[Champion]

Kudos Brother Philip! That was an awesome write-up and methinks it's customers like you who are the right ambassadors of the TOYOTA RELIABILITY. We are a Jap-car family too and have only recently shifted loyalty (out of curiosity if I should add). Lets hope that does not prove costly. On another note, I was awestruck when I sat in a Toyota Camry (Model XV50, probably 2012) taxi this morning in Dubai and thought this could be the right place to share it. Photo attached for ye all to see what that was all about - All hail Toyoda!

[Anupam]

Excellent review, being an owner of a 2005 G3 model Innova myself, I am not surprised with the sense of content visible in your diary.

My Innova has clocked around 1,50,000 km so far and I have kept it absolute stock. No issues with the air con or the suspension as yet, seats a little worn out, but nothing to complain about, other than the tyre, battery and the usual consumables, I have had no need for any other change as yet

I found it interesting in your review and to note that the fuel consumption has increased by few km, personally I have never bothered to check the fuel consumption in my vehicle.

I wonder at times if there is any other brand like toyota which can go on and on for ever without calling for any extra ordinary maintainence

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by Champion

Photo attached for ye all to see what that was all about - All hail Toyoda!

That is around 724148, even if we assume if the car is 4.5 years old ( based upon your guess), the car has been running around 440 kms a day for 4 and half years!

[dinesh6481]

Dear Mr Mathew,
I think i have read your ownership review not less than 5-6 times just to convince myself to go for used Innova. I am looking for an able highway cruiser for family outings and occasional long trips. My average driving consist of 5-6 long highway drives and few highway trips on Delhi-Jaipur/ Delhi- Agra highway a year. I think beside my city driving for which i have a hatchback, these highway drives would be in the range of 8-10k kilometre a year. Because of NGT ban on diesel ban in Delhi a lot of good Innova vehicles are available at throwaway prices. A well kept Innova ‘V’ of 2009-2011 vintage would be available within 5-6L with Odo reading of around 70-90K. Do you suggest that i take the plunge and go for these enticing offers Or it is too old a vintage? As far as the NGT ban is concern i intend to get the registeration transferred to Punjab in a year or two, so that’s none of a concern.
I have gone through the T-BHP check list for used car. would you still suggest something special to be checked while going for used Innova. My main requirement is hassle free ownership without any breakdowns. Also the comfort for the rear passengers is one of the major consideration.
Thank you

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by dinesh6481

Because of NGT ban on diesel ban in Delhi a lot of good Innova vehicles are available at throwaway prices. A well kept Innova ‘V’ of 2009-2011 vintage would be available within 5-6L with Odo reading of around 70-90K. Do you suggest that i take the plunge and go for these enticing offers Or it is too old a vintage? As far as the NGT ban is concern i intend to get the registeration transferred to Punjab in a year or two, so that’s none of a concern.

Hi dinesh6481,

I own a 2009 innova for the past 8 years and have clocked 1.2lac kms till date. As far as the car(it's more like a car) is concerned it has bulletproof reliability and the only time my vehicle has not fired up in the first crank was when the battery went flat.

My suggestion would be you consider a post 2010 Innova since they launched the BS4 version in Feb 2010. It would save you from future pollution norms(that affect BS3 vehicles) too. 70-90k kms for a used Innova is nothing but please do a due diligence on the vehicles you shortlist. A car that has been serviced every 5000km and only at the dealer would be ideal.

If you end up shortlisting a car with less than 50k or more than 80k kms then check if the major service at 40k kms is done. Every 40k kms the differential oil, brake fluid are changed in addition to engine oil and oil filter. Regular 10k kms only consists of engine oil and oil filter change. Every 30k kms the air filter and AC filter are changed. So while shortlisting check for ones that have been properly serviced at the Toyota dealership. In addition if 99% of the time there are only going to be a maximum of 7 people I would suggest the 7seater version over the 8 seater. The captain chairs are super comfortable. Even if the owner of the potential innova under consideration has all the service documents please take it to a Toyota service center and get the car evaluated, because another member found out that his pre-owned Innova had its chassis and roof replaced only after almost a year of buying the car, related post.

As far as my ownership experience till date goes I have had to replace the front brake pads once(@62k kms) and rear brake shoes once (@108k kms), 2 sets of tyres, the alternator bearing after the 2015 floods in Chennai (drove through a little more than knee deep water and the bearing failed 1 year post the flood due to rusting, but still started after 2 cranks for me to take it to the service center), V belt was changed due to age and very minor cracks had developed. One good thing is almost every spare will be readily available, so that is not a problem and priced reasonably if you take into consideration their durability. Paint quality on the innova is average in terms of paint thickness so don't be surprised if almost all examples have more than a few scratches on them.

Other than this it has been normal routine service every 5k kms and 2 steering column boots(rubber covers over the joint roughly ₹800) were changed due to wear and tear(@45k kms and 95k kms). Service costs every 10k kms have remained less than ₹7k and the major service every 40k kms has costed a shade over ₹9k. I have not switched over to synthetic engine oil like a few other innova owners on the forum but only use Toyota recommended mineral oil, because 7 liters of synthetic oil is not cheap. Mileage has always remained 11-12 kmpl in city and 12.5-14kmpl on the highways. Other than the above there have been no rattles, no loss in AC cooling, etc., Just a fill it, shut it, forget it experience.


Hope my post was of use to you. Do write a ownership review irrespective of the vehicle you end up buying.

[dinesh6481]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Hi dinesh6481,

I own a 2009 innova for the past 8 years and have clocked 1.2lac kms till date. As far as the car(it's more like a car) is concerned it has bulletproof reliability and the only time my vehicle has not fired up in the first crank was when the battery went flat.
=========
Hope my post was of use to you. Do write a ownership review irrespective of the vehicle you end up buying.

Thank you Shankasta for sharing such a detailed account of maintenance of Innova and validating the choice for Innova. This is more than what i could have asked for. I was not aware about BS-III and BS-IV model difference and you have helped me immensely. I’ll surely post ownership account as soon as i get one. However, the account of fraud car sale has scared the daylight out of me and its great learning too.
Thank you once again

[majumon]

That's quite an emotional write up. Will definitely visit your farm and catch up. The looming ban by NGT is a spoiler else am sure you would agree on keeping ur car. We too have a 06 Innova with just under a lac on the odo and miles to go on, just hope the ban does not affect. Your Petes tuning and K & N filter is on my mind too for some time. All the best.

[qr20de]

@philip.mathew: Thank you for the wonderful write up. I love reading ownership reviews on Team-Bhp. They give amazing insights into how members are extremely passionate about cars and VALUE what they own.

Please do share some recent photographs of your car and some updates if you can too. It would be awesome to see them again!

[joshguy]

Hi all,


I own a 2012 Innova and recently the ignition light came on last week, while driving.
It has done 65k km and was serviced 10 days ago. On calling Lanson Toyota, they took the car and informed me that it's either a rat bite or a short-circuit.

They patched the wire (is what they say) and asked me to change the meter console. As the speedo was not working, it could be a possible short-circuit in the meter as well.

Now, the speedo console along-with the tachometer, etc. costs 45k, so asked them to give the car back.

But the very next day again the light started to come on after I drove 3-4 km. This time I called another garage and they suggested that I check the speedo sensor first, and asked to scan the vehicle ECU.

Today went to scan and the error was speedo sensor. The Toyota guys say that speedo sensor might malfunction as I have removed the OEM stereo and installed a Pioneer audio system.

Can anyone give me suggestion on how to go about and any idea of speedo sensor cost?

Thanks in advance!







Note from Support:
Hello joshguy,

Your post is very poorly constructed, and is an eyesore to read (has been fixed now).

Please ensure that you:

- Use CAPITAL letters where required (this PM is a good example).

- Proof-Read your posts to correct Language & Grammatical errors.

- Use the right punctuation.

- Use spaces properly (between sentences as well as paragraphs).

Thank you for the Support. These steps would go a long way in making your posts pleasurable to read for all of us (members & guests included).

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by joshguy

They patched the wire (is what they say) and asked me to change the meter console. As the speedo was not working, it could be a possible short-circuit in the metre as well.

Rats biting a speedometer console from inside the dashboard is unlikely. More likely they had a go at the wiring which in turn caused a fault. Modern instrument clusters are mainly operated off electronic signals from the wheel or gearbox and ECU unlike the mechanical units of the past. So these electronic components can develop faults due to corroded connectors or damaged wires.

The Toyota guys say that speedo sensor might malfunction as I have removed the OEM stereo and installed a Pioneer audio system.

That's nonsense unless your Pioneer audio installer messed up or damaged the wiring in which case I'd doubt the rat bite theory as well. Incidentally I've used aftermarket audio systems in most cars I owned and the speedometer cluster units worked just fine. I do not allow the installer to touch the OEM harness and use only adapters.

Take the car to a good auto electrician and get a 2nd opinion. But even if the cluster isn't damaged replacing a wiring sub-harness is also an expensive proposition. It is very important to ensure audio or other accessories are fitted without splicing or damaging the OEM harness in any manner.

[sleeperwagon]

Hi all, I just read an article of a KL yellow board Innova that has touched 600,000KMs as of the beginning of this year. I wanted to know whether that's the highest recorded odo reading on an Indian Innova, or are there known examples here with even more KMs on them?

Here's the article link, if anyone wants to read as well.

[ruzbehxyz]

Dear Philip,
Congrats on the ownership of the Innova. This is a well written review. You have proved it that Toyota is known for its robust quality and excellent service. But I would also like to add that, it's not only the company but the passion and care of the owner which makes the vehicle wonderful. The mods that you have done are excellent. Keep driving.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by sleeperwagon

Hi all, I just read an article of a KL yellow board Innova that has touched 600,000KMs as of the beginning of this year. I wanted to know whether that's the highest recorded odo reading on an Indian Innova, or are there known examples here with even more KMs on them?

There was an Innova in the Highest ODO meter reading with whopping 9L KM Since we have better infrastructure, we might see the Crysta hitting these figures earlier, if there is no nation wide diesel ban.

[motorlover]

I own a 2007 Innova Diesel. What do you guys think? Should I sell it or use it for another 1 year ? So far its been great. Just changed the suspension recently.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by motorlover

I own a 2007 Innova Diesel. What do you guys think? Should I sell it or use it for another 1 year ? So far its been great. Just changed the suspension recently.

Hi motorlover,

It is very difficult to find a vehicle that can replace an Innova. Hardly surprising given that most of the current Innova Crysta owners are people who have owned the Qualis and/or first gen Innova.

My suggestion would be unless you are bored of your car do not replace it. Keep it till 2022 and then decide if you want to sell it or renew the RC. Alternatively you can think about sprucing up your Innova, simple interior colour change / seat covers and music system should do the job.