Your fleet running reports

[DeskJockey]

They asked if there were any "while you're there jobs", but the garage said no.

[16vCento]

I've had this Tucson for about 2 and a bit months now I think, it does some things better than the Kuga, and some things worse.

Seats are about on a par, maybe a bit wider, equally comfortable either way. The stereo is dogshit compares to the B&O in the Kuga, lacks volume and Bass. The HVAC controls and system are much better, AC and fan speeds are much better controlled on auto.

From a standing start it's surprising quick, I'd say it's about 6ish seconds to 60, apparently these later AWD PHEV ones are about 280hp, certainly feels a lot quicker than the Kuga.

It's shite on fuel, and has a tiny useable capacity of it's fuel tank, from allegedly 0 miles remaining I can get 37 litres in the tank

It then does an absolute maximum of 370 miles off of that fuel.

Suspension much better comfort wise than the Kuga, handles as well as an SUV should I suppose, early days but it's not bad.

Think if I could have a Kuga with the Tucson suspension and power I'd be happy.

[KiwiDave]

After over 2.5 months at the dealer, the Corolla is home. I saw the paper trail in the job folder - roughly a ream of paper thick of emails back and forth between the dealer, Toyota NZ and Toyota Japan. Between the last call and collecting it, they'd gone from ordering the brake control unit (some module up behind the instrument cluster linked to the ECU) to conducting more tests and deciding it was the brake assembly control unit. These things sound the same to me, but apparently one is passenger side of the bulkhead and required all of the dash of the car apart, and the other sits next to the mechanicals of the brake booster in the engine bay.

So in the time they had it, they swapped the 12v battery after giving it a 'carbon pile load test' whatever that is and it failing. Apparently the first time the dealer had ever done that test. Pulled the car apart several times. Ultimately ended up swapping the brake assembly control unit and some gaskets and other consumables. Zero cost to us of course with it being under warranty. Takes second spot for longest ever visit to the dealer (the largest Toyota dealer in NZ, and Toyota being the top selling brand.) Apparently the winner was a Lexus there for nine months(!) No further details were offered.

[jamcg]

Did they provide you with a courtesy car for that timeframe?

[Jobbo]

Blimey, makes my 7 weeks for air-con warranty repair seem short.

[JonMad]

Not me but a neighbour who used to have a Jag XE has made what I think is a brave purchase (I daren't ask him how brave he thinks it is, in case he's been living in blissful ignorance of their reputation as a ticking time bomb). Jag I-Pace. He's very happy with 400bhp and 0-60 in 4.5s. Paid £16k for it on a 70 plate. Was £85k new!

[16vCento]

70 plate is pre updates, I hope he got the Jaguar extended warranty.

Pretty sure in the US they've started buying back all the 20MY ones now

[Beany]

Sidebar, in very brief a carbon pile load tester is basically just a box with a fuckton of adjustable heavy duty resistors and some guages, so that you can do a real multi hundred amp draw on it to see how much the voltage drops. Basically the standard for deciding if a battery is fuckered out or not. If it can't handle, say (pulling a value out of the air) 200A on a carbon pile tester without dropping to 8v or rapidly heating up etc then chances of being able to start a car are slim. It's basically a proper 'hit it with a hammer, see if it breaks' test.

Handheld testers measure internal resistance, which is a sign of wear/capacity but not a real-world test. So they infer health, whereas a carbon pile load tester actually proves health.

[KiwiDave]

Did they provide you with a courtesy car for that timeframe?

Not originally, but after week three, I thought they better had. Was supplied a same era non-hybrid Corolla. Base spec. Still incredibly well screwed together at 118,000 km of loan car use, but I was very surprised at how less smooth and refined it was over our ZR Hybrid. Something about that calibration (be it the top of the line trim spec, or the hybrid integration) which makes the driving experience so much smoother and calm.

The loan car did cost me a few biking trips (no tow-bar for the bike rack) and we did get a few polite but WTF messages from them regarding parking fines. Turns out the parking validation for the ferry terminal carpark the Mrs uses wasn't working. The dealer goes through a full paperwork process making a statutory claim they're not liable for the bill each time. I think they were as happy as anyone to get the loan car back. The loaners are in HIGH demand during servicing etc at the dealership, generally to make sure you get one at all you need to book your service a long way out. Being one car down in their fleet for months must have been giving their customer team a headache.

Sidebar, in very brief a carbon pile load tester is basically just a box with a fuckton of adjustable heavy duty resistors and some guages, so that you can do a real multi hundred amp draw on it to see how much the voltage drops. Basically the standard for deciding if a battery is fuckered out or not. If it can't handle, say (pulling a value out of the air) 200A on a carbon pile tester without dropping to 8v or rapidly heating up etc then chances of being able to start a car are slim. It's basically a proper 'hit it with a hammer, see if it breaks' test.

Handheld testers measure internal resistance, which is a sign of wear/capacity but not a real-world test. So they infer health, whereas a carbon pile load tester actually proves health.

Excellent nerdery.


Now the Corolla is sorted, the 86 goes in. It's a few months overdue a service but seeing as it gets pretty limited use I'm not too bothered. Its aircon is fucked though. Dropped out once before and they regassed it with some dye in it to check for leaks if it happened again. It will be interesting to see what they find as when it stopped working, it worked one day, then not the next. Then worked again and repeated the cycle a few times. Felt to me more like an iffy switch than the system breaking but who knows...

[Sundayjumper]

It’s one of the HPFPs. Common problem so not surprising and not *too* expensive. It’s also an easy job fitting them.

Ordered just now, £360.56 for the pair from my fave supplier.

[Beany]

For a pair of them, for an engine that can gobble fuel like there's no tomorrow when under full boost, that seems legit reasonable.

[Jobbo]

Over 1000 miles on a tank of fuel. I'll probably fill up this evening.

[Sundayjumper]

For a pair of them, for an engine that can gobble fuel like there's no tomorrow when under full boost, that seems legit reasonable.

A lot of the engine parts are quite reasonable, the M5 engine isn't actually special, it's just an N63 (as fitted to 550i, 650i, 750i) with more turbot. Ancillaries like this are shared. All the seals I replaced, in addition to the valve seals, are shared, although it's a slightly odd hybrid of pre/post TU so I ended up buying both kits to get all the parts I needed.

Other fleet news: 1-Series brakes are still working , Ferrari engine is still leaking oil and the MOT has expired now so I really need to get on with it. It's been way too hot to be outside doing car stuff this summer. Autumn FTW.

[Delphi]

928 booked in for its final MOT in a couple of weeks. Got some time off next week to go through a few jobs :

Pull the centre console and replace the diaphragm in the comb flap actuator.
Replace the blower motor (requires me removing the bonnet)
Replace the engine bay fuel hoses (3 of)
Replace the fuel injectors
Refresh the ABS harnesses in each wheel arch
Replace/fix the external temperature sensor for the climate control

[JonMad]

Over 1000 miles on a tank of fuel. I'll probably fill up this evening.

70% of your running on electric? Impressive.

[Rich B]

Over 1000 miles on a tank of fuel. I'll probably fill up this evening.

Should have bought a Tesla if you wanted an EV…!

Impressive allrounder though - nice to know it can do the dull stuff as well as the fun stuff.

[Jobbo]

70% of your running on electric? Impressive.

Just for the last month or so. I haven't been away much in August and realised I'd only used half a tank of fuel (and a good few charges) by the middle of the month so made a conscious effort to try to get 1000 miles out of the tank - and not to fill up at all during August. Mission accomplished. It's nice to have a V8 when I want it but not have to fuel it when I'm just sitting in traffic.

Tesla don't do an estate Rich. And I think plenty of people (like me) wouldn't buy one now due to Elon anyway.

[Mito Man]

Over 1000 miles on a tank of fuel. I'll probably fill up this evening.

Should have bought a Tesla if you wanted an EV…!

Impressive allrounder though - nice to know it can do the dull stuff as well as the fun stuff.

Why not recommend an i5 instead

[Rich B]

because it was a joke?

[Jobbo]

because it was a joke?

He drives a Tesla, not sure he would understand a joke