K_T

Love this! Magnetic tool strips look the business. Got them in the local Aldi here in Edinburgh too.

Thanks for your sage advice Rojie, Yes re roofbars I've just spoken to Steve at Japautos in Southampton who sells these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154511346682?hash=item23f9980bfa:g:p0kAAOSwkaVg2us~ And we discussed kayaks. He says he's had kayaker customers who've been able to use these bars to transport kayaks but.... for a wide vehicle they don't look terribly substantial. They are though directly from Toyota. And £400 cash so not utterly prohibitive. Thanks so much for the heads up about the annual MEET as yes, that's always the place to go to find improvised solutions to many of the problems I will face if buying an Alphard. I'm also away to post on the ukriversguidebook website - about kayak transportation. ULEZ points accepted - thank you. And that's why I'm looking at a 2007 model (if I do go for one). Thanks for taking the time to be so thorough. 🙂

Hi Rojie, Yep, I'm there on that discussion! Hence looking for a 2007. However.... I'm now researching roofbars for carrying sea kayaks. They may prove to be the real deal breaker - £500 or so for imported ones?????? This is turning into quite the can of worms!

Hi folks, I'm currently a T4 driver but (very sadly) looking for an alternative for ULEZ compliance in London. I'm considering an Alphard as I'm a keen kayaker but sometimes I need to transport longer sea kayaks so I will need to fit roofbars. I can't seem to find any discussion here on roofbars - has anyone had experience of fitting these? I've looked here on the Thule website and found no mention of Alphard. https://www.car-roofracks.co.uk/toyota-alphard-roof-racks But I have found these: https://www.car-roofracks.co.uk/toyota-vellfire-roof-racks which would seem to suggest that bars don't exist for the 1st and 2nd Gen Alphards which is a bit of a disaster. Is there anyone else here in my position?

Hi Russty, I've used reflective thermal inslated suction blinds in my T4 for years. They block out the light well (even if there are little gaps round the sides. Overnighting in my van in chilly (and even less so) conditions nearly always resulted in some condensation on the glass. I've not found a way around this - maybe keeping the window slightly open but then you have the cold - and the noise. Not sure about the Alphard ones but my VW ones have been brilliant. I'm thinking about getting an Alphard for ULEZ reasons so I'll be buying some of these when I do. Or.... making my own but TBH it seems daft when these look so reasonable. Hope this helps?

Hi Teresa, You and I seem to be on the same (so far 'virtual') journey! I currently drive a T4 kombi van (ex AA) which I love. It's for camping - part time camper with DIY bed that uses the back bench seat folded down on itself and two aluminium 'pop ups' in the back with boards across to the seat. Single or double bed variants depending on the width of boards I take. It's worked wonderfully for me for years but living in London it's not ULEZ compliant and it's 20 years old now so incurring greater costs per year. I'm also a cyclist and kayaker so I want to fit roof bars when needed (for sea kayaks) and probably, a bike rack. On my T4 I've used the Maxx Rack that mounts to the tow bracket. Some may be able to shed light on whether this is even an option on the Alphard. Tow bars anyone? The final image below shows the towbar mount. The upright pivots down to allow the rear barn doors to open. I've no idea if this is going to work on an Alphard... I went to see some Alphards and Vellfires at a dealer in Fife yesterday and got a lot of info about models and configurations. They recommended that if using the existing seats folded down to sleep on, go for a 1st generation model as the middle seats swivel round and fold right down. I tried a 'bed' from the back two rows of seats but then from the front seats and the middle row. The second option seemed far more comfortable. I'd intend to lose the back seats altogether turning the Alphard into more of a 'kombi van' type of setup. I have no kids but I do have lots of gear! The other thing about using the seats as beds - recommended to go for the grey cloth interior - leather and vinyl are less comfortable to sleep on. This is also one of the cheaper trim options. ULEZ........ Well I live in London so this is my primary concern for any replacement vehicle. I think that it is likely that the older 02-06 models may fall foul of the ULEZ restrictions. I'm looking at an 07 year of manufacture for this very reason. I was also told that the hybrid (as well as costing on average about £5,000 more than the standard) is susceptible to battery degredation (not surprisingly) over time and that this can be a costly problem to remedy as the batteries are multiple cells which will degrade at different rates. This is a common issue on cordless power tools for example. I really don't want to be dealing with this in addition to the other expenses I'm likely to incur. Like you I'm a cyclist and tend to cycle in London rarely using my vehicle for short trips. Also with my bike trailer I can do supermarket shops that limit me to my actual purse, not the size of the back of the van! So I'm thinking that, given the time I'm likely to have this older vehicle in the long run, I will aim to get a standard petrol engine. I was also given similar advice to some others on this forum - that the larger engine mpg difference is slight and that it works less hard to shift the vehicle and tends to last longer. That does make sense to me. Finally, I wanted to know about LPG conversions - I know of a garage up in Edinburgh that specialises in this and converts Alphards but... it's not a standard thing and may introduce more head scratching down the line when work is needed on the vehicle. There are issues with fuel temperature and valves as I understand it and to be honest, I don't want to have to fiddle faddle about with after market mods in an expensive garage arena. I think I will aim to get a 2007 model and am looking at https://www.algysautos.com to source a freshly imported vehicle for me to ensure that what I'm getting is what I think I'm getting. They seem to have a good reputation from what I've read. Colour wise - you can always put down rubber mats - but cream.... Hmm. yes I agree. I think I'm going to try and replicate the interior of my beloved T4 in the Alphard (if and when I get it). I'm attaching some images that might give you some ideas - the criss cross metalic matting is a sample of rubberised mat that I may get for the back of 'mine' when I get it. The interior shots are to illustrate how I've had my bed. It's been brilliant to be honest and repeating this in the Alphard seems like it might even be an option. If only they did yellow - I love my yellow van and it's the safest colour on the road! But yes, VWs are stupidly expensive and I'm not seeing this next vehicle as a long term investment - we just don't know how long we're going to be able to drive fossil fuel based vehicles - and for good reason...