Hikaru Sorano

Did you wax it?

Even when it has a month dirt, mine shines like new... I love the pearly paint.

Yours is awesome!

Cheers

AB

Yeah, a better look indeed!.

Thanks

Cheers!

AB

My first question:

the spacers defyant put in his car, are for looks or spacers have some kind of technical benefit like allowing me to use wider tyres?

Cheers

AB

Niiiiceeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

What would you prefer? A turbo whistle o a supercharger whine?

Cheers

AB

Yeah, I meant the coolant temp sensor. And you answered my question, thanks!

Cheers

AB

Question to you Hiro.

Do you know which would be the symptoms of a faulty temp sensor in the gas mileage or at the moment of starting cold / hot? Could the sensor affect it?

Cheers

AB

Hey!, welcome Carlos! Bienvenido

Cheers

AB

Enjoy the car, enjoy the road - does there need to be a point?

Excellent!, I envy you for doing that! . That's cool.

Cheers

AB

a carputer is a fully fleged x86 pc in a car

Oh!, right. That's why the price then...

Thanks Mick!

AB

Quick question, which is the difference between a Caputer and a HeadUnit with DVD, usb, GPS, touchscreen, etc?

Cheers

AB

Ta raaaaaa

A Lexus GS450h

Incredibly silent, amazingly powerfull when you floor it...

Cheers

AB

Yeah, really a good DIY.

Question, did you have any symptoms while driving that made you clean it? Or it was just to keep it clean?

Cheers

AB

Caps lock key broken?

Cheers

AB

FOR VALUE FOR MONEY, SPACE.COMFORT, DRIVING PLEASURE, PERFORMANCE, BOOT SPACE I WOULD LOOK AT THE AURION. HOW EVER IF DONT NEED SUCH A LARGE CAR GO WITH COROLLA. THINGS LIKE REGO ,SERVICES,FUEL, WOULD BE CHEAPER ON THE COROLLA.

Yes, I'd like to, but for now it's a little bit far from my budget. (Just a little 15k far...)

To answer your question. Get a used Corolla or Camry for $3-5k.

I'll start looking for a Corolla, no doubt. I hope I can find one in good shape (or two in good shape. One for my wife too).

If you're interested, stop into Brisbane and you can buy my low kilometre 2000 Corolla ready to cruise to Melbourne ;)

Could be yours! We don't know...

If at the time I start my search there is one in the club for sale, and I can buy it, it'll be kept in the TOCAU family :D

Cheers guys for the tips, Later on I'll throw you more questions about insurance, driver licences, being a P Plater, etc...

See ya around!

AB

Stage 1===>>> 100% (I know! I posted it backwards!! , sorry....)

This the detail of what I did.

Tools:

10mm socket

Plane screwdriver with tape on the tip

Vinyl tape

cutter

Zip ties

Pliers

I removed the gear box cover

Then I pulled off the front with air con functions

To have more space to work, I put the lever in L, so as soon as I finished removing the front, I put the lever in Park to be able to remove the key and to cut off power.

The stereo had 4 screws that I removed using the 10mm socket and 4 brackets.

I took off the original HU and I got access to the harness. I had also to look for the description of the wires, so I used the repair manual to write the conversion table.

Then I connected everything and shielded the connections to avoid any problem

This is the conversion table of wire colors:

(If you wanted it in english, I can translate it for you)

I also bought the toyota fillers as the new HU is a shorter than the original

Screw the fillers to the HU brackets

Assemble the Fascia to the HU and brackets

Nice, uh? Look at the fillers, are the same color than the new HU

The part number of the fillers are

86221-02050

86221-02060

Screw again and thats it

These units have a wire to be connected to the hand brake, just to enable the DVD reproduction. Its a safety feature.

This is the place for the mic.

And this is how it looks.

Cheers

AB

Stage 2===>>> 100%

Look who arrived from Honk Kong?

As I couldnt wait, that same night I started to install it

These are the tools I used

10mm socket

Plane screwdriver with tape on the tip

Vinyl tape

Velcro

Zip ties

Pliers

1mm red wire to connect the reverse gear sensor

Double sided adhesive tape

First I had to find one of the wires for the reverse light, and the best place to look for it was under the drivers side door cover:

Removed the cover and looked for two red wires with a black strip. Some models prior 04 one of them is for rear fog light, but in this case I have two. Also removed the rear

door cover to be able to place the video wire.

Also I had to liff the back seat cushion to remove one of the sides of the seatback. For this I used the 10mm socket and the pulled to the top to remove the side

There are the channels were the electrical wires and the cable for trunk lock are conducted. So I used that one to pass my video wire. There is a hole that communicates the

cabin with the trunk and I used it. This is from the trunk side:

Then I fixed the wire with zip ties to the trunk arm:

To replace the licence plate assy. I removed the trunk trim. There I found it has two 10mm nuts.

Now, the new licence plate light and camera assy is veeeeeery similar to the original, but not identical. So I used the double sided tape to perfect fitting and sealing. THis

way I avoided vibrations and a loose assy.

Then I connected the 12v power to the reverse lighr and connected the video signal wires.

I put in place the wires and used the velcro to put them firmly to the interior trunk pannel.

And voila:

Then I put everything back in place and ready to go!

The results:

When I select reverse gear, the HU shows this:

Even if the unit is OFF, the camera is always available

Then I measured the following:

1st green line: 60cm

2nd green line: 50cm

Yellow line: 15cm

Red line: Bumper! (touching).

It works fine with extreme low light as well as sunny days. The picture was taken in complete darkness in my garage

Now, lets go for the stage 3...

Cheers

AB

So... we are talking about which is more enjoyable, Auto or manual, right?

Because that's exactly my point, the computer can calculate several thousand times when to shift and in less time I would do. But the con is, you are not shifting the gears...

I'll go for the paddle shifts, because if I want to thrash it, I want to do it real quick like it was a supercar. And when I dont want to do it, I'll like to drive quietly and smothly like Miss Daisy.

Auto man..

Cheers

AB

Question, why is that only with a manual can bring out the full potencial?

Cheers

AB

This happens everywhere, I can tell. Here in Argentina we have the car enthusiasts like Club Toyota Argentina (where I'm a proud moderator) and many other makes, and there are the "others".... . These "others" are the ones that speed on the streets, illegaly mod their cars, street race and many other stupid dangerous things.

So when I go to a possible new sponsor to offer him to be in our web page, he says " I dont want to be sponsor of anything ilegal".

It's so frustrating...

Cheers

AB

Great, great, great!

Wonderful picture. I have to admit, I thought that for a low budget like that I would only get a Daewoo Tico type of car . But possibly I could return to my beginnings ( my first Toyota was an AE101 Liftback that I loved!) so that will be a very good start.

Thanks for the tips!

I bet you are from Japan looking at your name. I guess 5000 is your budget. Corolla manual would be good

Actually, no ... Im from Argentina, exactly in the opposite side of the world where you are now. The name was for a comment from one of the girls that work with me and she speaks Japanese. It got kind of stiky and I use it now in all the forums as my nick name...

get a 2007 aurion ZR6. Good cheap car for under 20k.

Well, I'll like it very much, but I'm a couple of steps behind for now...

Thanks guys!

One more question, if you still dont have the licence, can you buy and register a car under your name? ( I have to revalidate my Argentinian Driving Licence in AU)

Cheers!

AB

Let's say between 3500$ and 5000$. I guess it's not much...

Hi everyone!

As some of you might remember, my wife and I are moving to AUS in a couple of months, hopefully to Melbourne.

We know we are going to need mobility, so that's why I come to you.

I still don´t know the market, neither the models being sold over there. so can you give me some advice or pointers on which car would be a good starting point?

What I'm looking for is basically:

- Can be new or used

- Can be 3, 4 or 5 doors

- Any size

- Any make (at this point I can't be fussy)

- Cheap to buy and maintain

- Ready to be driven, this means I cant fix it by the moment.

- if possible, automatic (for my wife)

Then, after we are settled, I can start seaching for better cars till I get the one I want (Toyota of course :D ). But for now, I only need to go from A to B

What would you look for?

Thanks in advace guys!

Cheers

AB

Its like a demolition derby..... but going sideways!

Cheers

AB

dumb question... but does the spoiler really do that ?

like when it reaches high speeds it comes out to keep downforce on the car ? O_o

Yup, Check the Merc SLR, for example, the rear wing is also for braking.

Amazing, driving one of these is definitely in my pending list....

Cheers

AB

I bought fillers from toyota for that space you see for less than 6usd here en Argentina. Probably you may get a better price.

And about the Cap, I´ll check the manuals I have if I find something.

Cheers.

AB