ZZT86

Nice report Tony, it reminds me that I have my CarPro Leather kit still to use on my Aurion which is full of leather but need warmer weather & some motivation. The ceramic coating may not give the softest result but it should give the best protection. Your wheels look great.

Then you must have an a s s & sensitivity just like Niki Lauder 😉

@donnot A big heavy 12 year old car with 160K kms on it is bound to have shocks that are either shot or on their way out, especially if not driven very conservatively from day 1. I'm not a fan of Pedders anything tbh, I had a bad experience with them years ago which shouldn't have happened but I wised up & learned a lot more about suspension. They're also too expensive & I doubt they're made here. I would recommend keeping the oem springs which are Touring=thicker from memory & swapping out at least the front struts with either Sachs or KYB (later is 10-15% firmer than stock 😃 = good) & at the same time do the bushes on the LCA. Sway bar bushes &/or links may also need changing if there's any slack there. That will tighten everything up nicely. I would also still recommend the genuine strut top mounts unless the originals come off & go back on 100% without any movement of the top bush, a good suspension joint will know. If not changed & it goes bad soon after guess what, the whole lot has to come off again & re-built from scratch, ask me how I know !

Would also suggest a set of genuine strut top mounts.

Economy difference: Petrol 6L/100kms vs Hybrid 4.9L/100kms exclusively driven on the HWY only . . . . so not much in it. If you have a very laid back style of driving & not in a hurry then the Hybrid powertrain may suit. You must test drive it for at least 30minutes so you can get a true sense of what it's like, it's unlike any other car you've driven before especially sitting at traffic lights where the powertrain just shutsdown. I would ask the dealer to loan you the vehicle overnight so you can test it over your usually driven roads. The economy in the latest generation Camry is a real eye popper - mid 4's ! You should easily get the stated govt economy figures if you drive it sensibly & have a light foot especially from a standstill to force the system to run on EV mode only up until about 40km/h or if your right foot gets too excited or you run out of battery juice. Warranty on batteries was 8 years for those cars which is now 10years for latest gen Toyotas IIRC. I have it from a good Toyota source that Hybrids are generally bombproof, a typical Toyota & the batteries will last a long time with little to no issues, hence the long warranty. Hybrid Taxis have been known to go 800K kms all OEM & easily get 750-800kms per tank! Cost of battery replacement is about $3K-$4K, as Ash said perhaps confirm with a few dealers on cost first. If $$ is tight get the Petrol (also simpler/cheaper to service), if you're adventurous perhaps the Hybrid. Good luck.

When you accelerate weight transfers from front to rear & also when you corner the rear suspension does a lot of work. I would suggest replacing all 4 struts for safety's sack. 😉

Mr ONR reminds me of Gandhi only with a silver beard & fancy suit . . . let us know what you think of it Tony.

Clock spring is working fine ? Fly by wire / electronic stepper motor throttle body ? No codes, weird, sounds like ecu.

Yep it's loose ! Will have to check one day when we start to defrost down here :| I can remember Hyundais Excel dropping front wheels due to poor suspension tower/body welds, needless to say there was a safety recall out for those. Toyota is far more advanced in design & engineering, they have little to fear from the HMC in the short term.

My opinion is that they're a fairly silent motor when up to normal temps, especially considering that it's chain driven.

Oh, so there's a science to it ? Well bugger me, I may have to study this in more detail to see if it actually works by adding that capful & by watching what's going on in the bucket as I rinse. Interesting. 👍 Please keep us posted ;)

@A Indian Has a Sportivo if you purchased from a dealership then you should have gotten the statutory 3 month warranty with that. Get your car checked ASAP & if there's a problem, get them to pay for it. I would insist you find your own trusted/competent mechanic to do repairs if needed.

I know Optimum for it's ceramic coating & I've heard of ONR but seriously it's not a product I would ever consider using on a dirty, muddy car. Note how slow, time consuming & careful Mr Forensic was using it & if he misses a spot he risks dragging that dirt all over the clearcoat potentially scratching it. And despite using one for years as part of a 2 bucket system for washing, I'm not convinced 100% of the dirt drops into & stays below the grit guard, it's bound to be swashed around the bucket as you dip the wash mitt into to it as you rinse several times before the next pass on your paint. I guess there's always a risk of contamination no matter what you do & nothing's a perfect system. Perhaps OK if you're out in the middle of the dessert & desperate to wash your car otherwise ONR might be best left to quick detailing for me 😐 Keen to hear of your findings Tony 😉

Thanks for the recent posts/suggestions guys. Tony, I have already reset up/down limits on the glass as per Toyota Service Manual. Might have another look at it as they are a complicated sucker with CANBUS yada yada, gone are the days of easy simple servicing, you need a computer to talk to computers to talk to humans it seems 😐 My man @ Toyota told me no faults with 50series cars, rock solid & no recalls or TSB especially for glass. My car was virtually spotless when I bought it late last year with 28.5K kms (reason why I pounced on it) so I'm a little surprised to notice this issue tbh. The switch is my first go to likelihood cause of fault (pita to check), window is also rotating slightly forward/back as it's going up/down which also prompted me to look at the glass fixture as I've seen loose glass on my dads ACV36 Sportivo do stupid stuff. I will have a look at it one nice sunny day & see what the go is. We all know that Toyota usually over-engineer their cars & engines which makes them bombproof, satisfying to drive and own but I will have to agree with Adam on the Hyundai/Kia smartening up their act comment. I drove a Cerato hatch a while ago & I was pleasantly surprised at the brilliant suspension setup (done locally), great brakes, half descent interior given base model, very good/smooth torque converter 6sp ATM mated to a simple & basic 2L/4pot engine. Apart from a harsh under engineered engine, it was a satisfying, quiet, smooth, solid & refined car worthy of consideration. Kias 7 years warranty appears the icing on the cake. Having said all that, I love my Aurion 🙂

Aside from the 1st gen cars (celica) with the faulty cam bolts, the 2ZZ-GE is generally bombproof if well looked after.

Fuel quality ? High Ambient air temps ? Is the oil level OK & clean?

Yeah the kit comes with an abrasive pad. I'll just try it a few more times, it's definitely improved/cleaner but etching still visible. Ceriglass looks like Jiff 😕

Why ? In what way ?

Has it ever been involved in an accident ? Symptoms you describe are usually result of poor repairs.

If "Lift" doesn't activate @ about 6000rpm or fails to activate at all fair chance the locating cam bolts have snapped which means you don't get the hydraulic oil activation. Make sure you have a well maintained engine with proper/ontime OCI. Poor oil servicing will also give you poor VVT hydraulic activation.

This thread has reminded me that I purchased a Ceriglass kit about 6-9 months ago mainly to remove some nasty water etching on the 11 year old shower screens I have @ home. Guess what - it didn't work. Might have to hit it a second time with more gusto, perhaps even crack out the RA polisher. Not sure that Metho will work but should give that a try also. Bugger 😕

As titled, I have noticed an issue with my drivers master switch/window operation. If I manually open the window slightly down then let go of the switch to go slightly up, the glass automatically reverses & goes half way down on its own. Doesn't always happen but often enough to annoy me. It seems like the safety mechanism is detecting an obstruction & reversing window direction to avoid damage. I know there was a switch recall to the previous 40series gen Aurion due to faulty switch lubrication at the factory which supposedly doesn't apply to the 50series Aurion. I have checked with Toyota and there's no recall for these cars. Has anyone come across this problem on their late model 50 series cars & what was the solution ? Previously recalled cars needed a new master switch and/or relubing using some sort of Fluorine Grease (Toyota supplied) or PFPE grease/lubricant which is supposedly a white 100% synthetic grease. Any help on this issue would be much appreciated otherwise I may have to pull the door card off to suss out if loose window mechanism causing problem or inspect switch. Last resort is to spend plenty $$ @ Toyota to investigate. Cheers 😐

Part of the Cadogan tech terminology "suck, squeeze, bang, blow" eh ? It's obvious to me on the clip on me computer speakers but it's not so obvious in real life. I think it's fine. Actually it sounds a bit like a quiet diesel sometimes.

Ahhh Tonys got the toolbox & the oil stash 😉 Lovely jubly. I too got me a bottle, yep 1 bottle. Which takes my stash to 31L 😐 I best stop buying them & start using instead, problem is I'm in lockdown & so is the car. I've done about 3K kms in the last 5 months.

Attached video/audio clip of my 2GR-FE with 40K kms. Engine HOT stop/started a couple of times, it's got a bottom end like rod-knock which is odd 😨 VID_20200907_142439_480p.mov