[getsurya]

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take the BOSS out for a 'stroll' to Ananthagiri forests near Hyderabad with my family.

It was a round trip of 162km. Ananthagiri is a famous picnic spot which has lot of greenery and good trails for trekking, camping etc. There is also a Padmanabha swamy temple which is famous among the locals. River Musi starts from nearby this temple for its flowing journey. Ap Govt can really make this a wonderful weekend destination, if the will exists.

Coming to the car performance from geography titbits, BOSS performed well and took with ease some of the bad patches of the road in its natural comfort. When all other cars stopped for finding some motorable patches, BOSS glided over the non existing roads regally.

I had a 'signature moment' too, when a Maruti 800 driver ahead of me suddenly stopped without any warning or indicator in the middle of the road! This idiot wanted to buy fruits being sold on the road side and slammed his brakes, no pullling over to the left or anything, bang in the middle of the road!

I must be around 500-600 metres behind him doing ~100km speed and had to swerve to my right to avoid a full ahead collision and slam my brakes hard! All the passengers in the car including my kids were belted up and hence had no injuries of any sorts. I pulled my car aside, walked coolly to the driver and asked him what he was doing and the guy responded to me saying that I was very far behind him. I told him he could see the car in his rear view mirrors but cannot judge the speed and the distance. I also asked him why he had to stop in the middle of the road instead of pulling his car to the left of the road, to which he responds by giggling and saying that I can see his car and should move away from it. I asked him to get out of his car took him to talk to my family and they gave him and his wife a mouthfull for being a very irresponsible driver, my 7 year old daughter asked him if he does not have children in his car?

The car's VSC and the brakes performed spot on with no heart pumping feelers to me. I was for sure happy with the VSC feature which ensured that the car was 'in line' safely. So, VSC- Checked!!

FE returned was 10.13, with AC being on all the time including the in-between short breaks.

Overall, good composed ride and a good weekend jaunt!

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Now that is bad from VW. I am in the market for replacement of my Ritz VDi (Dec 2010 model) that had clocked 1.05L kms. Was thinking of Polo GT TDI or the New swift ZDi.

May be a little , however, I think that having a look at the Renault Pulse should be a good option unless you are not okay with that Brand or Design of the vehicle.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

May be a little, however, I think that having a look at the Renault Pulse should be a good option unless you are not okay with that Brand or Design of the vehicle.

No buddy. No to all companies except Maruti!

I need reliability and good ASC that is located in villages as I work in a village area where RTC transport is less seen but 6 kms from my work place Hyundai and Maruti have an ASC and both are good in workmanship.

I am hooked onto the Maruti Swift ZDi and this is my next car.

PS: Sorry for this post in Toyota Fortuner Thread.

Anurag.

[V12Doc]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

No buddy. No to all companies except Maruti!

I need reliability and good ASC that is located in villages as I work in a village area where RTC transport is less seen but 6 kms from my work place Hyundai and Maruti have an ASC and both are good in workmanship.

I am hooked onto the Maruti Swift ZDi and this is my next car.

PS: Sorry for this post in Toyota Fortuner Thread.

Anurag.

I would not recommend a Swift, My experience has been pretty bad with a Swift. It is an awesome drivers car but absolutely shitty when it comes to safety. It is reliable though but the problem is you will be left stranded even if you hit a stray dog at 40kmh. The car will have a radiator bust, intercooler etc all gone. If a dog can do so much damage to a car think about it in a collision. Also I have seen a swift getting nudged by a truck. If there would have been passengers in the back they would have been surely dead. Also the front portion of swift is all plastic but a competitor say i20 has it in metal. So go for hyundai i20. It is way way safer and also reliable and sorry for hijacking your fortuner thread.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by V12Doc

I would not recommend a Swift, My experience has been pretty bad with a Swift. It is an awesome drivers car but absolutely shitty when it comes to safety. It is reliable though but the problem is you will be left stranded even if you hit a stray dog at 40kmh. The car will have a radiator bust, intercooler etc all gone. If a dog can do so much damage to a car think about it in a collision. Also I have seen a swift getting nudged by a truck. If there would have been passengers in the back they would have been surely dead. Also the front portion of swift is all plastic but a competitor say i20 has it in metal. So go for hyundai i20. It is way way safer and also reliable and sorry for hijacking your fortuner thread.

LOL.

Thanks for sharing your experience and frank opinion! You seem to one of the case for me on the Swift.

Had the Swift been so 'Unreliable and Unsafe' why would it sell? People don't buy it for a short duration. All the owners in my known circle are pretty happy with that car except for boot space (Doesn't bother me).

It is a reliable and safe car when ZDi/ZXi is considered. VDi/VXi, lacks safety features but no comments on this. Dog hitting etc, I don't buy this point of yours, I have hit a dog in my Ritz VDI multiple times. Have had an intercooler change at 75K. So you say the Ritz is unsafe?

If there a change in car, Swift ZDi it is.

You seem to be a Hyundai fan boy . i20 costs of ownership high + doesn't drive well when compared to the Swift. So ruled that option out. Polo GT TDI was on my mind but worried about VW so ruled that out too. Nothing else of worth looking at. So it is the Swift.

PS: This is my last post on this topic. Please let's get back on to Toyota Fortuner.

Anurag.

[getsurya]

This is my last post on this topic. Please let's get back on to Toyota Fortuner.

Thank you, Anurag!

Folks, please come back to Fortuner(BOSS) discussion rather than other stuff.

[V12Doc]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

LOL.

Thanks for sharing your experience and frank opinion! You seem to one of the case for me on the Swift.

Had the Swift been so 'Unreliable and Unsafe' why would it sell? People don't buy it for a short duration. All the owners in my known circle are pretty happy with that car except for boot space (Doesn't bother me).

It is a reliable and safe car when ZDi/ZXi is considered. VDi/VXi, lacks safety features but no comments on this. Dog hitting etc, I don't buy this point of yours, I have hit a dog in my Ritz VDI multiple times. Have had an intercooler change at 75K. So you say the Ritz is unsafe?

If there a change in car, Swift ZDi it is.

You seem to be a Hyundai fan boy . i20 costs of ownership high + doesn't drive well when compared to the Swift. So ruled that option out. Polo GT TDI was on my mind but worried about VW so ruled that out too. Nothing else of worth looking at. So it is the Swift.

PS: This is my last post on this topic. Please let's get back on to Toyota Fortuner.

Anurag.

Its nothing about a fanboy. I actually have driven all the hatchbacks in the range and seen some accidents of close friends. VW Polo and Hyundai i20 are probably the safest. Even a figo is safer than a swift. I paid around Rs.8k and Rs. 13k after claiming insurance and that was only a dog hit. The things gone bust were - Wheel Well, Bumper, Radiator, Intercooler, The front plastic protecting the radiator, windshield washer and some more stuff. I recommended Hyundai because of their equally vast network, a better reliability and better safety. In India people have a herd mentality, Oh everyone is buying the swift so it must be awesome. It is a very good car, no doubt in that. It is the perfect car for city rides but going to villages, highway runs I would prefer taking a bus over it. It can take a beating too, trust me on that. We have taken it to places no one will ever dare. If i20 was priced equally as swift it would have way more buyers. My first preference would be Polo GT TDi but it would be stretching the budget way too much. If you can buy a fortuner I dont think a 1000 here or there during car service would really make a difference when it comes to your own safety! And do not go with the international safety results for swift because the model that sell in India is way way different that what sells in Europe. They have reduced steel and a lot other stuff making a total weight reduction of 45kgs compared to the international version. It was all for mileage and cost savings. I cant really force it on you but I would really recommend look at the alternatives!

[getsurya]

Its nothing about a fanboy

V12Doc, I guess I have been repeating in the few posts below to keep this thread discussion to Fortuner. I would respect if the fellow members adhere to it.

Mods, Kindly delete the non-Fortuner related discussions from this thread!

[iamapc]

getsurya - Congratulations on your BOSS!

I got delivery of my Fortuner a month back and am enjoying the way it drives. From my very limited usage thus far, I agree with most of the improvements suggested in this thread. I feel the horn is a bit weak and does not match the road presence of the vehicle. Any suggestions on replacing the horn without impacting the warranty?

[getsurya]

Any suggestions on replacing the horn without impacting the warranty?

Hi iampc,

Congratulations for your new Fortuner. Welcome to the creed!

As long as you do not cut any wires and meddle with original connectors etc you do not risk having any warranty issues.

I have Vibrasonic horns as my highway option and in city, I use the stock ones!

Happy Motoring!

[getsurya]

Hi Folks,

Seasons Greetings!! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ahead!!

It is update time for this thread!

BOSS has been running fine and has breached the 3000km mark. The best mileage recorded so far is 10.7kmpl per the MID.

The car had its first 'rear kiss' by a careless biker who was aptly addressed. Probably, slight rubbing and polishing will negate the scars/marks.

Based on the inputs from Guderian and Karan, purchased the one piece solid stepney removal rod as an able back up for the wafer thin 3 piece tommy provided by Toyota. Did a small DIY to keep it rattle free in the trunk tray.

A coolant bottle was also added for the home kit, for any future requirements. The ASC was persistent in selling it saying that the car would not require any top ups from the Customer end.

Pictures attached for your viewing pleasure!

[getsurya]

One left over picture, continued.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by getsurya

...was persistent in selling it saying that the car would not require any top ups from the Customer end...

- Possibly because that reduces your need to go there and they could sock you with charges on other additional items when you land up there ! If you are a heavy user of the vehicle and run to the ASC every 3 months it is possibly not required as the routine servicing may take care of it. But if you are a 'low mileage on the odo' type then your visit could be anytime between 3-6 months initially (during warranty) and later 12 months, may be, just to change oil (once in 10K KMs) after the warranty. The coolant could vanish from the reservoir during this period even on infrequent/low daily usage too.
- I have also seen other ASCs (not as of yet Toyota's though) topping off few MLs (drops even) of coolant during routine servicing and then adding it on to the final bill as half or one litre of coolant, at a rate which is at least twice the rate if you procure your own bottle and add to it the taxes then the amount is equivalent of that of liquid gold.

[getsurya]

Originally Posted by Guderian

- at a rate which is at least twice the rate if you procure your own bottle and add to it the taxes then the amount is equivalent of that of liquid gold.

Agree with you. I told the ASC about my fixed need and had to push them to sell it to me.

I had to reach out to my contacts to ensure no further questions were raised and it was billed against my car's registration number.

Struggle was mutual :-)

[getsurya]

Some warm winter morning pictures of BOSS basking in sun!! Was out of the parking slot due to painting work going on at the apartments.