Kesawi

No need for more pics as they've already been posted a long time ago. Check out this post.

Great write-up and photos so far, I look forward to reading more The difference in fuel consumption between 105kph and 110kph is noticeable. I've begun sitting at a slightly lower speed on long distance drives now.

You should have cup holder inserts for the following locations: 2 inserts for the front centre console. 1 double insert for the removable centre console in the middle row. 2 inserts for the rear row of seats (7 seat version) I've removed all mine as they are too small to fit most drink bottles and only seem to fit soft drink cans. Also they come out quite easily and can get stuck to the beverage container, which may lead to them being inadvertantly tossed in the bin. I've read either in the forum here on on Toyota Nation that they cost ~$30 to replace.

Welcome to the Alpine club At least your kids are quiet when listening to the Wiggles & Hi-5. Mine sing along, so it's worse than listening to the music. We've made a rule of no musical dvds in the car.

Paul, From the informaiton under your avatar, your model is a 2007 and I don't think the change happened before mid 2008 so you will definitely have the rubber oil line.

Just out of interest, why did you take the nudge bar off to fit your spots?

Can the mods start pinning some of these reoccuring threads up the top in important topics, as the sames questions are being asked again every couple of months?

Drove from Brisbane to Hervey Bay and back a couple of weekends ago and averaged 10L/100km. Found a 0.5L/100km difference in sitting at 100kph instead of 110kph (according to the GPS not the speedo). Although it was only a 4 hour trip each way, the Kluger was very comfortable.

Anyone know if the Klugers have a charcoal filter on the air intake? I've read on the US forum that there are perforamnce gains when it is removed, but am not sure whether the filter is specifc to the US models due to their emission laws. http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=306124 Has anyone removed it, and are there any potential side effects (ie engine damage, warranty, etc)?

It depends on what your vehicle is exposed to. My car used to sit undercover all day at work and I was able to maintain the finish by just using a california car duster and some quick detailer for 10 minutes twice a week. Now it's parked outside by one of the busiest sections of motorway in Brisbane with a lot of construction activity nearby so the car is covered in dust and soot by the time I leave work.

I agree, $1000 got me a DA polisher, pads and enough microfibre towels and car care products to look after my baby for a long time, with some change to spare.

Barely had 1/8 of a tank when mine was handed over. Apparently the heafty dealer delivery fees (read profit margin) they charge doesn't include a full tank. I guess when you're selling lots of vehicles it would add up. They also had the audacity to ask me to pay an extra $0.48 when I went to pick up the vehicle as they couldn't get their accounts system to print out an invoice with the agreed total on it! Was tempted excercise my right under the sale contract to terminate the sale based on the dealer price variation clause, and walk out.

Time to join the thread Anyone addicted to Clay? :P

See Polishing new car over in the Kluger forum.

Same thing happened to me but I changed oil type as well, and put it down to that.

Still yet to battle the dealer on this one. Don't forget the shoddy armrests (3 attempts at fixing and still broken) and dash rattles. The airconditioner evaporator has also changed from earlier gen 2 models to fix odour issues, but was told by my dealer they would not replace it. Toyota US will, but not Toyota Australia (see http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315251). Great car excpet for basic issues which should never have got through to production. I won't be selling as I love my Kluger and it matches what I need, but will reconsider buying or recommending Toyota in the future.

Bump <_< There's quite a few threads that need to be pinned as the same questions keep on coming up every couple of months.

I've kept the low profile mounts for the reasons you've outlined above. Only problem I had with the anti-theft nuts is that the key falls out of my socket set too easily and I run out of hands juggling everything. I don't know whether the ani-theft nuts will prevent the bolt from been unscrewed on the vertical adjustment access as the head of the bolt is accessible and could therefore be loosened. Finally managed to give the lights a work out on the way back from Victoria Point last night. Took a few detours down some dark side streets out in the bush around Burbank. Both lights are configured with spots and aimed horizontally straight infront. The spots certainly do light up the road, with the high beams doing a good job of illuminating the edges (although I have upgraded the bulbs). For this reason I would not put a spread filter on the spots as the kluger's lights do an adequate job and much rather have the spots doing the distance work. One issue I did find was that when driving into a dip, the bottom of the beam hits the pavement about 100m infront of the car, creating a bright spot in my field of view. This was often quite distracting, and was a problem on undulating sections of the road. I am tempted to aim the spots slightly higher as no road flat around Brisbane, but will probably leave it aimed as is. Any reflective object glows and sometimes the signs were a tad bright. Compared to the Hella Comet 500s I had the LF 170 HIDs definitely have twice the distance. The Hellas at first seemed brighter to me as they lit up more of the road closer to car (I was running a spread and spot). This is a little deceiving as the LFs with such a long penetrating beam don't do this and light up way into the distance instead. I'm sure if I fitted a spread filter to the LFs they would appear much brighter than the Hellas, but I find the LF spots combined with the upgraded Kluger high beam covers things well. I had to dip the spots a couple of times due to ongoing traffic, and they fired back up straigt away with little loss of brightness. Becuase the spots are so bright I didn't actually notice the glow from the headlights of the oncoming traffic until the cars popped over the crest or around the corner. There were probably a couple of annoyed and blinded drivers arond Burbank last night. I really need ot give the lights a propper work out on a long range night run, as I was in test mode rather than normal driving mode.

Also a good time to quote the Trade Practices Act and "Fit for purpose" requirements.

As I said, Toyota are been far from proactive. Is it time to call ACA or TT?

Did they replace it with a steel pipe?

Toyota has known about this issue with the 2GR-FE engine used in the Gen 2 Kluger, Aurion, Rav 4 and Camry for several years. Kluger models past a certain build date around early/mid 2008 all have a steel oil line. Toyota have been far from proactive. There is a very detailed discussion on the issue at http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=316167

I believe the lights draw 35W based on the specs of the other LF HID lights. I've used the existing wiring for my previous spotties (Hella Comet 500 @ 55W) for the new LF170 HIDs, which appears to be ~1.5mm in diameter (prob 14 gauge). The original instalation also earthed the lights to the chasis rather than direct to the battery. I'm not overly impressed with their performance so far, but then I haven't really found a good location to test them out yet. I am considering rewiring them using a larger diameter wire, and earthing them directly to the battery to try and improve their performance.

You've got a nice shiny car there John, good work :D

What's the minimum recommended wire size to run the driving lights on to minimise voltage loss?