Service Update: 160,000 kms
Got my car serviced just before Diwali. 160k service was supposed to be a major one, including all differential and transmission oil change on top of regular service. Another thing which I was willing to look into was rubber bushes in suspension that were gone bad and were making squeaky sounds. Also, I had been observing some rust patches in the underbody of the car. Nothing surprising, considering the car is 7 years old now and 3M anti-rust treatment done in 2009 was in very condition by now. So I asked Toyota to give the car a fresh coat of 3M treatment this time (comes with 5 years warranty, as usual). As we all know Atlantis runs on aftermarket suspension, Toyota were not able to replace the suspension parts and kept insisting on full suspension overhaul. Just out of curiosity, I asked them the cost as per their valuation, they came up with a quote of 1.4L
despite a few refusals of replacement from my end. Why such high quote, you ask? No child part replacement... they would like to replace full upper and lower suspension arms for a rubber bush gone bad! Thanks but no thanks, I said and decided this work to get done outside of Toyota ASC. Rest of all work was done by Toyota only. Total cost at the end of the day = ~15k including ~5k for 3M treatment. Reasonable IMO.
A few pics from servicing day.
Started with a thorough wash... I am not kidding, this wash lasted 70 minutes since they could not get all dirt out all this while and I kept showing where all the dirt was! haha.
A general look at underbody. As you can see, all that off-roading and overlanding has left a few scars on underbody. The fact is, most bolts in Atlantis were jammed badly. A good dose of WD40 required to loosen them up.
Rear Diff Oil changed. Oil looked healthy going by color and texture... still got all oils replaced as per schedule.
Brake Pads opened up and cleaned thoroughly.
One of the rubber bushes in lower part of shock absorber is visibly cut in the pic below. All rubber bushes have been replaced with brand new kit, at my FNG.
Prop Shaft Greased Properly.
Center Diff Oil changed as well.
A Fresh coat of 3M Anti-Rust Treatment.
Final Servicing Bill...
Once the service was complete, my Toyota looked handsome as usual!
Since the service consumed a couple of hours and I was at Toyota for a while, got to test drive both the LC Prado and LC 200 during this service. As a current owner of a Fortuner, I was left totally unimpressed by both. I am not joking, I fail to see any value in both these Land Cruisers in India. Prado at 93+ ex Delhi and LC200 at 1.35+ Cr ex Delhi, Toyota is crazy to offer these cars at such eye watering prices. Both test drives cars were old, no doubt but I fail to see what do these cars offer on top of Fortuner at such high price! No Diff Locks in the vehicle I test drove, No crawl mode, no air suspension... worst Prado has same 3.0 D-4D unit as my Fortuner. LC200's V8 left me wanting more too! Sure some of the things I am complaining about were added in later models, but at what cost! I am sorry to say, but current Ford Endeavour has more to offer than these big Toyotas in today's world IMHO. I was thinking to put myself in one of these LCs in later years, however after these test drives, I am a changed man! No LCs for me. Thanks but no thanks!
A few more random pics below about Toyota's used grades of engine, transmission and diff oils... Just in case someone is looking for this info.
A check-list I managed to capture that is being followed by Toyota to service Fortuner.
I got all the rubber bushes changed at my FNG. My apologies for not taking any pics that day (dead phone battery!). Lots of aftermarket suppliers push for Innova bush kits, however you need to insist for Fortuner specific kit only. The one I bought was imported from Thailand by a company called RBI, this kit was specific for Thai Toyota Vigo and is exact replacement of OEM Fortuner rubber bushes. Costed me 3.3k for the kit and INR 800 in fitting the bushes. Since I was getting the suspension work done, also decided to replace the ball joints as well since there was some play being reported by Toyota as well as my FNG. All in all, except for shocks and tie end rods, all wear-n-tear items in front suspension replaced. Total cost of replacement was ~15k. Still very reasonable IMO.
However, there was one issue with camber bolts. 2 of the bolts were so badly stuck that these could not be opened up (7 years of grueling off-roading, you see). They had to be cut out and replaced. I realized it later that one of the camber bolts in the car was not OEM Fortuner, but for Innova. Need to get this mistake corrected. May be today or tomorrow.
Rest all is well with the car... Atlantis purring along.