Michael Brown

Sorry to hear of your loss. It would be interesting to know at what years the Alphard was updated, revamped.

The only major problem I have had is the Inverter was replaced. The man I used was Peter Holland at Brightspark Autos, he imported one for me from Japan, Cost £5,200. inc VAT and delivery + a fitting and set up charge around £320. I have had no more trouble for over a year now apart from 2 punctures.

Well my Alfie had an MOT this last Friday and passed no advisories and no mention of condensation on nearside headlight lense

For ladies there is such a gadget called a Peewee, bit like a funnel  to pee into and then into a lidded pint bottle or similiar. This is to save you having to get up and go outside your vehicle. This is a tempory fix. Just empty contents down a loo in morning and wash bottle  etc out for next time. If you need a dump, you may have a problem

I can verify that as I have taken my previous Estima's there as well. They have been very helpful in the past

I have managed to buff up the outside of my headlights with Turtle Wax Buffing compound. So I need to access the inside of the light housing to dry out the moisture inside. How do I get into them ? If I could remove the cover from the top of the new Inverter, I would have more room to get my hand to the light assembly. Any suggesions how I remove the silver plastic cover on the Inverter ?

Turtle Wax do a heavy duty rubbing compound. With a microfibre cloth or similiar, rub this gunge onto the outside lens hard, rubbing back and forth, or round and round. Don't let it dry on, with another cloth buff it off and if you have a buffing wheel for your electric drill use that. You might have to give it more than 1 application, sorted

if its a pee you need to get up for, have a plastic 1 pint bottle handy and some hand gel to clean your hands afterwards, then you do not have the worry about waking others

My 2.4 Hybrid costs £325. a year road tax. I'd be interested to know if that could be made cheaper ?

I'd always fancied a Hybrid, so after looking at many I bought my 2007 Hybrid in August 2022 and yes I had a few teething problems. After all a Alphard which was 15 going on 16 years old back then you'd expect a few problems. I broke down and the RAC ferried me home twice. ( Best investment I made in 1982 by joining with recovery ). First time the 12volt battery had to be changed, second time the Inverter went. The chap I used was Peter Holland at Bright Spark Autos in Southbourne nr Emsworth, West Sussex Hampshire border. Peter said he could not source the parts needed to replace damaged Inverter, but he could order a new one from Toyota in Japan, but he needed the money upfront to order it. £5,200. inc vat and delivery + a fitting charge. I don't have that kind of money so I took out a bank loan in April 2023 and it was ordered. Peter said about 10 days, it took two and a half weeks to arrive. Then £352 to fit it and set it up. Like giving her a new heart. I should get around 10 years of trouble free motoring, Touch wood not had a problem since. I have driven up to Scotland and back 4 times in the last year and Warwickshire and back practically every week. Its a dream to drive and I get 32 - 40mpg

So good luck and happy hunting

Comfortable they certainly are.  I have the 3rd row seats stowed away to the sides as I need the space at the back for all the stuff I have to carry around with me and I stil have 5 seats inc the drivers seat. Many years ago I used to have  mk2 Estima's. A friend of mine wanted to move some furniture up to Scotland and asked if I could hire a van. So I suggested if I took out the middle and 3rd rows seats I would have a comfortable van and we would'nt have to hire a van. He thought it a good idea. So after the seats were out I put down half inch plywood to give better loading floor and it all worked a treat. I guess one could do something similiar with the Alphard/Vellfire ?

Good Luck

Someone is trying to get hold of me, but I cannot open the message ? Its as if its not there. I have clicked and double clicked on everything and nothing happens. So if you ? sent me a message and had not had a reply, that is why you have not received a reply

Apologies

Thanks for that input Alex. Its finding the time to get mine fitted, thats the problem, something always comes up and I have to delay doing it yet again. With the lighter evenings I must have a crack at it.

Just about anything could go wrong as by the time they leave the roads of Japan, they will have had a life. You may just be lucky and get a few years use from it before anything could go wrong. They are lovely comfortable vehicles to drive and fitted out well. So good luck and fingers crossed, you get a good one.

Thanks Roger, No I have not tried them, I may try them in future, or maybe the NFU  (National Farmers Union) you don't have to be a farmer to use them

No  Roger the claims were not with Aviva, but apparently Aviva were the only company that would insure me this time with the Alphard. I went for at least 20 years without a bump, then a few together, unfortunate it maybe. I consider myself a good driver, but fault is not always mine. I have been with the same insurance broker since 1975 and from time to time I have tried others  only to find the difference in cost is only £5. Not worth changing companies for that. I was told if I changed my vehicle to one made for the UK market the cost would be be considerably less. I intend to keep the Alphard for a few more years yet. As yet I have not found a vehicle that I'd like to drive better than Alfie.

On 3/22/2024 at 2:40 PM, andyfell said:

Hello everyone. (Potential) new Vellfire owner here.

 

I have paid a deposit on a 2013 Vellfire 2.4Z. Try as I might I can't find a quote cheaper than £1700 per annum.

 

The S and X trims will be insured by loads of different companies, quotes around £600. I've spent the whole day on the phone to insurers and been told unequivocally by many people that this 2.4Z - for the purposes of insurers in the UK - does not exist. e.g. Adrian Flux: system doesn't like this car, £2200 per annum, which is think is for a policy to the effect of "we've no idea what this is so will quote you an astronomical price".

 

Admiral were fantastic, tried really hard, but couldn't find it either. 

 

Any words of wisdom before I bail out of the purchase? I would be very grateful.

 

So you think £1,700. is bad, I am now 72 and had the misfortune to have made 3 claims within a 5 year period. Not had a accident since June 2022. Bought my Alphard on 27th August 2022 and my insurance was £1,600. on top of the £560. I'd already paid on my Estima 2.4 04 plate. When insurance came due in 2023 it was over £4,000. This year around £3,600. Considering I had already forked out £5,600. including fitting for a new Inverter imported from Japan, I wanted to get my monies worth. The new Inverter was my best investment yet and not had a problem with it since. I have it regually serviced and drive with more care. I am with Aviva.

13 hours ago, Sorin said:

Hi Michael,  what thread is this one? I have the same issue!

I apologise for that, I can't remember where I found the direct info you want, as when

I was looking for a solution I stumbled on someone who said by removing the radiator caps and running the engine till the air bubble stopped rising and topping the radiator up with water solution it would fix the problem and it did, a lot easier than trying to get to the heater fuse location.  I check the radiator more often now

"Look up Heater not working",    by Michael Brown

Explains what I did, not where I found the info

Good Luck

Loose wire somewhere ?

I never thought of asking the dealer, thanks for that

Thank you Roger, I am not looking to buy or import another. It was out of curiosity what it might say about my Alphard thats all. I just find it harder to do these things these days, setting up accounts just to view, perhaps I better not in future and try the BIMTA method.

In trying the CarVX site,  one has to sign in to use it and its quite a cafuffle putting in passwords, I gave up. I am finding some of these situations more difficult as I get older.

Thanks for that Paul. On my previous Estima's I screwed a multi socket cigarrette block under the steering wheel so I could plug in sat nav and dash cam. Taking off the cover off the offside  window  pillars to hide the cable and feeding the cable under roof lining near top of windscreen. I have some light weight scew together rods for feeding cable behind the dashboard to hide the cable. At the same time I intend to stick a digital aerial to the windscreen when door pillar cover is off too. I am not going to change my head unit. The digital car radio transmits the signal on to a free FM channel, sound comes out of car radio speakers. I too have a Nextbase dash cam to install.

Has anyone fitted a forward facing dash cam and where do you run the cabling.

7 hours ago, MickA said:

Thanks to forum I have just realised I have been driving around in 3rd gear (D3) not 4th (D)- so hope to see an improvement - and no I don't feel dumb 😉

Back in August 2022 when I bought Alfie, I was told to drive with the gear lever over to the right. I must have filled up around 3 times before I realised my mistake. Looking back on it an easy mistake to make.