pipsyp

I have to take it all back! Just been up north, about 670 mile round trip....managed about 28 on the way up, 27 on way home so 27.5mpg average. I don't have the lightest right foot in the world either so I have no doubt 30 would have been possible. Very impressed with it TBH, even loaded to the gills it doesn't drive much different to when empty and happily punts along the motorway at a decent pace. Whilst my heart would always say V6, my head definitely concurs that the 2.4 is all the motor an Alphard needs!

Yeah there is one, it's on the opposite side to the rear parking mirror tucked under the spoiler (so it's not visible). You have to rotate the end of the wiper stalk upwards as far as it will go to engage it. All fed from the front tank, which appears to be massive and rarely needs filling 👍

For anyone wanting to do this, it's a relative doddle as long as you have a decent long reach 10mm socket and a Phillips screwdriver. Four 10mm bolts (I've seen 11 and 13mm mentioned, definitely 10!).....two below the top inner trim piece, two on either end under rubber grommets that you have to pop out in order to gain access. Best to remove the side trim pieces as well just for ease. Reason for needing the long reach socket is that the nuts each go over a pin that's perhaps 30mm in length, these pins used to locate the spoiler on the tailgate.. A regular socket (that also isn't hollow) doesn't have the length to clear the pin and get onto the nut. Once these are removed the spoiler should lift straight off, it's not attached to the vehicle otherwise. I just let mine carefully dangle from the 3rd brake light wiring as I didn't really see the need to disconnect it as the spoiler isn't all that heavy. The mirror is held to the tailgate with four Phillips headed bolts. These just unscrew and the mirror comes straight off. I then just put the screws back in quite tightly (they have a little clear plastic washer on them which is probably wise to retain on them). You then reseat the spoiler and do it back up in reverse. My spoiler was actually a little loose, so proved a good opportunity to tighten it up. I broke one trim clip getting the inner trims back on but they are pretty standard and readily available but if you don't want to have to replace any just be cautious (I got a little too confident at the end). Looks alot better without the mirror, and on a black car you don't really notice any lack of bung. I found the mirror quite handy, but only on the rare occasion it was clean and with a reversing camera it's a bit pointless.

I've not had my 2.4 very long and no idea what MPG it had been getting but the last tank it just did about 63 litres of E10 95ron in about 265 miles so did a rudimentary calculation. If my maths is right works out about 19mpg 🤢 In fairness to it, alot of that was short A to B driving. I know that driving it back from Birmingham down to the South Coast when I purchased it, despite sitting on the motorway for most of it at a reasonable lick it did well in excess of 300 miles and was quite impressed with it. It's also rear converted with a pop top so there's additional weight and drag from that. I had a Forester 2.0 XT before it that had mad thirst for 99ron, so this is nothing in comparison. Glad it runs happily on E10 as that represents a bit of a saving!

Appreciate the reply @atlanticcobra2023 not sure what's going on. I don't hear any clicking when pressing the brake pedal but as you say if the shift lock is stuck open could explain it. Not a biggy as it functions just fine....and I suppose I'll probably never have the issue of it getting stuck in P 😆

Sorry guys bit of a thread revival! Noticed on my 2008 AH10 2.4 that I'm able to go through the auto gear gate from P to L with the ignition key out. I only noticed the other day as I managed to go from P to R without engaging the brake which I found most strange. I have a suspicion that my shift interlock may have failed in the past and has been removed? Can only assume this perhaps was done/happened to it prior to import? I have the shift lock button but functionally it of course does nothing, as it never locks into park. Doesn't overly bother me as functionally the car is fine, but intrigued never the less!

Bit of an update on the Alphard. Just been in the garage to have a major service (done with all genuine Toyota parts), new radiator (the old one had split again genuine), ARB D link bushes and a new diff seal (again all genuine) as it was found to be leaking a bit of gear oil from one side. Also had a tyre replaced so they are now all a matching set, not of tyres I'd have personally chosen, but matching all the same! I did buy a set of steering column bushes, but my garage couldn't fault them so didn't replace them. It still has a bit of a knock, which feels like it's coming from the higher end of the column so will need looking at down the line again. Bit annoying as it was one thing I'd hope would be sorted but hey ho. I did also get a couple of door reflectors from Toyota so no more hole in the passenger door and I have a spare incase the other one decides to fall out! As to the van otherwise, really enjoying it. I've not had a chance to camp in it yet, but the wife and kids have and really like it. It's pleasant to drive, part of me now would have preferred a V6 one, but the 2.4 does the job and is actually surprisingly peppy and economical given the weight it's hauling around. Suits it's demeanor very well I think as it's certainly not sporty to drive in any sense despite the bodykit lol. Disappointingly the drivelodge pop top has LED lights in it which have failed, it by all accounts has a 5 year warranty so am going to look into how I can get that resolved. Also have found that whilst it has a 16amp hook up, it doesn't have a charger so literally just runs the mains voltage outlets in the van. It has a fridge freezer which kicks the ass out of the leisure battery pretty quickly unless you run the vehicle (as it does have a split charging relay) so am looking at buying a Victron unit of some sort that can be spliced into the existing consumer unit and used to smart charge the vehicle and leisure batteries when on hook up. Now it's freshly serviced and nicely reliable looking forward to getting it away and doing some miles in it.

I've noticed on my Alphard that it has no side repeaters, I'd assumed they were in the side mirrors but there are none. Gather this is commonplace for the AH10 facelift? I have noted that the headlamps (have AFS) have a section that comes out at the side which is effectively a side indicator. Assume this is it?

I went with JustKampers, basically I think they are underwritten by a number of insurers and who you end up with is rather pot luck depending on the vehicle and driving history. I suspect (well almost certain) they are an offshoot of Adrian Flux behind the scenes, which I'm not overly keen about (I've not had a good experience with them in the past, after they tried to get me to insure a slightly modified Mini convertible for more than the car was worth) but the price seemed right etc. Wanted to know alot of details such as driving licence details, also insisted on taking the vehicle mileage as part of the limited mileage of the policy but all fairly standard I guess (also being a JDM import that's been converted as a campervan they deem that fairly high risk). Time will tell but so far they've been amenable!

Yeah I have this problem (slightly) on my AH10. The old blades were past it so replaced with new Bosch Aerotwins, much better but there is still a small section of screen on the driver's side that doesn't clean properly, mostly as the wipers sweep back toward the park position. Whilst it's clean, the people I bought it off have obviously let it sit for a while so will look to polish the glass lightly with some cleaner, possibly some light compound and see how it fairs then.

Much appreciated Picasso, do you happen to know what the part no's are?

Thanks so much Steve, really useful to know! - Paul

Hi All, My passenger door is missing the red kerb reflector (I don't think mine have lighting in them). Any ideas where to source a replacement? I've scoured eBay and not much luck. Thanks all!!

Thanks all! I ordered all the relevent Bosch items from Halfrauds and all good. They are indeed AR26U, AR16U for front and H409 for the rear. SP16 I am sure works too on rear but H409 is essentially an OE like replacement (SP16 looks to be an old style frame wiper like what is normally on the fronts). Hope this helps someone down the line!

Thanks for all the replies chaps. I'm gonna leave them well alone for now......just conscious that if I even need a new front windshield that they'll probably have to go (and hoping it's nothing to do with the current audio set up lol)

If it helps anyone I've just recently gotten a 2.4 with rear kitchen and pop top conversion. I'm a petrolhead and inherently like driving effortless vehicles, and TBH in that regard the V6 would have appealed, but I can say I feel short changed with the 2.4 at all. It need some revs occasionally, but it's smooth enough and provides all the performance you need in a vehicle like this and will sit on the motorway at a decent lick if you need it to. Overtakes are also OK with some level of planning and ensuring you're in a low enough gear (the gearbox is a bit dim witted where kickdown is concerned but popping it in 2 or 3 tends to do the job). I've found that they don't handle that brilliantly (they are a dayvan after all) and the brakes whilst more than adequate don't feel that powerful under heavy braking.....basically it's easy to find yourself carrying too much speed into corners even in a 2.4, so a V6 would be worse (on the basis I expect the chassis and braking set up is much the same). I've also been surprised that it's not actually that thirsty (I currently also run an old Forester 2.0XT and that has mad thirst by comparison), runs great on E10 and is chain driven. I think the 2.4 gets a bit downtrodden, but really there isn't much to dislike about them. Note I recently had a facelift W204 C350 CDi estate, so I know what a fast V6 is like 😂

This works a treat, thanks guys. I can advise that when youve pressed the unlock button for long enough and let go it does a quick lock/unlock cycle. Not sure if getting out and locking/unlocking with the key is necessary but thats what I did.

Holy thread revival! I can tell you the pop top conversion on ours (from Northstar) was 4300 quid back in 2021. The rear conversion was done by New Dawn which I dont have the paperwork for, but know from their website our conversion base cost would be about 2k bur our vehicle does have some extras (decent Vitrifrigo fridge/freezer etc). I guess everythings probably gone up a bit since too....reckon you probably need to budget a good 7 or 8k (or in other words nearly the cost of a half decent van) to convert one. Im not sure I could bring myself to buy a van and do it out, unless it was to do it exactly as I wanted it......tends to make more sense to buy one done as they tend to always sell for less than their conversion cost - privately particularly.

Ah mine has a little black patch on top of the spoiler that looks factory but a bit out of place....wouldnt surprise me if thats something to do with it

Ah interesting, probably the toll system then! It has a little black receiver by the rear view mirror that is definitely part of it, then the other four are like the ones in the photo i posted...two front windscreen, two rear window. If it wasnt TV related guess it can only be that! I still have the little smartcard box for it in the centre console, guess the work involved to remove it the importers just dont bother?

Hi folks, Sorry, do appreciate if I look hard enough on here I will likely find the answers, but I really want to replace the front and rear wiper blades on my 2008 AH10 ASAP as the fronts smear a gooden and the rear is shot to bits. Id preference Bosch Aerotwins for the front (look a bit more modern) and a regular rear. Can anyone point me to the ones that'll be an exact fit? Know the Aerotwins will need to be the ones that work with hook type arms, but there seems to be conflicting info on the net for the blade lengths required. Much appreciated guys!

Thanks John, Im starting to think they might be TV antennas (from factory perhaps), as I suspect it may have had a rear TV in it before its roof got lopped off for the pop top conversion. Would make sense as otherwise the FM antennas (I believe) are in the rear side window and it has a typical windscreen one for the DAB.

Thanks for this, I dont have a proximity key which explains it. Can only assume its been misplaced, or perhaps never came over from Japan when imported. No real loss as still need the key to start the thing, but good to know!

Yeah private purchase, I got taken for a test drive in it but only something you'd notice driving for yourself. TBF its 15 years old so theres always going to be something! It could use 4 good tyres and an allignment anyway (and is due a service fairly soon) so it'll probably all get done in one hit.

Thanks for this. My keys are the factory bladed ones with four buttons, lock, unlock and open/close of both side doors. The keyless buttons on the door handle/bootlid seem to do nothing. Was rather wondering if it is that the keys I have arent smart/proximity keys. Its a 1st Gen (AH10) car too if that makes any difference whatsoever.