android system with a bigger screen and a new silver surround. These are a bit more work to fit because you have to change over some parts.

I didn't even know there was domestic models. I thought all Alphards and Vellfires where imported.

They are all just Android head units, just in a different orientation. The wiring is general, but you have to add a box to translate the signal that comes from the ECU to something that the head unit can understand. This is what the optical box is, it's a canbus. If you don't have the amps then you can get away with just the normal head unit, although with this you need it because it has to control the vents.

I've just purchased a wiring harness from Aliexpress with a canbus. I think the one that came with the head unit is just a standard cable and it has no canbus unit. I've spoken to the seller and he has told me the protocol setting I need. I tried them before but made no difference. This cable has an extra plug to go in the back of the unit. Skyfame Car 16pin Wiring Harness Adapter Canbus Box Decoder For Alphard 20 Android Radio Power Cable - Speaker Line - AliExpress

No I have the power plug and the speaker signal wires, they work fine, but your chart helps alot. Thanks