Beep Beep

I normally just fill until it clicks, then pull out a little bit and keep going at a much slower rate of flow, wait for air to be vented from the tank then keep filling until I can physically see the fuel and just short of overflowing. Then I close the cap. I figure by the time I drive a couple of kms , any excess would have been consumed so it's not really a biggie I don't think, about the fuel tank being too full for extended periods of time.

I must disagree with you on the styling thing. I have always been a Ford devotee and also owned an AU (The ugliest of them). I for one am very impressed with the styling of the Aurion and think they are a real head turner depending on the color. If you want to know which engines are the most reliable ask at a wrecking yard to find out. The most popular engine sold at at one yard in Brisbane is from the Commodore. They sell as many of them as they can get. They dismantle most late model cars and if you look in their scrap bins you will see many Falcon sixes and Camry fours primarily because they rarely need to be replaced. Ask at any taxi company what is the preferred car for them and they will in most cases tell you the Falcon or Toyota Camry/Aurion is the way to go if you want reliability. RE: Styling. It's hard to be positive about Toyota's approach to styling when you see shockers like the Toyota Rukus (what's up with that boxy monstrosity?!?!), Yaris (almost pokemon like looks), Corolla (Pokemon on 'roids), Landcruiser (wtf is with that gawd awful rear end??!), Prius (Yawn! Snore!) etc etc etc..... :blink: It's almost like the approach to styling is haphazard at best... The FT86 DOES look sexy though.... so hopefully things are changing

This is exactly my argument when people think I'm stupid for filling up when I have approx. 10 ltrs left. I look at it this way, if the theory of not letting your tank run below 15% because it will suck through rubbish past that point is true then not only will that 15% threshold increase over time but when you actually have to keep driving below 15% because your running late or there is no station nearby then you are gonna take a whole bunch of that rubbish all at once instead of the dribs and drabs you would have if you run the fuel low every time. Plus, I don't know about you but I like driving with as little weight as possible in my car. Yeah, I didn't think it was such an issue because this advice was given to me by, shall we say, a person who is a "senior citizen" who was driving back in the days when fuel WAS probably dodgy. I do still try to keep to this rule for my diesel Landcruiser though, only because even with two stage fuel filters, I don't quite trust the diesel that comes out of a bowser which looked like it came from the early 80s with the old school rotating numbers on it rather than a propoer electronic display. It's not so much a concern in the Metro area, especially with busy gas stations that regularly turn over their fuel stock. I should post a pic of the pre-fuel filter and main fuel filter I changed after a trip through the goldfields 3 years ago. The Pre-fuel filter was grotty with sediment and god knows what, but it did a fantastic job because the main fuel filter had very very very little crap in it. All it would've taken was a few particles to slip through the filters for it to sh.itcan fuel pumps.

It might also depend on your driving style. All it takes is for a slightly heavy foot to push your fuel consumption up and your driving range down. I get anything between 453km @ 14.36L/100km up to 889km @ 7.31L/100km. As you can see the range of difference is quite HUGE. For me, what range I get depends on whether I'm stuck in almost gridlock conditions in peak hour traffic to/from work, or if you're cruising on the open road out in the country. Maybe as an experiment, fuel up, go for a short drive around town in typical city driving stop start conditions, then refuel. Work out your fuel consumption, and based on that, the estimated range out of the 65L you'd have on board. Then repeat with a cruise at speed (to simulate country/rural driving). You'll probably need to find gas stations from point to point with a decent, long stretch of road in between which you can cruise at country speeds (eg 110km/h) without having to stop and start for traffic congestion and traffic lights.. You should then be able to tell if your fuel consumption is excessive or not.

Daryl, do you usually run your tank dry before filling up? I was told that it was bad to do so because the "dregs" might get sucked up and mess up your sensors, etc. Personally, I figure this would be more true for diesel rather than petrol.

In this case, if you went by your GPS, you'd be leaving everyone behind and going, "See ya suckerrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssssssssssssss.........."

You could always be cheeky and tell the dealer you'd like to get compensation for purchasing a product which is faulty. Or compensate you for how much the speedo component of the instrument cluster costs because it's obviously about as useful as tits on a bull. Call consumer affairs because the speedometer doesn't do what it's suppose to do i.e. tell you YOUR SPEED. :spiteful: Oh yeah that will be real effective. Hello consumer affairs? My car's speedo was reading within the accuracy permitted by the ADRs however after I changed my wheel/tyre combo to a completely different size it isn't even that accurate any more and the dealer doesn't want to fix it for me! Yup! See, I knew people would agree with me! Seriously though, not much you can do unless your speedo was reading way way over the true speed eg reading 100kph when it's actually 80kph for example. Only real option option without tinkering with your speedo is to do some calculations and work out the best sized rim/tyre combo to accurately match your speedo then source and fit them. Apart from that, get an aftermarket speedo which uses GPS, and stay away from tunnels or you won't get a reading. PS. High tension powerlines also do weird things to GPS based speed readings. Once got a reading of 390kph for a second or two while driving on the freeway next to the powerlines for the train.

You could always be cheeky and tell the dealer you'd like to get compensation for purchasing a product which is faulty. Or compensate you for how much the speedo component of the instrument cluster costs because it's obviously about as useful as tits on a bull. Call consumer affairs because the speedometer doesn't do what it's suppose to do i.e. tell you YOUR SPEED. :spiteful:

My speedo reads low too, it's just how it is. I suppose theoretically I could put slightly bigger diameter rims and tyres and this will bring the speedo read a truer speed....?

The keyword being "almost". :P

Have a look at the photos of the combination meter ... this is included. That would be good... With now 204kW we shouldn't technically see any going around with P plates on them... in queensland atleast. Someone should try shoehorning the M157 from a Mercedes E63 AMG into the Aurion. Might be a bit of a tight squeeze tho :P . 410kW & 800Nm, 9.8L/100km 5.5L Twin Turbo V8. Gawd.. imagine what kind of ludicrious power : weight ratio you'd get!!! Probably have to brace the chassis cause it'd probably rip the front end off when using launch control. LOL

If you had the funds, why not fit a front bumper cam? The display can be mounted somewhere convenient, like on the A pillar. The activation switch can be fitted to any spare spot on your dash, I suppose. I'd imagine mounting the camera would be the easiest part because you can hide it within the front grill somewhere. If this is too complicated or expensive, there's always the old school option i.e. get someone to guide you to as close to the barrier as you feel comfortable with, and once parked, stay behind the wheel and visually reference any markers to fixed points of the car. For me, I visually reference the kerb to the bottom of my wing mirrors. From my driving position, if I sight the bottom of the kerb just as it appears below the driver's wing mirror and this same bottom kerb goes through the middle of the left wing mirror, then the bottom of my bumper is approximately 10cm to the kerb. Note that everyone will be different due to height, seating position etc. So far I haven't crunched the front bottom end on kerbs etc as yet. TOUCH WOOD!!! Cheers, BB

That's different!! Egg farts LOL :lol: I once knew a guy in college who made his own biodiesel and got his raw oil from the KFC he was working at. The damned thing smelt like fried chicken all the time and made everyone hungry.........

Would it be reasonable to expect the new Aurion to look similar? My wish list :- Adaptive Cruise Forward IR camera (for night/bad weather driving - see below pic) Park assist (i.e. self parking capability as seen in upper spec Euro cars) Bi Xenon headlights. Puddle lamps under the wing mirrors Electric Folding wing mirrors with puddle lamps Heated seats IPOD interface (with ability for menu navigation via steering wheel buttons) 12V socket on center console for rear passengers. 12V socket in boot. Probably some of the above would be more fanciful rather than practical, but I'm sure there's some stuff in the list which is feasible! :-)

Possibly one of the following :- 1. Your alarm/immobiliser is stuffed. 2. Starter motor contacts have corroded so no current is going to your starter motor. Listen out for clicking noises when you turn the key to the START position. 3. You have a bad cell in your battery. Even with a bad cell, you'll have power to run the headlights but no power for high current draw devices eg starter motor.

One of the more obvious things to check is your air filter? It may be clogged or requires replacing if it's the standard paper element type. Sounds like not enough air is being sucked in to burn the fuel. Is there excessive black smoke? This indicates incomplete combustion.

If it seems to be getting worse, you really ought to get it looked at ASAP. If it's a short somewhere, it's just a matter of time before it starts a fire. If that happens, I guess it would be rather amusing for people driving by looking at your car going up in flames on the side of the road while you dance around madly, desperately trying to put the flames out with a wet napkin. Seriously though, Dude. I can't believe you'd even consider delaying something like this being looked at. It's not exactly a worn windscreen rubber insert which you can delay getting checked out. If I were in your shoes, I'd have taken it to the dealers/auto sparkie/mechanics as soon as I smelt the burnt smell, get it fixed, THEN write about it on the forum later.

Thanks Daryl. Thought this may be the case... guess it will be best to just go with an aftermarket sensor kit. Probably going to be tricky to get it to detect a low concrete barrier and not the ground but I will see how it goes! Dan. How bout low intensity laser (like the ones used for electronic distance measurers) mounted just inside the bumper, calibrated to set off a buzzer/beeper/HUD display when it detects an obstacle too close to the rims? You'll probably need 4 to cover all 4 corners of the vehicle. And make them active when speed drops below 10km/h ? Surely it can't be THAT hard to program/wire up?

I find that although they stop short of actually saying it directly to your face or have it written on anything (signage or otherwise), car dealers in general insinuate (quite strongly) that your vehicle warranty is void if you don't go back to a dealer for service and maintenance. Even the logbooks and driver's manual that came with the car always imply any servicing or maintenance carried out by anyone OTHER than the manufacturer's service center will stuff your warranty up. It's borderline misleading and unconscionable conduct, IMHO. It might be worth a laugh if those of us who go to the dealers for servicing to ask them outright if the warranty will be void if you went to a Repco's, or Ultra Tune or Auto Masters etc for your logbook service. I did it with mine, and the reaction was priceless. When I asked that question while having a chat with the Service Manager, for some reason they paid extra attention and care to my car when I picked it up later. Hell, it was even vacuumed and washed and they CALLED me to let me know that it's ready. Usually they never call and hardly ever gets washed and vacuumed. Cheers, BB

O...kay. What started off as a pretty good discussion has gone really weird...... What was the topic again? :P

IMHO, ALL dealer servicing (not just Toyota) are overpriced for the perceived "quality" and "technical expertise" their "factory trained" technicians are supposed to provide to the customer. Fact of the matter is, there's nothing a suitably qualified mechanic cannot do in terms of servicing. I'm only going to Toyota for servicing because it's a company lease vehicle. Otherwise I would go to my mechanic who has been servicing every car I've owned since 1993. He doesn't have a very big operation (him and 2 other mechanics) and I only stumbled across his services by chance. The dude did a lot of the factory AirCon installs for Toyota dealers back in the days when A/C isn't standard on Toyotas. In terms of dealer servicing, the straw that broke the camel's back was when I got assreamed for $1,400.00 for a routine 55k INTERMEDIATE service for my Landcruiser :angry: . There wasn't even anything extra to the standard logbook service (drop oils, etc)! After that I went looking around for a decent mechanic and happened to come across this guy in Canning Vale because I also needed my Air conditioning serviced and regassed. It was a stroke of luck that I found this guy. Anyway, after having the Cruiser serviced by my mechanic a few times, the major service came at 100k. This was the moment of truth. My mechanic did everything in the log book (Timing belt, diff oils, pre & main fuel filters etc etc), AND extra stuff I asked him to look at. Cost? $935.00!!!!! And that was a MAJOR service too!!! Dealer servicing, what a rort. PS. No offence intended to anyone on this forum who works as a Technician at Toyota. My gripe isn't with you guys, it's how your employer markets your services and promises things that you can't possibly deliver to the Customer. Management always promises awesome ***** to customers, to get them through their doors. Unfortunately, when the customer doesn't get what they were led to expect by Management/Customer Service, you guys end up copping the rough end of the stick. Again, my 2c worth. BB No Toyotas were harmed in the typing of this rant. © 2011 *Cue theme music*

It's little things like these that add a star to an ANCAP rating, no doubt that the Aurion is extremely safe. It's just these new Chinese imports that are worrying me, a Great Wall X240 gets a 4 Star ANCAP because it got 16/16 in a side impact test, yet was pretty average/crap in other areas. The Chery J1 doesn't even have stability control and still got 3 stars... If I recall correctly the K24 in the Honda produces 148kw. However, all that power is achieved in the higher revs. Honda makes brilliant 4 cylinder engines but I don't think there is much low down torque. The 2GR-FE in the Aurion features an amazing engine (Isn't it the successor to the legendary 2JZ?), it's even used in the Lotus Evora as well!! Lotus has traditionally used Toyota engines, that's how great they are (next model will be using Lotus's own engine). The engine in the LF-A is an absolute marvel in Toyota's engineering crown. Both Honda and Toyota engines will last a long time, you can abuse and mistreat the Toyota engine all you want and it'll still last! With the Honda, you need to treat it with care and respect or it'll break on you. Toyotas in general are reliable, relatively cheap to run and can take a fair bit of abuse. Styling has never been cutting edge, and it's not often you see a Toyota that really stands out and grabs your attention on the road. Toyota engines (as long as the obvious regular maintenance is done) will last longer than the rest of the car will. There are plenty of examples of Toyotas which have done in excess of 500,000km on original engines without a rebuild. Granted a large number of these are Diesels (My Landcruiser 75 series Troopy for example has done 395,000kms and still runs sweet like new), I know of a 1989 Camry on 460,000++km, an Aurion with 210,000km and a 1985 Camry with 655k++. All of these are STILL running well. They're not blowing smoke, and the motor is still running smoothly. I think the two camry's had their CV joints done at least once though... that's about it. Toyotas, like Honda's hold their resale values really well, unlike Forldens. My 2c worth. Cheers BB

Not to mention the slowing down to a crawl as they do so, and the awful scrapeage issue when going up ramps in a multi storey car park. I feel for the guy behind the wheel when the bottom end is scraping all the way through while entering and leaving the ramps. Once saw a chicky babe in a lowered civic get high sided on a ramp. Pretty funny really, cause the car was just teetering on the top of this ramp with wheels clearly off the concrete.:P

Mine displays "$%@!^& calling". "$%@!^&" is a random expletive. And when you ignore the instructions on the GPS, a message comes up saying, "You're an A$$", then an inflatable palm comes out from the steering wheel and bitch slaps you.:P Seriously though, I think it's just a "default" message when the expected output from your phone (in this case the caller ID) is a "null" character. You see the "not supported" error sometimes on other devices when "null" is sent as part of the data stream. It WOULD be funny if instead of "Not Supported" the default message is "Nobody", in which case you'd see "Nobody calling" on the display . As you can see, it's a pretty slow day in the office. *Facepalm*.

Just buy a bottle of cheap pH Neutral shampoo, and mix 1 part shampoo in 5 parts warm water. Shake a bit to fully mix then fill windscreen washer reservoir. Alternatively, give a good 1 second squirt of shampoo into reservoir when it's empty, or up to 1/2 full, then top it up with water. It'll get mixed up nicely when you drive because of the twists and turns and bumps on the road. Works for me, plus there's also the nice smell the shampoo leaves behind too. :D VERY IMPORTANT : Make sure it's pH NEUTRAL shampoo. Acidic or alkaline shampoo will cause your windscreen wiper rubbers to perish prematurely. Use cheap shampoo, but NOT cheap AND NASTY.