RaZeR

My steering in my Sportivo 2005 made a really loud noise just last week, similar to the sound/whistle produced if you were blowing air over the top of an empty glass bottle, except much amplified; this was when I was reversing out of a parking spot at a shopping center. The noise went away after a few seconds. It hasn't made any other strange noises since, and I don't recall such a loud noise over the 1.5 years I've owned this car. My previous car was a Holden VH 1982, that had a horrible power steering fluid leak, and a loose belt, so I know quite well what sounds are produced by both those conditions, but this sound was nothing like either. It doesn't sound like the same problem you're having though, I'm guessing yours is frequent. My last service was 5 months ago, and my car has only done about 45,000k's. Should I be concerned?

I was also planning to get a Scanguage II, however, I've read that Australias OBD standard may not work with this american device (something about pins being reversed maybe). I'm just straight out confused about the standards now and am not sure whether to invest money on something like this. I'll be very interested in your progress with this. RaZeR

2005 Camry Sportivo 4 cylinder (ACV36R). Around 38,000km on the clock. Here is what I did to measure my fuel consumption: 1. Filled up my tank. 2. Reset odometer 3. City driving i.e. always drove within 20KM of Perth CBD, lots of starting/stopping. Did not refill until fuel light came on 4. Noted KM on odometer (476.2) 5. Filled tank, noted how many litres it took (56.53) Does this equal 11.871L per 100KM? (i.e. divide 476.2 by 4.762 to get 100, divide 56.53 by 4.762 to get 11.871). It usually takes me 2-3 weeks to go through a tank, and I generally use the cruise control as much as possible, but I do note this month a suprising number of lights have turned orange while I was going through them, and I tend to floor it when that happens. Usually my fuel light lights up around 490KM - so I guess this really does mean I've been more aggressive. This month I'll try to take it easier on the pedal, and see how much my fuel consumption improves. Will make another post in a few weeks.

argh some friends are dragging me into an auction in maylands @ 9:30, I'm not sure if I can make it anymore. There is a chance that the auction will be ridiculous and I'll be disgusted and head to the Toyota meet instead, we shall see.

I might be able to join. I'm interested in seeing what people have done with their sportivos, how much it cost, where they got it done, etc... My car is still stock standard, and is a Camry Sportvio 05, 4 cylinder auto, black.

I received the letter today as well (my housemate tells me). I'm from Perth, but out of the country on holiday at the moment so I can't do anything about it.

I also have a gen5 Toyota Camry Sportivo and am planning to put 18x8's on it next year, something from the tempe tyres website. I don't know much about rims, do I need to put new springs into it as I'm not planning on lowering it. I'm also in Perth, metro, wondering about a good place to get it done.