Matthias Sammer

Not today, but I did sell my TSport on Monday with a very heavy heart :(. Buyer is on here. I do now have a GT86 to make up for it now though,

They should have reviewed the VVTLi though. Still, another good review though he keeps referring to it being a "young" driver's car now. Guess, aged 33, I need to upgrade mine!

The driver has probably had sleepless nights wondering if anyone was hurt etc, so he's probably regretting not stopping now.

He knew exactly where to hit the drum; that was the difference. Having looked at an image of the insides of a drum brake, it makes sense now.

This has turned out to be highly embarassing. Despite all my hammering and WD40 efforts last night, it didn't work. It was getting dark and wasn't feeling particularly brave about taking everything apart, so left it at that. Called out breakdown this morning and the guy just jacked up the car, didn't even bother to take the wheel off, gave the drum brakes a mere 2 hits with a hammer and the wheel came unstuck! Basically I was hammering it wrong...at least I tried. Lesson learnt.

Another question, is the handbrake operated by discs or drum brakes? I know the foot brake is discs. Gen 7 if not clear.

So, I tried using my car this morning after 3 days of it being parked with handbrake on. The passenger side rear wheel would not turn so I ended up dragging it around a metre in the gravel. I tried rolling forwards and backwards several times. I also jacked up the car, gave it a few blows with a hammer (wood + cloth surround), tried turning it manually, jack back down, the rolling it again....but no luck (I didn't take the wheel off). Still jammed. Anything else I can try myself? If not, is it worth getting a breakdown company have a go or shall I just get it recovered to the local garage? I am with AutoAid so I can decide what to do and get most, if not all of the cost of breakdown/recovery refunded.

Thanks for the top planc; it's a pen. I have read elsewhere about warming it up and shaking to get it more runny.

I have a Toyota Car Care Touch-up set bought a while ago and only just noticed the expiry date is 09/11. Might even have been sold soon-to-expire paint by Mr. T! They only have a shelf life of 2 years looking at the label! It's never been open but I was going to try it next weekend. Will it will be fine to use if it still appears ok i.e. not lumpy or something, especially as it is still unopened? I'll have a damaged bumper to try on first also.

You'll have to excuse my ignorance when it comes to lights; are there LED bulbs equivalent to Osram Nightbreakers + (H7)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but those available online appear not to be road legal?

Thanks, I decided against using them for now. I will be switching to leds next week anyway as I got the "taste" for them when using them for my number plate lights last week.

2 days away form my service and MOT, and I notice that one of my sidelights isn't working. They were all fine last week when I checked everything was in order. When I bought my headlights Osram Nightbreakers, they came with free sidelights that should fit, as per the link below: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Osram-Night-Breaker-Extreme-Sidelights/dp/B0046AWRXS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352757942&sr=8-4 I have never used them but wondering if I can (to save me buying others) and they will still pass the MOT? I suspect the light will be bluish but is that road legal? (Also noticed one of the Nightbreakers+ headlights isn't working, on the opposite side but thankfully got 2 basic Halford spares to use for the MOT until I can order new Nightbreakers+. Just my luck!)

Local garage had a look today (free of charge) at the belt and tensioner using a stethoscope but couldn't diagnose the fault for sure. They offerred to replace the tensioner @£170 + 1h labour but couldn't guarantee that would solve the whining. Sometimes it's there, sometimes not, and no correlation with engine temperature or distance driven. Obviously this is outrageous for the part as I've seen them for £100 and less new but credit to them, they said I was more than welcome to source a second hand one to try. SO I'm thinking of doing that - get another new belt and second hand tensioner off here or Ebay and replace the existing. In the meantime, any risk of damage as I need to use the car and I don't think I'd get anything done till next week?

I see, does that mean tensioner most likely needs replacing?

Seems perfectly, as good as new even I would say. But there is a bit of slack in the belt, so maybe it just needs tightening?

I know there is a few threads on how to replace them but just wondering how long they are supposed to last (2004 Gen 7 TSport). I think mine was replaced when I had it serviced at ~70K miles back in Aug 2010. Now on 83k miles. Had another service was at ~80k in Oct 2011 when car got a clean bill of health. Serviced by ToyodaTech (Toyota specilaists) so although I don't know what brand belt they used I would have thought they'd use something decent. The whining started a few weeks ago and persists even when the engine is warmed up.

I've had nightbreakers plus for a few months now. Unless it's the placebo effect, I think they are a bit better and conisdering they aren't any more expensive than Halford bults, I'd get them again. Fingers crossed the lifetime is good. I had a friend drive in front of me in convoy at night and afterwards, she told me my headlights looked really bright (without me asking) so I guess they are brighter!

I've had great results using my local Sandhurtst Chipsaway guy; found him when I was at Toyota Sandhurst one day and he sorts their cars out.

Anyone used it when running Tesco Momentum 99?

Dual Action polisher (I think).

You lot are vicious; I wouldn't want to cross your paths!

Well, the peugeot was back in the car park on Sunday, so it must be local. And parked liked a tool again, straddling 2 bays. I won't do anything but my dad will keep an eye out to see if he recognises the driver. I am really interested to know who he/she is. Police rang back Monday morning saying they won't do anything due to lack of evidence (predictably) so there you go. I'm not going to retaliate as it will only fuel things as I have to use that car park until my parents move later this year. At the end of the day it's only a car, even though it's my pride and joy. My anger's subsided now. I have ScratchX but I doubt it'll be of any use. I've always wanted to have the car detailed so maybe I'll see if I can pay extra to have some corrective work done. Otherwise, any tips/guides to sort it out myself would be welcome. Apologies for the filthy car! I need a day free to give it some much overdue TLC.