What is a turbo timer?
I was asked recently about the purpose of a turbo timer. To answer ‘what is a turbo timer?’ we first need to have a quick look at what a turbo does. What does a turbo do? Turbochargers use the flow…
Things I’ve found in cars imported from Japan
We do so much in, with and to our cars. They invariably collect accessories, toys and forgotten possessions along the way. When the time comes for a new owner and a car is passed on, snapshots of the previous owner…
Toyota Alphard Review
Why buy an Alphard? Background to this Toyota Alphard Review The Alphard is Toyota’s luxury 8 seater minivan / MPV / people carrier. This Toyota Alphard review is going to focus on the first generation car, produced between 2002 and…
How do you feel about a beige interior?
My knee jerk answer is always to avoid them – I’m not a big fan of a beige interior in cars. I’m sure things sound better if we describe the colour as cream rather than beige, but it will always…
What is this box, card reader in my Japanese import car?
Lots of Japanese import cars have an ETC card reader. What is it and why does your car have it?
How much does car shipping cost?
How much does car shipping from Japan to the UK cost? It's based on the number of cubic metres occupied by the car. Worked example included.
Check your wheel valve stems!
Checking the valve stems on your car wheels takes about 30 seconds and could save you having to change a flat tyre at the side of a road, or worse still an accident. I was checking tyre pressures recently and…
How to: Japanese import mileage check
“How do I know this low mileage is genuine?” This subject comes up frequently in discussions about Japanese import cars. Many used cars in Japan have extremely low mileage. In the vast majority of cases, this is genuine. Public transport…
Nissan Elgrand Japanese to English conversion?
I was asked recently whether the buttons and interface on the Nissan Elgrand could be changed from Japanese to English. This seems to be asked frequently, so I thought I’d post my response to the question. The following is based…