FourToyotas

I just got my car back and that new insert in front of the parking brake button had the same effect as fingers on a blackboard. It looks like an afterthought.

"Also, to the right of the dash light dimming wheel, there is a space. In the Australian BRZ and international 86, this is a headlight angle wheel. Not sure why the Australian 86 has opted out."

It's because you can go from the UK to Europe by car and they drive on opposite sides of the road. If you drive on the left, the headlights are biased to the left and vice versa. It's quite common to have to buy new headlights before registering a European car in the UK.

I remember back in the seventies when I was with my father at a Toyota dealer and I first laid eyes on the original Celica. It was love at first sight. My dad was the one buying a car but within a week the Celica was in my garage. The 86 has the same sort of appeal but I can't help thinking I'd be buying a Subaru. If they could drop a 3.5 litre V6 into it similar to what Nissan did with the 350Z I'd put my order in tomorrow.

Another thing that bugs me about the 86 is that light and bonnet look. It looks like someone left something on the bonnet and it melted and the car looks angry about it. Reminds me of new Mazdas that look like they are melting.

I've also had a really solid rattle that also seems to be coming from the rear left side. The car has been up on the hoist a couple of times and they can't find the source of the problem. I'm thinking that they can't find the source of the problem on the hoist while the suspension isn't under load.

Get a strip of rubber or something that's about 1cm thick and stuff it down between the window and the dash so that the dash can't flex freely. See if it helps. It worked for me.

What is it about fog lights that make some people want to use them on a night without fog. Do they think that their car looks prettier with four lights.

I live in a fairly hilly area and when one these idiots approach I give them high beam because those fog lights are fairly high intensity and when they come over the crest of a hill they shine directly in your eyes.

I'd increase the fine and make them write a thousand times on the blackboard I MUST SWITCH OFF MY FOG LIGHTS OR BE BRANDED A MORON.

My Aurion developed a dash rattle a few months after I bought it (second hand). It was caused by the dash flexing. I fixed it by pressing a 3 foot long strip of rubber down between the dash and the window. The rubber was an insert from an old set of roof racks and is about 1cm thick. Never had another dash rattle.

I've just had my intermediate shaft replaced and it feels like a new car. I also had the VVTi pipe replaced at the same time.

I also had the transmission problems that others have mentioned. The car was slow to change gears when cold. I wasn't going to do anything about it because it went away within half a kilometre but on one occasion I drove up a hill when the car was cold and after about 100 metres the car actually went out of gear and revved until it slipped into gear. The ECU was replaced and the transmission seems to be very different. I haven't had a chance to drive it much since it was replaced so I can't really tell whether it's better or not.

I've also had the dash creaking problem others have mentioned which I fixed by inserting a rubber strip between the dash and windscreen.

Even though I've had some problems with the car I'm happy with it.