The Toyota Estima Owners Club - Buying Tips
It is very important to the Toyota Estima Owners Club that your first buy of a Toyota Estima is successful and pleasant experience. We know from personal and independent experience that if you get it right then you should have a long and happy motoring life with these great vehicles.
Buying an Estima
If you have already surfed through the Toyota Estima Forum and read some of the posted messages you might have noted already that there is a lot written about the potential for "Cracked Cylinder Heads" and this probably causes a lot of concern to you.Our collective view though is that this potentially expensive problem can be very significantly reduced by following some simple guidelines when looking to purchase a Toyota Estima.
Bob Murphy, of RCMVR, has kindly produced some advice.
Bob is a very well respected time served engineer with more years experience in the repair and maintenance of Estimas than he might care to admit. A television celebrity, you may well remember him from his Channel 4 appearances as Capt. Bob in the renowned Scrapheap Challenge, or have seem him around the Toyota Estima Forum using his pseudonym of Buffalobob, and is a very valued and respected member of the Toyota Estima Owners Club .
Bob's Comments:
" The Toyota Estima in its several forms is as most people know with Japanese vehicles a very reliable vehicle this is of course reliant on several factors age, mileage, and previous maintenance are the most important factors that you should be looking at.The paranoia with cylinder heads unfortunately is not helped with me informing people on the forums that I changed 90 odd heads last year and I am on the way to 60 this year, However when you take into account the facts that I also see approx four Estimas a day every day and the area that I cover is vast then the percentage of cylinder head problems country wide is no worse than badly maintained high mileage diesel Vauxhall Astras and even rover K series engines to name but a few. So there are steps you can take to avoid the paranoia. "
Bob then goes on to say.....
" When you are looking for an Estima the most important thing to do is your research. Check out dealers, you are looking to spend a lot of money and you are looking for someone you can trust with honesty and integrity. Ask other owners for opinions on dealers they purchased from, ask if anyone has had problems with dealers that you are looking to use. You can even contact your local trading standards to see if they have any previous problems with a particular dealer. Paperwork
When you have found the dealer you think is right then the vehicle needs to be scrutinised or have a paid inspection its worth it to spend few pounds now rather than like the two people that I went to last week that have bought cars with head problems within a week of purchase from (private sales !!!! )
Ask the dealer for all of the Japanese paperwork one of the things that is in English is the mileage.
Check coolant.
It must be clear in whatever colour the coolant is blue, red or green but must be see-through without floating particles.
Road test.
You need to carry out a road test on a dual carriageway or motorway at 70 mph for at least 20 miles and then open the bonnet and check for coolant coming from expansion bottle overflow pipe. if the dealer is not happy for this sort of road test steer clear.
Above all remember that cylinder head problems are generally related to high mileage low maintenance vehicles. If you steer clear of these you will have years of trouble free motoring I see far more Estimas for servicing and general maintenance than for heads so it might well mean paying a little bit more in the beginning but will pay dividends in the end. "
Buffalo Bob
The Toyota Estima Owners Club is deeply endebted to BuffaloBob for those helpful hints and tips.
Maintenance
Obviously with any vehicle maintenance and repair are also extremely important.
You may well feel a bit disturbed and concerned (we all did, at first ) with most garages knowing nearly nothing about the Toyota Estima, with frequent comments such as "I dunno mate, they're imports!"
But thanks to the many helpful and valuable discussions we have here at the Toyota Estima Owners Club Forum we have been able to swap, share and exchange a wealth of facts, data and technical information.
Documentation
Part 2 of the TEOC Buyers Guide can be found HEREThe Toyota Estima Owners Club is pleased to offer this information to guests and prospective owners of an Estima
