Tony Prodigy

Nice one Big Mike 👌 Can't go wrong with any Michelin tyres to be honest. They are excellent tyres in all aspects, dry, wet and are long lasting. As they age they do become more noticeably noisy though. It's a thing with any tyre to be honest, not just Michelins. Mine are a bit noisy now too, but admittedly, they have been on the car for several years now and even though they have adequate tread left, they are almost at the end of their life cycle. I'm getting hammered with the bills at the moment, but as soon I recover I will start canvassing the Pilot Sport 4s. Been wanting to try these out for ages. Hopefully find a set for my size too.

Probably a little more furious I reckon. Ol' mate needs to slow down first of all, not only for his own safety but for the safety of others too. I recently attended a driver safety seminar and it would actually shock you how easy it is to die on the roads and take others with you. Some of the stories the presenter shared would make you cry. A lot of people have no bloody clue how dangerous a car is if operated badly and your chances of dying increase the faster you drive. Don't take my word for it. I advise everyone to attend at least one driver safety seminar in their life and believe me, it will change your attitude quick smart. Have you also seen the demerit/fine schedule in NSW lately ?? Have a read of this and tell me if this doesn't slow you down despite the warnings. demerits-speeding.pdf

It is true no doubt as these engines will be driven hard too. Anything with a super charger or turbo will eventually have reliability issues. One just has to accept this as part of the joy of ownership.

I don't understand how a simple battery swap can corrupt the head unit. Car makers know it's inevitable that the battery will need replacing, so I can't see how one thing has to do with another. Very strange indeed. Probably best to ask someone from Toyota tech support and see what they're experiencing because this shouldn't happen. I've replaced a battery in my Aurion and my head unit still functions as it did beforehand.

Haha, I know that feeling on some other forums I belong to. Just wait until those tumble weeds roll in 😄 Welcome aboard mate

I'll p.m you. There is also a bayonet version too, no problem.

Ok, so now your saying the radiator has had a repair ? If some kind of epoxy glue was used in the radiator core, it could be possible the flow could've been restricted, but that's a long shot. Also, just wondering if there is air in the system and if the Echo has a similar bleeding procedure to other Toyotas. Ashley (Campbeam) should know this one.

Don't the leads need to be connected directly to the battery while trickle charging ? I don't understand how you get DC voltage from solar panels through the ciggy light socket to the battery 🤥 The cigarette socket should only be active when you have the key turned to the "I" position anyway, so I don't get how this is supposed to work. So with the ignition off, car locked, I can't see how this gadget will do what it claims to do.

Sounds like a match made in heaven there Bobby my friend. If I had all the the time in the world I'd help everyone who needed it, unfortunately, I can barely keep up with my own stuff. I could take a month off and it still won't be enough 😄 Glad you guys had a nice weekend. Enjoy the fruits of your labour

What is the temperature gauge reading when you see this flashing warning ? It has a temp gauge right ? If the impeller on the pump is broken and is not able to pump water around, firstly, you will know about it because it will make a horrid sound and secondly, your car will over heat very quickly in traffic. Also, was the coolant completely drained when the work you mentioned was carried out ? I wonder if new coolant was used or just filed up with tap water. Tap water is a big no no for modern engines as the alloy will corrode due to the mineral content of good old Sydney water. It's high hardness rate so will scale and do all sorts of nasty stuff inside your engine if used alone.

I suspect this is the knock on effect from the strained supply chains. I haven't looked but you think this is the same across all the others brands ? Everybody is using finance so that should deter anyone surely.

That is ridiculous actually. I'd get the 5lt and do more frequent changes or just share with friends who have similar vehicular requirements

What an Epic Thread this is turning into ! The car looks fantastic Mr Squalled. I suspect the CMX product doesn't have the same slickness as some of the others but the protection will still be there regardless. It is a robust product. If you want the slickness, just apply some Nova Jet or Boost, if you have it, over the CMX. I received my order of NV Jet and Lustre and am still waiting for Boost to arrive. Looking forward to playing with these products as they are highly recommended by the pros in the industry. Love the fact that they are also an Australian based company who produce these too. Win Win ! Keep up the great work. Look forward to the updates. Cheers

Well, I had an RDO last Friday, and a few extra stashed so I decided to take the Monday off as well. I needed a break from the crazy pace at work and do stuff for myself. I would've loved to have given the Aurion a much needed detail/paint correction but family life got in the way and my plans got foiled. Hopefully soon. Spent Saturday chasing gas fittings as I discovered a leak on a changeover valve and no gas left to cook my boy's bacon and egg breakfast. He was shattered 😲😄 I had to get cracking !. You see, we don't have town gas where I live (not that would hook it up as it's dear as poison) and so I have an LPG set up instead. So off I went to search with the usual no luck. Bunnings and Reece were just hopeless in this area. There was only one place in Sydney that caters for LPG stuff, but they don't open Saturday's so I ended up getting my bits yesterday. Ducked out during my lunch break. Spent Sunday at my Parent's place tinkering with my M3 and that same Husqvarna ride on. That mower needed a fair bit of maintenance, so I'm chipping away at it slowly. The usual stuff like shot idler pullies, drive belts etc. Did the oil service not that long ago too. Got a short list that I won't bore you with. Monday was spent running errands and general catching up on stuff around the house. No matter how much time off you have, it never ends.

If Toyota are offering 25% that means they are also admitting liability so they should cover the cost to respray the whole car if the whole car has faulty paint. I doubt they will paint areas that aren't cracking, most likely only the parts that are bad. Can you tell us which parts are bad ? I'm suspecting the top areas. My sister had a pearl white Kluger Grand for many years and it had no paint issues. A friend of mine has a current gen Camry in the same pearl white and has had it for several years now and it's fine. Admittedly, he has applied a ceramic coating to it. Not sure if there is an issue with the base preparation or the pigments in the white paint are flawed to the degree they cannot handle our extreme heat. Car companies are the best for being cagey. Keep pursuing them. The only way to get results these days is to fight and pester them. Seek advice from fair trading too.

There is a bubble forming and those foolish enough to get sucked in will pay dearly. Look at some prices for Commodores, especially the V8 utes. They were junk then and they will still be junk into the future. Modern cars are not really "collectable" and are only worth what someone is stupid enough to pay for. A GR Yaris for 50K is as ridiculous as it gets. I don't care if they build only 50 cars, there's no way that car will wind up in the Peterson Museum. As for those rust bucket Celicas, there is a cult following for those cars and the ones buying them are most likely in the mechanical and panel beater trades who can sort them relatively cheaply. You also have to factor in supply and demand. The older cars tend to harder to find and as such will command a higher price.

Interesting stuff Ash. It's almost like what we saw in Back to The Future II lol. Well, it's getting that way. Hopefully they can invent a time machine too so I can go back in time and steal the Greys Sports Almanac. On a more serious note, I find it pretty fascinating how fast the tech is evolving. Ten years ago we were all kinda laughing about it and now it's getting serious. There will upsides and downsides of course, but I guess the smart engineers and marketing boffins will hopefully make this transition as painless as possible. I have a couple of concerns too. I, like Sandy there, don't agree with the battery swap thing either. Fiddling constantly with electrical/electronics will have a detrimental long term effect. Good idea in theory though. If they can make a bullet proof connector then this could be a feasible solution for certain people and their needs. Another thing I disagree with is the "no paint, no chrome" idea and having the plastic impregnated with the colour. How boring is that ??? Come on. Keeping a car clean, shiny, minty is all part of the pleasure of ownership and if they are going to turn cars into ice cream containers, then I'd say, no thanks. I had a little chuckle about the 15 year old's idea of what a car should be too. It has to be fast, with two doors and no back seat to impress their girlfriend. What ? no back seat ???

That's good to hear Lizzie. At least we can rule out a mechanical issue then. Hopefully, cleaning the internals of the key fob will cure it and no further action will be needed. Toyota's are pretty reliable and I've yet to see one with a defective central locking system. Key fobs can take a beating over the years, so this would almost certainly be my focus. All the best

Haha, yeah me too. It requires a little patience, the right tools and some free time. I recently purchased some back probes as an addition to my multimeter to be able to probe those modern connectors as they have these rubber gasket seals where the wires enter the sockets. Back probes are very fine needle like instruments to be able to slide into the rubber seal and make contact with the conductor inside the socket. Normal meter probes are too tick and virtually impossible to penetrate. Only good for general testing and those older molex plugs where you can actually see the metal connector through the sides. If you have access to a vehicle schematic with all the values for the given points then this will help problem solving.

Yes. I recommended a clean up of the remote contact patches inside the fob. It's also possible the master switch could dicky too, but it's better to start with the simple things first and then progress to the next phase of checks. Anything is possible, yes, but it would have to be a big coincidence that all four locks don't want to open at the same time. Something tells me it's more likely to be an electrical gremlin not mechanical. The doors unlock after being locked, so i would safely assume the linkages are ok.

Dirt and grime can build up inside the keyfob mainly on the contacts. If you know how to pull it apart, I'd suggest trying to clean the contacts on the PCB and the corresponding rubber pad first so you know the key fob is free from any defects. . I always have isopropyl alcohol in the house as it is very handy. Get yourself some and follow the procedure in this video. Hopefully this will cure any issue with the remote. Then you can move to the next stage of troubleshooting if the issue still persists. You can also get aftermarket replacement fobs so don't worry about that side of things either. This is where it gets interesting. It seems that the central locking is receiving a signal by virtue of the lights flashing and the "clicking" of the door mechs. So the way I understand it is, the door mechs will click when trying to lock but not actually engage ? I suspect then there is an issue with the master switch or the central locking control module or wiring. The fuse has nothing to do with it at this stage. The module works by receiving the RF signal and then depending on which button you press it will send 12v to the door locks to lock and then to unlock the doors the polarity will reverse. Looks like there could be an interruption in the "lock" signal path. It will unlock electrically but won't lock electrically. If the issue moves past the key fob to more electrical diagnosis, then you may need the services of a qualified auto electrician to measure the incoming voltage to the door lock solenoids. There could be damage to some part of the wiring loom or corrosion in a connector. Has the car had any collision repair recently ? Start with the basics and then progress from there. Do you have someone around who's handy with a multimeter who could take a few measurements ?

Another update to inform you all that the coating is still holding up very well. The wheel still has a slickness to it after all these months. I clean the wheel with Meguiars interior cleaner monthly to remove any contamination and I must say I am impressed with the staying power of the Gyeon Leather ceramic coating. I'm going to do a feature on another ceramic coating for trim real soon. I've been trying out my Cera Trim product on various items and am also very impressed with the it's performance. Cera Trim is more for harder plastics and trim moulds. The piece of trim that cops a hammering is the plastic scuttle where the wipers are. This tends to fade pretty quicky if you don't treat it. My Colorado is still quite new and it is already starting to fade. I'm going to treat this and the Aurion's scuttle panels and show a 50/50 comparison. The beauty of this product is that not only does it restore the blackness in the plastic but puts down a strong sealant by virtue of the SiO2 component. What a great product. I look forward to sharing this with you all.

Hey Gents, after watching a recent video by the car care nut where he demonstrated the correct way to bleed the cooling system on the 2GR-FE engine, I was impressed with his choice of hardware for this application and decided to search one out for myself. It arrived yesterday and It looks to be of very high quality. The plastics are solid and overall feels very sturdy and looks like it will last a very long time. When I do my coolant flush I will post up some pics of it in action. Here's a few pics

My biggest bug bear is quality control. The Chinese are shocking at that and I'm doubtful this will change. Tesla has also got a horrendous track record for their quality control of their massively overpriced electric vehicles. They even go as far as developing proprietary tech that only Tesla will be able to service so you have no choice but to bow to them and hand over wads of cash. I think I'll stick with a better known quantity for the time being. I would consider a Hyundai if it came to crunch time. For the time being, My Aurion is trumps for me and I still love owning one.

"Just when I thought I was out. they pull me back in" I've been wanting/needing this for a long time now and the time came when Apex Customs released the revised GH 3" polisher 2.0, I was sold. This is the superseded model with new rubberised grip, increased ventilation ports for improved heat dissipation and NSK bearings. The price is very competitive at around a third of the price of the pro level tools, so It was a no brainer. It will complement the 5.5" Flex and be able to get into those narrower areas the 5.5" is too bulky to do. Perfect for those black plastic B pillar covers among other things. Looking forward to trying it out really soon. I have also ordered a swathe of 3.5" buffing pads varying from microfiber cutting pads to various incarnations of the foam equivalent. I'll post up some more photos when I have it all together. Here's a link if anyone is interested in reading up on it. Cheers everyone