Recent content by Chenango21

Seat comfort...leather or fabric I have an 05 Sport....fabric seats. We bought off the lot from existing inventory so we didn't get the leather seats we'd become acustomed to.... The frabic is great....I think much more comfortable than the leather we've had in other vehicles (ml320...

follow up re my vibration problem It has been a while since I solved my prolblem, but thought I'd follow up on what was the source of my vibration: Found lots of mud and gunk caked underneath the vehicle....I had done some nasty off road stuff for a real estate project.....had to power wash it...

Thanks for the advice Toto. They said they did test each component independently.....I'm inclined to believe them, although it doesn't seem reasonable to me that all these things would all be kaput. I can't quite imagine taking the whole thing apart myself....I can see myself surrounded by a...

rear wiper bad news My rear wiper and rear defrost stopped working. I followed advice and tried to reset dozens of times....no luck. Just took it in to Toyota. They tell me there are several problems: 1. rear wiper motor seized. 2. computer that makes sure window is up before the wiper...

rear windshield wiper and defroster not working I tried the "reinitialization" procedure many times....with ignition in "on" position, with the car running etc etc etc. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Here are my symptoms: Rear defroster: isn't working....no light on when button pressed. No...

rear wiper and rear defroster don't work I tried the trick of putting the window all the way down and then back up and holding it a second.....no luck. Any other suggestions how to debug this? Thanks.

Extremely poor gas mileage I had a 4runner with a burnt cylinder head and got terrible gas mileage (and a rough ride). Hope it is not that!

Yikes! Thanks for the video link re Jiffy Lube rip offs. I knew they always suggest stuff you don't really need....so almost always I just say no thank you.....but I figured the corporate owners of the franchise had some kind of quality check to stop outright theft from customers. I just had...

tires and oil changes Do you really assert that Jiffy Lube doesn't change the oil or do it properly? Seems like it would be way too risky for them to short cut or cheat customers.

Dunlop oems with 72k miles. My Dunlop oem tires just wouldn't wear out....I wanted them to because I signed up for "Tires for Life" in which I had to go to the Toyota dealer for oil changes and tire rotations every 5k....and they charge a premium over the local Jiffy Lube. Finally I got Toyota...

Leather vs. Cloth Consider keeping the cloth. My last 4 vehicles had leather....with the 4runner we went with the cloth and we are glad we did. It is exceptionally nice cloth...some kind of woven texture which looks fantastic and feels even better. We like it better than the other vehicles...

V8 mileage My computer sometimes indicates 20.5 for a highway trip running around 75mph. However, the couple of times I have checked it the old fashioned way I seem to be getting around 19mph. I do see variation....even on the same trip.....I think it may have to do with variation in...

oil levels I have always found that shops "top off" oil up to the top most mark when doing an oil change. I find my dealer puts it between the marks....leaving it 1/2 qt shy of full. Does this matter at all?

Oil Consumption Let me be clear: It turns out that I have no oil consumption. What is happening is that when changing the oil the dealer fills to 1/2 quart less than full......I assumed he filled to top line....so after driving a bit I would check level and find it 1/2 quart down from max...

Here is an update on oil consumption: I got the vehicle back from the most recent oil change (at 26k). I immediately checked the oil level and found it was at the half way mark. I just returned from a 3000 mile trip.....zero reduction in oil level. So, that means my presumed oil consumption...