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Thanks... Will try to make it to the next meet... Not sure yet as I was thinking of going to the car dealer tomorrow to have a test drive first and see what they are prepared to give me as a trade in for the Presara. Thanks for the heads up, however, I don't think I can wait that long :P

Hey Guys, I am thinking of selling my Presara and getting a TRD 3500SL. I need some advice on what are the pros and cons of going down this route... Ones I can think of.. PROS ------ - Extra power with the supercharger - Looks - love the look of the TRD - Bigger brakes and wheels - Better suspension CONS ------- - Cost with the change over - Less luxury features - Higher insurance premiums? - Higher fuel consumption - Must use 98 RON fuel - No longer being manufactured - limited supply of spare parts, reduced resale value etc. - Cost of repairs (especially the SC) when warranty runs out Any other comments/advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

bump... anyone? I just logged into the Toyota Link website and found that my free membership will expire sometime next year (the expiry date used to be blank and does not contain a date). There is also a payment button now, so I clicked this and proceeded to make a payment (not really going ahead with the payment as it's not due till next year), so that I can find out how much I'll be charged. It turns out that you need to pay $240 per year to renew your Toyota Link subscription after your initial free period of 3 years. Personally, I will not be renewing after the free period as I really have not had to use it (in an emergency) since I had the car. What do you guys and gals think? Would you pay the $240 per year to extend the Toyota Link subscription?

The Presaras certainly do have blinds and that is one of the features that help me to convince the wife to purchase the Presara.... She hates the sun on her neck if she is sitting in the back seat - our previous car is a station wagon!!! funny thing is, i paid extra $100 to get an aftermarket kit tat do the SAME thing.. on my sx6.. I wish I had known about the aftermarket sunshade at the time of purchasing the Presara, however, I am not complaining as I do enjoy all the gadgets that come with that model. Will have to keep this in mind for my next car.... :D

hey mate, what's the feedback so far (i know it's only been a couple of days) and which dealer in WA did you take it too? I had the "noise kit" fitted back in September 2008. It was ok for a few months but now a different rattle occurs!! - like some clips have come loose near the driver side nr the windscreen. Sorry to hear that the dreaded rattle has returned after the "fix".. So far so good, but like you said its only been a couple of days so I am not celebrating as yet... I took it to Scarboro Toyota as it was the most convenient for me for the drop off and pickup as there is a train station nearby - for this time, they organised a loan car for me as they thought it may take more than 1 day to do all the warranty work and the 30,000km service.

I only noticed the rattle on the top LHS of the dash near the speaker on a recent long trip with the car sometimes travellng on unsealed roads. The rattle got so bad that I had to ask my wife to wedge her handbag between the windscreen and the dash to stop the annoying rattle!! I agonised over whether to bite the bullet and get the rattle fixed and risk having more problems with the dash being pulled apart or put up with the rattle!! In the end I decided to have it fixed and touch wood the rattle seemed to have been fixed and more importantly no new side effects were introduced as a result of the dash being pulled apart - I hope! Time will tell....

The Presaras certainly do have blinds and that is one of the features that help me to convince the wife to purchase the Presara.... She hates the sun on her neck if she is sitting in the back seat - our previous car is a station wagon!!!

We are discussing the electric blind for the back window - this only applies to the Presaras (or the Grande in the Middle East) as I don't think any other Aurion models come with the rear electric blind.

Had the dash "noise kit" fitted under warranty with the 30,000km service done at the same time - only took 1 day and everything seemed to have been put back as it's supposed to. Will need to drive it a bit more to determine whether the dash rattle has been fixed completely as I only picked up the car today. Also had the rattling LHS center air vent and part of the center console replaced. The center console was rubbing against the piece of silver plastic underneath and taking the paint off as you move the console armrest forward and back. I mentioned that lots of members on the forum complained that they had more problems after the dash has been taken apart than the original rattle - so the service manager said he'll request their "best technician" to do the job instead of just anyone available on the day. I just hope I don't have the same bad experience as some of the unlucky members on this forum. :P

I too get annoyed the electric blind retracts when I put the car into reverse. I think Toyota should have hooked it up to the light sensor and only retract the blind when it's dark. I understand that they have done it for safety reasons and so we can see where we're going when reversing. I don't know enough about the electrics to mess about with the blind, so I guess I just have to put up with it. However, it's always better to be safe than sorry! :P

What about Prodigy and Presara owners? Which model should we select.....

Just visited my local Toyota dealer today and one of their technicians confirmed that the black box is indeed for Toyotalink as most people suspected. :P

I'll be interested to find out whether you are able to re-negotiate the deal once you have signed the contract.....

You can check here http://www.toyota.com.au/parts-and-service...antage/overview by selecting "Is my vehicle eligible?" and entering in the VIN.

PsychoRez also confirmed that his version of the Presara (Grande) does not have Toyotalink and instead he has a fire extinguisher in the location where the black metal box sits.

A bit off the subject, but with regards to the Toyota Link Beep from the left rear speaker, i rang Toyota Link this morning and according to them they think it's supposed to happen, they checked everything and then put me through to Toyota Technical who basically told me to go back to my dealer and wouldn't enlighten me either way. Does anyone at all out there with a Presara get the beep when turning the ignition on? cheers Are you just pressing the Start/Stop button without depressing the brake or are you starting the car? From memory, if I start the car I definitely don't hear the beep. However, if I just press the Start/Stop button (twice) without depressing the brake, I think (not 100% sure) there is a beep. I don't have my car with me today so cannot confirm it. Will try it when I get home if someone does not try it first and report back.... Happens both ways. Tried it after getting home from work and I also can hear a beep after starting the car AND also going into the ON mode by pressing the Start/Stop button twice without depressing the brake. I guess either your car is normal or both our cars are suffering from the same problem!!! Can other Presara owners confirm this??

A bit off the subject, but with regards to the Toyota Link Beep from the left rear speaker, i rang Toyota Link this morning and according to them they think it's supposed to happen, they checked everything and then put me through to Toyota Technical who basically told me to go back to my dealer and wouldn't enlighten me either way. Does anyone at all out there with a Presara get the beep when turning the ignition on? cheers Are you just pressing the Start/Stop button without depressing the brake or are you starting the car? From memory, if I start the car I definitely don't hear the beep. However, if I just press the Start/Stop button (twice) without depressing the brake, I think (not 100% sure) there is a beep. I don't have my car with me today so cannot confirm it. Will try it when I get home if someone does not try it first and report back....

Just spoken to a Toyota service rep and he said they program the Toyotalink via a port under the dash on the driver's side!! If he is correct, then the port on the black metal box is not for programming Toyotalink. The rep said he'll have a look if he can find a Presara and get back to me.

Thanks PsychoRez, that's very interesting as I had a closer look at the box and found that it's not that easy to remove the covers as there are no obvious screws. With all the initial responses, I thought it must be the motor for the rear window shade and had my son operate it with me inside the boot to see whether I can hear the motor running but I can't hear anything coming from the box. I also found what looks like an external test socket for the electronics inside the box (photo attached). With what PsychoRez has reported for his version of the "Presara" and all these other findings, it leads me to think it's the Toyotalink stuff.... PsychoRez... Does your car have Toyotalink???

Thanks for the quick reply D. I was thinking it might be Toyotalink related but forgotten about the electric window shade (which is a big possibility) - if I don't get any replies, I will try to remove the covers, take some pictures and report back.

Hi All, I have been wondering about this for a while and wanted to know the purpose of the black metal box in the boot just under the parcel shelf. I have attached a picture of it for your reference. Hope someone can answer my question.... Thanks.

I am new to this forum and just took delivery of a Presara. I have a question about the coolant temperature gauge and wanted to find out where the needle points to on the dial when the car is running normally after a few kms. My Presara seems to point to the 9 o'clock position (in the middle of the temperature range), is this normal? My other cars (also Toyotas) seems to point to some where below half way and does not get to half way unless it's overheating. Looking forward to your responses. Thank you.