Close to buying a 120..BUT

[JGill Member Find all posts View Profile Close JGill]

Well, I hav finally paid a deposit on a silver 2004 grande 120... Should pick it up either tomorrow or Thursday Arvo.

I'm a little excited and cant wait to get it home, give it a good clean out and start tinkering with it!

Nice work jhiace,
You will have to start up a build up thread so we can see photos and all the details.
Congratulations, cheers
Josh

[jhiace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jhiace]

Thanks josh, I definitely will.. So far I don't plan on going as full on as my lux but you can never say never on these things!

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Onya jhiace, you will love it, there a great 4wd. Waiting now for some pics once you pick it up lol...........Cheers Steve

[jhiace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jhiace]

Well i went and picked up my 120 on Thursday arvo and so far am loving it. I was a little dirty with the people i purchased it off but that has nothing to do with the vehicle itself.

I spend hours and hours on Saturday pulling it apart, degreasing, washing, clay blocking and polishing it... It has come up looking really good but there are still a couple of hail dents and some scratches here and there but that is to be expected by people who park under trees and have never washed a car before!

The only issues i have is that the front and/or rear rotors are stuffed and could do with replacing, the leather seats are foul (grubby kids) but thats all good because i'm a motor trimmer so new leather will be in it soon, the steering wheel is ridiculously big (but they all are), the sat nav is unusable whilst driving (my accord euro could be used whilst driving) and one huge bug bear is that someone has put in two flasher cans in the rear on either side. I opened up the access panel where the jack is and with the blinker on located a loose hanging flasher can which was attached to wiring that had a tag on it saying it was a trailer wiring loom and it has a factory fitted bar on it.

So my question is, does anyone else have this annoying ticking from the back when indicating, and does anyone know why they are installed? Every trailer plug loom ive ever seen is just tapped into the existing circuit using the factory flasher can behind the dash.. I was considering chucking in two LED flasher cans as they don't 'tick' when they are activated but they are an expensive option if i can just pull them out and re-wire it a little..

Also, the car only came with one key.. So i found by chance a fella on Ebay selling 120 blanks with transponder etc for $150 including shipping and it is the same 'code' as my key, but you still have to program them to work on your car.

The dash has suffered the same fate as most others and is cracking, so i am going to be speaking with Toyota about this and the legalities of the cracked dash issues and their liability to replace them free of charge as the expectation of a sub $80k car is to last longer then 8 years.

One last thing, ive read it before but can't find it but i want to connect a reversing camera to the factory GPS unit and i did see on here there was a thread that explained how to activate the camera on the head unit through some sort of dealer setting and then all i need to do is attach a camera to it.

I will get some photos of it today and start a build up thread too..

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

The rear flasher is standard fitment by Toyota and after-market installers when the towbar is fitted. You haven't mentioned what year your car was made so good luck with the dash claim.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Hi there Bushbasher. its an 04 Grande, Sorry jhiace but your claim for a new dash pad I reckon 100% will be a big fat NO. People with later models are also getting the same reply. They are doing it on a case by case basis, but 04 is to far down the line for a claim I'd reckon. Hail dent removal can be expensive if there is a lot of them or just wait for another hail storm if it bothers you. Hope the sunroof is free from rust ?? As bushbasher has said the flasher can in the back is standard when fitted with toyota towbar wireing loom. I have it in mine but doesnt bother me at all to be honest...Yeah kids can destroy cars. I was lucky with this one but the grande I had before bloody hell, I stripp it totally, seats out, console,carpet etc and started fresh. bloody chewing gum, macca's chips, bubble gum balls, you name it, it was wedged down in between the seats, couldnt even work the split rear fold seats as they had bubble gum ball jammed in the latch lol.....Cheers Steve M

[jhiace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jhiace]

As Steve said, it is an 04 model. I have just spoken with department of fair trading and they are happy to take Toyota on my behalf, all i have to do is submit a formal letter to Toyota about it and if they say no then Fair trading will come in. The thing is, is that although the car had a 3 year warranty does not mean it is only covered for 3 years. There is a reasonable expectation that a product will work fault free for a considerable period after the warranty expires and for a car that cost $75000 brand new the expectation is for the vehicle and non wearing components to last beyond 8 years. I also have a friend who works at a Toyota dealership in Sydney and he is looking into it as it is a widely recorded issue.

Sunroof is rust free! Hail dents are fairly minor and only about $100 to knock a few of them out.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...cked-dashboard bit of reading for you jhiace lol.....Might also pay for you to put your loaction in your profile, just heps you out more if you ask a question and may relate to some one/store/mechanic etc in your area if needed. Cheers Steve