[Samba]

Originally Posted by Apple Master

Looking forward to the update.
Samba any advice for my first service tomorrow.
What should I look forward to?

If there are no issues in your car just get the washing done that's all. 1st service is just a check up nothing much to be done. What i do is before every servicing i follow the owners manual and check what all needs to be taken care of. I remember you told me there were few light scratches in your cars bonnet which occurred during the car puja. So if those scratches are still there you can ask the service guys to put some kind of polish/rubbin and take care of it.

[Samba]

30,000kms service update.

Total cost rs 5237 inclusive of all tax.

price break ups-

Labour charges-

30,000km service inspection - rs 925.
rear brake shoe assembly both side inspection - rs 320
front disc brake pad both side inspection - rs192
front wiper rubber change labour charge- rs 65.

Part charges-
Fluid washer (3) rs 105
Rubber wiper blade rs 180
Element air filter for Ac rs 355
Gasket, oil pan drain- rs51
Filter oil- rs 226
Toyota synthetic oil 3 liters - rs 2,257.

The pros-

Oil change, wiper rubber blade change, Ac filter filter change was done neatly. Washing was satisfactory.

The cons-

I had a problem of car vibrating under braking over 100km/hr. For that they checked the front and rear brake assembly. According to them every thing is perfect, only the rear brake drum has gone a bit coarse which they polished by sand paper. But after taking the delivery the problem is as it was before. In front of the Toyota showroom there is no open stretch where we can test the car over 100km/hr. So on the test drive we could not figure it out that time. I came back home and called the service agent and according to him i should bring the car back to them. The service center is one way 40kms from my home and its a total one day work. Plus the Toyota mechanics are saying it was coming from the rear brake drum but i can realize its coming from the front. I told them that but had no other option than taking the car once again to them.

These service center guys lost my Team Bhp key chain.

Over all first time am not satisfied with the Toyota service.

Any pointers from any Bhpian on the braking issue will be most welcome.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Samba

[b]

Any pointers from any Bhpian on the braking issue will be most welcome.

Originally Posted by Apple Master

Looking forward to the update.

Sorry for the back to back posts but wanted to share a small update. Before taking the car again to Toyota i discussed with my mechanic who do work for all kind of cars. According to him he told what i can do is i can try out two hard braking from the speed of around 70-80km/hr. If still it don't get reduced then its a problem from the disc rotor or the disc has a slight bend. I tried two hard braking with him on a open road. Surprisingly it significantly reduced the juddering but its there. So i decided to drive it for some more kilometers and see what happens. If it increases i will again take the car back to Toyota.

Apart from this the car is doing absolutely fine. Surprisingly till date the car did not require any wheel alignment and balancing done even once! 30,000kms without balancing and alignment still its running perfect! Stock brake shoes are also good for at-least another 10,000kms. They will again check it at the 40,000kms service. Stock air filter is also absolutely fine. It just needed a clean up. No rattles or any other issues till now. I might not be satisfied with yesterday service but my car always bring a smile to my face.

Will update again once i get something to share.

[tacho9000]

Coming in a bit late but nevertheless a cool and prized picture of the steed of the owner of this thread. Taken on his marriage day. Looking beautiful as ever and as reliable as ever it continues to serve.


Reliability with understated looks is my motto and I serve my owner proudly.

[Inquisitive]

Congratulations!!! The stead will definitely make the two happy people happier!!

[Samba]

Update.

Got a call from Toyota regarding the service feed back. Told them how far i was satisfied. They requested me to bring back my car once again to them. I fixed a date and took my car a couple of days back. They tested the car again but as the service center is located in the city they were not able to drive it above 100 so could not get the vibration. But i once again explained the whole thing to my service executive. He listened to it and asked for 6-7 hours. I gave them the car. Went back in the late afternoon to receive the car.

They once again cleaned the braked pads, there were no bent on the disk, they have bleed-ed the brake lines and re adjusted the brake pads. Told me to take the delivery of the car and drive it and see what happens. If still the problem persist they will change both the front disks and the front brake pads which will cost around rs 7,500. For this check up they didn't charge me anything. I took the delivery and drove the car back. They gave me a complimentary car wash.

Today took it to an open stretch and checked the brake around 130km/hr. The vibration reduced 80%. Now the vibration felt is only on the brake pedal(my car dont have ABS), its not coming to the car seats and is acceptable. At 30,000kms the car is running on the stock brakes pads and its good enough for at-least another 10,000kms.

So at last once again satisfied by Toyota after sales service.

The guy from Toyota who was testing my car thought my car has done only 3,000kms. He missed out on one zero. He told me sir its a new 3,000kms old car don't worry about the Toyota reliability. I pointed him its not 3,000 its 30,000 kms and my car is 2 years 10 months old. He was literally surprised seeing that! He was telling me there is absolutely no rattle in the car, the clutch is as good as new , plus the car is maintained so well in Kolkata roads! He himself got surprised driving my car! I was a happy guy seeing his reaction !

Completed a year stay in Team Bhp today. Last year 5th April i got the approval mail from Team BHP moderators.

[tacho9000]

Warning: A long post starts. Users might get bored of it.

So in the midst of the heat wave here in west bengal with temperatures soaring to 40deg celcius and heat index going to a rather insance 54deg celcius a small group of car happy people of kolkata decided to have a drive and meet to some accessible yet reasonably distant place of kolkata.What else place comes to mind than Shaktigarh already famous in team bhp for the share of it's lyangchas (a succulent sweet). So the plan was made up but as they say: "Man proposes God disposes". I broke my shoulder 5days before the meet but nevertheless wanted to be there. So on a rather hot as an oven sunday I reached BHPian Samba's house at 1.30PM in the noon. With the 40deg celcius beating down we were a bit apprehensive about going out. Anyways we finally moved out with the etios going about it's fuss free duty. I had a wish of seeing our famous HM plant at Uttarpara and since the route to the expressway passes through the plant we went through the plant where I saw the different sections where the cars are built. Yes that factory which gave Indian the ubiquitous Ambassador. The plant area also had a test area where amidst the cobble stoned pathways is a high speed banked area for high speed stability testing. We went towards that and the etios crossed the 45deg banked area with aplomb with nary a care about anything unstability. It was glued to the track as we sped through the curve. I was elated with joy. We passed through the plant and were faced with a road which is ideal track for 4WD articulation testing. Such was its condition. Crossed and we were moving ahead towards the expressway with kutcha roads,broken roads,no roads,small water puddles but deep enough to catch the bottom of any sedan and hatchback. I was impressed about the fact that inspite of travelling through roads like these the etios at 30000kms+ was still rattle free. Anyways we reached the expressway at Dankuni toll plaza,crossed over and waited for one of our member Rana Adhikary who has a black Fiat Grande Punto to reach from south kolkata. He reached in 30-40mins time and we continued with our journey towards Shaktigarh. Since we were late as a few other people had already collected at Shaktigarh we picked up a little bit of pace on the scorching afternoon on the expressway. Truck traffic was present with moderate density otherwise very low private traffic was present. We zoomed across the smooth highway,the sun trying to beat down us two poor souls in the etios but thanks to the super strong A/C of the etios we were cool as cucumber inside the cabin of the etios. The two cars in the group were moving through the traffic as fluidly as a hot knife runs through butter. It was splendid to see both the Punto and Etios synchronising and complementing each other's driving. We passed several trucks hogging all the lanes with aplomb thanks to the phenomenal torque and optimised gearing of the etios. I was just speechless at how fluid the etios was moving. Crossed another toll plaza at Palsit and soon we were at Panagarh where the meet was being organised with another bhpian aritraray also being present there having flown down to the city the previous day. He came in a Santro which was impeccably maintained. Also one of our member came with his mind blowingly squeaky clean Honda Unicorn. I was mighty impressed with the line up. Anyways with the time being past 4PM meant the heat was down a beat but nevertheless all of us gobbled cold drinks like we were parched souls and also had the fabulous lyangchas too which will tickle just about any sweetlovers tongue. Some pics were clicked of the cars and bike lineup and had some solid car and bike related discussions for well over an hour. Then as the sun became a bit reddish we started moving towards our homes. I was with bhpian Samba in his etios. Rana da was with one of his colleagues returning from Durgapur in his Punto and we headed home. The etios in the dimming light with the A/C cooling us again drove along on the smooth tarmac with aplomb with the Punto sweeping our etios from the back. Again a similar convoy formation driving was done and we covered the 70kms in minimum time even with the truck traffic and private traffic tickling onto the highway. After dankuni toll plaza we stopped for a small chat with Rana da and then each of us headed home. This time returning to Uttarpara we took BHPian Samba's regular travel route through Raghunathpur. The roads even in this area was broken all along. The roads looked and felt that if any Maruti travels through this road daily will start rattling in under 20000kms,but the etios even after travelling through this road was more or less 99.99% rattlefree which is nothing short of astounding after myself having seen the road. So the meet was a success and the drive was great with good food solid healthy discussions and seeing the A/C of etios and it's fluid engine work along fuss free. I'm bowled over by the etios the more I ride in it the more I travel in it. On a side note I've heard quite a lot of people crib about the quality of etios being poor pathetic fittings not worth the price. Now I'm not a toyota loyalist but after having seen the etios go through several bad roads have understood one thing that whilst it might look cheap feel cheap but the way the car has been put together reeks of quality. The engine suspension brakes steering are just near perfect with regard to performance as well as reliability. Added bonus is the good fuel efficiency and the low cost of ownership. So to all those who've cribbed about etios let me say just one thing: This is a perfectly fuss free reliable practical car with good fittings regardless of the way the materials look. They're their to make the car easy to maintain and live with. And this is coming from me who is a Maruti driver but also have driven a lot of cars of other brand and very few cars can touch the quality and reliability the Toyota and Etios bring in with them. So that brings the curtains down on another day done and dusted by the etios of BHPian Samba and has truly lived to the motto of Toyota.

Drive safe,
Subhra


A small snap of the gathered cars. Picture credit: Rana Adhikary

[Samba]

Giving a short comparison between the diesel Etios and my petrol Etios.


Had a chance to be on a Etios diesel for a 540kms one day trip.
Had been to Agra from Delhi and back in a Etios Cab. The cab has done 83,500kms. The following details i collected from its driver who is the owner of the cab too.

1) The car is on stock tyres. Still its good for few thousand kilometers more.

2)Apart from the regular maintenance and front and rear brakes pad change no other parts has been changed till date, except a blown headlamp fuse.

3) The car is rattle free till date.

4) The same person owns a Dzire and an Innova too. According to him Etios is the car which needs the least maintenance. He said his Dzire needs much more attention and maintenance cost is much highernthan the Etios and the Innvoa.

5)I asked him about the car and his reply was like' Sir its a life time car, you cant go wrong with this car'. Regarding reliability he was happy with all the three cars he own. He told none had any reliability issues while on road.

On request he obliged me to drive his car for few kilometers.

My observation on the car.

1) Due to the more weight this car feels more poised and less bumpy than the petrol Etios.

2) The pull till 100 is good and liner. The sudden adrenaline rush of the swift DDIS is missing. But the in city drivability is excellent. Didn't test it over 100kms/hr as it was some one else's car. If the fun to drive factor is considered the petrol Etios is way more fun to drive.

3) The clutch pedal was harder than the petrol Etios.

4) The NVH level is more than the petrol Etios.

5) With full tank diesel after 540kms with full ac and 5 person on board it still had half tank diesel left! Where as in my petrol Etios the last bar starts to blink once its near the 550kms mark! This car is way more economical than its petrol counterpart. With proper driving the diesel Etios easily returns a mileage around 20km/liter. The driver told the range of full tank is 800-900kms depending on driving conditions and the way of driving.

6) The Ac, head lamps and other things were at per with the petrol Etios.

Many persons have complained about the cheap interiors of the Etios . But with 83,000kms on the odometer its totally rattle free and that too being a cab. That defines the interiors look cheap but Toyota has not compromised with the quality.

The word practical = Diesel Etios.

[Apple Master]

Samba, I fitted 2 speakers on the rear shelf of my Etios from Deco World. But they made a blunder in connecting it to the HU. The fitting guys spliced the wires from the rear speakers to the front speaker wires. It's a long story, details present in the Etios ICE thread. I enquired in Toyota and they advised me to disconnect the rear speakers. The solution is to make a rear HU harness adapter that fitted the rear output socket of Etios HU, again details with pictures are present in he ICE thread. I know the address of the person who can do it but the Toyota technician didn't give me the number. Our neighbour who works at Toyota is trying to get hold of the owner of the workshop where this adapter can be made but no luck. The address is Kalpataru near Lake Town, below a Alpine hoarding. I have no idea wether Kalpataru is place or shop. I need your help brother, do you know this place or anything in this regard. At present I have two rear speakers fitted but no connection.

Cheers!!!

[tacho9000]

Originally Posted by Apple Master

Samba, I fitted 2 speakers on the rear shelf of my Etios from Deco World. But they made a blunder in connecting it to the HU. The fitting guys spliced the wires from the rear speakers to the front speaker wires. It's a long story, details present in the Etios ICE thread. I enquired in Toyota and they advised me to disconnect the rear speakers. The solution is to make a rear HU harness adapter that fitted the rear output socket of Etios HU, again details with pictures are present in he ICE thread. I know the address of the person who can do it but the Toyota technician didn't give me the number. Our neighbour who works at Toyota is trying to get hold of the owner of the workshop where this adapter can be made but no luck. The address is Kalpataru near Lake Town, below a Alpine hoarding. I have no idea wether Kalpataru is place or shop. I need your help brother, do you know this place or anything in this regard. At present I have two rear speakers fitted but no connection.

Cheers!!!

Dear Apple Master this place Kalpataru is situated at a place called Shyamnagar. The exact address is: No. 21/4,, Shyamnagar Rd, Shyam Nagar, Satgachi, South Dum Dum, Kolkata, West Bengal 700055 ‎09674864263.You may call them and check with them. By the way the adapter you're finding is it told to be readymade or has to be manufactured by some competent workshop? When the speakers were being readied why didn't you consult with some of the better known people about from where to fit these things. Speed and Sameer would've done a better job is my guess.

Cheers,
Subhra

[Apple Master]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

By the way the adapter you're finding is it told to be readymade or has to be manufactured by some competent workshop?
Cheers,
Subhra

Thanks tacho9000. This adapter has to be made. It's not available ready made. The adapter is not provided my Toyota. The technician at Toyota talked to these people and told me that it can be made at Kalpataru, where Audio Systems are designed or assembled something like that.

By the way, do you know this place?

Originally Posted by tacho9000

When the speakers were being readied why didn't you consult with some of the better known people about from where to fit these things. Speed and Sameer would've done a better job is my guess.

I did post in Etios ICE thread regarding the choice of compatible speakers, and the speakers I ended up buying are great. However no one was aware, including me of course, about the issue regarding absence of socket adapter at the rear end of Etios stock HU. So this topic never came up.

[tacho9000]

Originally Posted by Apple Master

Thanks tacho9000. This adapter has to be made. It's not available ready made. The adapter is not provided my Toyota. The technician at Toyota talked to these people and told me that it can be made at Kalpataru, where Audio Systems are designed or assembled something like that.

By the way, do you know this place?



I did post in Etios ICE thread regarding the choice of compatible speakers, and the speakers I ended up buying are great. However no one was aware, including me of course, about the issue regarding absence of socket adapter at the rear end of Etios stock HU. So this topic never came up.

Yes this area is known to me I'll need to just roam around a bit before location. And sorry I didn't notice your post regarding the fitment earlier else I would've suggested you to get them fitted from speed and sameer they've skilled labour required to do this kind of jobs much better than Decoworld does. Anyways what's done is done cannot be changed if you do come you may contact with BHPian Samba he'll inform me and I'll be able to guide you.

Cheers,
Subhra

[Apple Master]

Got the adapter fitted from 'Engineers' at Lake Town Sreebhumi. The adapter was already available with them and the job was over in no time. Detailed report on this in my thread

[tacho9000]

Originally Posted by Apple Master

Got the adapter fitted from 'Engineers' at Lake Town Sreebhumi. The adapter was already available with them and the job was over in no time. Detailed report on this in my thread

That is a good news Apple Master but sorry I couldn't find your post. The place from where you've got the work done;i.e. 'Engineers' are pretty old electrical shop who are known in this part of kolkata for being competent in terms of critical part manufacture as well as electrical works. Hope you're happy with the new found rear speakers in your etios. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,
Subhra

[Apple Master]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

That is a good news Apple Master but sorry I couldn't find your post. The place from where you've got the work done;i.e. 'Engineers' are pretty old electrical shop who are known in this part of kolkata for being competent in terms of critical part manufacture as well as electrical works. Hope you're happy with the new found rear speakers in your etios. Looking forward to hearing from you. Cheers, Subhra

You won't find it because I didn't post it yet. I will post it as soon as I find some free time. Yes I'm happy with the current setup and thanks for all the support. Will shortly post it on my ownership thread.

Cheers!!!