These cars are LEMONS. I have spent over a thousand dollars on parts in the first year I had it; sway bar mounts, tension bars, rack ends, CV joints, drive shaft, ETC ETC and NOW THE DAMN AUTOMATIC GEARBOX HAS PACKED UP!!! What a nightmare! A 'new' second hand box is $350 and get this, I can replace it and it still may not fix the problem because it may not even be the gearbox at fault - it may or may not be one or both solenoids and/or the ECU!!!
I have decided to cut my losses and scrap the car for parts, and take it as a lesson to keep away from 'modern' technology!
Despite the attractiveness of its practicality - ie the huge amount of room inside and the comfort of the ride etc., and the reputation that Toyotas in general have, KEEP CLEAR of Estimas as you would keep clear of the plague!
What do you expect for a 13 year old car with 300000 kilometres on it?
If you want reliability buy a new one, don't diss a manufacturer as "lemons" when you buy an old heap.
I agree. Not only that, this car has been imported used from Japan where it probably wasn't serviced and may in reality have far more than 350K on the clock if the odometer has been tampered with, which most were.
*shakes head* You've gotta be kidding.
I agree with the last two comments - there is no way you can accurately judge a car when it was 13 years old when you bought it and had done over 300,000k. Add to that the fact that, being an import, it wasn't designed for the Australian market or climate and you have a vehicle that is probably doing very well to get you from A to B at all!
For the record, $350 for a reconditioned auto gearbox is dirt-cheap; replacement boxes for the '99 Magna I drive set you back more than double that, if I'm told correctly (mine's never had a problem (touch wood)).
I think this disgruntled Toyota ex-owner should do more research before buying a car in the future.
300.000k? What do you expect? I have one made '93 with only 90.000k. Works perfect. And another secret: turbo diesels needs synthetic oil.
Just wondering for my general research; are there any 2.2 TD Estima / Emina owners that have had good experiences even with old high miler examples?
Interesting about turbo diesel engine needing synthetic oil. Is that TD engines in general, or just for Toyota Estimas?
Any comment replies to this would be most welcome, cheers.
Bought mine at 142000km, now at 247000km 3 years on, oil changed as service interval and all the other usual regular maintenance, never missed a beat and starts in all weathers, first time every time (except when I left the lights on)
I know the cylinder head can be an issue on these, but how long they last seem to be down to how well they are looked after in general.
As to synthetic oil, I've never worried too much what I use as long as it's changed regularly, the right grade for the engine and most importantly cheap.
If mine only manages to reach 350000km, I will be disappointed, I seriously expect rust will get the car before mechanical failure kills it. Which could be many years yet as it was spotless when it was imported (amazing considering it was almost 12 years old when I got it)
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