nerdygirl

i was wondering if any of you out there who read this forum are "into" rotating your tyres?

i read about it on the kluger forum a while back, and decided i would get them rotated every 10,000 km.

how they actually rotate them when you ask your toyota dealer to rotate them is apparently a mysterious question.

after i'd paid to have it done (rotate and balance, $45, motorama), the guy who i paid told me they rotated them clockwise, including of course the spare on the back.

when i got home i checked it out and noticed something interesting. well actually more disappointing than interesting. my left front tyre which has a slight scrape on the rim from one time when i pulled in too close to the curb, and it was in exactly the same spot. so i rang them to ask what had happened. you see as far as i can gather, in order for rotating your tyres to be useful, you have to do it in a consistent way, which means you have to know how it was done.

the guy i spoke to made up some mysterious story about how they might have been rotated in some mysterious way which didn't make any sense to me. but i know too that the front right one wasn't moved either because of its level of dirt. what i mean here is that i hadn't cleaned my car for a month or so and the rear alloys were dirtier than the front ones.

in fact, i am pretty sure that all they did was swap the spare at the back with the left side rear tyre.

so i am wondering if anyone else has any tyre rotation stories to tell.

nerdy.

i have noticed that in using the bluetooth for your mobile phone in the rav, that whoever you are talking to can't really hear you very well. so when i recently took my car in for its 10,000 km service at motorama, i asked them about it.

and... they said that if you go in and complain then you will eventually get one of the new head units which are coming out which supposedly have this problem fixed! so there you go, rush to your dealer and mention the problem and see what happens...

cheers,

nerdy.

qt fan: thats pretty good figures for start/stop driving on ZR6 - can u provide info on the wifes driving style - would she keep revs low <3.5K perhaps? I guess I'm trying to ascertain average fuel usage for both low/high revs in city driving.

we could know this really easily if the rav had a trip computer with instantaneous consumtion. my dad's new landcruiser has one and it is incredibly useful. basically when you rev high you see your instantaneous consumption go up really high.

i was thinking of getting a scanguage or dashhawk in order to monitor instantaneous usage but not sure if these devices actually display this. they both provide trip computers (along with lots of other info) but i'm not sure if that includes instantaneous useage.

RAV4's in the USA have trip computers. They can also be ordered with a 9-speaker JBL stereo system. And probably lots of other goodies that we aussies miss out. It would be great if we can have the followings in the RAV4, either standard or option:

1. xenon lights

2. rain sensor +/- automatic headlights

3. trip computer

4. better switch backlighting (eg steering wheel volume/track buttons, central lock botton, and I don't know why the sat nav's buttons have green backlight but the rest of the car has orange backlight)

Guess I'm just being picky. Or maybe I should save up and buy a lexus... but surely the above niceties don't cost an extra $30K.

Hi there,

if USA RAV4 has trip computer how easy would it be to install in the ozzie version? anyone tried or attempted this?

cheers

Bru

I have wondered about this too. I am not sure where the trip computer is in the american rav. I looked into this a bit previously and I think it might be that the clock is also the trip computer. it might be possible to "unlock" this function as sometimes it is "there" in a vehicle but dormant. i know that in some model years of the mazda sp23 it is possible to unlock the trip computer functionality. it requires a specific sequence of pushing buttons on the head unit. apparently this is to allow the trip computers to be turned on in some markets and not in others. the mazda sp23 in the states has a trip computer; not so in oz... unless you know the code sequence ...

Thanks people,

I picked up the klugie last friday which unfortunately a rainy day... (there goes the shining shimmering finish), went for a short drive and very happy with the experience. The interior is very nice just how I wanted it to be. I have updated my avatar to show the klugie.

Again thanks for the photos.

Lovely! Post some photos of the interior so time so we can all drool.

well done bernice that is completely brilliant! you explained it really well. i don't know how to but we should pin this.

Jacki.

Towbar is on.

4 bolts for the bar which was easy as, just tricky as it's heavy and with 1 person doing all the work, a bit fiddley.

(10mins)

Wiring harness was a thing of beauty and worth the $43.

Undo 1 plug on the left and insert the wiring harness in between with 2 plugs

1 wire to be soldered on the right hand side.

(1hr, next time will be 20mins)

That's it!

Well, a bit more fiddling getting the covers off etc to get to the wires, but easy none the less.

I'll install em for ya for $50 ;)

I've taken photos and will upload later.

oh my *** you're a legend well done! i guess the only diff with the toyota branded towbar is that it attaches in quite a few places and so perhaps you can tow more in that case? i don't really know...

I do believe there is a reversing mirror 'from Japan' on eBay at the moment. Good luck.

I've got my eye on that ;)

The white IS very nice...

If our car was written off tomorrow, Id go white this time around I think

i went in thinking..black,black,black,black and then saw the crystal pearl and my opinion changed straight away

The crystal pearl is really nice. I don't actually have a kluger but if I did i'd get a crystal pearl one. When you see it at night it kind of glows. But I really like the blue too. It's a hard call...

My opinion is that roof rails are the most useless accessory fitted to any car.

I'd rather have cross bars fitted as an accessory - straight onto the rail mounting holes.

Still Trying to find silver cross bars to match my kluger silver rails.

I was wondering if they actually served a purpose. They seem to be cosmetic and just part of signalling that you've bought a more expensive model. On the rav4 they sell in the UK, the base model has roof rails and the others do not, so it is the reverse of in australia.

Hi Jacki, How much did the reverse sensors cost? And what sort of monitor goes with it - distance, beeping, indicates which side?????

Thinking of getting some as well as a tow bar. Thanks.

Hi! The sensors cost me $442.50 supply and fit at Southside Toyota. I think I remember though that they made a mistake with that quote, or at least that was what they said to me when I paid. They don't seem to know what prices they charge! I do like them there though, they are good people, and I would go back to them.

I got quoted $577.50 supply and fit by motorama.

Also, Castle Hill Toyota (in NSW but never mind) will do it for $456.50. They have a full accessories price list on the web, and I think their prices provide a benchmark of what a good price is: accessories price list rav4.

The toyota parking sensors for the rav give a beeping sound which has different beep rates depending on how close the object is. So it is basic, no visual, no indication of which side. I've gotten quite used to them now and find them quite valuable for example when reverse parking. They give you more confidence in knowing how far you are from the vehicle behind you when parking. I think they are a great aid and all cars, especially larger ones, ought to have them as standard.

I also want to get the reversing mirror. You might notice if you look at the back of your car up near the high brake light a recess. Toyota make a mirror that attaches there and is sold in Japan. I know people think reversing mirrors are really daggy, and they are right! but I think it would be really useful...

Good luck with getting your accessories! Let me know how you go,

Jacki.

Just wanted to mention that rice_racing wrote an awesome thread which includes his method for running in, definitely worth a read:

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...showtopic=15886

Jacki,

I am in Brisbane and gave southside a call as they are near my work. So was 781 a fitted price or just for the btowbar and wiring harness? I also found the fitting times guide but wasnt sure how much fat the dealers have in that sort of thing.

Have you had your towbar fitted yet?

thanks for the info.

kavo

hi kavo. i wrote southside toyota but what i actually meant was motorama toyota, sorry about that. they gave me that price which included fitting and i had it done on monday. it looks fantastic, i really recommend the genuine one. and it works with my parking sensors too, which surprised me! obviously they'll have to be turned off when actually towing....

southside quoted me i think $821 fitted. if you go into the waiting room in their service department they have price lists for the accessories for each toyota model. interestingly, when i asked for a quote at the counter, before i saw the acc price list, they quoted me $1000 fitted. then when i was sitting around waiting for them to finish off installing my parking sensors, i noticed the price list and pointed out the discrepancy to them. they were genuinely surprised and said there was some kind of problem with all their pricing...

so it is a bit hard to say exactly what price they do the job for!

so anyway motorama did it for $781, but that had some kind of (i believe fairly modest) discount built in because i bought the vehicle from them.

i have to say they did a great job and are very professional.

another good price is from hinterland toyota (nerang) who supply&fit for $765, which is definitely the cheapest price i've heard of.

the most expensive was sci fleet which is just down the road at taringa. they quoted me $1300 fitted which is completely outrageous. they were also very unyielding on price when i bought my rav. i really don't know how those guys are the biggest sellers in australia.

good luck kavo!

Edit: Photos added!

Anyone had a quote on getting a genuine Toyota Towbar fitted?

Why is a genuine bar better than say a Hayman Reece Towbar?

Toyota quoted me $1000 to supply and fit a towbar to a 11/2006 Rav4 CV. Has anyone else out there had one fitted lately and if so how much was it?

Toyota tells me that you have to pull have the car apart as the towbar needs to be wired in to the ECU. Does this mean that a non genuine bar will not have this done.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Kavo

greetings kavo

i've been wanting a genuine towbar too, and have found them to be seriously expensive. it is good to know that there is a genuine reason for this --- i.e. it is a lot of hard work!

a while back i found this document on the net which gives the estimated fitting times for the rav4 accessories for production nov05 vehicles. i think this means the current version of the rav and not the previous one, but can't be completely sure of that. but anyway, it gives 90 mins for the wiring harness, 90 mins for the towbar, and 5 mins for the towball. (i like how they throw on 5 minutes for the towball!)

the best quote i managed to get was $781.70 after A LOT of hunting around. that is at southside toyota in brisbane. not sure where you are but i hunted for prices on the net and obviously stuff came up for other states too. so let me know what city you're in and i'll see if there's anything useful among all the stuff i found.

jacki.

1. OBD shows speed updates in a very very slow rate (The OBDkey able to get 4Hz data, or 4 times a sec, but Toyota ECU can only give 2Hz at most )

2. The OBD speed is VERY close to the GPS speed. In fact, the OBD speed is LOWER than "real" GPS speed 90% of the time. When ECU is showing 60kmh, GPS is also 60; but when ECU is 97 kmh, GPS is already 99.9 kmh! <_<

:o BUT!!! :o

3. When the needle of the speedometer on the dash is just right to the 100kmh mark (as said by RiceRacing that is the "real" 100kph). The OBD/ECU speed is only 92kmh and GPS is 93kmh!!!!!!!

Conclusion:

Kluger Odometer analysis: ECU speed is very close and possibly slightly lower than real GPS recorded speed. And the error shown is mainly on the needle on the dash.

Is there any solution? Yes you can put a OBD display gauge in the car and use the speedo on it, but you have to realise they are very accurate and you have no margin for error (in terms of speeding)!

BTW: This is my try hard run for 0-100. Sometimes the OBD or the GPS lacks and create an error in timing, but looking at the graph, I am actually doing a 7.92 sec !

wow taka thanks for providing this great info. it is really good to know that the speed provided by the OBD port is slow to update and producing those step functions. perhaps when the vehicle speed is decreasing the speed it provides is above, rather than below, the real speed.

i am curious about your OBD reader. i have mainly seen people mention scanguageII and dashhawk. i wonder if you have any thoughts on how your reader compares?

i'd really like to understand the relationship between real vehicle speed (measured by GPS) and the speedo.

i don't have an OBD reader because i have been holding off, waiting to try to get one a bit cheaper. the scanguageII seems to be about $190, the dashhawk is more like $400. but anyway... the experiment i'd like to do is to:

drive along at 20kph according to the speedo and see what the GPS says

drive along at 30kph according to the speedo and see what the GPS says

etc... in 10kph steps up to something not too high unless one is on a track or something!

that way we can get an idea of exactly how the speedo has been "fiddled" in our vehicles: are contant speeds added (with different amounts added in different speed ranges) or is it proportional to speed?

Got one of these OBD scanner thingy

I am going to do a few 0-100 and I will do them slowly to match the GPS speed, so I can plot a graph.

Cool will be really interesting to see the results.

G'Day all,

I just bought a new 2008 AWD Grande and have been experiencing the same sort of thing:

The Speedo and Odometer are a bit out, but in opposite directions ...

Speedo is a constant 5 kmph over that recorded on a hand held GPS (Garmin Nuvi 660),

BUT

The Odometer is out the other direction, Car/GPS ... 15/15.33, 30/30.63, 45/45.92 which does not make sense to me.

Has anyone else experienced this Odometer difference?

BlackAdder

hi black adder. perhaps your car's odo is correct, and the garmin is also a bit conservative in giving you your speed in giving you a reading a bit higher than your actual (to allow for any possible margin of error in its measurement), but not as conservative as your car's speedo which gives an even higher speed.

i mean legally the odo would have to be correct surely...

wow it is really interesting to discover that toyota does this. i have a 2008 rav and have wondered why other drivers have been getting ****** at me when sitting on the limit. i think the downward adjustment is too much when it causes this to happen. it leaves us really uncertain of our actual speed...

qt fan: thats pretty good figures for start/stop driving on ZR6 - can u provide info on the wifes driving style - would she keep revs low <3.5K perhaps? I guess I'm trying to ascertain average fuel usage for both low/high revs in city driving.

we could know this really easily if the rav had a trip computer with instantaneous consumtion. my dad's new landcruiser has one and it is incredibly useful. basically when you rev high you see your instantaneous consumption go up really high.

i was thinking of getting a scanguage or dashhawk in order to monitor instantaneous usage but not sure if these devices actually display this. they both provide trip computers (along with lots of other info) but i'm not sure if that includes instantaneous useage.

Thanks for that useful info achk.

That website is great, their pricing is very good.

The H11 power2night globes i installed also have a blue tip, just to make the light a bit whiter. The blue tip is infact the only thing to distinguish these types of globes from the phillips VisionPlus globes. They are supposed to be "up to 50% brighter" and are definitely better than the stock ones but actually i'm still not really happy with them. Strangely enough I would like to actually be able to see when i drive at night. the lights on my last car (mazda3 sp23) were much better even than these power2night globes.

i am thinking that perhaps they are not quite pointing high enough and that if i can adjust this i'll get better vision. in the owners manual for the rav4 on page 93 it says the car has a dial to adjust the headlight beam level, however it is "missing" in my rav4 (and presumably everyones in australia). it is supposed to be on the same little panel as the dial for adjusting the brightness of the the instrument panel lights.

however i have a copy of the rav4 repair manual (very nice to have :) ) which says you can adjust where the headlights "point" by turning aiming screws either side of each headlight. it explains in detail how to line them up properly however i'm not sure i will go there. if they are pointed incorrectly they can "dazzle" oncoming traffic. i will perhaps wait until my next service and ask them to adjust them then, or else ask someone else to do it for me if i can find someone...

Jacki,

I too am most interested in sheepskin seatcovers for my Rav4. Can you please tell me how much they quoted you for them?

Also, exactly what provisions do they make for the airbags to deploy?

Thanks.

hi! well i got quotes for sheepskin covers for front and rear seats: front - $400 pair, rear $550. bloody expensive really. the front seat ones are airbag compliant because they are basically "vest" style which don't cover the sides of the backrest. (hope that makes sense).

the same company (inland australia) also makes airbag compliant neoprene covers (ie wetsuit material) here http://www.thewetseat.com/. i have the impression though that the sheepskin front seat covers cover even less of the backrest than the neoprene ones. the quote i got for those is front $155 (this includes a headrest cover which is custom made for the rav4), and rear is $360. frankly i thought the rear seat quote was a bit rich.

i bought sheepskin covers for the front seats from supacheap for about $200, they are nice to sit on, but a bit cheaply made and the holes in the sides for airbag deployment seem a bit random. i am currently using a dodgy brothers seat cover which cost $30 from supacheap for the rear seats. my kids are like - how come you get the nice sheepskin covers mum!

did you get any quotes from inland australia?

today i noticed that someone on ebay was selling phillips power2night globes in H11. on the phillips automotive lighting website, it says that they don't make power2night globes in H11, so I decided to give them a call. apparently the website is not up to date, as new globes have recently been added. indeed it is possible to get the power2night globes in both H11 (rav4 low beams) and HB3 (rav4 high beams). so i found someone selling them (autobarn at virginia) and went and got the low beams. they are certainly a big improvement on the stock globes. whiter than the stock ones but not super white or blue. i will gradually update the highbeams, foggies & parkers as funds allow... they were $90 for the set of two. Not cheap...

Thanks for the post. Looking in the book I need the following bulbs, but Autobarn didn't seem interested in helping. I might need to try another store.

Low Beam - H11 55W

High Beam - HB3 60W

Fog Lights - H11 55W

Park - Wedge Base Bulb 5W

I've been looking around for a set of globes to replace these and the PIAA ones are a possibility (someone mentioned them in this thread). It is possible to replace all of these bulbs with PIAA Xtreme white 4000k globes. I was thinking of using the PIAA ion yellow ones for the fog lights though.

One thing which is confusing in looking this stuff up on line is that HB3 is called 9005 when you look at american web sites. it took me ages to realise HB3=9005.

One more confusing thing is that on the specs for the rav4 in the US, the low beam in their ravs isn't H11, it is 9006 which is also called HB4.

It seems strange that they would do a different type of low beam globe for the US rav than the australian one...

Anyway, once i realised that HB3 = 9005, i realised that we can do a full replacement with PIAA Xtreme white globes. They are 4000K so they are legal too. woo hoo!

just wondering if anyone has any tips. got a new rav4 and the headlights it comes with aren't very good.

i'm not looking for anything really fully on, but just something to improve night driving, and be legal.

has anyone got any suggestions? it comes with h11 type globes.

thanks,

jacki.

HELLO ALL, JUST WONDERING IF ANY KNOWS IF A 2001 PRADO WITH A 3.4 V6 PETROL IS OBDII COMPLIANT AS I AM THINKING OF BUYING A ScanGaugeII COMPUTER FOR THE VEHICLE, HOPE SOMEONE CAN HELP, THANKS PETER C

see if you can find the OBDII port... if it is there it will be below and perhaps to the right of the steering column. (or possibly to the left...) it is a small plastic port which i think from memory has two rows of little square boxes. get down under there with your torch and check it out

By the way have you heard of the "dash hawk". similar idea to scanguage only better though unfortunately more expensive

Jacki

i've got an auto 4 cyl rav4 cruiser, a month old. i'm getting around 10 ltr/ 100 km. i am quite happy with that. it isn't much worse than my mazda 3 sp23 which i had before the rav.

i have heard of people with the v6 rav4 actually getting better fuel economy than this. perhaps because the v6 engine, taken from the aurion, has good low down torque, and copes better with the size of the rav4, and so you can get good economy. i'm sure you could also get bad fuel economy with the v6 if you hooned it a bit, which would be a temptation... i figured that by getting the 4cyl i wouldn't have such a temptation and would use less fuel.

but anyway i have to say the rav is a superb car and i am very very happy with it