smurf

Ali express offer their own insurance against non delivery. They hold on to the money until the item is showing as delivered and you confirm it. After a short time they will release the money to the seller regardless if you fail to confirm after it is recorded as delivered. I've ordered a few car parts from there and never had an issue, although they were a good bit less that this so I didn't have the same concern about potentially losing a large sum of money. 

I know that the accepted wisdom is that fuel tanks contain dirt at the bottom but I've always considered this to be unlikely in a vehicle. The fuel is always drawn from the bottom of the tank, and some of the fuel recirculates back to the tank on some fuel injection systems, so the fuel is not stationary at the bottom. The fuel will also be sloshing about the tank every time the car is driven, so the opportunity for there to be undisturbed settlement is low. If the tank is regularly taken to a low level then once again there is little chance of anything being left behind. Finally, most tanks these days are made of plastic so there is no risk of internal corrosion causing an issue.

Just my thoughts on the matter, but I have no actual proof either way. It may have been an issue back in the days of carburettor cars with a one way fuel system and no fuel filter to stop the tiny filter the carb from getting rapidly blocked. Although, I've never actually heard of anybody experiencing their car conking out after running low on fuel, but lack of evidence is not evidence of lack.

There is also the possibility of a gearbox failure, and the gearbox contains motor generator 1. Techstream should reveal where it's issue(s) lies. 

It you are able to do whatever work is required yourself you might have picked up a cheap car.  If not you might just have a car to strip for spares. 

Assuming it is the same as the Prius, and I can't see why not, the oil in the air con does need to be specifically suitable for hybrids with an electric a/c compressor. From what I have managed to Google, the oil Toyota specify is ND-11. I'd imagine a Toyota dealer should be able to regas with the correct oil in the refrigerant, but it may be worth checking around other garages in your local area as they are likely to be cheaper. If they don't do it, they will probably know someone who does.

I'd have to respectfully disagree there Roger. Nowhere does it say a child cannot sit in a front seat, they just need to be compliant with the child seat requirements in whatever seat they are plonked.

If the booster doesn't fit properly in the back then you may have answered your own question. It isn't allowed to put a rear facing child seat in a front seat with an operational airbag, but beyond that I don't believe there are any legal restrictions to having children in the front, just a recommendation that they go in the rear.

In general, the rear of a car is the safest place for a child to be in the event of a crash. However, a child might be better in the front of a camper conversion as all the paraphernalia installed in the rear is an unknown quantity in a crash with a small person involved. 

The gearbox on the hybrid also contains a motor/ generator, so you might be best searching out a Toyota hybrid specialist. The chances are you may need a complete unit to swap out. 

There is a hybrid specialist in based in the South West that does travel to do work, but he might only work on the battery and inverter side of the vehicles. I can't remember his name at the moment. Another name I have seen a lot of mention of is a guy up in Salford called Kaspars Krumins. I haven't got any contact details for him, but he seems to be very active on Facebook. 

You will possibly need quite an expensive lithium battery and inverter setup if you want to start heating water with it. What is the power rating of the coffee maker?

It can be done sat at home with your Alphard on the drive. As I said, lots of people have done it. I'm sure someone has posted about doing it on here.

1. Get a certificate of conformity from the Japan Inspection Organisation.

https://japaninspection.org/certificate-of-conformity-coc/

This will your say vehicle is Euro 4 compliant, because all Alphards actually are.

2. Provide this to DVLA, and they will update the registration details to say the vehicle is Euro 4.

3. You now have a ULEZ compliant Alphard for a few hundred pounds, so long as Euro 4 remains the qualifying requirement.

Lots of people have done this successfully.

If ULEZ compliance was a deal breaker, it can be made ULEZ compliant for a few hundred pounds. 

I did this job yesterday following this guide. It was probably an hour's work all in, and the video helped to make it a quick job. Thanks for the assistance 👍

16 hours ago, Lynnie said:

Thank you so much, would you have a wiring diagram for the 2002 3ltr as well, or know where I may get one, a thankful Lynnie 

Send me a PM with your email address. I can help you with a link to the manual with wiring diagrams in English. 

Perfect timing for me. I've got a clicking actuator and a donor unit sat on the shelf ready to use. Thanks 👍

This should cover it. 

Hazards and indicators.pdf

17 minutes ago, Francie said:

Ok - still cheaper than the quote I got! But how long have you had the account open? It seems you have to set up a couple of direct debits from the account. Still a good possibility. Thanks 

I presume you have looked at the account transfer requirements to get a signing up fee?  I didn't transfer an account, just opened a new one. No direct debits and no money going in and out except £13 a month. I've only had it a few months and I've had no need to use any of the included perks, so I can't give a full recommendation. I haven't had a need to use vehicle breakdown cover since 1999, and long may it continue 🤞

54 minutes ago, Francie said:

Wow. That sounds like a good deal. Thanks smurf.

I certainly think so 😁. I should also add that we don't actually use the current account, I just make sure there is £13 in it each month to cover the account fee. There is no requirement to use the account in any way. 

That sounds correct, otherwise it would be a right PITA to tighten up as the cable would be spinning around. It will be a compression fitting that seals when tightened up, in the same way an olive does on a copper pipe. 

I opened a Nationwide flex plus current account. It costs £13 a month and gives personal AA European breakdown cover with no vehicle age limit. I opened it as a joint account with my wife so we both get cover for no additional cost. You also get travel and gadget insurance as well. 

Just wanted add my two penneth worth in regards value and what you get back. I've been insuring classic cars for longer than I care to think about, and a common feature of these policies is "agreed value". Basically, the total loss value of the vehicle is agreed at inception of the policy, and if anything happens then you know exactly what you will get paid out. Having spent a lot of money on a camper I wanted the same piece of mind, so I got an agreed value policy with Adrian Flux( who were the only camper van insurer I could find that offered it). I could have got equivalent insurance cover elsewhere for less, but without any guarantee of what would be paid out if I suffered a total loss. The value you state when getting quotes generally means nothing come claim time as the small print will say "market value" somewhere, and that can be very subjective and take a lot of researching to prove a higher value right when you probably just want the claim paid out as soon as possible. 

I thought the Japanese lady was turned off via the stereo menus?  There isn't much that can be customised via techstream for the Gen 1.

I don't have P3125-496 on the list of diagnostic codes I have. I have found THIS, which points to the problem being more complex than the coolant pump sadly.  You'll need to use chrome to translate it from Russian.

There are uprated springs on ebay LINK

Or, some people have had good results with these fitted LINK

I doubt the ECU learns your driving style, but it will do a forward looking calculation based upon the fuel consumption of the last "X" number of miles and the fuel left in the tank. That is how the range left number can go up as well as down on a journey, especially when the tank is nearer to full or empty as a small change in consumption can calculate out to large change in range at the extremes. 

It's a 103Nm for the wheel nuts on a gen 1, so they want slackening off and redoing. 

If ever in doubt, just tighten them up with the wrench in the tool kit. It will have been designed to a length that allows the average person to sufficiently tighten the nuts up so that the wheels don't fall off. It also means you have a chance of getting them off with that wrench. If the torquing up of wheels nuts was as critical as people worry about they would supply a torque wrench in the kit, not a plain wrench, as the claims for damages when wheels came off would far outweigh the cost of a torque wrench in a tool kit. I can't imagine the tyre places are getting their torque wrenchs calibrated at regular intervals, either, so they could be torqued to anything. Every nut tight enough is what really matters.