Innovexperience | The Annual Review of a 2008 Innova G1 D4D

[btirthankar]

Innova met all my expectations for a vehicle that is able to survive the harsh operative environment of Indian Roads, be it water logged streets, hours of idling in a jam, pot-holes, unfinished highways and be able to cruise like an airplane on highways. My alternate choice would be only the Mighty Scorpio or the Xylo as they share the same advantages as the Innova (both more and less in certain areas)

Dealer Experience

The Toyota experience started with the excellent service at RK Toyota, Hyderabad, who stood to their commitment by delivering the vehicle in 1 day without me having to put booking money days in advance.

Touring

Since then I have been using the vehicle to travel from coast to coast of the Indian Sub-Continent and to places wherever the roads would permit. So much is the confidence I get from this vehicle that most of my highway trips are Non-Stop, Solo, Inter-state and Overnight like Bangalore-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Kolkata.

One of the solo drives was Hyderabad-Kolkata in the Innova in 22 Hours at safe speeds. Such was the Non-Stop journey that the vehicle ignition that fired at Hyderabad at 5 pm was shut off only after reaching at Kolkata at 3pm the next day.

Safety

Indian Roads will remain unpredictable as long as we are living. Be it unpainted dividers, water-filled craters, speedbrakers, or boulders on the road, the chances of surving a crash or breakdown on those roads are more with a vehicle of an SUV kind with high GC and engine protection beams. Thanks to these, I had once driven over a roughly 18 inch kerb stone carelessly strewn on NH9 (Ameerpet). The vehicle just bellied over it and wobbled left and right @ 30kmph. There was no way i could avoid that as I was closely behind a truck which passed over it in the thick of trafic.

On another occasion, while returning from Goa, I was cruising at 100kmph on single laned NH7 when a mad-person hurled a stone at the vehicle from the opposite direction. Such was the safety of the vehicle that I was able to brake it to a dead stop within seconds and miss the trajectory. The vehicle did not skid out of control and maintained straight line stability as the stone landed just a meter ahead of the vehicle, missing the windshield. And my variant did not even have ABS.

Technical Favorites:

• Rear Wheel Drive setup (greater service life) on many occasions my past vehicles with FWD setup gave axle problems due to wear and tear, driving on flooded roads etc. (Once I was driving on a flooded street in my Astra and a polythene got wrapped on the front axle and dislocated the bellow)
• De-rated Engine: (100bhp instead of (could be) 140 bhp ensures long life and engine cuts off @3500 rpm in 5th Gear)
• Body-on-chasis: Lower centre of gravity, body isolated from engine for reduced NVH
• Longitudinal Engine Setup: Easy accessibility to parts for repair as components are spread out over a large area. Parts operate cooler as they are spaced out and AC performance is always at peak even with a clogged evaporator. Again as the parts are spaced out the chances of they getting fudged with each other are reduced, enhancing realiability
• 2500 CC Engine: Ensures performance with AC on all the time (there is absolutely unnoticeable difference with the AC on on the performance, one of the reasons of course it being a diesel)

Diesel Economy: I have lost the habit of calculating mileage (every one in a while I discover that it has given 11-12kmpl intra city even after using it as a AC Generator for hours (engine idling just for AC) . On an average I spend 4-6 Hours in the vehicle everyday of my life, cruising, dining, holding meetings etc, with the HVAC switched on all the time. On highways it gives 15-16 kmpl.


Modifications: None (no pete box or K&N stuff)

This Innova makes me realize the ‘Toyota Philosophy’ inside it, every moment.

With 28000 kms done so far in 1 year, three services and zero parts replacement, I intend to use the vehicle till a million kms and get another Innova as an award from Toyota. Will they?

I do hate certain things about the Innova:

Thin Paint Job
Thin body panels
Engine Rattle
Wobbling Gear Lever

Whos the winner, then?

Thats Why I am big fan of the Scorpio. If given a choice, i would rate Scorpio as the best vehicle suited for our country. One reason I did not purchase the Scorpio was that my spouse gets motion sickness on sharp turns and downhill swerves. Another reason was excellent interiors of the Innova. The rear most window glass makes me feel I am travelling in an airplane.

[HappyWheels]

@Btirthankar,

If this is a review of your ride, then it should be posted at Long-term ownership review forum and not here.

And you sure seems to have found the best partner for your road runs! Wonderful.

Happy motoring.

[phamilyman]

Yeah, it deserves to be in long term ownership report.

HOWEVER, just 28000km - kya dada - even lowly mortals like myself aim atleast 30k by the end of the first year - cmon boss - are you affected by the recession too?

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Yeah, it deserves to be in long term ownership report.

HOWEVER, just 28000km - kya dada - even lowly mortals like myself aim atleast 30k by the end of the first year - cmon boss - are you affected by the recession too?

I liked your review on your Good Purchase, so inspired and wrote this .

I just realised it should be shifted to LTO Section.

Its going to be 30K very soon.

Not actually recession, its because I am no more in the centre of India to be able to escape to Goa or Hyderabad on a regular basis.

And 3 Drivoblogs are in the queue. I'm keeping a low profile so as not to hurt others affected by recession.

[akroy]

Tirtha, Nice one!! I see mention of Scorpio and Innova but you didnt mention the King (I mean Safari). How come?
I felt Safari co-driver seat much better than that of Innova.(I sat in your car the previous day and immeidately sat on Hrag's safari the next day that too on no-roads)

Originally Posted by btirthankar

And 3 Drivoblogs are in the queue. I'm keeping a low profile so as not to hurt others affected by recession.

Nice to see that you are not affected by recession. When are the Drivoblogs coming, any hints (which places?)

Abhi

[razor4077]

Nice review and nice pics of the Innova. The fact that you could do non-stop Hyd-Kol highway trips (how??) speaks volumes about its comfort levels.
Wish you many more fun trips around the country in your ride, and the next time you're in Kolkata, do look us up

[planet_rocker]

@ tirthankar - nice Innova - this long term report was due.

@ Singh ji - i have a feeling that this vehicle is in Kolkata and keeping a low profile like the owner.

[anekho]

tirthankar, great review!

makes me proud to own a toyota!
I have read all your drivoblogs, and look forward to many more!

cheers

[d3mon]

Hassle free ownership.
Pretty much sums up every Toyota story out there!

[mjothi]

So, BT is back, with couple of iNNOVA thread.

And 3 Drivoblogs are in the queue. I'm keeping a low profile so as not to hurt others affected by recession.

3 drivoblog pending? Is posting of blog is pending? or the journey itself?

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by akroy

Nice to see that you are not affected by recession.

Hmm.. even Ratan Tata is losing sleep due to recession.

Originally Posted by mjothi

3 drivoblog pending? Is posting of blog is pending? or the journey itself?

My net connection is slower than dialup.

[akroy]

Buddy, bring the drivoblogs fast. BTW, which all places did you go, atleast give a hint na.

Originally Posted by btirthankar

Hmm.. even Ratan Tata is losing sleep due to recession.

How do you know? In a TV interview he told that 'he sleeps well '. Even during Singur row, he told the same thing. People of his stature dont loose sleep on such petty things.

Abhi

[MuraliR]

Originally Posted by akroy

Buddy, bring the drivoblogs fast. BTW, which all places did you go, atleast give a hint na.

i thought BT and you were neighbours - how come you do not have a hint?

[akroy]

Originally Posted by MuraliR

i thought BT and you were neighbours - how come you do not have a hint?

We were neighbours for a few months when BT was in Bangalore. Now he has gone back to Kolkata.

Abhi

[tajender]

Well, all I can say is that I liked Innova and certainly wanted to have one in my family for long trips and stuff. This review gives me more confidence in going in for the purchase in near future.