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You've been lucky, or simply just didn't have the cars for long enough to see the fuel pump go out but this kind of treatment will definitely put significant wear on it. In the same way that a sample of 1 is unrepresentative of many other avenues in life, it doesn't prove anything. There are always people who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and lived to 90, but extrapolate the trend out over 100,000 people and see what you find 🙂

2006 Harrier (RX with a 2.4L 2AZ-FE engine) with 88k miles. No rattles.

+1 for the goodyears that were mentioned, I have these and they're great.

@Ketzy This might help: It may be worth getting a cheap multimeter to test all the fuses for continuity.

Yep what he said, good advice.

@Nails I think that can happen if the computer detects slipping and so it boosts the pressure to compensate, resulting in the slamming into gear that you're experiencing. Stop driving it immediately and have it recovered to a garage for diagnosis as it might be something relatively inexpensive now but if you keep driving it there's a good chance it will cause expensive damage.

@Mylexrx if you turn the AC on while idling the fan should come on.

:P

@Chef1969 If you can, find out what oil was used the last few times it was changed. I've heard from a reliable source that changing the brand of oil (not the viscosity, just the brand name) can affect stuff like this. Eg say you used Shell (as a random example) for 10 years and then switch to Mobile One. They may both be completely fine oils and both within the spec for the car, but because they have different additives and detergents in them, the switch from one to the other after a long period of using the same one can cause oil consumption. This happened to someone I know and he switched back to the original oil and then it stopped using any. It's a long shot but if the oil brands are all listed on your dealer invoices then it's easy enough to try and you've got nothing to lose!

Also I don't trust manufacturer service intervals. Many technicians I've spoken to advise against going 10k between oil changes. I change between 3k and 5k depending on the ratio of cold to hot miles (derived programmatically from tracker logs). If you think about it from the manufacturer's point of view - a long service interval makes the car more attractive at the point of sale because of the (apparently) lower maintenance costs. And they only need it to last about 100k or so, let it get well outside the warranty period and then they'd *rather* it had an engine failure because then you might buy a new car from them.

Wow 149k on a 2013? That's 25k/year!

Bit late to this thread but for future reference I would highly recommend Toyotec in Red Hill. Run by a guy called Russel who is very knowledgable and honest.

I don't know these cars but if they have a lift pump in the tank it could be that that's a bit weak. First thing in the morning if you turn the key to position 2 (but not start the car) you should hear the lift pump engage sucking the fuel up from the tank to prime the high-pressure injection pump. When the lift pump is weak you can coax it into starting by turning the key to position 2, then off again, then position 2 etc, a few times in order to get the fuel out of the tank and up to the high-pressure pump before trying to start it.

I think at the very least you will need a DAB aerial.

I'm not a fan because it precludes using the better iOS satnav applications like TomTom Go.

@Chef1969 have you had the car from new and has it always been serviced by the same garage? I've heard that changing the brand of oil can cause issues like this because they have different detergent packages in them. Could also be many other things though. Manufacturers do take the michael a bit with their tolerable levels of oil use these days. Also manufacturer oil change intervals are still insane and very likely contribute to engine wear that might explain oil burning. 10k is way too long imho even if you're doing a lot of motorway mileage.

Unless the car requires it you will see no benefit from using higher octane fuel. It certainly won't damage anything though. The octane rating is just how much compression the fuel can take before it spontaneously combusts.

Improper inflation. See: http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/61 People tend to go by the door placard, not realising that this is specified for the OEM tyres which most people are not running. Modern tyres are made to give a better ride with much higher pressure and can experience uneven wear even when inflated to the pressure indicated on the door placard. With the car cold, inflate to 10% less than the maximum specified on the tyre sidewall. Adjust downwards until you can live with the ride. Mine are rated 51psi max and I run 44 all round. I posted pics of my tyres in this thread: you can see the wear is even across them.

I think that's normal for a torque converter automatic. It's a simple equation of energy, with no throttle there is a small amount of power going to the transmission and this makes the car creep forward on a flat road. On a mild incline this forward momentum can be counteracted but facing up a steep hill there just isn't enough forward torque to keep it from rolling back.

If anyone tells you they’re going to “flush” your transmission - run. You don’t want this, at best it will do nothing of any use and at worst it may cause problems. All you want is a drain and fill and a new filter, unless the filter is sealed inside the unit in which case you may want to do a double drain and fill.

Technically it’s a true statement, because when that fluids all burnt up it’ll be the end of the transmission’s life 🙂

They look pretty even to me

Mine are also rated to 51psi, I run 44 all round just to be safe. The ride is a bit harder but still comfortable enough and you notice the decrease in rolling resistance.

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/61 This dude knows what he’s talking about.

You don't want to routinely run it this low. The fuel in the tank cools the fuel pump and also the more fuel there is the more head pressure there is on the pump meaning it doesn't have to work as hard. If you routinely run your car down to where the light is going to come on you will be putting a lot of strain on the pump. Fill up when you get to the halfway point and your fuel pump will last a lot longer.