[drmohitg]

Call it psychological but ever since the car has come back after that incident, I have started finding the headlights highly inadequate. My daily drive includes this stretch of a highway of around 10kms with no street lights and the oncoming traffic invariably driving on high beams and doesn't respond at all to your requests to dip the lights. End result is that one if left totally blind on a number of occasions and I do not intend to hit another stray animal or worse still a human now.

Hence looking to upgrade the headlights. Any suggestions for the same? Also does this void my warranty?

[drmohitg]

Been a long time since an update. The car has covered 47k kms now and off late has seen a little less of running specially with no highway trips as my final exams are approaching in March. True to its lineage, it has proved itself as a true workshorse in all ways. No niggles, No rattles, nothing whatsoever. The FE hovers around 18-19 kmpl and the initial AC gas issue seems to have corrected itself as its been almost 20 months now since the last refill and the AC is still a chiller with hardly any need to set the temperature below 24 degrees even in the scorching Vadodara heat.

The car is still running on stock tyres and I think they are nearing the end of their lifecycle. I am hoping to use them for another 5k kms or so after which the car will be driven back to Delhi and I will get the tyres changed there. Posting a couple of pictures of the right front and one picture of the right rear tyre to give you an idea. The other 2 tyres on the left are also of similar condition. Will these serve me for another 5k kms as I will be doing some short haul highway trips after my exams and then one final trip back to Delhi, all in all not exceeding 5k kms. Or should I get them changed now itself since most of it will be highway driving in peak summer months and I do not want a tyre burst. Have a look:

[Simple_car]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

.... and I think they are nearing the end of their lifecycle. I am hoping to use them for another 5k kms or so after which the car will be driven back to Delhi and I will get the tyres changed there....Or should I get them changed now itself since most of it will be highway driving in peak summer months and I do not want a tyre burst. Have a look:

Has it been 3 years already? Time surely flies away!

Best change your tyres in Delhi. So long as you don't do crazy speeds, you should do fine.

I know it's a bit late in answering your headlamp query, but it's best not to do an upgrade at the moment. Go back to delhi, search for what suits your requirement (bulb change, wattage upgrade, projectors etc.), and then decide. I personally advice you to upgrade to a higher wattage bulbs with relay and ceramic holders. This is a nice and easy 1st step for upgrade. Warranty shall be voided in all cases, but being a toyota, you can take a chance.

Best of luck for your exams as well

Thanks,
Simple_car

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Simple_car

Has it been 3 years already? Time surely flies away!

Best change your tyres in Delhi. So long as you don't do crazy speeds, you should do fine.

Warranty shall be voided in all cases, but being a toyota, you can take a chance.

Yes time does fly very fast. It is been 3.5 years and 47.3k kms. I will then wait for some more time and get everything done in Delhi. Warranty is anyways not an issue now as it got over last year in september. The extended warranty from the dealer still stands though for another 2 years. Let me see if upgrading the bulbs will void it or not. I think not.

[Ramsagar]

Since the Right side Headlamp is new, I would advise you to first adjust the Headlamp level from inside the hood to match the focus of Left side. If you still feel that is not worth, you can go for an upgrade.

Note: Also try to set the Headlamp level to 0.

[Nikhilb2008]

The tyres actually look fine.... However, I can see some signs of cracking.

If you have no problems, then you can continue using them for a few more months/weeks. But if it were my car, I would change soon.

[drmohitg]

50000 km update

Well it only feels like yesterday and finally the car has covered the milestone of 50000 kms in exactly 3 and half years. It still runs and feels as good as new without a single niggle or rattle. The 50k km service was just a regular service with the usual replacement of oil and filters and costed me 4k including labor. In addition got the rear brake pads replaced as the original ones had worn out completely. The rear discs still have some 10-20k kms life left in them while the front pads and discs are still strong for sometime to come.

My stay in Vadodara came to an end and finally packed up all the stuff and drove the car to Delhi back. It performed flawlessly as expected even while encountering bad stretches of highway with no under body scrapping even though the boot and rear seats were loaded with luggage. Gave the car a much needed interior cleaning treatment at 3M and as usual they did an excellent job and the interiors have started shining like new again. The front hand rest which had specifically accumulated a lot of dirt over the years shines like new now.

I have decided to keep the current tyres for a bit longer as the car is going to see only intra city runs now most of the times and will change to Earth 1 series in another 10k kms.

Lastly also got the new number plates installed from Canvas Ink. It is the UK font and costed me around 1200 Rs along with the black frame.

Few pics of the car, back at its usual parking spot .

[drmohitg]

Finally changed the tyres on my car. Had initially planned to run on the OEM tyres for a little longer time but one of the tyres just gave way and developed a huge side wall cut. So decided to change the tyres to Michelin XM2 and upgraded to 205/65 R15 size. Got them for Rs. 5900 per piece.

Front wheel


Rear wheel


Old Bridgestone and the new Michelin

[coolboy007]

The new tyres look good Mohit. Is it the stock tyre size because even the Innova comes with 205/65 R15, was expecting Altis to have 205/60. XM2 is a great choice as a comfort tyre.

BTW, saw you in your Corolla driving from Punjabi Bagh towards Hyatt today evening around 5-5:30. Had just seen your tyre upgrade photos in the morning and instantly recognized your car, was with a friend in his cappucino beige Rapid as he also was there in Punjabi bagh to change his tyres. You really have maintained the car extremely well

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

The new tyres look good Mohit. Is it the stock tyre size because even the Innova comes with 205/65 R15, was expecting Altis to have 205/60. XM2 is a great choice as a comfort tyre.

BTW, saw you in your Corolla driving from Punjabi Bagh towards Hyatt today evening around 5-5:30.

No the stock Tyres are 195/65 R15. So it's a little upgrade from the OEM size.

I noticed your car too. You guys overtook me on the rajouri flyover. The Rapid had a sticker over the right rear quarter panel if I am not wrong. Usually people never acknowledge back in NCR and hence I didn't signal. I was heading to the airport.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

No the stock Tyres are 195/65 R15. So it's a little upgrade from the OEM size.

Thanks for correcting me, i did not know that Altis used to come with 195/65 R15

I noticed your car too. You guys overtook me on the rajouri flyover. The Rapid had a sticker over the right rear quarter panel if I am not wrong. Usually people never acknowledge back in NCR and hence I didn't signal. I was heading to the airport.

Well the sticker is on an odd location so am surprised you even noticed it. What you say about people not acknowledging back is so true. I had asked my friend to blip the horn twice but could not get your attention so thought it was prudent to move on, there is always a next time.

[drmohitg]

Many apologies for not updating the thread more often but work has been keeping me extremely busy off late. The car has seen less running in these last few months as I divide the runs between this and the bimmer ( And before you start wondering the difference is huge when you keep switching between 184 BHP on Monday and 87 BHP on Tuesday ). Nevertheless the car is still running as good as new. The change to Michelin XM2 tyres was the wisest decision I took and the already comfortable ride quality has become even more smooth and cushioned now.

The car underwent the 60k km service last week with no major issues so far. The total damage was Rs. 8500 inc taxes which comprised of the regular 60k kms service including oil change, oil filter, air filter and few miscellaneous things + labor. The car's battery needs to be replaced now as the stock Exide battery has been doing the service since almost 5 years now and it might go off any day now. Apart from that the driver's side seat belt has become a bit loose, in the sense that it does not retract as smoothly as it used to or should do. The SA advised to change the whole unit and for now I will live with it. Surprisingly the car is still running on stock brake discs and front pads. Only the rear brake pads were replaced at the 50k km service. The average is still a healthy and consistent 17-18 kmpl in the Delhi-Gurgaon gridlock everyday that some of us also refer to as the Gurgaon expressway!

[GrammarNazi]

Hi doc, nice to see your Altis doing well !

Originally Posted by drmohitg

...Apart from that the driver's side seat belt has become a bit loose, in the sense that it does not retract as smoothly as it used to or should do...

Surprisingly the car is still running on stock brake discs and front pads. Only the rear brake pads were replaced at the 50k km service...

IIRC I read somewhere in the forum about pulling it all the way & putting a small dose of WD40 at the end of it.

Brake life is definitely surprising as I've read numerous instances where people needed to change Brake Pads & Discs much earlier with this version of the Corolla Altis.

Anyway, have a great time!

[joelchandra]

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 recently bought a 2013 Pre-Worshipped Etios Liva Diesel and I am shocked to see the engine oil vanishing from the engine. I bought the car on 16th March, and on 31st March 2016, during a regular check up of the engine bay, i happened to check the engine oil level and was shocked to see almost no oil on the stick. I immediately bought a one liter engine oil for top up. Another surprise was that the engine gobbled the 1liter oil and the oil level on the dip stick showed that the oil level has reached minimum mark on the dip stick.

My previous car which was a Figo also had a slight dip which happenned once in 6 months and i used to top it up with about 350ml to 500ml. Having this on my mind, I still wasn't suspicious. Life carried on until yesterday. Another regular check and i see that the engine oil level has drastically fallen. Brought another 1 liter oil and filled the engine. The oil level is at Minimum level on the dip stick right now.

I have 40000Kms service coming up next week and would like to see what the problem is. While all this is happening, the engine is working alright and the mileage has been consistently at a 17.5kmpl range(With 100% AC).

[AWD]

Originally Posted by joelchandra

I recently bought a 2013 Pre-Worshipped Etios Liva Diesel and I am shocked to see the engine oil vanishing from the engine.

Could be badly used/misused car you landed up with. Did you get it checked thoroughly before buying? Im sure this problem plagued the initial batches of Corolla Altis & Liva/Etios as many of my friends/known persons experienced this in their vehicles. One of them used to carry a 5L Engine oil can in the boot of the car all the time