-DAvo

just another possibility.... the cover underneath the passenger side foot well (under the glove box) which covers the fuse box? mine came loose a while back and started to rattle on idle... i bit of stick on velcro helped to secure this cover and stop the rattle..

just remember to wipe the surface you stick the velcro with isopropyl to ensure it sticks well.

good luck :)

Went to check on the progress on the car the other day and its currently in the spray booth getting primered. So hopefully by the end of next week the car is back in my hands.

Also bought a couple of things to welcome back the ride, but I'll show when I receive them.

whooo! cant wait andy! and you now have all the detailing goodies to make her new paint job shine! :) :)

Lookin hot there Jeff!

i will be joining this club after i get the body kit fitted.. have some wicked plans

also have up for grabs

1 set of GENUINE philips H11 4100k HID bulbs.

these have a total of F-All hours of use on them, bought them, installed them, ran them for a while, decided to go back to 6000k...

have been in the box ever since.

Will sell these puppies for $100.00ono will post at a small fee to the buyer. or if local can meet you somewhere central.

will post some pics up later on, these are the GENUINE philips HID XENON 4100k bulbs, made in Germany. great for a OEM look upgrade, these have awsome light output.

I love team white! Yeah its a shame it didnt come with xenons wouldve been perfect! Retrofitting oem ones is not worth it as the car needs coding from the dealer. Retrofitting aftermarket ones will throw a bulb out error from the canbus.

damn... im sure you'll figure a way :P

make sure you get out to some photoshoots this coming summer k? wanna see this german beast! :P

thanks rocky glad to have you back in forums! dave i have a car now :D

i went to the pickles hail damage car auction and saw the corolla sell for $4.5k. a few weeks later a guy from my toyota dealer phoned me about where to get the jdm taillights from ... his friend bought my car and is repairing it to sell.

i was set on getting a megane sport 225 cup but there was none in perth in my price range. also looked at mkv golf gti's but too expensive. in the end i sacrificed performance and got a prefaclift bmw 120i. don't hate :)

really happy with the car so far. leg room for the back seats is really small and its on runflat tyres but i can live with that.

i know how expensive it is to maintain a bmw so modding will be kept to a minimum. mods so far are osram diadems, led license plate lights and grey vinyl overlay on bmw roundels.

this forum has helped me so much in car knowledge and have made good friends at the meets so i won't be leaving this forum anytime soon :)

cheers!

other 1ers!

ncie choice bro! glad to see youre staying true to team white :)

and im expecting some awsome HID retrofit in the near future mate!

price drop!

$300.00 local sale!!!

bump it up!

if your lcoal within perth and drive a aurion AND want it lowered with less body roll! 250.00 will see these red wonders in your hands :)

For people who are using HID kits on their Aurion did you have to lower the projector headlight?

just a fraction, but that was only because from factory they were pretty uneven... bear in mind the passenger side will be a bit higher..

on this note, have ordered some philips 4200k replacement bulbs to replace my 6000k ones.. cant wait to see the difference..

Any update on the 4300k HID Davo?

yeah i had the original philips 4100k (they only do 4100 and 6000k bulbs for their hid kits) and had them in for a few weeks. overall wasnt too pleased with the light colour. output was great, but even while driving through some thunder/rain storms here in perth i didnt notice a GREAT difference over the 6000k bulbs i had previously.. in the end i ended up buying some fresh 6000k philips bulbs and will either sell or save the 4100k bulbs for my fog lights...

personalli i just didnt like the colour of the 4100k in my projectors... came off as pretty yellow... but perhaps i was used to 6000k light.. i was thinking of letting them undergo their colour shift but i knew even if they shifted slightly, id still be wanting thr 6000k white still.

i will say thou, i have found from my 1year+ old 6000k philips bulbs that i took out, they had shifted to a more "blue" appearance compared to the fresh 6000k i installed. so not bad, for the amount of night driving i do that i got over 1 year out of the globes, which were still going strong when i pulled them out. nice to have some fresh bulbs in thou, the colour is noticably whiter compared to a bluish light.

fitted 4300k philips "patent" HID's into the high beams and have been very very impressed with the output. cant wait till later on in the year when we drive down south. pitch black country roads here i come!

anyway.

in conclusion:

4100k = too yellow for my liking, excellent light output, yellowish (at times even slightly orange) light output. great if all you want is visability, not overly great if you want looks as well :P

6000k = nice white light, turns from purple (on start up) to blue, then to white. excellent output, and great looks.

(these are my personal opinions only, some of you may very well love the look of 4100k! :) )

yeah, whats happening with this? so lonnng already :P

hey Bru

PlastX is a great product~! i have used it on many pccasions to maintain crystal clear headlights...

best tip when using products like plastX is

1. apply using small tight circular motion (best is a meguiars applicator foam pad)

2. start off by using a fair bit of pressure, and then gradually ease off the pressure until you finish off with just a light buffing action.

3. read up on what "meguiars diminishing abrasive" technology entails.. and remember this when you use the product.

4. helps to follow up after using plstx (and wip[ing it all off) with a sealant of your choice... nxt 2.0 is a great option as it dries clear and offers prolonged protection.. (even thou plastx leaves some protection behind itself- can never have enough protection! )

5. if you are unsure, jump onto youtube and search for plastx. meguiarsUSA have some great vid tutorials!

ive recently bought some mothers plastic polish and found that to be a great product if your scratches arnt overly bad.. as such i now use plstx for harsher damage/swirls in the headlight, and plan on using mothers plastic polish once every 3-4 months to maintain a clear finish..

good luck and remember, if the scratches are bad, you may have to do a few passes...!

Gday! I'm Maxy 37yo from Perth in W.A. and have just bought a SX6 2008 Aurion in Blue! I love this colour and the car. I pick it up on Tuesday 10th August 2010, can't wait, these sleepless nights are killing me!!

I have had a '03 sportivo previously and had HID dual beam lights in and they were great. Only thing they lasted 2 yrs only and one side started not to come on (low beam). It kept blowing an inline fuse so I imagine the ballast was faulty which is costly to replace.

I also changed the dickie grey bland front grill to the '04 colour coded grill and it looked so much better. The front grill on this model Aurion is not much better (std issue) and would appreciate a link to a post/page for some different ideas please.

As any forum there are some people who get 'burnt' for stating their opinion and I hope we ALL can get along and share info/stories. I am prettty passive and can't wait to share some stories on here.

Thanks again everyone one and look forward to getting my car! WOO HOO!!!!!

hey max!

glad to see another Perth based aurion owener here! yay!

hope you can make it to a photoshoot sometime! ill be organizing them throughout the year... but atm the weather isnt too great... but as soon as the weather picks up... all YOU perthies better get your cars gleaming... cos its on!!!

:)

i guess this would be the closest thing to an all white sportivo lip. looks great and different imo

http://royalgarage.ace.st/forum-f3/topic-t13.htm

i acctually saw a white aurion sportivo here in perth who had coloured coded that middle lip/rear middle lip as well! (anyone on here??) overall i wasnt overly impressed when i saw it in real life... so i think ill be sticking to the black... still undecided about the gun metal matching to the grille thou...

got bored today, its not fitted yet. But its slowly a work in progress.

mate that lip kit is absolute P0RN!!

definately one of-if not- my fave camry kicking around these forums.

*watches thread eagerly*

Not cleaning the material is like never cleaning your clothes and just wearing the same ones everyday.

damn i knoew there was a reason why people would run away from me! :P

liking the idea of steam cleaning.. any recommendations for a cheap cleaner thou? lol

nice! for the front spoiler are you painting it all white or have the black bits?

going to have the black bits. althou im tempted to maybe go for the matching gun metal thats on my grille? but most likely will start off with black... think it will be too much white if i do everything in white.... whats everyones opinion??

OK. so here is a sneak peak into my next mod...

(yes i know the photo is taken at night time.. again! sorry lee :P )

i know that some on here may not hold the same feeling as i do about this mod, however, i did look into purchasing via overseas for a more "unique" look, but came to the conclusion that given the costs, and uncertainty of fitment, i could easily go for a geunie kit.. and ive always had a thing for the spotivo kits.. and even more so when mated with a ducktail spoiler!!!

just waiting on the side skirts now and then will be sending the kit off to the panel beaters and then later on for fitting. yeeew!

oh and other small mods ive had done in the mean time..

- had the rear bumper LED lights fitted.

- fitted some fresh philips 6000k bulbs into replace the exisiting bulbs... old bulbs will be moved into the fogs once i get another set of ballasts.

- fitted a cheaper "philips patent" hid kit 4300k into the high beams.. WOW talk about setting the bush on fire!!

I really haven't done any research yet but eek... quick clay on a brand new, paint protected car ? I assume it's perfectly OK but couldn't I just add layers or protection when it's brand new instead of cutting it back first ? Using clay on a spotlessly new paintjob kinda freaks me out but again I don't really know anything about it... yet.

yeah i can understand your concern but let me part with some of my personal experiences...

i admit i got sucked into the whole "toyota genuine paint protection/never wax your car ever again hype" when we bought the aurion... however upon taking delivery of the car this is what i have found

1. the car was COVERED in swirls and light scratches...

2. the car surface did not feel anything like a waxed car should feel like

3. the car did not bead water as effectively as a waxed car should.

now seeing as the paint protection apparently costs $900.00 from toyota we were to say the least disappointed..

it was at this point that i decided to take paint protection and maintaince into my own hands.. and have gone as far as prohibiting toyota from washing the car during services..

now perhaps this was my own experience and my experiance only. but none the less it has 100% jaded my view on factory paint protection. any car i purchase in the future i will insist it does not come with paint protection.. just the factory paint job and clear coat and ill take it from there!

so IMHO if i was you, the first thing id be doing is stripping off the poor excuse that toyota use for a "paint sealant" and take the condition of your car's surface into your own hands.

anyway. besides that rant, to answer your question:

a clay kit such as meaguiars or even mothers clay bar will be non abrasive.. all you are doing is essentially "plucking" the contaminants which regular washing mits and shampoo cannot lift off the surface.. unless your toyota dealership is part owned by hardcore car detailers, then i can almost guarentee that there will be surface contaminates on your paint...

Originally posted by Mike Phillips

For the most part, you can clay as often as you like as claying is non-abrasiveto the finish.

in terms of using the mild paint cleaner on your clearcoat before you lay down your own layers of paint protection, think of it this way, to get the best protection/longevity/shine/reflection/bond between your surface and the sealant all comes down to the initial prep you do prior to applying that sealant... a bit of the ol "Prior Preperation Prevents Piss Poor Protection" :P

and if you are worried about "wearing down" your clear coat layer, have a read of this thread http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4013

hope this helps, as has been said here, you will eventually work out your own car care methods which work for you..

good luck :)

you have a nice bum daryl.... ;)

With two months to go until we recieve our new Graphite Levin ZR I thought I'd review my current car detailing kit while I wait. I used to religiously clean our current Corolla with Meguires and then changed to Bowdens Own using the two bucket method plus many trips to CarLovers Laserwash to blast the initial grit off before I wash (& sometimes even after I wash) but in the last year or two I've let her go a bit and haven't given her much attention :( I cleaned & waxed her once or twice each year with good quality cleaners & carnuba wax (used to take about 8 hours) and it shows because even though she's now really dirty it only takes a simple quick clean and she looks amazing again.

Onward & upward though and I'm looking forward to blowing many weekends on getting the new Levins paintwork as sweet & rich as possible... but which products to use ?

I've never used a clay bar before or anything more hardcore than a paint cleaner & carnuba wax but I'm open to any suggestions. I suppose what I need to know is:

1. What should I buy/do to give the car a really good start in life as soon as I get her home from the dealership ?

clay bar, very very mild paint cleaner (swirlx), and 2 coats of paint sealant (nxt 2.0)

2. What should I buy/do for the normal weekly/fortnigtly/monthly wash ?

wash: Meguiars ultimate wash and wax, upkeep: meguiars ultimate quik wax, monthly/bimonthly top up with layer of nxt 2.0

tyres: meguiars hot rims tyre gel.

3. What should I buy/do for the 6-12 monthly upkeep ?

see step 1.

Your suggestion can be as hardcore or as basic as you think appropriate. The floodgates are open...

Steve.

;) obviously you can get much more hardcore than that, but if you do it right the first time up, you should minimize your work down the track...

other tips:

invest in good quality microfibre towels, chamois, and lambswool wash mit.

allow proper cure time for your wax layers

For those of us located on the west coast:

if you are chasing toyota genuine parts then i would highly recommend you go and see Rodney (and only Rodney) at Scarboro Toyota Parts.. he has been amazing at ordering all kinds of strange parts i have requested from him... and was even willing to source TRD parts for me if i was willing! plus he gives great prices!!

for servicing: i would recommend city toyota in northbridge... despite the fact that i insisted that they NOT wash my car on three (3) seperate occasions, and they STILL washed the car.. i will go back to them for 2 reasons

1. they were VERY prompt to reply to my complaint that i lodged via email (called me back within a few hours) and i spoke directly to the service manager AND the mechanic who worked on my car, both offered a sincere apology and they have promised me that my car will never be washed through their dealership again unless i tell them to... time will tell if they hold on this..

2. their mechanical service was excellent! i asked for genuine toyota full synthetic oil, they provided mobil1 full syn at the same price. car is running great, and the service was excellent. they arrange a hire car no worries (top of the wozza prius)

so given their faults, i believe their high level of customer service will definately see me back again for my next service :)

my 2c

Phone: Samsung Omnia

Mount: non - sits in the tray in the centre consol area..

Music: Pioneer AVH-4150DVD... althou i am looking at getting the new AVIC-F20BTwhen it becomes available here... yeew!

looking great there!! nice shine you got going ;)

IMO id definately save for coilivers... i thought i'd take the "cheap" route and get springs... ended up buying coilovers within a few months anyway.. haha

good luck with it all :) and keep up the polishing!!! :)

thanks for the feedback,

might color the eyelids white, had to chuck em on caused i damaged the headlight cover with some turps lol,

i like what davos done to the front number plate, how easy it is to remove the plastic?

lol you picked up on my cheap sport grille mod.

im liking it atm mate! but yeah definately colour code the eye lids...

as for the number plate backing.. its dead simple. just remove your number plate and all will be clear.. just two bolts to undo to remove the plate holder.. it has 2 press in clips that locate it onto the bumper so just yank it out towards yourself once the bolts are off..

all i did with mine was sand it down smooth, few layers of primer, few layers of white gloss form autopro, and then buffed the buggery out of it with meguiars ultimate compound, followed by scratch x 2,0, then M205, and then finally with lots of layers of nxt 2.0. still holding up great!

heres an idea.. if you're keen on the black and white theme, paint your emblem white.....? maybe... but may look a bit tacky.. not sure...

Very nice Davo...nice birthday prez to yourself.

can you post up a day time pic of the grille?...most of your pics are at night,don't you sleep. ;)

thanks Lee, yeah i got it done a while ago just haven't had the motivation to go and take photos of it...

birthday pressie to myself is partly sitting in my garage atm.. still a few more parts yet to arrive...

and yeah i dont sleep much lol... will try and get some daytime shots, althou in my defence.. the pics of the coilovers earlier in my thread were taken during the day :P :P :P

unique - yeah it would definately, but it would also burn a nasty hole in my bank balance :P maybe later down the track when i really have nothing else i wanna do to the car :P plus from doing some research into it a while ago, the only place here in perth that does sunroofs offer 1 model only to fit the aurion.. and its not my taste (twin glassed sunroof)

signing in to the grille club. yeeeww!

im liking it better now compared to when it was all chrome..