coladuna

Thanks for that BlueStivo. Now that really confirms what I've believed all along.

As for that noise, the tech guy said it sounds similar to the gear selector cable noise (I haven't heard this noise before so I can't comment on whether it sounds similar or not) so they'll replace the gear selector cable to the latest spec. According to him, Toyota Australia tried out three different types of gear selector cables to select one that doesn't make the noise. However, he did say that there's no guarantee that it will make the noise go away. I think it's just another characteristics of the car, which I didn't accept in the beginning but now I don't mind it that much.

Did you have your A/C on?? ← Nope...A/c off....Fans off....wierd...car booked in for service next thursday... ← That noise is normal according to a Technician from Toyota Australia HQ. He explained it to me but I forgot what he said. You'll notice that it gets louder when the engine is under heavier load. (eg. hot days, A/C on, headlights on, etc) When I first heard the noise I was almost certain that there was something wrong with the car but now I do think it's just the characteristics of the car.

Really it says that in the manual/...get out of town... I was asking what people run...not what the manual says... ← And what's your point? I simply mentioned that because some people seem to think that they have to use 10W30 engine oil. Take a chill pill.

I changed my oil to Motul semi-synthetic at 1000kms which is 5W40 as far as I know. It doesn't have to be 10W30. If you look at the manual you'll see that it depends on how hot/cold it is.

I would be really interested to see the dyno sheet. Please post it up ASAP.

Yeah it's normal. It happens in my car and in my brother's Euro as well. Never experienced this in older cars though for some reason.

If your olds are still here, couldn't you insure it here and keep your SA plates? Then at least you'd have have $600 to bribe the cops with if they hassle you about out of state plates... :D ← Impossible. You have to tell the insurance company where the car will be kept. That's how determine the risk and the insurance premium to match. If you had put down Adelaide address and you have an accident in Sydney, 0% of making a claim. You'd be better off not having insurance at all if you were to lie.

Ok. I'll probably meet you guys at Sunnybank then. :)

?? I'm a little confused. You are going to be at Milton or Sunnybank at 9:00pm?

A red pre-facelift Sportivo with ZR141 sticker at the back and on the sideskirts. I'm parked three cars behind you.

Damn. That's a little too far. I work in Milton and live in Springwood... I thought you guys meet at Sunnybank Maccas?

What time do you guys usually meet and who's coming? I'm getting my car inspected by a tech guy sent by QLD Regional Tech Manager on Tuesday morning. It would nice to compare my car to you guys' cars to gauge how bad it is and whether you guys have the same problems.

I too had a look at my VIN number and I don't see any code that looks like that.

I wonder if there's a way to tell by looking at the VIN number or something.. Any ideas anyone?

I don't know the exact build date of the 05 model stivos but there is 2 different verions of stivos built in 05. ZZE123R 92 which was built before april ZZE123R 5Y which was built after april. (not long after that article it seems) So possible we do allready have this stivo ? can anyone confrim this ? ← These are both very interesting points, would Toyota SA really spend the extra time effort and hassle of having different powered vehicles for different markets when it is one of the lower volumes of the range, doesn't make sense to me. So to backup 02Rollas question: Is the described car already here? ← I believe if it was it would have been marketed in Australia like what the South Africans did with theirs. How about a pre April 05' built benchmark with a post April 05' built Stivo ;) . The different engine characteristic should be very easy to tell. ← Why would Toyota want to spend big bucks in marketing the fact that they stuffed up before? It's highly unlikely, almost impossible, that they'll introduce a different spec car just for the SA market, which doesn't differ from one another all that much.

The best fuel consumption I got was 7.2L/100km/h, which was mosty highway driving at 110km/h. Worst was 8.7L/100km/h, which was when the car was brand new. These days I get around 7.7L/100km with mix of highway and town driving. It'll be interesting to see how I go this time around as I've been driving quite aggresively.

I don't see how you guys think that it's a different car. Everything in article decribes the 2ZZGE engine we have on our cars now. We all know since the recall, Toyota changed the airbox, ECU, etc to make the car produce claimed power, which also improved mid-range torque. I have no doubt it is the same car. This article was written in March and my car was built in May 05. How can it not be the same car?

Correct me if I am wrong, but we are already getting this version of the Sportivo, are we not? I was under the impression that this is the facelifted 05 Sportivo. If that's the case, it dispells so many BS that's been posted against Sportivos saying that they have no torque below 6000rpm. 90% of the peak torque of 180nM being available from as low as 3600rpm is better than many other low-revving cars out there. Just shows that you can't say anything unless you have the torque curve in front of you, yet people are so quick to judge the characteristics of cars just from looking at where the peak torque arrives.

I've mentioned this in another thread but I think it deserves its own thread. Read this

Interesting read Here's an interesting read which backs up my point about the decent drivability of Sportivos. It's the first article that comments on the post facelift Sportivo and I think it'll shut up idiots who think that there's absolutely no torque available down low.

Honestly, I don't find it that bad at all. If I haven't driven this car and just went by what most people say about it, I would think that the car doesn't go anywhere unless you thrash it all the time, which isn't true at all.

Anything in mid 200 dollar mark will come with lifetime warranty and they will all pretty much be similar.

I got mine done for $255 at Tint Plus in Brisbane. It's normally $290 but they give you $40 discount if you tell them about web discount deal. That's about the price you'd expect to pay for quality metallic film.

I'm from Brisbane. Seriously, $230 a week is such a joke! No wonder there are so many dole bludger in this country.