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I had an MOT done the other day at Snows Honiton and I was sat in the reception downing lots of coffee by the reception desk. In the past I have had bad experiences with dealerships so am pretty cynical about garages in general and my previous Toyotas I have always self serviced so it was a new experience for me. Over the hour and a quarter I was there I was totally impressed with the way the reception staff dealt with a number of customers particularly not wanting to jump in and suggest expensive repairs. The staff seemed very keen to mitigate the cost to the customer and engage with them to the customers satisfaction. Typical was a guy with a faint noise around the water pump& timing area. Rather than suggesting a water pump/timing chain or bearing replacement he very patiently explained that they could start replacing parts which would be expensive but it was better to let the noise develop a bit so they could be sure to replace the right part. Good advice and pretty ethical. I was also impressed that they washed the car after testing.

Whenever I’m buying a new car, I just drop my trousers and bend over, saves an awful lot of time…

There aren't actually any Toyota-run dealers as far as I know. What people (Especially Frosty ) make the differentiation is with Toyota UK, the company that is at the top of the hierarchy for anything Toyota in the UK, and the Toyota dealers, who are just other companies that pay Toyota UK to be a Toyota franchise and sell cars, do service work, get access to all the technical tools and databases etc. Toyota UK have been slacking though - They keep making the dealers waste money on stupid things in their premises, like rearranging where everything goes (They are one of the reasons so few dealers have a desk with someone you can talk to and why all the staff are hidden somewhere!) but seem to completely overlook things like staff training and well-being, which is apparently left to the franchisees, but like so many companies, if they're not told to do something they won't do it, so you get this situation where the staff aren't looked after, get grumpy and leave and you're left with all the jobsworths and newbies. To be fair it feels like this is a problem across all sectors, usually when some new smeghead boss comes in - They immediately want to save costs to put on a good show for the shareholders, so they force out all the oldtimers to bring in cheaper new people who no longer have anyone to show them the ropes, the new boss then leaves on a high just in time to avoid copping the fallout as the company goes under because it's had its heart and brain ripped out by them. It's something I always warn people about when they are in a successful startup - Only sell out if you want to cash out, because as soon as you sell out to the Apples and Microsofts and Google of the world your company won't have long to live no matter what promises they make!

Well I came back to looking to replace my Prius as I simply don’t want to drive a larger car anymore So I again drove Excel & Design Yaris, both ‘21 plates and then ‘20 (pre facelift) Jazz and a ‘23 facelift Jazz. I considered a Polo/Fabia but the DSG potential issues put me off I really wanted to stay with Toyota but found the Yaris too small, too dark inside, too noisy and the ride too firm even in Design spec. In isolation the Yaris is a superb car but after driving it back-to-back with the Jazz I just couldn’t say no to the Jazz I have gone with the ‘23 facelift model, it’s just over a year old and is the Advance model. Apparently the brake simulator failure doesn’t affect the facelift models It comes with heated seats, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise, lane keeping, climate control, reverse camera, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic, keyless entry etc etc. It’s similar spec wise to an Excel What surprised me the most was that it’s pretty much as quiet as my Prius even at 70 on the motorway, it rides nice and softly, the view out is superb and the space inside is amazing for such a small car. The interior quality seems almost luxury compared to the Yaris and the doors close with a nice solid sound too The Yaris, unfortunately, felt cramped and rather claustrophobic The Jazz was much happier on the motorway than the Yaris and I also think the Jazz was a bit faster to accelerate from a standstill and getting up to speed on motorway slips I really wanted to go with the Yaris to keep in the Toyota family but I know I’d always be thinking I should have got the Jazz instead 😉

Just landed home after a 500 mile round trip. Long day. I'm going to start with the bad and ugly combined. A new fault. After being diverted by Waze off the M1 which was closed or at a standstill earlier today, and I'm taking the industrial estate plus sleepy village route. Slows down to probably a few mph in the traffic and the parking sensor front nearest right is beeping. Yellow bar so not the closest proximity red bar. But there's nothing there. The car in front of me is one or two car lengths away. It's still beeping. That would be fine except, when the parking sensors beep the pan view cameras come on and take over the Infotainment screen. Not set to Auto btw. It just does this and you have no say. Unfortunately, the parking sensor can't make up it's mind and the Infotainment screen is going on off on off on off in out in our shake it all about, let's do the hokey cokey. You get the picture. And continues to do this for the next 15 minutes non stop. Needless to say I then got lost because I couldn't see the map in AA running Waze. It was black screen then camera then black screen then camera. Alternating every 2 seconds. Had to then park up. Switch off and on again. Inspected the sensors expecting to find a stuck on leaf or squashed bug. Nothing. And odd because that would have resulted in a zero range (which ought to be calibrated out in the auto cal for an ultrasonic sensor) whereas I was getting a yellow bar not a red one. All working fine then 15 minutes later I'm doing the hokey cokey yet again. Pulls over. Off then on again. Fixed. No issue on the inbound leg. So it may need to be a dealer visit in the next couple of weeks if it happens again. I'm reminded of the adaptive cruise control issue I had once on the last R4P. Radar not available message pop up. Words to that effect. All of a sudden out of the blue. Could not clear the message covering up the drivers display info since if you cleared it then it would come back a few seconds later. Hokey cokey again. Never got to the bottom of that. Another case of now I need to pull over at the next services. Any ideas? No, I've not washed the car since I got it so no scope for blasting the sensors with the jetwash being the cause. So that was the bad and ugly. More positive note, the seats are really comfortable. More so than my Merc. And they were very good. New features which I'm trying to rationalise... 1. Driver display. Red circle with speed limit, says 70. Underneath that is a smaller red circle saying 50 and a little stop watch symbol overlapping. I was on the motorway (70) but in an average 50mph speed limit. So I'm assuming this is what it was telling me? I don't know if this came from the map, Toyota cloud, or the RSA. 2. LTA dots. When going slow with adaptive cruise on often in stop start traffice the display shows the car in front and the number of distance separation bars, 1, 2, or 3. But on occasion it shows dots to the car in front to indicate the system is following the car in front. This well known. What it also does is do this at high speed. I was doing 60mph when the dots appeared. It was foggy, dark, and lane markings poor. So I assume it was saying, can't follow the lines mate, I'm following the car in front? Probably need the Dicky Davis sport jingle for this... As for other motorists today. The *** head league table is... Audi 6pts (6 separate asbo aggro Audi idiots) Rage rover 4pts (4 separate idiots) White Van Man 2pts Ford Failures 2pts Pukegos (that's Peugeot) 1pts The my car has broken down on the motorway league table is... JLR (land and range rovers) 4pts (4 separate instances) Peugeot 3pts Audi 2pts Ford 2pts Seat 1pts Hyundai 1pts BMW 1pts Renault 1pts That felt cathartic. 😂

Now I am old I am a fair weather biker. I regularly leave my bike connected to a trickle charger (Optimate) for 4 months or so over winter. What I have learnt is that to keep it on solidly for those 4 months reduces battery life considerably. I was replacing them every couple of years. What I do now is use a smartplug that only powers up the charger for 15-20 minutes a week. The bike always fires up and I haven't replaced the battery in almost 4 years.

This is how the gears work on my car.. D….daytime driving N….nighttime driving( although I never seem to get anywhere) R… race mode, ( never used it yet but I can’t wait to see the look on the guy behind me at the lights when I do) P… only use this if you need the toilet B ..for going backwards, obviously..

So I rang the salesman who sold the car, and my last 2 new Corollas, and told him that I was at the point of writing to their MD and copying in to Toyota. He asked me to give him 10 minutes, after which the service manager rang and arranged to collect the car an hour later! The part has now come in. 😊

Toyota UK grew out of the first importers of Toyota cars by the South London motorcycle store Pride & Clarke, from whom I often bought parts and clothing from. One leather jacket I bought (cough) years ago is still in use, although it has moved to France. I had heard them called Snide & Shark, but that wouldn't have been unusual for a North London lad to overhear 😂🤣 Pride & Clarke A family-owned business that was founded in London by John Pride and Alfred Clarke. They were originally a motorcycle sales and parts company, but became Toyota's official UK importer and distributor after John Pride traveled to Japan to see the developing car industry. Pride & Clarke sold the company to Inchcape in 1979. Toyota Toyota began importing vehicles into the UK in 1965 through an agreement with Pride & Clarke. In 1967, the company changed its name to Toyota (GB) Ltd. In 1978, Toyota (GB) Ltd became part of Inchcape, but in 1998, Toyota Motor Corporation took a majority shareholding in the company. In 2000, Toyota Motor Corporation took complete ownership of Toyota (GB) PLC

Not as traumatic as it sounds 🫣 After owning the 2022 Corolla Design h/b for 3 months I have traded it for a 2023 Corolla touring in icon trim. We traded a VW Golf estate for the Corolla h/b, I favoured the touring then but my better half convinced me we didn't need a ' big car ' and I agreed at that time. We both now agree that purchase was a mistake, we miss the carrying capacity and ' big car ' feel. Expensive error but fortunately the funds were available to ' upgrade'. Immediately noticed the difference in the later gen5 ? version. The extra power in the 138bhp engine is welcome, not for ' foot down ' driving but progress seems 'smoother' Certainly the car rides better on the 16" wheels and Continental 205/55 tyres than the 17" wheels and Falken tyres of the h/b. Deal was done at local Stoneacre Toyota dealer and I was pleasantly surprised at the trade-in price for the Corolla h/b. Happy motoring, just don't look at the bank account 🤪

Hi again. The A/C is fixed. I was told that there was chafing in the big orange cable, as TonyHSD mentioned in a post above. It was rubbing against something. They repaired and secured it, and it was done under warranty. The A/C is working as it should, and there are no more faults.

no one wants the liability of a used EV, insurance, battery degradation, road tax as of 2025 and lack of infrastructure, That is why most are on PCP or Lease

The only reliable method I found on a road trip through Scotland to Inverness was to attach a blown up photo of the mother in law to the front bumper. I had to temporarily take it down from above the fireplace where it was useful in preventing the kids getting too close to the fire 🔥 for the trip.

Good news, we finally had a genuine Mazda HUD screen fitted at Mazda Dewsbury (5/11/2024). The HUD double image is now gone along with the eye strain it caused. 2 photos below show the rubbish Fuyao screen fitted by Autoglass and the correct 2024 HUD screen from Mazda. Our new glass is now the Pilkington 43R-001622.

For some work and also to visit a friend who I have not seen for about 7 years, with some free time to do walking exercises in the mix. VID_20241023_110817.mp4

Don't people think that all the new wave future looking (mostly EVs) are just all looking the same ? When I was a wee boy, I served my apprenticeship in a Glasgow garage, and I honestly swear that I could tell you what make and model of car it was just by the outline and shape.....just got absolutely no chance now !! I can do the same just with a outline of a country map (not all of them though 🤔). Very sad, I know 😢

I haven't done an update here for a while now. Today, on our way back from our regular 200-mile round trip, we hit the rush hour around Stockton and, as I was using ACC most of the time, I noticed something in the Blue Demon's behaviour that is definitely different from how the Red Baron behaved. It was dense traffic flow with the usual slowdown/speedup at the Teeside flyover while everyone played dodgem cars! What I noticed was how the Blue Demon is far more aggressive in its use of engine braking and/or regen braking or a combination of the two (visible on Hybrid Assistant) without needing to use the friction brakes at all! Since the light was fading a bit, I was also able to see when the stop light was going on and off and it seemed to be a lot cleverer than Red Baron ever was. By that, I mean that it only switched the brake light on when it was slowing down more quickly (eg some bozo nipped into my safe distance in front!) than when only a gentle slowing was needed and remember, all this was without using the friction brakes at all! Proof of this is how good the brake discs are looking all round. Smooth and shiny with no ruts at all. That tells me that they are only being used sparingly at slower speeds. Hardly any wear at all considering we've now done 5736 miles. Clever little Yaris! I saw it back feed up to 20Kw into the HV battery and the battery maxed out (all compartments lit on the dash display) at 78% SoC at one point! All this was with my Winter Tyres on (slightly higher rolling resistance) and to top it off, got 64.8 real mpg (68 on the dash) out of it. The MPG is certainly improving rapidly now; even though the weather is cooling down now a little...

Received a call today saying “we have the new Prius in that is exactly like your one but the later model” <direct quote> “please phone us back as we would like to offer you an unbelievable opportunity” YEA RIGHT sorry SE i test drove the PLUGIN VERSION NOT A HEV last month NOT EXACTLY THE SAME as my car and £72000 on PCP because you got your timings wrong for swap out. SE salespersons SERIOUSLY need to learn what the Toyota range are and act appropriately. Or employ ppl older than 20 who actually care.

Hi, the headlights on my 2009 iq were looking quite cloudy and yellow so I decided to polish them today and must say, I'm really pleased with the result. Here's what I did. Thoroughly cleaned with bilt hamber surfex hd Wet sanded with 800/1200/2000/3000 Machine polished with mequiars plast rx with wool pad then a Koch chemie yellow pad. Wiped with panel wipe 1 coat of mequiars headlight coating. The instructions say 2 coats but read many reviews and they say the 2nd coat goes cloudy and didn't want to risk it. Not sure how long it will last but doing it once or twice a year is fine. It doesn't take long. I'm really pleased with the end result and not sure if the photos do justice but in real life it makes such a difference. Steve

If helps anyone the process Is as below Your final payment if keeping car is your actual final payment (not the month later). 5 payments remaining you receive letter in post with options with prepaid envelope. Your then sent an email a few days later with a personalised video. This video contains your name, date of final payment, your guaranteed buy price and then concludes with you selecting your option to confirm. For me - I will gladly keep my 71 Rav4 with 23k on clock for £14750! Now time to start saving to do same with wife's CHR In 42 months.

One thing that I am really chuffed about (and it has saved a visit to the dealer!) with this new Carista OBD-EVO adaptor is that it has given me access to the "remote start" functionality of the car in the customization section which is essential for the remote "Start Climate" to work. Guess what? Mine was set to "Off" which is why my "Start Climate" wouldn't work from the MyToyota App! It is now set to "On" thanks to the EVO and it all works fine!! That's a function that is very useful during cold winters! I like that for it to work, a pre-condition is that all the doors are locked which makes sense if you are parked in the street (I found this out when I tried it with the doors unlocked!). Even more pleased that I purchased it now!

If I could only disable the waf…wifey automated comments..

I leave them all on, I’ve seen how AI is progressing, when the robots take over I want them to look favourably on me…!

I, too, am not knocking ALL Chinese products, but until they respect international patents and stop flooding markets with cheap knock offs I will be cautious in what I buy. There is a long held belief that China plays the long game. They will undercut all a county’s domestic products to cripple the local companies, then step in to buy them cheap. That means they now control that country’s market and the prices can go up. Sound familiar?

My comment is: Let the ECU do what its programmed to do. Your car is the result of over two decades of R&D by Toyota and it knows best. It is expected that during the colder months it will behave a little differently and that fuel consumption will increase slightly. The ICE needs to be warmed up and so does the cabin. As long as you're not seeing more than a 10% increase in fuel consumption everything is fine. And a 20% increase wouldn't be out of order if you're based in the far north of Europe.

Now the clocks have changed, I’ve realised my CH-R projects onto the ground from the wing mirrors when it senses the key…😆 Not something I knew it did. Utterly pointless but surprisingly satisfying (for me anyway!). I think manufacturers refer to such features as ‘surprise and delight.’ Quite.

I believe here's more to it than changing the 35aH for a 45aH battery. There's a DCIM update, too. Toyota replaced the battery in my Yaris, and did the DCM update. Apparently, the DCIM module was leaking current in some way, the gist of it being that when the car is stopped, i.e. the ignition turned off, the DCIM was staying active for too long, and depleting the 12v battery. I don't recall the exact wording of the update to the DCM, but that update plus the battery, carried out under warranty, have been successful. I recently left the car at least 3 weeks without starting it once. It started after this standing time with absolutely no problems.

I think it's called forum cross pollination.

Think OP just need to ask his wife for better understanding of driving in general 🙃

Thanks! I'm in Ramsgate. I think of I do decide to get it repaired by anyone I'll go with the smart repaired here. I've definitely made my mind up not to pay the excess and go through insurance. You've all been really helpful. It's a bit of a minefield for anew driver and car owner!

The thing is that you can put decent tyres on an AWD, but you can't [economically] convert a FWD to AWD. An AWD always takes off in AWD and so is more assured and less prone to wheel spin and scrabbling on an imperfect surface. The only real argument in favour of FWD is overall economy - provided that you are prepared to accept the compromises that come with FWD.

50 pairs for £13, should last a while.

Yeah I think these reviewers are too used to 9 million horsepower cars and just have no sense for normal cars anymore. The Aygo engine is fine for what it is, and just needs to be revved to get at the power but auto journalists are too used to having a zillion torques at their disposal to get that. Regarding the car swap, unless you have a problem with the Yaris or just really hate it, I'd keep it - It just doesn't make any sense, at least financially, to swap them over for no reason as they are in very similar segments, and you'll loose a big chunk of money. The Yaris should be cheaper to run and last longer - It will need less fuel, less brake changes, will never need a clutch or any belts changed, and the engine will never be as stressed as the Aygo's because it always has support from the electric motors when pushed. The only reason to change would be if you're getting this 12v battery problem so many Mk4 Yaris owners have experienced due to low mileage, but if you're not then IMHO the Yaris is the better car.

My closest dealership lost my custom after their Master Technician took my petrol avensis out and on return told me that the annoying whine I had was the turbo going. I queried which turbo as the petrol avensis doesn't have one! He said he thought it was a diesel...... The same franchise but different dealership put the gearbox right for me a couple of weeks later. They aren't the quickest or best at communicating but they've been straight and helpful so I continue to travel further and go to them. No complaints about them at all.

Very true. In my opinion, as consumers, we are usually quick to complain about poor dealers but slow to praise good ones.

Been looking for an CHR 1.2 petrol for a while now or should I say the right spec, every time I found one, right year right mileage it was always sold before I could get there, but hey I got one and it's been delivered on Monday a 2018 CHR excel 1.2 petrol with 33k miles and two owners being 70 next me thinks this will be my last car.

Love my new Aygo, very little to complain about except maybe the seat. I have a very wide back and found that the side cushioning was squeezing my sides a bit much. Great for cornering in the world rally chanpionship but a bit too much for the run to the shops. So purchased some half inch foam and a bit of upholstery cloth. My better half being a wizz with a sewing machine mader me a cover. That half inch lift transforms the seat for me making it very comfortable with enough side support when neeeded. Was going to add some kind of strap but it doesnt need it as stays put by itself.

Just natural cycles of the planet, a planet that is over populated & trying it's best to kill of some humans. These heating & cooling cycles will continue long after the last humans left on planet Earth have died. The net zero agenda is basically just for business & government to make money.

Regarding Toyota interior quality, I’ve owned my new CH-R for just over a month now - my first Toyota - and I’m very impressed with the overall quality of both materials and fit and finish. Time will tell whether it starts to rattle as it ages but so far, having come from three Lexus in a row, I think it compares very favourably. I should add that I originally thought my downsize from the Lexus would see me buying a Yaris Cross, but I personally found the interior quality of that model far less impressive.

Wow now that's a drive thro

You're absolutely right. Some of the roads in Cornwall right now would make a Bentley rattle 😀

The Eco, Normal and Power modes just change the accelerator pedal response but don't change anything else like they do in some other cars, e.g. Eco mode isn't any slower than Power at full throttle. Just pick which one feels best/suits your driving style more. The EV mode button is meant for just moving the car short distances and can be ignored 99.999% of the time

Am I on the Corolla, CHR or Yaris forum? 🤣

It's a bit weird as the B-mode behaviour has changed slightly in the different generations of HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive, the 'official' name of the Toyota hybrid system). The older ones *would* go maximum-regen in B-mode, as well as engine-brake, which could under certain circumstances return better mpg, and is partly why this incorrect 'fact' of B-mode being for regen keeps getting repeated by a lot of ignorant car journalists (The same ones that think it has a belts and cones gearbox ). However, the newer HSDs like in the Yaris, Corolla and probably RAV4 do fairly minimal regen, in both D and B-mode, when you lift off the accelerator - one block (out of 3) of regen shown on the power. This is theoretically better for economy as you can coast a lot further when lifting off, and the only way to get the max regen is by using the brake pedal - That lets you get up to the full 3 blocks of regen. I'm not sure why they changed the behaviour in the newer HSDs, as it made sense to me to max-regen in B-mode, but now it stays at the same level of regen as D-mode, and instead dumps the rest of the energy by acting as a very inefficient air-pump with some fairly aggressive engine braking. The B-mode is actually quite pointless though - It's designed to save your brakes on e.g. a long descent, but if you just use the brake pedal, it'll hardly use the brakes and instead use maximum regen and charge up the battery, but when the battery's full and you continue to brake, it switches to engine braking anyway!

Come on Nick, that's power not torque - I know that you know that ... 😉 On the subject of Toyota AWDs and torque (acceleration) from the electric motors: The RAV4 HEV has 202 Nm front and 121 Nm rear (+ 221 from the ICE when shouty) The RAV4 PHEV has 270 Nm front and 121 Nm rear (+ 227 from the ICE when shouty) The bZ4X has 169 Nm front and 169 Nm rear (but never gets shouty). Toyota quote a total of 337 Nm and suggest that the car has the same 80kW motors front and rear so I'm assuming and even split. The Yaris Cross has 141 Nm front and 52 Nm rear (+ 120 from the ICE when shouty) It's probably not worth noting that in terms of total torque the bZ4X sits between the PHEV and the HEV, and that the kerb weights of the PHEV and bZ4X are pretty much the same. And a 1.1 Ford Fiesta would have had around 80 Nm torque (FWD) compared to the Yaris Cross 52 Nm at the rear (and 193 Nm overall). So, while the Yaris Cross rear motor sounds a bit puny it's probably more than adequate on its own! You are all allowed to yawn now! 😄

If you never want to change your wipers again, the PIAA silicone wipers are really good - Mine are over 3 years old, still silent, still clear water decently. They are UV resistant so don't degrade from being in the sun, and don't harden and crack in sub-zero temps like normal rubber wipers. They also lay down a hydrophobic layer with each sweep, so after a month or so of use you don't even need to use the wipers at motorway speeds as the rain just rolls off! Only downside is they are stupidly expensive compared to normal wipers, but you'll never need another set (Well, maybe after 10 years ) They are tricky to source - Only place I know of that sells them consistently are tdcautomotive but their website can be a bit glitchy so I tend to use their eBay shop.

I bet a JCB is quieter 😉

Chas, if you were 20 years younger you probably wouldn't buy a Yaris Cross 😉🙂

Well a month has gone by. I've added DIY heated seats as per my post and have just come back from a 300 mile round trip including motorways. My petrol consumption on this trip was 65mpg! amazing given my Corsa use to give me around 43mpg on these longer trips. The heated seats worked great too. I found it absolutely fine on the motorway at 70mph very comparable to my Corsa which probably only accelerated a little bit faster. Car noise and ride was good. I figured out and enjoyed using adaptive cruise control. The car distance setting worked well and when I pulled out to overtake having been slowed down by a car in front, it just sped up to the original speed on it's own and I pulled back in again with no footpedal action required. All very new to me. The only thing I was not so fond of was lane centering as I found the slight pull left and right to do so, annoying so ended up switching it off. Also if it fails to recognise a speed limit change on a motorway from 70 to 50/60 then back to 70 it constantly bleeps if you go over 60 again thinking its still the temporary speed limit. I've had a couple of instances where I went over a pothole/uneven surface and the car seemed to kick in some kind of control to brake/control the car it's hard to explain but rather alarming when it happens. Really enjoyed carplay and navigation etc although annoying when it loses phone signal and restarts as you have to re-enter the map/route details. Another great things is it displays my blood sugar levels as a T1 Diabetic, see pic 🙂 The car now needs a clean lol In summary I'm really pleased with the car. Everyone keeps telling me what a great choice Toyota is for reliability especially the recent 100% score posted elsewhere. Again very happy I went with the Edge over my in initial Pure selection.