Chriselle 158 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Haha.......oil...... We get into some pretty heated arguments over oil on the Landcruiser forum I'm a member of. I say....Follow their (Honda's) recommendation on oil change interval. Their "special oil" is just a high moly count oil like the higher end RedLine or Wako's here in Japan. It's a semi-synth dino. I use a high count moly Wako's in my diesel and costs a ton for an oil change....around 17,000 yen but I feel it's worth it. The moly is a high suspension oil that caries particulates better to the filter. Honda's thinking with their break in is....the high moly blend is slick enough to get a longer initial interval before the first flush AND....to get the rings bedded as blowby is an big issue once the kms start getting high. Meh...whatever, seems to work for them. There is so much conjecture these days between age old regimens and new ones so just stick with what jives best with your warranty. On the Nissan's we bought new they were good about getting switched over to synthetic without affecting the warranty. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I appreciate the advice but it all really depends, doesn't it? For example, Honda uses a special break in oil that shouldn't be changed for at least the first 4500kms. Would you go for the 5 oil changes for 115,000Y? I'm definitely planning on doing oil changes as recommended by the manufacturers, which is every 8000kms(max) until the 56,000kms and then every 16,000kms after that (I'll probably do it a little more often than that though). The car dealer certainly wasn't telling me what the recommendation was and admitted as much when I asked him about it. Also, any metal particles that are big enough to do any damage to your engine are taken out by the oil filter. Those intervals are usually for a synthetic or maybe the semi synth they start off with. Dino oil is standard around 5000kms but it really does depend a lot on your driving habits and the type of driving you do. Go for the freebe one or two oil changes and then just go to Autobacs or wherever. Save the cash. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Can I ask - did you consider a good condition second hand car? They seem to be really good deals here, and lots of them very fine condition. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Good question SKI.. Personally, I don't think I'll ever buy a new vehicle again. I've bought two in the past and glad I have that "right out of the showroom" experience. It does feel pretty awesome. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Yeah that's why I'm asking. Interested to know if there's any reason other than just want a new one. Which is fine of course! Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 I did look around quite a bit actually. One of the big problems is that living where I do it's very difficult to find a reasonably priced 4WD second hand. I mean, most people around here never even put snow tires on their cars for the entire life of the car! I have pretty specific needs too since I do a lot of surfing and camping in the summer as well as boarding in the winter. The list of things we wanted in a car eliminated a lot of used and new cars. We were basically looking for a 4WD with a bit of lift, room for my camping gear and surf boards, that was comfortable to sleep in and a family car to boot. The second hand car market also changed quite a bit after the Tohoku earthquake. A lot of the good deals that used to be available have dried up. Anything that even came close to what I wanted was between 1.5-1.8 million used. The car I ended up with, with all the features I wanted was 2.2 million (after some pretty intense bargaining!). Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Ya...it looks like the seats fold down for a nice sleeping platform. With the back lift you could even get an extension tent like I have on my 80. Makes a big difference if you're staying inside the car. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Nice! Where did you pick that up? I usually just use a mosquito net over the back and a couple of well placed magnets to hold it in place. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I bought it online from the US but had to have a buyer site ship it. It ended up being around $130 I think.... a fair bit of that was shipping. It's a nice unit with double netting and it wraps pretty nicely around the vehicle so nothing can get in. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 What colour did you get - a lovely pea green or dirty brown? (Some of the choices people make!!! Are the awful ones just cheaper or something?!) For second hand cars, according to a thing I read in the JAF magazine, white and black hold their value the best, then silver. For white cars, normally the high grade pearl white is extra when you buy new. Coloured s/h cars are the cheapest. The shades of the colours they use seem to change with trends, so you end up with the old model in an old looking colour. We just changed our car in December. We bought s/h but it came with a three-year, unlimited mileage parts and labour guarantee, so I've decided that its just as good as a new one We got an Alphard Hybrid. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I presume that's a 2.4? What sorta mileage you getting? I have an RX450h, a 3.5 and getting 12-13 km/l against the claimed 15. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Yeah, its 2.4 with some electric 4wd thing in there. A lot of our driving at the moment is short journeys in sub zero temps, so the car doesn't warm up and the heater is on full blast, so the hybrid system has little chance to do its thing. However, we finally took it on a runout on Monday to Maebashi and we got 16km/l on the display for 300km. Assuming a generous 20% BS factor, that's still 12-13 which is great because an Alphard is a really big car. A Japanese car review site called minkara suggests 11km/l is typical for the model we have. I found it on goo-net and we got it from a Toyota used car dealer in Yamanashi. While not advertised as such, the first thing I noticed on seeing it was the four wheels with snow tyres in the back. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I'm officially going to start calling Wiggles......MR MONEYBAGS!!! Alphard Hybrid...nice ride!! Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I've done the calculation with full tank up and mileage on the trip meter, the trip computer is almost always spot on, and I am still doing it the manual method with the trip cmputer as a check. For 7 seats and that size 11 km/l is very good. With full aircon, I can get 1.5kms on full battery alone. Lexus says two. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I have been giving the new Suzuki Hustler a thought, as we would like to change my wife's K-car for a new or newer 4x4. Had thought about a Jimny or Pajero mini, but they only have 2 doors so not convenient. The new Hustler is a 4x4 crossover eco car, so giving that some thought. At the moment thought only mind you. But inconvenient as our K now is only 2WD, and 4WD is so much better, especially as my wife doesn't like driving in snow with a 2WD car. Looks a nice little second car, so may look into that over the coming months, ready for next winter. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I found out today that the Harrier has made a comeback. But it only has a 2 litre engine and a 2.5 hybrid. Looks nice. If they had a larger engine option, then this would be a nice new car Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I remember looking at the original harrier many years ago as an option but in the end went with the escudor. The new ones look great but looks like they dropped the 3 litre that they had in the original. Mind you every year engines are getting smaller but with more power and the cars get lighter so you may find the new 2 litre is not far behind the old 3 litre. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Chris, one million yen all in. It had 135,000km on the clock, is a 2003, and is a not very popular pale metallic blue. The kind of colour you'd see on Japanese mobile phones made by Toshiba and Sanyo before smartphones blew them away. On the upside, its spotless, and is the G edition with the power sliding doors and posher seats. Even it only lasts the three years of the warranty, I reckon it'll save us the majority of what we paid in fuel savings compared to us continuing to drive our old car, which had no warranty. I reckon it'll save us one and a half to two fillups a month. For any car danchi types, the Alphard and Estima hybrids have power sockets that are good for 1500W. You can run high powered appliances, like a kettle, microwave, or toaster, off the car as is. We'll take ours camping this year I think, but probably during summer not snow season. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Hey...that's a pretty good price considering what they go for new. By all accounts the worry about battery packs having to be changed out at 100K kms or so isn't turning up. Hybrids (Toyota) are getting some pretty impressive minimal service longevity numbers. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 the ten year battery myth busted then. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I want an Estima Hybrid for my next car. Link to post Share on other sites
boner 0 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Interesting read, same kind of situation as Black Mountain. Take delivery yet? Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 I'll be getting it next weekend. It's so strange to have to wait such a long time but hopefully it'll be worth it in the end. When we started looking at the end of January there were quite a few places saying that getting the car before the April tax hike was impossible. The earliest they would be ready was May! Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I woulda thought they knock them off the assembly line pretty quick. I order in December and get delivery in March when first shipment of the year arrives Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Sounds like a regular thing for you Thursday..... Link to post Share on other sites
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