[Samba]

Update at 36,500kms and after a 1873.9kms long trip to the Himalayas in super bad roads.

Had a trip to north Sikkim. We did places like Dzongu, Yumthang, Zero point. Those who know about these places they know its thoroughly a SUV territory. Will compile a travelogue on the whole trip but now am solely concentrating on how the Etios performed.

1) On highways it was as usual butter smooth, fast and fun to drive with good handling and braking.

2) In bad roads ride quality was complaint the only problem was with the ground clearance and long wheel base. Encountered places where my front fog lamps went under the slush still it managed to come out with out getting stuck.

3) In steep high altitude hair pins roads the Etios climbed with ease. It was just like a piece of cake for the car. It managed to climb the steep hairpin bends in 3rd gear too if momentum was maintained with 3 person's including driver on board.

4) We reached a maximum altitude of 14,000 feet but no power loss was witnessed. Driving on snow was fun but i had to be cautious.

5)The over all mileage i got was 12.5kms/liter. Considering the roads i expected something around 10.

6) The car performed flawlessly for the whole trip. Not a single rattle or any problem cropped up till the end of the trip.

Attaching few pics from the trip.







Finally a video which will give you an idea of the roads Etios had to encounter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT7u...ature=youtu.be

[amalji]

Originally Posted by Samba

Finally a video which will give you an idea of the roads Etios had to encounter!

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=LT7u...ature=Youtu.be

Woooo! You took that road at a pretty decent speed. How many times did it scrap under body when you did that ? And is the new stiffer suspensions that gave you the confidence to do it this way ?

[Samba]

Originally Posted by amalji

Woooo! You took that road at a pretty decent speed. How many times did it scrap under body when you did that ? And is the new stiffer suspensions that gave you the confidence to do it this way ?

Yes Amalji i had to maintain that speed or else if the car gets stuck between two rocks it will be more difficult to take it out. If stuck once wheel spin will take the upper hand as my stock good year tyres wont have that much grip to take over those slippery boulders from very low speed. All terrain tyres are perfect for this condition. Even the local sumo's and Bolero's were taking them in decent speed.

The only advantage they had was the ground clearance so they could take few boulders between the tyres where as i had to put the tyres on the rocks to avoid under belly scrapping. Yes the car scrapped few times. I was avoiding taking boulders in the middle. As the oil sump and silencer box will be in danger if i take a boulder in the middle. If i take a wheel on them it can hit or damage the running board / panel of the car which wont be very harmful. Thankfully my cars panel or underbelly was not damaged. The part which was scrapping the most were the mud flaps and the end of the rear bumper due to the over hang as its a sedan.

The longer wheel base was a problem too. With a hatch back i could have avoided few more boulders. The swift went with us scrapped less than my Etios.

Yes definitely the new shockabsorbers helped. Its stiffer, so it maintained a better ground clearance than the earlier soft shockabsorbers.

[Samba]

Update at 39,600kms.

After touching the snow at 14,000 feet to sea level in a span of two months!



After the trip to North Sikkim in October in the month of November it went for a 661kms road trip through rural Bengal and in December another road trip of 1277 kms to Puri was completed from Kolkata.

The mileage am getting is mixed-
In city am getting 13-15. (Non ac as its winter now)
In highway heavy foot driving is returning around 13.5 and keeping the car below 110 is returning a mileage of 17+ !

Performance-
As always it brings an evil grin to the drivers face when ever the Etios gets an open stretch! Few days back i was driving alone on NH2 and i just tried some quick acceleration and i was literally surprised to get the laid back feel in the seat while the car was accelerating! Its getting addictive to me and the more the car is getting old am loving it more!

I was expecting some issues may crop up after the abuse done to the car in the North Sikkim and again Etios surprised me with its fuss free ownership! Its nearing 40,000kms.

There is absolutely zero rattle, car is holding tight. Its still running on the original wheel alignment and wheel balancing! Many would not belief this but its true! Still now no unwanted pull to any directions if the steering wheel is left free and no vibration at any speed and no uneven wear and tears on any tyres!

Now i am getting ready for some expenses ahead-

Firstly the 40,000kms service will be done shortly.
Pending works-
Replace engine oil (Synthetic oil) and oil filter.
Replace spark plugs.
Replace brake oil.
Replace Air Filter.
Full car washing. (The last through wash by opening all the four wheels were done after the North Sikkim trip a couple of months back).

Problems to be reported during the service - As of now none.

After the 40,000 service the next expense will be changing all the four tyres. The tyre noise has evidently increased, the cushioning effect has reduced, and on hard braking the tyres are now skidding easily. Even after a high speed run on twisty roads, i found smoke and burning smell coming from the front tyres. The treads has reduced and the number of punctures has also increased.

Current set up is Good year 165/65/R14. Its the stock tyres which came with the car. Now, 3.5 years old.

Right now am confused between 4 options-

1)Stay with the stock tyres.

2) 185/60/R14 It will reduce the ground clearance by 2mm. I take the car to rough terrains too, so a decrease in ground clearance is a strict No for me.

3) 185/65/R14 This will increase the ground clearance by 6.2mm. So my ground clearance will become 176.2 from 170. New Etios comes with a ground clearance of 174mm. It will be 2 mm more than the ground clearance specified by Toyota. Surely it will help me in bad roads but again am thinking will it hamper the high speed capabilities of the car or the extra width will compensate it! Highly confusing until i drive !

4) Change the rims to 15 inch and get 185/60/R15. But that will increase the cost.

So mostly i will stick between option 1 & 3. Will update once its done.

Choice of tyre-

It was between the Michelene Xm2 & the Yokohama Earth 1. Mostly i will go with the Earth 1 as from the Team Bhp reviews i can find out the high speed grip for the Xm2 is a bit lacking though it improves the fuel efficiency.

Dam , never knew changing tyres were such a tough job and required so much of brain storming!

Next update will be done after the 40,000kms routine service.

[Samba]

40,000 kms service Update.

Etios completed 40,000kms and was given for the service.

Given at Topsel Toyota.

Parts changed-
Engine oil (Fully synthetic)
Oil filter
4 spark Plugs
Brake Fluid
Wind shield washer fluid.
A thorough wash

Air filter was cleaned. It was scheduled to be changed at 40,000kms but Toyota guys said it to be okay, so they didn't change it. Car is still on stock air filter.

Wheel alignment and balancing is still not done. Car did 40,000kms with out a single wheel alignment and balancing done. Tyre changes are pending, will get it done shortly. So at that time alignment and balancing will be done.

They pointed me, the silencer pipe has acquired some rust. But according to them it wont make any problem as of now, so i can drive with it.

Over all work by Topsel Toyota was really satisfying. Only glitch is as per manual the air filter should have been changed but they didn't. So i will get it changed soon when i will give my car for the free underbelly 3m coating which is due in next 6 months.

Total cost for the service was approximately rs 5,500 including tax.

Now adding up the full car service history and parts changed in the 40,000kms duration in 3 years 7 months. (Accessories not included).

A short summary of the car-

Parts changes-

1)6000kms- To replace the fuel hose as it was a recall from Toyota.
Cost- 0

2)A leaked shock absorber at 18,000kms. Cost -0 (Changed under warranty).

3) Upgraded the stock front shock absorbers to the stiffer shock absorbers under warranty at 22,000kms. Toyota gave there customers a choice and I opted for it. Cost – 0

4) A blown out fuse at 22,000kms due to using a faulty mobile charger. Toyota changed the fuse for free.

5)The stock horn was replaced at 27,000kms due to malfunction. Cost-100rs.

6) At 34,290 kms the following parts were changed. Front disk pads with rotors, rear left shock absorber had a leak so replaced both of them. Cost- Rs 11,599

7) At 34,700kms an anti rattling kit was installed due to a kat kat sound coming from the dashboard area. Though the sound vanished of its own we still installed the anti rattling kit. Cost rs- 501.

So apart from these the other general service costs goes as follow-

1) 1000kms- 1st servicing. Cost- 0

2) 10,000kms- 2nd servicing- Changed engine oil and oil filter. (synthetic oil.) Cost- rs-2,800

3) 20,000kms- 3rd servicing. Changed engine oil (Synthetic oil), oil filter, 4 spark plugs, rotation of tyres and greasing the side walls of the tyres. Cost-rs 3,400

4) 30,000kms- 4th Servicing. Changed engine oil (Synthetic oil), oil filter, ac filter, wiper blade. 30,000km service inspection cost, rear brake shoe assembly both side inspection ,front disc brake pad both side inspection ,front wiper rubber change. cost- rs 5,240.

5) 40,000kms- 5th Service. Changed engine oil (Synthetic oil), oil filter, 4 spark plugs, Brake fluid. Cost- rs 5,500

So total expense in 3 years 7 months with 40,000kms = Rs 29,140 . Its coming to 72 paisa per kilometer.

One tyre was changed for side wall cut costing rs 3,400. Not including it in the regular maintenance costs. If its included then the maintenance cost per kilometer comes to 81 paisa.

Next pending work is changing all the four tyres.

Today i upgraded my head lamp bulbs from Roots 90/100 to Philips rally vision 90/100. (Rs 250 each) I already have a Philips plug and play relay installed. The upgrade in bulb has given a fair bit of improvement in the light.

Snow, sea water, sand, jungle, the car has seen all and needless to say it hates posh cities and shopping malls. 40,000kms of awesomeness. Way more to go.....!

[tacho9000]

Congratulations brother on completing 40K kms. I've always been amazed with the way you've maintained and drive this car. Infact completing north sikkim is a mean feat achieved by you. Not every sedan or hatch will dare to go to the terrain you've conquered in 5522. Wish to see many more such super daring adventures in this thread and on the travelogue.

Cheers,
Subhra

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by Samba

Etios completed 40,000kms and was given for the service.

Snow, sea water, sand, jungle, the car has seen all and needless to say it hates posh cities and shopping malls. 40,000kms of awesomeness. Way more to go.....!

Congrats on completing the 40K milestone!

That's one beautiful collage you have made, something that Toyota would be proud to look at.

[Swapnil4585]

That is a neat and detailed review, sir. This is one thread to which I have been paying close attention from a while. I have nearly decided to buy the Etios Petrol, just waiting for the Jazz (and the Team-BHP review )

I have a small query with regard to this -

Originally Posted by Samba

Handling and comfort-
.
but the 170mm ground clearance sometimes fail to protect the Etios from an underbelly scrapping.

Does is sag when there are 4/5 people in the car with a boot full of luggage?

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

That is a neat and detailed review, sir. This is one thread to which I have been paying close attention from a while. I have nearly decided to buy the Etios Petrol, just waiting for the Jazz (and the Team-BHP review )

Please don't call me sir.

Between Jazz and Etios i can share my point of view. The comparison will be in respect to the earlier Jazz.


1) The 1.5 liter engine will be arguable more fun to drive and the more torque of the Etios add as an advantage. Though in higher Rpm the Ivtec will be more rev friendly and smooth.

2) Etios maintenance cost will be lesser than Jazz.

3) Etios will have more space and less bumpy ride than the Jazz. Honda's generally have a stiffer suspension.

4) Both the cars scrap in bad roads.

5) Both have excellent brakes and good handling.

6) Fuel economy will be at par.

7) Jazz has far better interior and feel good factor.

8) Jazz looks much better than the boring Etios.

9) In regards to pricing both should be similarly priced.

10) For week end trips Etios will have much more boot space.

Verdict- Etios will be a practical choice. But Jazz on the other hand is a car which is hard to over look. Every one wants to buy a Jazz and no doubt its a great car! It will be between brain and heart!

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

Does is sag when there are 4/5 people in the car with a boot full of luggage?

Yes with full load and luggage the rear do sag. In bad roads chances of scrapping increases. Generally i ask the passengers to get down if i feel it may scrap.

[Samba]

A small update at 40,500kms

I got a call from Topsel Toyota for a free underbelly 3m coating recheck and a free tyre inspection. Today afternoon i took the car to them.

The 3M coating was checked and they reapplied the 3m coat on the places where it got chipped off due to underbelly scrapping or some other reason.

There was a very faint vibration in idling so they reset the ECU settings by opening the negative terminal of the battery kept it for 10 minutes and reconnected it. The idling is now smooth again.

In 40,000kms service they didn't change the air filter but it was recommended in the owners manual. So i asked them to change it. They did.

The free tyre check up camp was set by Yokohama. They inspectd my tyres and told its good for another 5-10,000 kms. Though i will get it changed soon.

My stock Tata green battery is now 3.5 years old. Toyota guys told me for safety i can get it changed soon.

The clutch pedal was feeling a bit hard. They cleaned the clutch cable and readjusted it. Its again smooth and light like before.

Total damage to the pocket- Rs 645 for air filter, ecu reset and labor charge.

In nutshell car is running like new and my face is

[ashver9133]

[quote=Samba;3638323]A small update at 40,500kms

Dear Samba:
I am also a proud owner of a Toyota Etios G-SP. Two years ago when I bought the car, like everyone, I was a little wary about the quality, the light body etc. (the usual rants about the Etios). However, after 2 years I can say that it was the best decision I made. The car ticks all the boxes, does not compromise on the mechanicals (engine, suspension, gears etc). Interiors are unconventional but very easy to get used to. My running is not as much as yours (done about 18000 km in 2 years), but I have enjoyed every bit spent in the car. It is a joy to drive on the highway and the city. Service experience has been largely positive. I look forward to hearing more from you. Have rated your review highly.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Hey Samba !!

It was brilliant catching up with you as always. Moreover, it was brilliant to make both our Etios's Catch Up for some Good Times together.

Here are the Pictures of the Etios siblings or rather Etios Twins Catching Up -





On the Right : Samba's Toyota Etios G (Petrol), &
On the Left : My Toyota Etios GD (Diesel).

Being inspired by most of the BHPians here and specially by Samba I might land up in writing up an ownership review of my Toyota Etios GD (Diesel) as well in the times to come as it's odo reads 10,000Kms now in 9 months and the 2nd Free Service been done this week itself.

The TOYOTA ETIOS is definitely a fabulous car to own irrespective of the fuel it runs on !!

[Samba]

Etios turns 4 with nearly 44,000 kms on the Odometer.

Etios completes 4 years with us and along with its smiling face we are also happy and smiling due to its niggle free ownership.

Coming straight to the upgrades/changes done-

Changed all the five tyres to Yokohama Earth1.

I have already put up a post on the Yokohama Earth1 thread on how the car is behaving with the new set of tyres. So i will just quote my post from there. In the below quoted lines its mentioned i changed 4 tyres but i replaced the spare tyre few days back. It costed me rs 4,450 and rs 450 buy back for the old spare tyre.

Originally Posted by Samba

For the past few months i was contemplating to change all the four tyre's of my Etios. It came with 175/65/R14 Goodyear's.

The first confusion was whether to go for the Michelin Xm2 or the Yokohama Eath1. After a bit of research i zeroed on the Earth 1 just for its tougher side walls over the xm2.

Now the second confusion was whether to up-size or not. The new Etios came up with 185/60/R15. But i was in no mood to change the rims. So the confusion was between 185/60/R14 & 185/65/R14. With 185/60/R14 the ground clearance will come down by further 2mm which i never wanted and with the 185/65/R14 the ground clearance will go up by 6mm. In new Etios the ground clearance is 174mm and mine is 170mm as its the old model. So if i go with 185/65/R14 the ground clearance of my car will be 176mm. Now the question was will the extra 6mm affect the high speed dynamics or not. After much thinking i thought it should be compensated by the extra width. So at last finalized the 185/65/R14.

The deal and the shop-

Shop name- Indo-Radial.

Price and the freebies- Paid rs 18,500 for the four new tyres. Got 1,000 rs cash back for my 43,000kms old Goodyear's. Wheel alignment and wheel balancing were done free of cost. Plus i got a coupon to fill up free nitrogen for all the four tyres with in the next two months. Plus going by the Yokohama offer, got the Tropicool electronic tyre inflator free.

Few observation's-

1) Looks! Yes it enhances the looks of the car and after up-sizing the over all stance has also improved.

2) As of now the tyre's are more silent than my previous set of tyre's. But its not remarkably silent. I some how feel the tyre noise will increase with more kilometers

3) The braking has improved.

4) Due to the up-size the ride is now more poised and comfortable, the steering got heavier which i am liking more on the highways but there is a slight / negligible drop in the pick up. Plus it has minutely affected the turning radius. The garage where i park my car needs to be put in with exact precision or else the car will hit the wall. After the tyre change i feel the car needs a bit more space than earlier. Where it used to get in with one reverse now i need to reverse twice!

5) Due to up-size the speedometer error increased a bit. When the speedometer is about to touch 100km/hr or say its showing around 98km/hr the gps is already showing that the car is cruising at 100km/hr.

6) At first i felt the vertical movement of the car has increased a bit at triple digit speeds due to the extra 6mm height but again on taking sharp turns or sharp corners i feel the car to be more poised and certainly the handling has improved.

7) After driving on some bad roads i found quite a few small stone's to be stuck on the tyres!

8)The grip on wet road is really good.

9) As of now i am yet to fill Nitrogen. After a spirited 60kms drive i found the tyre temperature to be less compared to my earlier tyres with same PSI of air (32psi).

10) Over all am satisfied with the new set of tyres. If one expects that Earth 1 will change the characteristics of his normal car to a sports car then he needs to look elsewhere. Yes it will improve the handling and comfort but to a certain extent and Yokohama demands a greater tyre life for the Earth1. Now only time can confirm that!

The next change done is, i changed the 4 years old Tata Battery to an Exide Mileage no maintenance battery. Though my previous battery was absolutely fine, this was just another precautionary change. Damage done to pocket - Rs 3,200 by exchanging the old battery. This battery has got 2 years guarantee and exchange warranty for the next 2 years. The manufacturing date of the battery was in 2014 but the guarantee applies from the date i bought it. I have kept the stock specification. Petrol Etios runs on a 35 AH battery.



And the third damage done to the pocket was the renewal of the bumper to bumper insurance from Toyota. I opted for ICICI Lombard insurance. Damage done to pocket was around rs11,900.

With few precautionary changes and the mandatory insurance renewal the 4th birthday turned out to be pretty expensive ! Total damage to pocket was approximately- Rs 35,500

When the tryes were okay for another 10,000kms why did i change them?
When the battery was okay but still i changed it! Why?

Because this car goes for few highway runs, so its better to play safe.

Now regarding the over all status of the car-

All is well with no unwanted surprises.

Lastly a pic of the birthday car!

[Samba]

45,000kms and a silent recall from Toyota to change the seatbelt Pre-tensioners

Few days back i got a call from Topsel Toyota that there is a recall to change the seat-belt pre-tensioners of both the sides on certain Toyota Etios which falls under the defective batch number. Unfortunately my car was under that batch number so i took my car today and got it changed. After the change the seat belts feel more easier.

Secondly, sometimes i felt that the A/C switch need a little more effort to put it on or off. The service guy told me to press on the spot where the ornage light glows on the A/C switch. I tried that and its absolutely fine.

The third thing was, i asked them to do a thorough check up of my car. If every thing goes fine i have some plans to go for a long drive this month. The check up results were positive and every thing was perfect.
I specifically told them to check the clutch. The mechanic could not believe that my car has done 45,000kms after he drove the car! I told him, compared to a new Etios i felt the clutch to be a bit more harder and according to him its a normal wear and tear and my clutch should have more than 50% of its life left. But still if i want to get the new feel then on the next service i can get the clutch plate changed but as of now he told its absolutely fine.

Check up cost with tax was Rs 399.

And lastly we bought an oil burner to share the kilometres with the Etios! So sharing our new members picture in my Etios ownership thread.

[Samba]

Etios completes 50,000kms on a road trip to Ladakh from Kolkata!



The current odometer reading is 51,650kms.

Today got the 50,000kms service done at Saini Toyota.

The total bill amount was rs 8,500.

Works done-

Engine oil and oil filter change.

Wiper washer fluid top up.

3m under body check up.

Foam wash to the exterior body.

Premium interior clean.

The only added attention the car needed was the change of the front left shockabsorber. Its developed a leak.

Got the air filter and ac filter cleaned too.

Brakes shoes/pads checked and cleaned.

Clutch plate was checked and its still good to go.

On the front left seat i found something hard which was intruding up to the seat cover. The service center guys opened the seat cover and found one metal in a misplaced position which was caused due to wrong tightening of the seat cover. They removed that metal piece and now every thing is fine.

Over all no rattles and every other components are doing fine.

Coming to the trip-

Its was nearly a 6,500kms round trip from kolkata. The car encountered excellent highways to super bad roads like water crossing with big boulders or negotiating sharp steep hairpin bends with big rocks and lose gravels but still the car held up well and performed magnificently. In the whole trip the car never needed any mechanical attention. It just performed flawlessly. Even at altitudes over 16,000 feet there were no power loss. Just a tap on the accelerator pedal and it took on the seep climbs easily. The more this car gets old am loving it more!

Few key points from the trip-

1)The over all mileage the car returned was 14.5 km/litre.

2)No rattling sound or any other issues cropped up.

3)The yokohama earth one tyres performed brilliantly. They gripped well in slush or lose gravels during the steep climbs.

4)The new exide battery performed well even in cold places with near to zero temperature. The car cranked every time in the first self itself.

5)There were few underbelly hits so did a thorough inspection today by putting the car up on the ramp. There were no issues or damages found. Everything is just fine.

Time to share some pics of the Etios though a Leh travelogue is on the way!


At Sonmarg.


At Zojila pass.


At magnetic hill.


At Khardungla top.




At Hunder


At Pangong


At Hanle


At Tsomoriri


On the way to Keylong from Tsomoriri