rzkman

Taka, can you recommend a good mechanic that will do a good service with honest prices?

Be careful on this. My understanding is that there are two components to any tax payable. Customs duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST). Even if any FTA exists, it would only exempt you to pay the customs duty, but the GST would still apply for imports over $1000. Maybe you just snuck through? It also depends on what the sender puts does as the value on the commercial invoice. There are some exemptions to GST, but I don't think tires fall into any categories http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/content.asp?doc=/content/13193.htm http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5653.asp

Hi Taka! I actually haven't received my letter yet, but just thinking ahead :-) Geez, if you needed the VVTi controller repaired now, aren't you worried that other similar stuff like this will fail after the warranty expires? Funny you should mention this, as I dropped my Kluger in for service this morning and they only thing I wanted them to check was a rattling sound that happens sometimes when I start the car cold. He service guy mentioned something about the VVTi controller and that I should leave the car with them overnight to get it checked out. I wonder if I have the same issue as you. What were the symptoms for your VVTi controller issue? With the insurance, you can actually cancel the policy and get a pro-rate refund when you sell the car. I never thought of it that way, of where the buyer might actually view the extended warranty as a negative! You must do heaps more kms than me to warrant converting to LPG. I toyed with the idea initially, but I guess I am used to paying its petrols bills at the moment since unleaded has been relatively cheap. Cheers, Ray.

Hello fellow Kluger owners, I have a 2008 Kluger Grande 2WD which is coming to the end of its 3yr warranty period. It has done 40K suburban driving and we have had trouble free motoring with it. I am wondering if I should purchase the extended warranty insurance from Toyota before the factory warranty expires. As with most extras sold through Toyota, I expect it is overpriced. Here are the prices I was quoted for my particular car (model, kms, postcode taken into account) Extra 3yrs up to 100,000km $1700 Extra 2yrs up to 100,000km $1400 Extra 1yr up to 100,000km $1200. Murphy's law says that I will have trouble free motoring during the warranty period and after it expires I will start getting problems. Do you guys think it is worth it? Is there an alternative insurance product that is better priced? Cheers, Ray.

So will unbalanced wheels cause damage? Or were they misleading me when they said the Kluger had expensive tyres and I should have the balance and rotate? Do the wheels come out of the factory balanced?

Anyone got strongly encouraged to a do a balance and rotate on their 10K service? Put on the spot, I agreed to the $65 extra charge even though its an obvious rip. Reading this thread, it sounds like its a good thing to do in theory..not sure what a fair price is though...$65 sounds excessive, but ones's head doesn't work very well 8 in the morning....that's my excuse anyway!

We have two phones registered on the Kluger- mine and my wife's. Is it correct that we must manually select ourselves to the be 'active user' to swap between phones? At present it just sticks to the last active user/phone and only switches over when someone goes to Phone-> Setup and switches over the user. I suspect this is the way it is intended to work. I was kinda hoping that since both phones are registered to the system it would use a first come first served approach to connecting.

Unfortunately I don't think a well run in engine will make that much of a difference in terms of fuel consumption. It will probably make some difference, but I believe the following will have way more impact on how much she drinks - driving style. As Taka as mentioned multiple times, I find the consumption really depends on how heavy I am with the right foot. Being such a responsive engine, I really like to let her fly...but it doesn't take too long before the average consumption goes about 15.0l per 100. - your typical usage. 390km sounds really low for 5 weeks old. Maybe you make very short trips in urban traffic an even before the engine has fully warmed up you are already at your destination. I find this also takes the fuel usage up. I have a friend who has a current model RAV4 and his consumption is something crazy like 14-15 l/100. But I reckon it is because the car is mainly used for trips under 10 mins. - tyre pressure. You would be amazed how much an under inflated tyre will bring down the fuel efficiency. - fuel quality/type. Not all fuels are equal. Anyway, just some points to think about. Personally, I am averaging around 13l/100km. I have 3500km on the clock and usally drive in metro Melbourne. I have the FWD version, but I am sure how much more fuel a AWD Kluger will use. THe AWD is 100kg heavier and there will be some mechanical loss, but I think again its only very small compared to the above factors. Cheers, Ray

Thanks Taka for the instructions and pics. Anybody have any advice on removing/replacing the position lights (the wedge based globes above the headlights? I want try and get a whiter globe to match the headlights..looks crap when one is white and one is yellow..

I would be interested to find out how other cars with reversing cameras behave. Esp models like Lexus RX, IS etc that should share common bloodlines with the Kluger. I've given up on tweaking the Kluger to show the image quicker. I might ask about it at next service just for kicks... Changing the habit of putting on the seat belt before pressing the Start buttons seems to have improved things.

Yes, I can also confirm its very easy to fold/unfold the 3rd row seat with the boot liner in place. It has been extremely handy and very easy to clean. The only downside is that it put a premature end to the 'new car smell'. It has a very strong rubber smell that seems to have faded now..

Not really. In my Grande, the AVN is blank as the "Systems Check" animation rolls through on the trip computer. Only when it completes around 6-7 seconds later does the image show up on the AVN. Its not 2 seconds Taka! :P

Two different things right Taka? Disabling the "I agree" page before GPS can be used is one thing. I am talking about the delay it takes between engine start and when the reversing camera will start working. Yes I am impatient, but that is how I drive...and I suspect most people will do the same. Technology should work at my pace and not the other way around :-)

Is there a way to disable the startup graphics? I am not sure if this is the reason why it takes so long for the reversing camera to come on. Maybe I am impatient, but I find that I am already half way down my driveway by the time the reversing camera images come on the screen. I guess it is just habit when you start the engine, put it in reverse and take off the handbrake, you just want to go...not sit around waiting for the image to come on. Thanks, Ray.

Thanks Taka for pointing out about the latency setting. I will have to get this changed as well during my next service to stop the lights flicking on an off when passing under bridges. Although I asked the dealer to adjust the headlights to come on sooner, I don't think it made much difference. Next service I will ask them to put it to the maximum sensitivity to see what difference it makes. Driving at dusk, most of the cars already have their headlights on, whilst mine are still off...Kinda defeats the purpose of 'auto' if I have to switch it on manually everytime.