Adam M

Thanks for your advice guys, much appreciated. I'm chasing a facelift one through the wreckers now. Hopefully they can find me one soon.

I (and a bunch of other cars) managed to hit a chunk of truck tyre on my way back from the coast a couple of weeks ago, it jumped up under the front lip and caught the splash guard and tore the front down ripping most of the mounts away. I count myself lucky it didn't do more damage, if it had hit the front lip it could have been a lot worse... anyway I need to replace the drivers side splash guard and was going to order one from the wreckers. Just wanted to check first that the splash guard is the same on all ZZE123 models, and there isn't a specific sportivo part I need? If so, is the facelift and pre-facelift part the same? I figured it would be but thought I might ask the experts first. Cheers in advance!

Just put these on my corolla sportivo. I'm not one for pushing performance boundaries on my car - no modifications at all, my car has never seen a track and I don't drive it hard (well, not very often) on the street. Daily driver through and through, with the occasional push on the freeway onramp :) . So far (and I'm the first to admit my experience with them is limited) they're quiet, especially in the wet compared to other tyres I've used in the past, and they grip really well both wet and dry. Supposed to offer low rolling resistance for better fuel economy too, I haven't had them long enough to really have an opinion on that yet tho. Got mine for 140 each from Tyrezone in Capalaba, stock size 195/55 16. 0 complaints, you can do a lot worse for the price.

Thanks for your reply bozurolla - it's encouraging to hear that it's unlikely to be caused by something significant like bearings or diff. In our case the car has never been off road, and only towed twice in its life. It's on the original tyres, and if you run your hand over the inside of the tyre you can feel the tread is really scallaped, big hollow dips, it's quite bad on the passenger side rear. The tyre shop guy said that's caused by the wheel bouncing up and down as the car is travelling along, which in turn is caused by a faulty shock absorber. It's kind of difficult to work out which one as the tyres have been rotated during servicing. The tyre shop guy was very definite about it, he said the only way to cure the noise was to replace the tyres, but there was no point doing that until the root cause was fixed. I guess Toyota are (should be?) the experts, maybe there's another possible cause... I guess we'll see what they say. If they say not suspension, I'll take it to Pedders; they offer a free suspension check, and if that shows anything up I'll really be cranky!

Just a follow up - we took it to a tyre shop, he said "yep, it's lumpy tyres, and it's caused by worn out shock absorbers". The car is still under warranty, I'm now a little cranky at Toyota; the tyre shop guy said straight off that it was worn out shocks, and was really definite that was the cause... surely Toyota should have known that too? To my mind, if they had any integrity, they should have offered to check the suspension when we complained about the road noise in the first place... they knew the tyres were lumpy, they should have known the cause... I guess the battle with Toyota is about to begin. Wish me luck...

2005 Rav 4 Cruiser 4 door - since new it's done this, possibly worse now than when we got it though. I don't drive it much. The problem we have with it is a whirring sound coming from the back of the car. Kind of a 'whir-whir-whir-whir' noise, a bit like what you get with a 4x4 with off-road tyres. My wife (it's her car) asked Toyota to look at it during the last service, they told her it's because it has 'lumpy tyres'. It's on the original tyres, unless by lumpy they mean deformed I think they're bluffing her... tempted to take it to a tyre place and get them to have a peek - anyone else experience this? Or is it 'normal' for noise on that model Rav?

Weekend before last I did my wifes car - mine was in at the repair shop getting the wallaby dent removed... It's a dark blue 05 Rav4, had never been clayed before though I do regularly wash and wax it. Based on what I read here, I decided to give it a try. The whole process of washing, claying, polishing and waxing took around 4 hours, maybe a bit more. By the end, it looked so freaking good it was unbelievable. Better than when we picked it up new. Such a depth and gloss to it, and because it's mica it reflected the light just so beautifully. I've resolved to do it to both cars at least once a year. The next day she had to drive through roadworks... dirt road... threw mud all over the sides. She can wash the bloody thing next time! Thanks so much for the tip on this, it just makes such a huge difference.

we have a picture on the UK's TOC. if you wouldnt mind looking in the Corolla or T Sport forums there are topics on VVTL-i badges. one of our members tried Toyota Australia but they recommended he try his local dealer! The same speil you lot will have when trying to order Euro Toyota parts. They show the badge i mean - soz but i dont know how to add a link.... Thanks Mike Here's the pic... http://www.geocities.com/hodiphy/vvtl-ifinal2.jpg Looks nice... unfortunately I think the poster on your forum is mistaken, it's always been stickers on Corollas and Celicas here in Oz. Sorry mate! Lotus used the same engine, perhaps it came from there?

Cheers Dave - actually that's who I ended up going with, only in Cleveland rather than Capalaba. The guy there had a great eye, picked out things I hadn't seen. They were recommended to me, It's reassuring to hear someone else has been happy after dealing with them. Thanks again man.

Really? No one on this board has required paint and panel services in my area? Well I found a bunch, got a couple of quotes, and am going with the guy who ended up finding the most faults - they were also recommended to me. Who would have thought a wallaby could cause so much damage?

I'd say facelift hatch - look at the round red taillight piece at the top right hand corner of 27042008229, looks to me like the round reflector in the hatchback light. In every shot it's really bright red. The piece on the bonnet could be the upright 'stop' bit, and the bit on the road is the outside part that covers the driving light... it'd be the RHS on the rear, so all of that fits... The foglight cover in 28042008239 is obviously upside down, it'd be LHS, but it looks like it tapers from the outside in to me, whereas the sedan ones (forgive me if i'm wrong) tend to be straighter and sharper in the corners?

I got run into by a wallaby last week, knocked out the front foglight and dented the side of the front bumper on my 05 sportivo corolla. I've reported it to my insurance company and now need to get some quotes together, but I want the job done properly and have no idea how to find the best panel shops. Either somewhere around the Eight Mile Plains area in Brisbane, or in Redlands / Logan would be preferable. Cheers in advance for your help.

I was involved in a hit and run yesterday too. Driving home in my estate, doing 40kph, this brainless moron wallaby bounded out of the bush at full pelt, straight into the front quarter of my car (05 sportivo). Big impact, it skidded and rolled back across to the side of the road, got up and ran off. It left a huge dent in the side of my front bumper and took out the fog light, snapped the mountings... Can anyone recommend a good repair place in or around Redland shire in Brisbane? Logan would be fine too. My insurance company didn't have any suggestions in my area.

Wei Wei is the only blue one that we know of on the forums with white wheels here in brisbane. Yep thats me ! Didnt think id ever be spotted lol Who are u Adam M and what do u drive?? I work in the building where I've seen your car parked - we just moved into the office on the bottom floor, opposite the 'eyes' office. Mine's the stock red 05 sportivo parked underneath. Cool! Hey, if you ever get a spare minute or three, I'd love to have a chat about the mods you've done - I've been trawling the forums reading up on whatever I can find of late but it'd be great to see yours if you have some time - just hit the doorbell and ask for Adam. :)

I'll try to keep ambiguous for the sake of privacy - there's a blue pre-facelift Sportivo that parks in the Eight Mile Plains technology park from time to time - lowered, white rims, eyelids on the headlights - I didn't get a good look but it might be partially debadged too, also looked like it might have the rear spoiler 'wingtips' I've seen on some members pics here - does it sound familiar to anyone? Is the owner a member here?