Don't like the adverts?  Click here to remove them

Toyota reliability

Agree with Higgy.... I can't honestly think of a current UK spec and available vehicle I would aspire to own now ,
None of the current road cars appeal from any manufacturer , I would have gone for a sports estate like the Audi RS6 but even they have been ruined by nanny EU regs and the fact that every performance car now has to pop and bang when they change gear and have silly flaps in the exhaust that make them shouty at odd times ....what ever happened to letting it sound like it should....don't get me wrong I love the sound of a tuned engine but none are musical anymore in the way an Escort BDA or my Manta 400 on twin 48 webbers were..... or scary like a Quattro was....we ran ALS on Escort Cosworths back in the day so I suppose in a way it's our fault that car designers think it makes their car sporty...... ironic that when you get to an age when you can afford pretty much whatever vehicle you want nothing appeals and you start looking at the vehicles you couldn't afford 20 years ago.....
Twin Turbo Supra...
2 Door Subaru Impreza STI with wide arches
Evo 5 Mitsubishi
Even a V8 LR Defender
List could go on but all cars with character and the perfect blend of tech and old school performance
 
You can't deny that modern "performance" cars certainly have plenty of it but they're not vehicles you can easily tinker or play around with like the cars of old. Bikes have gone the same way with electronic everything from engine management to suspension. It's called progress by those who design and build them but not necessarily by those who drive and ride them.
 
My youngest daughter's first car had 110 hp ......roughly the same as a Ford Escort RS 2000 when it left Dagenham....

Yes times and vehicle performance have changed but the EU nanny restraints make them all look , sound and drive the same....

Most of us older blokes will remember being able to identify which mate had just called round by the sound of their car or bike well before they got to the back door...

As EV's become more common and as they are forced on us the car will cease to be anything other than a way of getting about...... no messing about with your mates trying to get it to go better or handle better... no fitting bit's off other vehicles... where will the next generation of mechanics come from ? Both my son in laws have no idea how to check the oil or change a wheel ......fortunately both daughters are better trained
 
There wont be any mechanics mate, its heading there now. 'Technicians', computer say no, change the part, it's in bin 29 row 86.
Like you Grimbo, the wife, grown up kids, and grand kids, can all do the basics after my guidance,
gotta keep the knowledge going.
 
My first car was a Mk2 Capri 3000 GT, insured in my Dad's name with me as a named driver, as you could do back then. I've always liked Capri's and it just had to be a 3 litre. 140bhp and considered a fast car in it's day and less than perfect handling with leaf spring rear suspension but sounded lovely on full noise. It was 3yrs old when I got it and the bodywork was already starting to suffer with paint scabs on the door lower panels. Rust is the achilles heel of most cars from that era.
 
Don't like the adverts?  Click here to remove them
In a strange fate kind of way my first car was a Toyota ...... 2 litre petrol 4WD Hilux with big wheels , lift kit and a stereo with big speakers......oh ...and a bench front passenger seat
I thought I was "The Fall Guy"...... the local girls didn't...;-)
 
Any of those here wanna ask the question, - I'll answer.
I will need proof of D.O.B. lol.
 
I bought rear brake pads for my Golf. Then was asked if I wanted a computer as well!! Need a computer to disable the electric handbrake. I'll use an angle grinder.
 
Not Cruiser or even Toyota related but my Brother asked me to check the squeeling rear brakes on his Audi A5. Sounds simple I thought but........connect a battery charger to the under bonnet charge points, then use diagnostic software (VCDS was mentioned) to put the electric handbrake in service mode and fully retract the calliper. WTF!
 
For a long time it's been the norm to have to connect a vehicle to a diagnostic tool to change brake pads etc..... Audi and Merc led the way but everything seems to be like that now ....
7+ years ago when I was working on prototype tractor's we had electronic park brakes under development.... they were in the main just an electronic actuator that pulled the existing handbrake system cable.... but they also had software and a manual wind off release because when 12 ton of tractor has got it's knickers in a twist and failed to release the EPB not much is going to move it...

Ford had an issue with a range of vehicles that required a software update..... trouble was a bug crept in and would apply the EPB and not allow it ever be released.... didn't help the dealers who didn't discover this until most of their ramps had immobile vehicles on and Ford had no idea how to fix it...
 
Grimbo said:
For a long time it's been the norm to have to connect a vehicle to a diagnostic tool to change brake pads etc..... Audi and Merc led the way but everything seems to be like that now ....
7+ years ago when I was working on prototype tractor's we had electronic park brakes under development.... they were in the main just an electronic actuator that pulled the existing handbrake system cable.... but they also had software and a manual wind off release because when 12 ton of tractor has got it's knickers in a twist and failed to release the EPB not much is going to move it...

Ford had an issue with a range of vehicles that required a software update..... trouble was a bug crept in and would apply the EPB and not allow it ever be released.... didn't help the dealers who didn't discover this until most of their ramps had immobile vehicles on and Ford had no idea how to fix it...
Click to expand...
Toyota reliability is the 1st thing to catch my attention about the brand :) once I drove a Rav4 and it was a really reliable car! I owned it for about 5 years and had no problems at all. Perfect match! Hope that my next car (perhaps LC300) will be as reliable as my Rav4.
 
Last edited:
EPB's not doing as they should, never.
As i was coming to the end of my car transporter days, they had just started to fit EPB's to Citroens, mainly the C4 Picarseole, PSA group new cars interspersed with LR was my bread and butter work for a good number of years.
Arrived at one of my regular north wales multi drops only to find the electric brake wouldn't release on a C4P, pdi centre with lots of technical wizards on hand and none of them had a clue, so out comes the handbook, sure enough there's a section about the EPB and amazingly what to do in the event of failure.
In the small toolkit (no spare wheel on those with rear air suspension) there is a thing that looks suspiciously like an IUD, you find a small blank in the carpet on the transmission tunnel, insert the flexi end of the IUD through this hole and engage it with some sort of winding mechanism, wind this for a number turns and it snaps the cable or summat, brilliant, not.
So, my early encounters with the things are negative.

Few months ago daughter's bought an under 20k miler 3 year old Golf from a main dealer, few weeks later she's saying about a vibration/rumbling and that week she pops up to pay a visit, staring me in the face is one really badly scored rear disc, so it needs new pads and discs, course i haven't got the diagnostics kit to put the EPB in service mode, and whilst the VW dealer 'might' have offered some goodwill it was by no means guaranteed they wouldn't refuse due to friction materials not normally covered (if that the case the bill would have be high) so decided to just get them changed, the local indy we use regularly quoted £100 cheaper than her local indy back home and offered to do the job straight away...some of you will already be there, turns out its a seized slider the cause no doubt due to lack of proper brake servicing, for some unknown reason peering at the sodding brakes through the wheels and squirting brake cleaner liberally about hadn't adequately lubed things, WTF does maker/main dealer servicing comprise of these days?
I have checked the fronts which are normal calipers and so far the sliders are working ok, though the amount of brake dust this car produces is ridiculous, car at fault or does everyone drive on the brakes now?

You'll not be surprised to learn EPB's have found their way into lorries, thankfully not mine, have driven a few and its bolloxed up my maneuvering completely, for 45 years now i've opened the drivers door and leaned out to reverse on my side, various reasons for this (which i'll argue the positives for if necessary) and yes i was a lot stronger in pre power steering days and did the same then, try this with an EPB wagon and the brakes lock on just like they do with EPB equipped cars, thankfully my current steed doesn't have this pointless device and i have no intention of carrying on full time after 2 years time when the lease on mine is up.

As for general reliability and simplicity.
More than ever i have no intention of replacing either of our cars with some far too complicated for its own good electronic laden junk, going to keep them running for as long as possible until Rishi or Savid or whoever replaces Johnson as the next waste of space to lead the country into the toilet taxes us non compliant plebs off the road, i'm not having a bloody battery car and when the time comes i'll either walk cycle taxi or bus...mind you being an unvaxxed apparent public enema chances are be seeing me days out in a re-education centre.

#rant over
 
Last edited:
good rant sir.

gotta say though, my battery strimmer, hedge cutter and leaf blower are a game changer..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
FOR SALE WITH NEARLY NEW ENGINE
Replies
8
Views
470
CARROT CRUNCHER
C
A
My 2004 100 Series
4 5 6
Replies
113
Views
7K
adrianr
A
Scott
1998 Toyota Land Cruiser 105 Series - Sold
Replies
9
Views
2K
Scott
Scott
M
E 10 petrol warning “dangerous do not use “ 90 95 series
Replies
16
Views
2K
AdventureWagon
AdventureWagon
stuzbot
2000 LWB Colorado VX Auto 1KZ-TE Project -- Good Engine & Tranny -- Chassis Needs Welding -- No MOT
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
flint
flint
Back
Top