Toyopet

Can't say I like it - yet. The front and side look American (which it is) The rear looks Korean (which it isn't) The shark's fin on top looks BMW. The interior looks good. I'm biased towards Japanese manufacture, and will need convincing that US manufacture will be just as good.

I've never had a problem with the remote or push button on the door itself. However, there was a single instance of the door not closing properly a few months back. I was parked on a slight incline when this happened. The door would almost fully close, then "think" there was an obstruction and auto-open again. It did this a few times, so I gave up and moved the car to level ground and all was ok again.

I'm surprised that people are getting such low km's from their tyres. My car has done almost 70,000km on the original tyres and is now up for its first replacement set. Admittedly the car is a 2WD, the dealer regularly rotated them during servicing, and I've never towed anything. So this might explain the difference. I'm happy with the original Bridgestones and very interested in pricing as I will need to get a new set soon. I believe the eBay seller's tyres are genuine as they have 100% feedback from thousands of transactions.

With regard to the bike question, you can easily "throw" one bike in the back, but two might do some damage to the bikes. However, you should be able to "mount" three bikes in the back. This is based on a Honda Jazz being able to "mount" two bikes in the back with the front wheels removed. See http://www.bv.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=19871&p=479122&hilit=jazz#p479122 for a photo of the Honda set up. Torpedo 7 sells the skewer mounts.

My old noisy bars were oval or rather ovoid, like an elongated egg. The only problem was damaging the PVC tape when attaching something to the bars. But at least it's easy and cheap to replace.

I fixed a similar problem years ago by running some black PVC electrical insulation tape across the back of both bars. The trick is to leave half the tape (~1cm) trailing in the air, with only the front half of the length of tape stuck along the rear top edge of the roof bar. This stopped the wind noise from the bars.

A picture paints a thousand words. (Or takes the paint off your car). Was it a full hand car wash - the type where a team of guys give the car a good going over? From the damage, it appears that the car wash has one of those cylindrical brushes, and the brush roller has come too close to the tailgate and damaged it. Or the brush has been contaminated with abrasives. How is your roof and bonnet looking? I had a bad experience many years ago with this type of car wash, although not as bad as yours. My car slowly developed many parallel lines in the paintwork on the roof, bonnet and boot. Presumably from the brushes. I never went back to this type of car wash again after noticing this slight damage. Only high pressure non-contact car washes for me now. My damage was minor, so I didn't try to claim even though I always used the same car wash all those years ago. Your damage is moderate so it is worth pursuing. Don't know what your chances are. Good luck.

The US Highlander is much the same as our Kluger. "The 2011 Toyota Highlander should be in showrooms by autumn 2010" US autumn, which I guess means spring in Australia. "...new grille insert and maybe altered taillamp lenses and wheel designs." From http://iguida.com/2011-toyota-highlander article dated 14 Dec 09.

I'm with you on the Black/White. My previous car was jet black and a real pain to keep clean as every bit of dirt, dust or pollen was very obvious. I gave it to my wife when we got the Kluger. I'm responsible for the car washing, so it's still a pain to keep clean! Hence the choice of Crystal Pearl for the Kluger. It can go three or four times as long between car washes.

I don't think the Kluger will be roomy enough for your family holidays, unless you get roof bars and a cargo pod (or tow a trailer). Six people in the Kluger around town will be fine though. The Kluger's third row seats are not as capacious as the Tarago. Legroom in the Kluger's third row may be an issue on long drives if you kids are teenagers or older. So the Tarago would be better for the holidays. I drove a Tarago for a week on holidays a year ago, and I recall that the third row seat slides on rails. So you can choose the best legroom/luggage space compromise for your situation. But overall the Kluger will be more enjoyable for your daily commute. If you want to stick with Toyotas, there is also the option of the Avensis (seven seats, compared to Tarago's eight seats). Third row seats in the Avensis have more legroom than the Kluger. The third row seats have adjustable recline and individual "fold flat". The Kluger & Tarago don't have this. Very good seating flexibility! And there is heaps of luggage room behind the third row. This is because the space saver spare wheel sits outside the car beneath the front passenger seat. But, unlike the Tarago, the Avensis third row is not on rails. Plus the Avensis body shape has been around since late 2001, so they are getting a little old now. There was an Avensis upgrade around 2004 with a minor facelift and increase in engine size from 2.0L to 2.4L. I used to have a 2002 model with the 2.0L engine and it was enough for me. The Avensis looks big, but is shorter than a Camry.

Hi there tpham, I think there are two answers here. 1) City driving and 2) your wife. I usually get around 12L / 100km with urban driving (somwhere in between city and country conditions) and have only achieved under 10L / 100km once with mainly country driving. The closer to the city and the more stop/start or heavy traffic driving, the worse your fuel consumption is going to be. I always find that my wife gets worse fuel consumption than me. I notice that she is quicker on the take-off and does not "read" the traffic or signals ahead like I do. So she uses the brakes a lot more and is less likely to achieve a rolling start at an intersection. I guess this is why her fuel consumption is poor. How are your tyre pressures? I keep mine in the high 30's Oil change and fuel type? I don't know as I haven't tried. Good luck.....

Hello all, I bought the Kluger just over a month ago. Because my wife told me to - and she's the boss! :D The main reasons were: - Our old Avensis Ultima people mover was getting on in years and km's - A people mover or wagon in the family is always handy in addition to the sedan - Toyota reliability. We had a great run with the Avensis and other Toyotas I've had over the years - Our kids are getting bigger and the "captain's seats" in the second row (with centre seat removed) were a big attraction for them We almost went for the new Audi Q5, but the back seat was too cramped for the kids - Relatively good fuel consumption on the Klugers, supposedly better than a commodore - Quiet and comfortable - User friendly. Things are where you expect them to be and you don't need to refer to the owner's manual too much Just wish I'd bought it a year earlier to get more enjoyment out of it.