Bought a 2006 Toyota Aurion Prodigy

[Joe Biden]

Hey guys, I just bought a 2006 Prodigy off my grandma, it only has 116000kms on the clock. It’s only had two owners, the Kalgoorlie gold mines and my grandma and I have the full service history (it has been taken care of very well). My first Toyota, I also own a 2007 Mitsubishi 380 GT. Firstly I would like to say, this car is not super mechanic friendly compared the 380, but it’s nothing compared to more modern cars. A couple thing I wanted to ask about, the dashboard, oil cooler lines, vvt lines, the transmission.

 

Firstly, the dash is kinda sticky, and upon doing research (in this forum) it’s yeah a common issue for this time period for Toyotas, is a dash mat the best solution for this? I personally don’t like the look of a dash mat but I don’t have much choice.

In 2016 at about 88426kms, the oil cooler pipe was replace due to leaking and I’ve heard that there were problems with the two rubber hoses and that Toyota made a full metal hose part, although I could not find these oil cooler lines when looking for them (18, not super mechanically inclined). Should I make sure the oil cooler pipes were replaced with the superior metal part? (oh and a side question, is the oil cooler in the radiator? I looked at the workshop manual and it suggested this)

Now the vvti line oil line looks like the original with the rubber section, this will need replacing with the metal line yeah? (pic below)

Also, the transmission has not been serviced, should I have it serviced?

Oh and this car has had the stop light switch acting up in 2017, got fixed, then got replaced in 2021 (not sure if it was acting up chances are it was), then it was acting up a couple months ago as well, but I think that was actually the center brake light not working (fixed now).

The water pump was replaced in 2016 due to leaking as well.

Lastly is there anything else I need to be aware about with this car? Thanks for your time reading this.

[L4WL3SS]

Yeah just run your vin by Toyota and they'll tell you if the recall has been done

I once owned a mint 380 vrx, drove super smooth I really liked that car. Upon selling it, I found nobody wanted it, depreciation was a killer

[L4WL3SS]

Every 90,000km get the transmission flushed by Toyota roughly $400

Spark plugs every 90,000km. I did mine when I was keen. Don't think I would do again, bit of a pain.

Expect the alternator to die 150,000km onwards. Not sure if age is a factor?

Cv shafts do die with abuse. Mine made it to 150,000km. Mechanic said they didn't look like originals?

Apart from that, pretty solid cars. Great on fuel.

Edited June 18 by L4WL3SS

[Joe Biden]

2 hours ago, L4WL3SS said:

Every 90,000km get the transmission flushed by Toyota roughly $400

Spark plugs every 90,000km. I did mine when I was keen. Don't think I would do again, bit of a pain.

Expect the alternator to die 150,000km onwards. Not sure if age is a factor?

Cv shafts do die with abuse. Mine made it to 150,000km. Mechanic said they didn't look like originals?

Apart from that, pretty solid cars. Great on fuel.

Yeah, transmission hasn't been done yet. Spark plugs got done at about 110,000 in 2021. Thanks for the other info

[Tony Prodigy]

Congrats on your acquisition there. You have purchased a fine automobile mate. With regular maintenance, that car will see many hundreds of thousands of KLMS of trouble free motoring. Admittedly, the 40 series had a few teething problems, but Toyota did step up and remedy these issues. By the time they got to releasing the 50 series, all the issues had been ironed out. The 2GR-FE is a bullet proof engine, but that doesn't mean you should skimp on maintenance. Regular oil changes is the number one thing. Change the oil every 5-8k and you'll never have sludging issues. Use high quality oil and filter too.

On 6/16/2025 at 2:53 PM, Joe Biden said:

Firstly, the dash is kinda sticky, and upon doing research (in this forum) it’s yeah a common issue for this time period for Toyotas, is a dash mat the best solution for this? I personally don’t like the look of a dash mat but I don’t have much choice.

Not sure if Toyota are still doing the sticky dash recall. It hasn't been a talking point for many years. You can try and call Toyota and see if they are still doing it.

On 6/16/2025 at 2:53 PM, Joe Biden said:

In 2016 at about 88426kms, the oil cooler pipe was replace due to leaking and I’ve heard that there were problems with the two rubber hoses and that Toyota made a full metal hose part, although I could not find these oil cooler lines when looking for them (18, not super mechanically inclined). Should I make sure the oil cooler pipes were replaced with the superior metal part?

Yes, You are correct. The original series Aurion had a couple of Achilles heals. The oil pipes and the VVTI lines. What Toyota were thinking using rubber to transport hot engine oil around a motor is beyond me. They did however step up when the reports started to come in under warranty claims, so they went back to the drawing board and came up with the full metal versions for the recall. They would have placed a silver sticker in the driver's door jamb to acknowledge this.

Here's a nice nugget of info for you 

 

 

On 6/16/2025 at 2:53 PM, Joe Biden said:

(oh and a side question, is the oil cooler in the radiator? I looked at the workshop manual and it suggested this)

The oil cooler is a cylindrical heat exchanger mounted to the engine block. Those metal oil lines feed into this.

The Cooler in the radiator is for the transmission fluid.

On 6/16/2025 at 2:53 PM, Joe Biden said:

Now the vvti line oil line looks like the original with the rubber section, this will need replacing with the metal line yeah? (pic below)

100% get this looked at and replace with the metal variant. Those rubber tubes will be very hard and brittle at this stage in the car's life. No wait too much longer.

On 6/16/2025 at 2:53 PM, Joe Biden said:

The water pump was replaced in 2016 due to leaking as well.

The water pumps were not of the best quality in the original series too. Toyota has made a few revisions since then and the ones you can buy now are vastly superior over the older ones. Don't use after market water pumps. Use only the OEM or Genuine Toyota parts for this job because it's a PITA job, so you only want to try and do this job once.

On 6/16/2025 at 2:53 PM, Joe Biden said:

Lastly is there anything else I need to be aware about with this car?

Like any car, wear and tear is always there, but you can minimize this if you treat the car well. If you're a lead foot, you will destroy quickly. Drive it smoothly and take good care of it and it will reward you not only with fuel efficiency, but save you money for expensive break downs.

Keep up with your maintenance and she will be a keeper for decades. Also, do the coolant service if that hasn't been done yet either. Use the original Toyota SLL Pink fluid. 

If there's anything else you need, let us know.

[Speedz]

Wow congrats with the purchase that's a low mileage for it's age.

Quickly to address your queries.

- Sticky dash there was a soft (quiet) recall some years ago but that was only applicable to Aurion less than a decade old at the time, I know some owners here missed out. Either wreckers, dash mat or bite the bullet and order a new dash that might worth more than the car.

- On the engine apart from your usual stuffs needs replacing due to age and mileage another key thing you want to look out for is the oil line sitting at the bottom of the engine, it's rubber and mine blew about 150k km and caught it leaking just before parking it. They issued with a metal line and that's critical, once the rubber hose blows that's the end of your engine. 

- Headlights are pretty ***** poor for Toyotas of that era, mainly due to the very ordinary OEM projector lens, you can either DIY with a heat gun, ply it open and replace that or go aftermarket. I've tried HID (end up toasting the reflective materials inside the housing) and LEDs later but made some difference but still bad.

- VVTi rattles, try to services it with good premium synthetic oils like Penrite, that's all I really use! 

- Transmission, I had my solenoid failed at 120k km, that was an expensive $900 fix since my private mechanic didn't want to touch it and I was out of state, so I bite the bullet and got it done. 

Other than that, you might get that intermediate steering shaft clicking noise when you turn, that's very common problem even now with other makers. Paintwork not the greatest if it spent it's whole life in the sun. 

Yeah that's about I can think from top of my head.