[musicmanaman]

Originally Posted by amalji

Added the silver, chrome & black gear knobs to my Etios from Kalamassery Nippon Toyota. This accessory was available only for Petrol variant earlier ( since, the reverse gear position is different for the diesel variant, the same cannot be used on Diesel ). Now, it's available for Diesel as well.

Cost including tax - Rs. 550/-

Advantages

Improves the look and feel
More soft on the upper side ( the area which touches the inner palm )

Attachment 919366

There were 3 variants available.

1) Silver and Chrome top with Black bottom ( The one which I bought )
2) Silver and Chrome top with grey bottom
3) Red and Chrome top with black bottom

Eagerly waiting for the TRD accessories for Etios and Liva to come to showrooms.

Rs 550/- is super cheap, I recently replaced my gear nob on my Mahindra Logan, the old one just creacked into pieces, and guess the cost, Rs 2490/-, now that's some difference compared to yours, and I'm begining to like the Toyota even more now.

[amalji]

Etios is at 14,000 kms now. Engine performance and suspensions are in perfect condition.
A small incident happened yesterday.

Yesterday, I banged my car into a deadly gutter at moderate speed ( 40 to 50 kmph ). Result = 2 tyres + 1 allow wheels gone

It's design of the gutter ( Palachuvadu - Vennala road, Cochin ) and the angle at which the tyre went in that caused the issue. Gutter was deep. So, someone with a good intention put a few big rocks inside it. But, the rocks had sharp side edges. The angle at which the car went into the gutter was in such a way that the surface of the tyre fell into the depth of the gutter while the side walls hit against the sharp side edges of the rocks. Once, it tore the tyre, the next target was the alloy wheels.

And since the car was travelling straight, the same damage happened to the rear tyres as well. Both alloys took a beating. But, due to the extra weight of the front side of the car, the front alloys cracked while the back alloys just had a mark in it.

Replaced the 2 torn tyres with Bridgestone Turanza ( I had Goodyear earlier ) from New Bharath Pitstop. I would like to thank the Pitstop people for keeping their shop open just for us. We would have been stuck had they closed the shop.

Today, took the car to Nippon Toyota, Kalamassery. The service advisor sympathized with me and told me that we can get both the tyres as well as the alloy wheel replaced which came as a huge relief for me after yesterday's horrific day. They asked me 3 days to finish with the insurance formalities and shipment of the alloy.

Since, the car is with Toyota, I also reported a mild rattling sound from the front airbag side ( left ). They told me that this is a known bug with the Etios and can be corrected easily.

While I was in the service center, used my spare time to visit the Redroosters people ( Nippon Toyota has entered into a partnership with redroosters ). Redroosters also has a partnership with TRD ( Toyota racing development ) for taking care of the EMR ( Etios Motor Racing Cars ). They told me that the Tuning kit for Etios/Liva is now ready. I asked for a test drive and they promptly arranged a test drive with the Spider tuning kit. The performance was mind blowing. The car was sprinting. And the peak torque range felt wider than the stock available from a lower rpm and extending till a higher rpm. There was a very visible and definite improvement. The fact that Nippon itself is the dealer for Redrooster in Kerala is an added advantage since they will take responsibility for any damage caused due to the performance mod. The cost of the mod is 28,000/-

I'll be visiting enginecal people next week. Will be comparing the features and performance of enginecal and redrooster spider tuning kits for Etios/Liva and then will take a decision on it.

PS: Redrooster people have promised me that they will be sending the torque curve ( with the tuning kit fitted ) soon to my email.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by amalji

Etios is at 14,000 kms now. Engine performance and suspensions are in perfect condition.
A small incident happened yesterday.

Yesterday, I banged my car into a deadly gutter at moderate speed ( 40 to 50 kmph ). Result = 2 tyres + 1 allow wheels gone.

Very sad to know that Amalji, mi heartfelt sympathies to you & your car, obviously breaks heart to see such a kind of damage on new car. I had lost my tyres in a similar incident, once I had hit a pavement tile at parking speeds (which was protruding sharply outwards), tyre sidewall was torn apart, minimal damage to the alloy. Second time I went over a huge pothole on NH50, very early in the morning, when it was dark, result a tyre blow out (sidewall torn apart at 2 places). Fortunately no damage to the alloys.

[automachine]

Originally Posted by amalji

A small incident happened yesterday.

Yesterday, I banged my car into a deadly gutter at moderate speed ( 40 to 50 kmph ). Result = 2 tyres + 1 allow wheels gone

That is a sad incident. Hope there is no damage to the chassis or any other structural impact. Did this happen during day or night? On my Etios the low beam seems to be too low such that there is virtual darkness above 15 ft vision. The headlight leveler does not help and it seems some manual setting is needed. On the other note, do let us know about your comparison of the enginecal and redrooster tuning kits. I am interested in this mod too. Also do you know if there is any tuning for the shock absorber as I think those are adjustable? I find them way to stiff which is affecting the ride quality.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by amalji

A small incident happened yesterday.

Yesterday, I banged my car into a deadly gutter at moderate speed ( 40 to 50 kmph ). Result = 2 tyres + 1 allow wheels gone

Ouch! Do you have the zero depreciation insurance?
How is the suspension lower arm? Get a wheel alignment done to see if things are okay.
Put the new tyres at the back.

Do you know if TRD have suspension bits available for the Etios twins?

[amalji]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Very sad to know that Amalji, mi heartfelt sympathies to you & your car, obviously breaks heart to see such a kind of damage on new car. I had lost my tyres in a similar incident, once I had hit a pavement tile at parking speeds (which was protruding sharply outwards), tyre sidewall was torn apart, minimal damage to the alloy. Second time I went over a huge pothole on NH50, very early in the morning, when it was dark, result a tyre blow out (sidewall torn apart at 2 places). Fortunately no damage to the alloys.

It seems, the sidewall is the weak link of any tyres. We need to be very careful when there is a chance that the sidewall gets rubbed into something hard and sharp

Originally Posted by automachine

That is a sad incident. Hope there is no damage to the chassis or any other structural impact. Did this happen during day or night? On my Etios the low beam seems to be too low such that there is virtual darkness above 15 ft vision. The headlight leveler does not help and it seems some manual setting is needed. On the other note, do let us know about your comparison of the enginecal and redrooster tuning kits. I am interested in this mod too. Also do you know if there is any tuning for the shock absorber as I think those are adjustable? I find them way to stiff which is affecting the ride quality.

1) No structural damage. I'm happy about that part.
2) It happened during night, but not due to lack of lighting. I know this specific gutter as well. Normally, I evade this gutter. But, since another vehicle was coming from the other side, I thought of just continuing over the gutter. On the inside, the gutter didn't feel very hard.The suspensions handled it well. But, there was a sound ( Probably, the rock hitting the alloys ). But, the sharp rocks did the trick.
3) I haven't felt the low beams inadequate ( I use Philips Xtreme Vision Bulbs ). In case, I feel that I need a longer beam even with oncoming traffic, I just put it on a high beam for 2 seconds using the pull option, analyze the road, and then put it back on low beam again.
4) I visited enginecal. They showed me a moderately tuned Liva ( 185 Nm ). The good thing about enginecal is that they tune it on the go while we drive, and give us exactly what we want. They also brief us about the advantage/disadvantage of going with such a tuning. The problem with spider tuning kit is that it's tuned very aggressively. Smoke comes from the exhaust after a burst to 140 kmph, which I feel is not good for the car and for the co-drivers on the road. So, I've decided to go with enginecal. Will be meeting them this Sunday with my Etios in Bangalore. If anyone else want to join me, let me know.
5) I'm not sure about the suspension tuning part. I guess the only way is to change the suspensions. But, suspension upgrades are normally more stiffer for better handling.

Originally Posted by Sankar

Ouch! Do you have the zero depreciation insurance?
How is the suspension lower arm? Get a wheel alignment done to see if things are okay.
Put the new tyres at the back.

Do you know if TRD have suspension bits available for the Etios twins?

Yes, it is Toyota's 0 depreciation insurance ( MS Chola ). Total Cost of 2 tyres,1 alloy, wheel balancing and labour came to around Rs. 16,000/-
All I had to pay was Rs. 500/-

[amalji]

There is a time when a vehicle becomes the extension of your arms and legs ( words stolen from my friend - Visakh S Nair ). The Etios is 18,000 kms on the odo and is offering me a similar feeling right now. Once, you get into that mode, any long trip makes it possible to take the vehicle to its limits because you understand the strengths and weakness of the vehicle. I had a chance for a long trip recently ( Trivandrum - Nagercoil - Madurai - Trichy - Villupuram - Vellore around 725 kms one side ). These are my observations of the car.

1) High speed stability, light weight, the excellent brakes and the flat peak torque from 1800 to 2400 rpm and usable torque upto 3000 rpm makes the vehicle a joy to drive at high speeds. You are always in control. There was not a single time, I braked and felt like I wouldn't be able to stop in time during the 18,000 kms of driving the Etios. The car maintains its composure during hard braking scenarios at high speeds.

2) The long wheel base combined with the suspension tuning is a boon during such high speed long drives. You simply don't feel the speed at all.

3) 750 kms ( 10 hours ) in a day and I still don't have a back pain or discomfort. That was a first for me. The back support in Etios front seats is excellent for long journeys. It's not cozy, but that's exactly what you need in long drives for back support. But, for shorter drives, more cushioning would make you more comfortable.

4) The top speed, I tried out on the Etios Diesel was 165 kmph. But, the engine doesn't like such high speeds it seems. The engine note is not inspiring at that speed. The comfortable cruising speed for the Etios Diesel is 140 kmph. It can stay there all day long.

5) Mileage drops drastically at a cruising speed of 120 to 140 kmph and short bursts of 160 kmph. The mileage I got was 14 kmpl at the speed mentioned! I used to get 19 to 20 kmpl on the busy kerala highways at speeds of 80 to 100 kmph with short bursts of 120 kmph.

6) The car gets affected slightly by cross winds at speeds above 130 kmph ( Nagercoil - tirunelveli stretch is famous for cross winds since, the wind moves through the gap between western ghats. You can see a lot of wind mills in this stretch ) But, it's easy to regain control of the vehicle by adjusting the steering based on the direction of wind force.

7) ABS functioned once during the trip when there was a sudden dip in a concrete road and I braked hard. The traction offered by concrete was less than tar and hence ABS kicked into action to prevent a skid. There was no drama, the car remained completely in control.

My love affair with the Etios Diesel continues.

[rrnsss]

I guess I am going to book my Liva after reading the above post . I was concerned about the Liva's cruising ability, A cruising speed of 120kmph is good enough for me.

[swiftdiesel]

I've experienced the same cross wind phenomenon between Nagercoil and Tirinelveli during my Chennai-Trivandrum-Chennai trip on my Ertiga. I noticed my mileage drop a bit at 120 driving through this cross wind; realised the extra fuel was going to overcome the buffeting. Don't know if you felt it in your Etios but my Ertiga felt like someone was trying to push my car sideways.

Thanks for the info about the crosswinds that its due to the Western ghats. Didn't know that! I love the 1.4 D-4D. Thankfully Toyota gave a 16 valve unlike its asthmatic competitors with an 8 valve engine.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by rrnsss

I guess I am going to book my Liva after reading the above post . I was concerned about the Liva's cruising ability, A cruising speed of 120kmph is good enough for me.

Good to hear from you over phone. Liva is a practical car, and is meant for people who give priority for functionality than the posh looking interiors. Its interiors are simple, ergonomic and functional and it has a great engine/gearbox combo to add to.

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

Don't know if you felt it in your Etios but my Ertiga felt like someone was trying to push my car sideways.

It's somewhat same feeling especially when you overtake a truck at high speeds with high cross wind conditions. I guess this is because of the rapid change in wind speed when we overtake a truck. Can also happen when the wind changes its direction or speed.

[amalji]

The etios Diesel is at 21,000 kms now and yes, it completed the 20,000 3rd service. Here is my report of the 3rd service experience with Toyota

Called Kalamassery Nippon Toyota on 14th August for an express service appointment. Got the 2 hour slot for 19th August 2012 11am ( ie, 5 days later ). I could get an appointment within one day during my 10,000 kms service. It seems, the Onam season caused a spike in service appointments.

Thanks to the Onam festival traffic in Cochin, I was late by 30 minutes and could reach only by 11:30 am

The service adviser greeted me with a smile, and asked me if there is any complaint. I told I couldn't notice any, but asked him to take it out for a drive and check for any unusual sounds. Also requested for wiper blade replacement, fully synthetic oil and smiles package.

He told me that SMILES pack and fully synthetic option cannot be opted at the same time. I said, that's stupid because both are premium features advertised by Toyota and not having both the options at once doesn't make sense. Then he escalated the matter to his Boss. He too mentioned that this is not possible.

I told them - "If this is due to a flaw with Toyota's SMILES plan, it's really bad because almost all other companies are switching to synthetic oil like VW and Maruti and if the SMILES plan is not applicable for customers who opt for Synthetic oil, why do you advertise SMILES in your website? And I do not see on your website that this is not applicable if we opt for a premium oil and it makes no sense at all. If this is due to your ignorance about SMILES pack, then that's bad as well. I need to escalate this further."

I raised my voice a bit during the conversation because I felt that the tone given by the staff was not helpful at all and he was just trying to push my request out. Other staffs started over-hearing the conversation, and there were a bunch of people around me by now.

To which he replied - "I'll escalate this to our management. But, I cannot give you an assurance".
I said - "ok, I need to contact Toyota and give a feedback. Please give me the number."

He gave me the number and I called Toyota. The lady asked for my grievance and I told her about the whole episode.

Pat came the answer as expected from a typical customer service executive who doesn't have any idea about cars or Toyota - "Sir, SMILES package is something offered by the dealer and not by Toyota directly. So, we are not in control of it. The only option is to discuss with the dealer directly"

Then, I asked her to open the URL - Toyota - Q Service
And then asked her, if the website is owned by Toyota or the dealer to which she replied it's owned by Toyota. I sighed in relief that she understands that and asked her - "So, if the website is owned by Toyota, isn't Toyota in control of that pack?" to which she replied in the affirmative and apologized for the confusion earlier.

She tried to understand the issue in detail during which she asked stupid questions like "So, you are having issues with synthetic oil". The personal doesn't have any idea as to what a synthetic oil means or what SMILES package mean. She asked me to hold the line and after 5 minutes, she told me that she will put the dealer on a conference call.

Then, the head of customer service at Nippon Toyota joined the call. I explained the whole episode to him once again. He picked up the issue fast and told me that the reason why billing people refused such an option was because there is no direct billing option for this in the Toyota software and that they will have to create a custom plan for me which he assured he will try his best to do it. I thanked him for the help, but also gave a feedback that it's real bad from Toyota's part that there is no such plan till now. He too agreed to that, and told ( very promptly ) that he will take this up with Toyota. I thanked him for the sincere attempts to help me on this and then the call was ended.

Since, it took around 45 minutes for the multiple conversations and another 30 minutes was lost due to my late arrival, my ETA for the delivery of the car was extended to 2:30 pm from 1 pm.

I asked the service advisor to do the alignment, only if the SMILES pack is enabled for me because alignment comes free with SMILES pack. At 2:30 pm, I got a call from Toyota informing me that the smiles pack is enabled for me with fully synthetic oil and that it will cost Rs. 8600/- for 2 services ( ie, the current service and the 30,000 kms service which I should do within 1 year ). He also told me that had I not opted for the SMILES pack, I would have had to pay 9700 for the 2 services combined. I confirmed that I need this pack and gave permission to proceed with the wheel alignment. And I got the car back by 3:30 pm.

Service was top notch as usual from the Toyota people. No complaints whatsoever with minimal replacements ( Oil Filter, Oil, Windshield washer fluid ). Wheel balancing was free along with 20,000 service and wheel alignment was free with the SMILES pack. Without the synthetic oil, the pack would have costed me atleast Rs. 4,500/- less, but opted for synthetic oil, since I plan to keep this car for a long long time.
They also showed the brake pad size as 4mm on the bill ( 10 mm on a new car ). So, it should last me another 12k kms. Considering my driving style, 30,000 replacement intervals for brake pads is a fare enough interval. I used to get it replaced every 10 to 15 k kms on my esteem.

Here are my inputs about the pros and cons of Toyota Service.

Pros

• Service quality is top notch. Parts replacement is less frequent than in a Maruti ( as per my previous experiences with Zen and Esteem )
• Even though, the labour cost is free for now, they do show the labour on the bill and then discount it. So, I can see that the proportion of labour cost involved is significantly less when compared to a Maruti. It could be due to the combined effect of easier serviceability, lower replacement frequency of Toyota spares and better processes.
• 2 hour express service is a blessing. If you don't have the debates like the one I got into, you will get the car back after service in 2 hours! That's a Toyota exclusive. And even if you do get into such debates, you will still get the car back within 3.5 hours! No wonder they are not charging much on labour.
• The washing is perfect.
• The processes are perfect. It fails only if multiple departments fails simultaneously.

Cons

• While processes are good, too much adherance to processes can make people become robotic and less personal. And that's what happened with the billing department where they blindly turned down my request without a second thought.
• When Toyota employ people in Customer Care department, please have people with some kind of passion towards cars and Toyota. If not, give them adequate training to have some knowledge about the services that Toyota offers. The person whom I talked to on the phone had no clue about what a synthetic oil or SMILES pack means.

Known bugs with the Toyota Etios

• Minor vibrations from the dashboard for the variants with airbags. The employees are very aware of it and will get it corrected fast. I got it corrected at around 14k when I gave the car to replace my tyres and alloys under insurance. The issue never recurred after that.
• When the suspension expands, it hits the stopper fast. The scope for expansion of the suspension is lesser on a Toyota Etios probably due to the combined effect of soft suspensions, and light weight. You will hear a thud sound every time you take a speed breaker hump fast or when you take a dip at a high speed. Not much of an issue. But, would have felt better without this sound for sure. Toyota engineers say, it doesn't affect the vehicle in any way other than the thud sound ( which is not pleasing for the ears ) it gives. But, once you get used to the vehicle you will know at what speed you should take a hump or dip to avoid this sound. The compression of the suspension is perfect though. I've never bottomed out the suspension in my 20,000 kms of aggressive driving.

Thats a very good review man. read your review in 3 days flat.

I see that you havent mentioned the costs incurred in the third service. did i miss it by any chance?

How is your Etios doing now? I hope you are enjoying it.

OT: Have you tried installing corollas's Captain chairs in Etios? did you try to identify the size of the rails of both cars? also get an arm rest for your car, you can cruise comfortably on highways.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by gemi_kk

Thats a very good review man. read your review in 3 days flat.

Thank you, @gemi_kk

Originally Posted by gemi_kk

I see that you havent mentioned the costs incurred in the third service. did i miss it by any chance?

In fact, I opted for the SMILE package from Toyota ( where we pre-pay for the next service as well ) and also included synthetic oil for the 3rd and 4th ( future ) service. So, the total cost for all that came to Rs. 8,800 odd.

Originally Posted by gemi_kk

How is your Etios doing now? I hope you are enjoying it.

Absolutely enjoying it. It has given me 24,000 hassle free and enjoyable kms in the first year.

Originally Posted by gemi_kk

OT: Have you tried installing corollas's Captain chairs in Etios? did you try to identify the size of the rails of both cars? also get an arm rest for your car, you can cruise comfortably on highways.

1) Captain chairs is new info for me. Will check it out. Thanks.
2) Regarding arm rests, yeah I love it during highway drives. I used to have it on my old Esteem - Arm rest on my old Esteem
Haven't found one that matches the interiors of the Etios. Will add it soon.

Etios just completed 1 year. A birthday tribute to my 2nd love.

[jkdas]

Neat pix amal.

Interesting note: They also showed the brake pad size as 4mm on the bill ( 10 mm on a new car ). Do they print this for all Toyota? Impressive then!

So, 30k service would cost 4500Rs without synthetic oil? And how much oil does it need? Did they flush? What brand?

[amalji]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Neat pix amal.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by jkdas

Interesting note: They also showed the brake pad size as 4mm on the bill ( 10 mm on a new car ). Do they print this for all Toyota? Impressive then!

Yeah, they do that.

Originally Posted by jkdas

So, 30k service would cost 4500Rs without synthetic oil? And how much oil does it need? Did they flush? What brand?

1) 20k + 30k service WITH synthetic oil, wheel alignment and balancing for both the services costed me 8800 odd. ( I pre-paid for the 30k service under the SMILES pack ). Without the synthetic oil, it would have costed only about Rs. 3,500/- for both services combined.
2) Brand of oil is masked under Toyota ( So the bottle will only have a tag which says Toyota genuine synthetic oil )
3) No, they did not flush. ( Atleast, it's not mentioned so in the bill. I have been using synthetic oil from 10k on )
4) Regarding the quantity, I'll check the bill and let you know.