[Visran]

Wonderful review, and the FE you are managing to extract from this car is excellent, what is the service interval and the avg cost of general service for this car?

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Visran

Wonderful review, and the FE you are managing to extract from this car is excellent, what is the service interval and the avg cost of general service for this car?

Thanks. The FE has been excellent all throughout. City driving with light foot easily returns 19+ kmpl. With a heavy foot around 18 kmpl. Service intervals are every 10k kms / 1 year. Cost is typical Toyota.

10k km service: Rs. 1800 approx.
20k km service: Rs. 3400 approx.
30k km service: is due next. should be little costlier due to the brake pads. I am guessing the usual 4K plus the brake pad cost. So somewhere around 10k including new brake pads.

[sameerg001]

Stop bragging about those figures

Jokes apart, won't you be changing rear discs too along with the way pads, I remember you told me they have lines too and re surfacing won't help much??

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by sameerg001

Stop bragging about those figures

Jokes apart, won't you be changing rear discs too along with the way pads, I remember you told me they have lines too and re surfacing won't help much??

Well the figures dont lie. What can I do?

The discs will have to be inspected at the service. This time around I will take a day off and be there in the service bay area. When I went to them the last time for the ECU upgrade then they told me that the discs are fine right now. Also the first time around too the SA had said they would try skimming first. As of now there is absolutely no sound or vibration during braking. Also a month back had a puncture in one of the rear tyres. While getting the tyre off, I examined the discs and to me they looked fine. But then I am not sure what exactly is normal and abnormal in them. Will have to wait for the service and see what they say. I am hoping that the discs are still usable for some more kms.

[drmohitg]

30000 km Service Update

Well so the car has seen a lot of running off late with frequent outstation trips and hence 10k were covered in slightly less than 6 months. Time for the 30k km service and booked the service for today at Narmada Toyota. At the risk of sounding repetitive, let me again say that the experience was more than satisfying and its a pleasure to see those guys working so systematically on your car. The 60 minute service promise was readily fulfilled but only to be delayed by washing of the car as Lunch hour had started. Anyways 9 out of 10 for the service experience for sure.

The service itself costed my only Rs. 4.8k as this was the first paid service. The good news is that the brake pads are still good to go for another 10k kms. The front ones stand at 9.5mm and rear ones are still 5 mm wide. The discs also looked pretty neat to me. Attaching the pics of the rear discs here:




The AC filter was changed in this service and there was a perceptible difference in the cooling after the service.

No other issues to report. And over all I am extremely satisfied with this car. I have been lucky to not have had premature worn out of brake pads or discs and currently still running on stock ones which are good for another 10k kms.

One thing I noticed today when they lifted up the car was that the muffler cutter was missing from the car. Can it so easily get loose and fall off? Or someone stole it? Absolutely no idea on that.

[sameerg001]

Didn't they tried to inflate the service bill by offering stupid things, as nissan tried on your sunny?

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by sameerg001

Didn't they tried to inflate the service bill by offering stupid things, as nissan tried on your sunny?

Absolutely no. That is what makes the Toyota experience a proper "Q experience" as advertised by them. They do not even add wheel balancing and alignment on the bill unless you ask for it. Only strictly the things that are mentioned in the service booklet are carried out.

Even on my Innova I have never been asked to get anything other than regular service stuff. Nissan was a different ball game altogether!

[drmohitg]

The car has covered 34000 kms as of today and is going strong. An occasional rattle has sometimes made its presence felt here and there but only to disappear later and not come back. So I am not complaining. The cars standard warranty is going to end this september. Called the Toyota dealer and asked about extended warranty options. They have quoted 17k for another 2 years of coverage and the mileage stays same i.e. 1L kms. Decided to opt for it. 5 years or 1L kms of warranty sounds pretty awesome to me. Way to go Toyota!

[sri1951]

I have done more than 46000 KM in 30 months. First I had to change the tires at 43000 KM. Recently the car horn would not work and was replaced under warranty. Now, (this morning) I hear a noise as the speed increases from 1st to 2nd and to 3rd gear. Post that probably the noise is too high for the ear to catch. Need to check.

But the service has always been too good that you only have complements!

[drmohitg]

It had been quite a while since I took her out on a road trip apart from few trips to Ahmedabad now and then. Finally managed to work out a plan and we went and went on a road trip to Dwarka this weekend, the longest trip she has seen till now. Not that she complained even once. And that is how we went and touched the western most part of India ( or almost).

I had been trying to convince my parents to agree for this trip for quite sometime. I would be in Vadodara for another year and thought that this is the best chance for them to visit the holy shrines of Dwarka and Somnath and for me to just drive . But where I had still not been successful, Mr. AB's Gujarat tourism advertisements did the trick and my parents finally agreed for the trip. The next problem I faced was the sudden over enthusiasm from my Dad who now wanted to drive all the way from Delhi in the bimmer. Well I can't really blame him for that. Such is the beauty of that machine and ever since he has driver her on Yamuna Expressway, he has been waiting to take her out. But knowing that he will get tired very soon and I would no way get too many leaves from work to be able to go to Delhi myself and drive down in the bimmer, I finally managed to convince him to come by flight.

We left on Saturday morning from Vadodara and the plan was to visit Dwarka on day 1 and Somnath on Day 2, more so since parents had to offer some puja in Dwarka ( called tuladan) and I wasn't sure how long it might take. The route followed was:
Day 1: Vadodara- Ahmedabad- Rajkot- Jamnagar- Dwarka.
Day 2: Dwarka- Nageshwar Jyotiling- Porbandar- Somnath- Junagadh- Jetpur- Rajkot- Ahmedabad- Vadodara.


I have done the Vadodara-Jamnagar stretch and Vadodara-Rajkot stretch multiple times now and as expected the roads were beautiful all the way. The plan was to reach Jamnagar at lunch time and it was achieved with ease. My dad was finally forced to believe that all these months I hadn't been lying or driving rash when I used to tell that it is very much normal to cover the 420 kms from Vadodara to Jamnagar in around 5 hours. We Delhi residents are more used to covering the Delhi-Jaipur distance of 240 kms in 6-7 hours with the roads full of diversions, potholes, traffic and total lack of road sense. Gujarat roads are quite different in that aspect. Till now I used to stop over at Limbdi at Honest Hotel. But this time on a BHPian's advice stopped at this newly opened place called as Highway food mall ( HFM) which is located just after crossing Limbdi while coming from Ahmedabad. The restrooms are clean and the choice of food and beverage is ample with most big food chains being present like Dominos, Subway, CCD etc. Highly recommended.

Anyways reached Jamanagr on time and after a quick Lunch continued the journey to Dwarka. The Jamanar Dwarka road is also quite good although the last 50 kms or so are on an undivided two lane road but even there one can maintain good speeds. The sight of hundreds of Windmills is quite picturesque. We were stopped just before entering Dwarka for election related checking. Nothing special to mention and they allowed us to proceed after the customary video recording of the car. Now Dwarka was a complete revelation for me. Why? You may ask. No I did not suddenly find the hidden god fearing devotee within me. I was never a temple person anyways. But Dwarka was the first shrine/temple that I have visited where there was no nuisance of money sucking Pandits and beggars irritating you. There was absolutely no such nonsense. There are many smaller temples inside the main temple compound and even at these there was no money demanding by the priests in return for there blessings. Very satisfying experience. We did seek the services of a pandit for the puja and also to show us around the temple and surprisingly for the first time I was taken aback when he told my parents not to offer flowers or Diya in the river next to the temple ( there were people selling it at the banks). The reason he gave was that it just pollutes the river and I was mighty impressed. One thing to note is that no electronic items are allowed inside the temple premises and have to be deposited in a locker which is again free. Even your remote car keys are not allowed inside.

After finishing the puja and attending the evening aarti, we headed to the reliance Kokilaben guest house which was recommended on the forum. The rooms were quite large and clean and for 1000 bucks a night ( including the cost of an extra bed ), I am not complaining. The best part is that they have a secured parking place which translates into a stress free stay for me. Highly recommended. And before anyone objects, I am not related to Mr. Ambani in anyway ( although I wish I was) .

The next day we headed for Nageshwar Jyotiling which is situated approximately 23 kms from Dwarka. Its a shiv temple and one of the 12 Shiv temples that are supposed to be visited. Its a small temple and had very few people. The plan was to make a quick stop and start the journey to Somnath as soon as possible. But mom being mom, got conned into buying a plate full of assorted items like coconut and a snake idol to offer to the main Shiv idol. After buying that we were told that now to offer that properly we need to pay Rs 500 and do a puja. The word "proper" was enough for mom to decide that this was the way it will be done. Dad had the cheekiness to ask the pandit there if there was a less costly puja that could be performed. But the panditji replied with equal imprudence that this was the most discounted rate. Well so recalling those scenes from the movie " Oh my God", we paid this 500 Rs insurance premium. The Puja was actually quite disappointing and lasted only 2 minutes. In another 5 minutes we were back in the car. I feel in today's day and age they should actually make a temple for "Google baba" who impressed us all the time with its very updated and accurate maps of every small road and corner and we didn't have to stop for directions anywhere.

Now the drive to Somnath was what I had been looking forward to since on the maps it basically appears to go along the Arabian sea. The roads are very good and at a few places you can actually see the sea. At one particular stretch you are driving right next to the see and it was a breathtaking view. The last 50 kms from Porbandar to Somnath were bad with road widening work going on.

Finally arrived at Somnath temple and the temple was very beautiful. The view of the sea right next to the temple is so serene and gives an excellent aura to the whole place. Once again you are not allowed to carry any electronic item inside and hence could not click any pictures of the temple. You are even supposed to deposit your belt outside and I saw them turn away a couple of gentleman back who were caught cheating on this rule. Somnath again was identical to Dwarka in respect to total absence of any money looting pandits. There is no forcefull offering of prasad etc and you can just go inside, offer your prayers and come out. No VIP rows or anything. After finishing the prayer part, we had lunch in Somanth and then started the journey back to Vadodara. The road from Somnath to Jetput is again full of diversions and potholes ( not car breaking type though) due to road widening work. You join the NH8B at Jetput and there onwards roads ae awesome all the way till Vadodara. We again stopped at the HFM and had dinner there.

Total number of kms covered: 1426 kms.
Total trip FE with 100% AC: 17.4 kmpl.

The car will get the necessary rest now for 10 days and then off we are again, this time on a 3 day trip to Rajkot and then to Bhuj to attend a wedding.

Few pics from the Dwarka-Somnath road:

[drmohitg]

The first accident of my driving career happened yesterday. I take great pride in having avoided any contact with another car/property in my last 10 years of driving. Finally my luck ran out yesterday. Was driving on the highway last night with no street lights and glare from oncoming vehicles. Out of nowhere a buffalo, perfectly camouflaged in the darkness of the night, jumped from the divider in front of my car. My colleagues sitting with me also failed to spot it and by the time I managed to see it, it was too late. Was driving at approximately 70-80 kmph and it was a perfect set up for a head on with the animal. Turned the car to left that very moment (out of reflex) but still managed to hit the animal from the drivers side. Luckily no one got hurt as everyone was belted and secured. The animal too fell down but got up on its feet. Hopefully it would survive. The damage to the car was exceptional. The front bumper, driver side fender, driver side headlight and right ORVM went for a toss. But otherwise the car was driving normally and there were no warning lights.





Took the car to Narmada Toyota today and have filed a claim with Tata Aig. Now Toyota apparently doesn't have cashless facility with them and it seems I have to pay up and then will be reimbursed by Tata aig. The SA at Toyota has drawn up a rough estimate and the bill is a whooping 1.5L. The surveyour will come on monday and then we will see. Hopefully things move swiftly and the car comes back asap.

This is the estimate they have drawn up. Please take a look.



According to the SA, the radiator and condenser might have also taken a hit and they will check it and confirm. Now I have a few queries. I have a 0% dep insurance and I was under the impression that I have to pay only for claim processing charges. But the SA told me that I will also have to bear consumables like any oil etc that might be needed and clips and locks for the bumper. They apparently need around 25-30 of those and each one costs around Rs 125. I am sure there will be many other miscellaneous nuts and bolts. Is he correct in saying this or I am being taken for a ride? Shouldn't 0% dep insurance policy cover all that stuff too?
Also the SA told me that there is a possibilty that the insurance company ( since Toyota doesn't have a partnership with them) might not agree to bear the full cost. The example he gave me was that for instance the bumper costs 7k. The insurance company might say that the price is not reasonable and they will only pay 6k for it and the rest will have to be borne by me. Is this possible? Please advice me on how to proceed.

The car has covered 39300 kms and the 40k service was due. So I told them to carry out that too once the car is repaired fully. The estimate for that is around 7800 rs including tax and mostly I would need to change the rear brake pads atleast in this service which will cost another 7k approx. I am still running on stock brake pads and discs. Here is a chart depicting the altis's service costs. I found it a good idea on part of Toyota to display it. The customer cannot be taken for a ride that way.

[dkaile]

Very sad to hear about your misfortune Mohit. You should get a havan done and get all your cars blessed, especially since they save your lives. On a serious note, from what I see, a good denter/painter can get your car repaired for less than 20K, provided there is no engine damage. Do look at good 3rd party options. Because these dealers always rip you apart especially on Insurance jobs.

Wishing a speedy recovery to all your vehicles.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Very sad to hear about your misfortune Mohit. You should get a havan done and get all your cars blessed, especially since they save your lives. On a serious note, from what I see, a good denter/painter can get your car repaired for less than 20K, provided there is no engine damage. Do look at good 3rd party options. Because these dealers always rip you apart especially on Insurance jobs.

Wishing a speedy recovery to all your vehicles.

Thanks for the wishes. You hit the nail right on the head. Some real bad luck going on. First the bimmer and now this. And coincidentally both times the cost has come to exact 1.5L. I will stick to Toyota only. What is the point of paying high premiums all these years for the 0% dep insurance policy if not use it. Also in Vadodara I asm not free nor well versed with outside mechanics. Delhi might have beena different story. There is no damage to the engine at all. Did you take a look at the things they have mentioned in the Job card estimate. Does it look all good? Also any idea if the nuts and bolts and clips are not covered under the insurance? I am really keen on figuring that out.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Thanks for the wishes. You hit the nail right on the head. Some real bad luck going on. First the bimmer and now this. And coincidentally both times the cost has come to exact 1.5L. I will stick to Toyota only. What is the point of paying high premiums all these years for the 0% dep insurance policy if not use it.

Sorry Dr. Mohit to her about this accident. Hope you are fine (mentally and physically).

IMO, better to stick to Toyota A.S.S for these repairs are it will be genuine and give you a peace of mind too.

Anurag.

[aaggoswami]

It not likely that you will have damaged the Radiator and Condenser. Check with pressure test or check if there is any sort of leakage below radiator. This will confirm if there is any damage.

I had a similar crash in Baleno with a biker in a sensitive area (near Tandalja, vadodara) at a junction. The guy on bike landed on my windscreen and his bike damaged right side panel, fender, headlight. License plate was OK and so were radiator and condenser.

Narmada Toyota is slightly slow, but their job is fine. Yet to try infinum Toyota which is there at place of east africa toyota ( near GSFC gate, NH8 ). You will have to be polite-yet-firm with Insurance.
When my sister crashed Wagon R, Kiran motors did not have cashless facility, but we payed the amount and had to shell out around 35K out of 1.3 lakh repair bill.