[dkaile]

I had a similar problem in my Corolla once. It was a rat who had carried a foil inside the air intake filter. The filter was located behind the glove box. I removed the glove box (easily done on my model Corolla) and accessed the air filter behind it. It was chewed up, so i removed the air filter permanently. There was a piece of foil which i removed. Got the filter replaced by a custom made stainless steel rat mesh and never faced the issue ever since.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by sameerg001

^^
I doubt that it is rat which got stuck in the blower.

Last year when we were going to nanital in our accent, on the way same type of noise as mentioned by you started coming without effecting ac cooling, nor any stink was coming, but later on when we showed it to mechanic there was a rat in the blower.

So, high probability it may be a rat or something like tape or any same sort of thing got stucked in the blower.

Sameer

Thanks a lot for sharing that. I just hope it hasn't caused much damage. I generally take great care in parking the car. But Rats are rats and our building's basement is easily accessible to them. I hope its not got cut and made a mess.

Originally Posted by dkaile

I had a similar problem in my Corolla once. It was a rat who had carried a foil inside the air intake filter. The filter was located behind the glove box. I removed the glove box (easily done on my model Corolla) and accessed the air filter behind it. It was chewed up, so i removed the air filter permanently. There was a piece of foil which i removed. Got the filter replaced by a custom made stainless steel rat mesh and never faced the issue ever since.

Sir the filter in the new Altis is also placed behind the Glove box compartment. The Toyota service guy told me that he would have to take out that whole front panel etc. How could you take it out at home yourself? It looks quite complicated to me and also the fear of mismatched fitting later on. Your rat mesh idea looks really great and if its indeed a rat then I will ask you for more details. The funny thing is all our cars have always been parked in the open and somehow no rat found them attractive enough. Why did it have to pick the new car and cause all this anxiety!

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

How could you take it out at home yourself?

In my case it just needed the glove box to be removed. Nothing else. Maybe they have changed the design in the New Altis.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by AWD

Please avoid that "dude" thing, Im more of a chip from the old block.

I was shocked too when I heard the story. My friends car was bought last year. New cars on sale this year are upgraded(this is what I could gather, can't gurantee on right or wrong).

Your call for Toyota associates, etc. will go unheard or even if its answered, Toyota will never accept such a thing. This is all from user-experiences, try & locate fellow Altis owners & have a word with them.

I talked to my service advisor in nippon toyota, kalamassery and he accepted the fact that there was such an issue with certain batch of altis. According to him , the root cause was an oil seal in the vacuum pump which was promptly corrected by toyota on all corolla vehicles.

He also assured me that, with toyota, for any such issues detected, they send a circular to all service centers to get it corrected on all cars affected ( once they find out the root cause ). He mentioned the fuel pipe replacement with etios as an example.

[drsnt]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The first problem cropped up today in the car. The car has done 7100 kms and the next service is still 3k kms away. I was driving the car and went to a friend's place. When I started it again an hour later and switched on the AC, the AC started making a lot of noise. The noise was clearly from the fan and was very loud. It came only when I put the fan on high speeds ie more then level 3. There are total 6 levels. The noise is like as if I have started an exhaust fan. Took it straight to Toyota but it was already 6 in the evening. The guy at Galaxy Toyota suggested I do not use the AC. According to him there is something stuck in the Fan. I told him that is unlikely since my car is always parked in a basement parking. A rat might have got in but then I feel it would have created a huge stink if that was the case. So have booked an appointment for the day after at the service centre and will see whats the problem. The Toyota guy also mentioned that the AC fan is not covered under warranty in case it gets spoilt since any leaf or other stuff that might have got stuck in is owner's fault and not Toyota's.

Any idea on what can be the source of this sound? The cooling of the AC is as good as new and the fan doesn't make noise at low speeds. But creates a ruckus at high speeds.

most probably rat got into the filter area and cut the rubber/foam beading which is causing this noise. I am a regular target of rat army

[noopster]

Sorry to hear that dude. A rat got into my Accent's AC once and died. Raised an unholy stink, I tell ya! Took a month to get the smell out and sometimes I could swear it was still there

Keep us posted on how your service visit goes...

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by noopster

Sorry to hear that dude. A rat got into my Accent's AC once and died. Raised an unholy stink, I tell ya! Took a month to get the smell out and sometimes I could swear it was still there

Keep us posted on how your service visit goes...

The appointment is fixed for tomorrow. Lets see what surprise is in store for me .

But I don't think its a rat. I opened the bonnet and also again sat inside the car to show the problem to my dad today. There is no stink at all even now. So its mostly some other problem. A rat would have created a stink by now.

My dad feels its a problem with the fan. He says a similar noise once came from his friend's wagonR and it was due to a faulty fan.

[drmohitg]

Service update

Finally I took the car to Toyota today for the above fault. It was indeed due to a rat which had cut the filter and the foam pieces had got clogged in the fan and hence the noise. The mechanic there took less than 5 minutes to clean it up and its working like a charm now. Overall the servicing experience at Galaxy Toyota always puts a smile on my face. They took the car in immediately, my Regular Service adviser Mr. Manpreet made sure the head mechanic take care of the issue immediately although my car was no. 30th in the list. I wasn't charged for anything. Only bad part was when 2 careless Service advisers rested there hands over my car while talking with eachother and put smudge marks over the boot.

According to the service people the rat got in via the cabin and there is no way he can enter the area from under the car. I find this hard to digest since I am very careful with my car and have never ever left the gate open for a rat to come in, chew away to glory and then easily escape too. But they were adamant that the rat can only access that area from inside the cabin. What do you guys feel?

@dkaile: Sir you were right. They had to remove only the glovebox and I was amazed to see the ease with which its detachable.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

According to the service people the rat got in via the cabin and there is no way he can enter the area from under the car. I find this hard to digest since I am very careful with my car and have never ever left the gate open for a rat to come in, chew away to glory and then easily escape too. But they were adamant that the rat can only access that area from inside the cabin. What do you guys feel?

They are wrong. The Corolla is susceptible to rat attacks as the rat gets through the air vents somehow. The only permanent solution is the stainless steel rat mesh that I have suggested to you. As I have sold my Corolla, I have no way to photograph that for your convenience. Its a simple job for a skilled lathe mechanic.

[sameerg001]

I got a chance to drive mohit's altis for a quick short run. Here's a little TD report from my side.

Start this car and NVH levels are very well controlled in this car, one cannot make out that engine is running. The car is very well insulated.

Well, there's much have been said about the puny 1.4l engine. When i was about to start her off, i was a bit apprehensive but all my thoughts vanished away as soon as, i crossed 2k mark on the rpm. The refinement level of the engine is just amazing, even after crossing 4.5k mark on the rpm, there was very less engine noise in the cabin. I was really amazed to see this.

There is a lag initially which means frequent gear changes, but as soon as you cross 2k rpm, you can feel a little boost and car start chucking speeds from here easily. This is the car which can easily be driven in city and is very good for occasional highway trips, but this is not the car in which you can race or if you want to dust all cars away on the signal. All in all 1.4l do sound puny for the car of this size and segment, but it does it's duty pretty well. The steering feedback is average, you really don't get that connected feeling.

The gearshifts are butter smooth, the seats are very comfortable, the AC is chiller. The ride quality is excellent. This is the car in which you would like to be driven in. Rear bench is one of the best in segment IMO. Overall this car is for people who like to drive car sedate and comfortably.

When it comes to overall build quality, the car is very well build except some cheap bits in the cabin. For example the door handles feel cheap for car costing 16 lakhs, but overall the build quality is excellent which you expect from a toyota.

The FE figures are just amazing for this car, even after spirited driving which included redlining, the car MID showed around 18kmpl figure. I own an accent with CNG and man this car is cheaper to run then my accent

Overall, if were to buy car for family or my dad in this segment. It'll be altis on any given day, but if i were to buy one for me, it'll be either laura, cruze or jetta.

Overall, this the fuss free car to own. You just buy one and forget regarding the issues, there won't be much that you'll be complaining.


Thanks alot to mohit for giving me sunny and altis TD


Cheers
Sameer

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by sameerg001

I got a chance to drive mohit's altis for a quick short run. Here's a little TD report from my side.

Thanks alot to mohit for giving me sunny and altis TD

So finally after a long wait the post has come..

It was a pleasure meeting you dude. We should meet for another drive this time around. I will make sure the AC is working at its best this time around . We can probably have a back to back TD run of the Altis, sunny and Innova and probably round it up with some redlining on the Lancer. Sounds fun?

The altis has been grounded for almost a month now. The fear of getting those films go to waste is too much. Am hoping for the ruling to get corrected asap. Until then would not take a risk with the Vkool films.

[sameerg001]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

So finally after a long wait the post has come..

It was a pleasure meeting you dude. We should meet for another drive this time around. I will make sure the AC is working at its best this time around . We can probably have a back to back TD run of the Altis, sunny and Innova and probably round it up with some redlining on the Lancer. Sounds fun?

Sounds awesome man , It'll be pure fun. I am really looking forward to redline your lancer, let's include honda city too, a full comparo of your garage, what say ?

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The altis has been grounded for almost a month now. The fear of getting those films go to waste is too much. Am hoping for the ruling to get corrected asap. Until then would not take a risk with the Vkool films.

Ya, i can understand. When i got a challan for films on my car, i asked cop regarding the same that will this be taken back or not, he said a clear NO.

And ya Vkools surely blocks a hell lot of heat, i can say it better because, if Vkool's wouldn't have been on your altis, we would have been cooked on THAT day lol

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by sameerg001

I was really looking forward to redline your lancer, let's include honda city too, a full comparo of your garage, what say ?

Sure why not. But mostly dad would have taken any one car with him to office. So you would have to choose between the City and Innova.

And ya Vkools surely blocks a hell lot of heat, i can say it better because, if Vkool's wouldn't have been on your altis, we would have been cooked on THAT day lol

They are absolutely fab films. I wanted the best for my car and thats why went ahead and paid so much money for the first time on films. And now for no fault of mine to see them getting ripped off is too painful to even imagine. Mostly if the rule doesn't change then I will get the Altis to baroda. Here there is absolutely no drive against films.

[drmohitg]

So I guess its time for a small update. I have moved to Vadodara for the next 3 years and needed to get one of the cars here. It was confusing to choose between the Altis and the Sunny with one being extremely luxurious and the other amazing to drive in the city. Finally what clinched the decision in favour of the Altis was the Sunfilm rule, thanks to which the Altis has seen very little action in the last 4 months. I haven't seen the cops stopping cars in Gujarat for the same yet.

The car had completed only 8900 kms till now and would turn an year old on 29th of this september. Since I had purchased the Smile Package for the Altis, I had to get the car serviced in Delhi itself before driving down to Vadodara. The Smile package is applicable only at the dealership where you purchased it, even though its offered by Toyota and is not dealer centric. This is a little irritating as the customer would be bound to one particular dealer.

Anyways booked the car for a quick service at Galaxy Toyota. I didn't have any time to book an appointment but they were happy enough to service my car at a priority and returned it withing 3 hours flat. Extremely satisfied with the Toyota Q class service promise. The servicing cost comes to 1700 Rs , which was ofcourse paid for in the package and hence I didn't need to pay a single penny. The experience at the service centre was as good as always. The work carried out was:
1. Replacement of engine oil.
2. Oil filter change.
3. All fluid top ups and general inspection.
4. Wheel alignment and balancing.
5. Washing.

Finally drove the car from Delhi to Vadodara covering 1048 km to be exact. The route followed was Delhi-Jaipur-Kishangarh-Chittorgarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Vadodara. The highway is a dream to drive down with butter smooth roads ( even after heavy rains this season in Rajasthan). Chittorharg- Udaipur- Ahmedabad stretch is dotted with mountains on both sides making the ride much more exciting. The only bad stretch I encountered was Delhi to Jaipur. God knows when they will finish work on that stretch :(. Anyways precisely for that reason I started from Delhi on monday afternoon and made a night halt in Jaipur. Started at 8 in the morning on the next day from Jaipur and reached Vadodara at 6 pm. Made a single halt in Udaipur where I wasted around half an hour trying to locate the much recommended "Hotel Nataraj". Finally found it and the Rajasthani Thali was as yummy as promised, with the only downside being that it made me extremely sleepy afterwards.
The FE I got for the whole trip was 17.9 kmpl which is pretty decent given the fact that the car was loaded with luggage ( a lot of medical books) and I stayed at 120+ at most times, thanks to some wonderful roads.

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The FE I got for the whole trip was 17.9 kmpl which is pretty decent given the fact that the car was loaded with luggage ( a lot of medical books) and I stayed at 120+ at most times, thanks to some wonderful roads.

First of all, I congratulate you to have moved to Vadodara from Delhi. You experience with the car & Toyota A.S.S. has been overall very good, & so has been the case with other Toyota Customers. The cars & reliable & service costs cheaper than my Santro Xing which costs almost fourth of you car & I still pay double of what you have paid for the service.

Moreover, I wholeheartedly agree with you over the fact that the roads in this section are inviting for sustained high speed runs, & even I had pushed my boxy Santro Xing to 130+ (unmentionable on TBHP ) on these stretches, yet the traffic is so sparse that you easily get good figures.