M3/M5... tbh I don't need anything that fast, 'not slow' will do for me... I must be getting old, I'm more interested in a smooth ride :-o

That's actually the thing I love most, the buttery smooth ride! Don't think I've ever switched the suspension to 'sport' mode

Well I've had it back, driven ~100 miles (most of that was back from the garage) Now 2 warning lights on the dash, they're picking it up Monday on a trailer, mercifully for free

Sounds like it could be the alternator, we'll see.

Fingers crossed for you too, or they fess up that they made a mistake somewhere and its still not going to damage your wallet further.

Hopefully the last of your wallet woes! I have a further £600 to spend at some point on replacement corroded brake lines and a few other bits.

I would have been quite content keeping my 3L diesel X3, with the remap it had it was joyous. The change in regs to punish diesel owners made me think twice about keeping it though.

The problem is, once you know that kind of power its horrible trying to live with less.

I also don't do that many miles, around 5k a year.

Further wallet hammering confirmed, alternator has goosed and needs rebuilding as a new OEM toyota one is £480! They warned against a cheap chinese replacement alternator (~£185) as they've had reliability issues.

So turns out they can't rebuild it as they're currently unable to get the parts needed, but they have a rebuilt one they did prior, bloody circus stuff

Still, in better news I've found a japanese website where several members have the same car/colour combo so at least I can get an idea on what wheels look half decent if I fancy a different pair 

One guy in particular (https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/662567/blog/) chucks a lot of different types of wheels on his, Volk TE37s seem to suite quite well, another guy has the same TE37s and a luggage rack on his! https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/466661/car/2206743/profile.aspx


(more https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/662567/car/565506/3045590/photo.aspx)

Someone has put an LED conversion on the headlights and I think they look nuts, I kinda like it... Probably no chance of sourcing them though 
  https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/2111546/car/1612299/8324749/parts.aspx

Anyway, still haven't got my car back... 

Have they at least given you an ETA for the car being returned? MX-5 Parts used to sell a similar light conversion kit I'm sure, I wonder if its the same fitment?

Nope, hopefully next week but who knows

The MX-5 lights look too "rounded" so probs not same fitment 

I wouldn't bother putting anything in to clean it unless there's a problem with it

power steering fluid is almost always ATF no matter what it says on the bottle (automatic transmission fluid) which is pretty awesome at cleaning stuff itself...   if it's easy to disconnect a pipe somewhere pop a pipe off drain it and refill it, take the reservoir off and give it a clean out too

people have been using ATF to clean things like diesel injectors/pumps for years

if the fluid has run low there could well be air in the system now, they're easy to bleed, jack the front end up and turn full lock left and then right a few times

:-)

it'll almost certainly be ATF from anything around that year... is the fluid red? - dead giveaway it's ATF

No the toyota stuff isn't red, it's now irrelevant as I've sussed the problem, it's leaked onto my driveway...

I'll take it to the local garage, hopefully it's just a hose or such.

NOPE

Steering rack gators have gone, pissing oil out so a refurbed rack is now being done at my local garage 

Honestly, what a circus