Faults:

Anti roll bushes (easy inexpensive job) - MPV1

Anti roll connection rods (easy inexpensive job) - MPV2.

Bottom ball joints (easy job, but at a cost of £40 each) - MPV1.

SADS (£50 a pair and half a day of sweating) - MPV2.

Cracked cylinder head (£700'ish for replacement; head gaskets are extra and about the same for fitting. Considering these MPV's can be had for around £1000, it writes the vehicle off in my opinion) - MPV2.

Alternator (around £120 and half a day sweating) - MPV2.

Exhaust tail pipe/back box (around £80 easy job) - MPV1.

As you can see by the list, the Lucida can be a bit of a money pit, but this is over 2 Lucida Estimas. I've called each MPV MPV1 and MPV2 respectively, so you can see what jobs had been done to each vehicle.

MPV1 was owned for 2 years, and as you can see from the list was quite reliable and was kept on the road for not a lot of money.

MPV2 on the other hand was a different story; all together I owned this one for less than 4 months before the cracked head showed its ugly head.

Apparently this is a common fault with the mid engined 2.2 ltr turbo diesel engine (some say a design fault).

The vehicle (MPV2) had done less than 80.000 miles.

General Comments:

I have had 2 of these Estimas, so I will comment on them both in one review.

The first one I bought (MPV1) was quite a reliable vehicle with only the usual running parts needing replacing. There was a bit of a jerk as it engaged 2nd gear (auto box), but apart from that it drove very well.

Another one (MPV2) came along at a very good price, and in much better condition less miles etc.. so I decided to sell MPV1 and buy MPV2.

The previous owner had spent a small fortune on it, having the timing belt, water pump, water pipes, exhaust and other bits replaced not long before he decided to sell.

We got it home OK (over 300 miles) with no overheating or water loss problems, so all seemed fine.

After a thorough inspection, I found it needed SADS, anti roll bar bushes and link bars replacing, and the alternator wasn't pushing the right voltage out so I replaced them.

It behaved itself for a couple of months, but there was a bit of a niggle about a clunk when you set off from standstill. This turned out to be the top stabiliser bar bushes on the back axle allowing the axle to twist while braking, and spring back into place when you let go of the brake after stopping.

Then the overheating began.

The cost of repairs outweighs the cost of the vehicle; it basically writes it off.

To summarise:

If you get a good one with no overheating problems, you should get years of relatively trouble free driving, but a mechanic who does nothing but Estimas once told me it's not IF the head cracks, it's WHEN, and there's no pattern to how it happens.

It seems a bit like a game of Russian roulette with your money when purchasing one, so be careful if you are thinking of buying.

Would I buy another Lucida Estima??

NO

Would I buy another Toyota??

YES

I did, but a Toyota Granvia with none of the problems above.

Faults:

At the first MOT it required an indicator relay fuse.

Two more mots down the line, it sailed through with not as much as a screw loose.

General Comments:

The looks of these MPV are the best. The are bullet shaped and futuristic compared to what's on offer even these days, bearing in mind she is over 15 years old.

Now most came factory fitted tint alloys, spoiler, double cd cassette radio, swivel seats, twin sun roofs, electric climate control (front and rear controlled), and electric folding wing mirrors, four wheel drive, ABS, park assist, hot cold box; this and more was factory fitted.

The interior all works; every switch and button works as it should. The carpet and seats are all intact; no worn patches or tears. It has arm rests on every chair, along with 360 captain chairs for the second row, and a real full size boot. These are a true adult sized MPV, referring to the rear seat and boot space, not like so many fake MPVs, which have only 5 seats, and the rest which have two seats that take all the boot space, only to seat kid's with no legs and a small box of matches in the boot.

The engine is still solid and I do drive her hard. She starts every time with the slightest turn of the key; these engines will run very happily on used vegetable oil with not a single modification done to the engine.

I always service her when the the little red service light pops up. Observing the coolant, I would recommend draining and re filling with fresh coolant yearly to maintain the coolant quality easily, checking so the coolant maintains its colour.