[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Wow! Is that a typo for 40,000 or has it actually done 400,000 kms?

It was 425,000 or something like that! It is not a typo. I happened to hire the vehicle at about the 375,000 mark once. I could feel it was down in power somewhat. Saw no smoke, but at for the PUC we all know!?

How could it have been 40,000 when I sold it at 62,000+!

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by Victor

When i crossed a speed hump, the tyres used to squeal my hunch is that brakes were holding the car while flywheel was providing the power. Is it advisable to put the car in N while crossing and again move it to D. It might reduce the brake wear all of you were discussing however i would like to know if it will have any adverse effect on transmission.

Any other best practise in driving will also be hugely appreciated

For speed bumps, the best practice for any car would be to not go straight, and go a slight angle if possible (ie, both the front tyres should not go at the same time).

For Corolla, the best way is the above, but keep it dead slow or decelerate depending on the height of the speed bump. I find it good to not press the accelerator on a speed bump or any road patch. That is take off the foot of the accelerator. That reduces the impact of a bad patch.

[sgiitk]

@vasudeva: Agreed.

I got a real shock when I switched from the Esteem to an Accent which has a far softer suspension. Before the GQ came up going on NH2 towards Kalpi (Delhi side) just past Kanpur at Bhauti (distt. HQ od Kanpur dehat) they had a rumble strip to protect the children (read Babus). While the Esteem took it with aplomb, the Accent gave me a scare. I figured out that approaching at an angle was the solution. I now do it for most rumble strips (and bumps).

[Axe77]

I was thinking additional 40,000 after point of sale. But thats really amazing. Didn't realise they have that kind of life in them.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

How could it have been 40,000 when I sold it at 62,000+!

[Victor]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

For speed bumps, the best practice for any car would be to not go straight, and go a slight angle if possible (ie, both the front tyres should not go at the same time).

For Corolla, the best way is the above, but keep it dead slow or decelerate depending on the height of the speed bump. I find it good to not press the accelerator on a speed bump or any road patch. That is take off the foot of the accelerator. That reduces the impact of a bad patch.

Vasudeva: Thanks for the advice about the humps, i figured it out the hard way after scrapping the bottom... thankfully nothing happened to the car

[vasudeva]

Some early-2009 photos of my Corolla. I have seen that whenever I take an exclusive photo of my car, it gets banged pretty soon. The last photo was shot a day before all the left side was hit (refer my Oct 2007 posts)

[ScorpMan]

IMHO, Corolla has one of the best GC amongst sedans. The humps Victor is referring to must be huge even by Indian standards. 15days back i took my Corolla on a Haryana-Punjab visit (this route has the nastiest speed breakers i have ever seen), with a load of 5 passengers and luggage, the car easily glide over them without a single scrapping instance (and it was driven straight over them, both front wheels together). I think the only other sedan in the Indian market with that kind of GC is SX4. Even our Tavera has scrapped its belly on these humps on occasions.

[ScorpMan]

I also feel that Corolla has one of the most sensitive or rather thinnest body sheets. Especially the front fender area, it gets dented even on the slightest of touches. Few days back, a parking attendant was standing with his back leaning on the front fender, and bang.., there was a huge dent.
I was about to give him a huge thrashing for this, but i tried to bring it back to shape by putting a bit of pressure from inside the tyre wall (it is quite easy to access, by simple putting the plastic covering aside), and WOW, it back to its original shape. After that, it has happened twice and the same repairing technique worked wonders.

But, i wish Toyota must have used a heavier gage sheet ( a.k.a The Octavia).

[Victor]

Originally Posted by ScorpMan

IMHO, Corolla has one of the best GC amongst sedans. The humps Victor is referring to must be huge even by Indian standards. 15days back i took my Corolla on a Haryana-Punjab visit (this route has the nastiest speed breakers i have ever seen), with a load of 5 passengers and luggage, the car easily glide over them without a single scrapping instance (and it was driven straight over them, both front wheels together). I think the only other sedan in the Indian market with that kind of GC is SX4. Even our Tavera has scrapped its belly on these humps on occasions.

you need to look at the speed breakers on bangalore - hyderabad road near Ghooty!! they are HUGE... i just scrapped a lil you should have seen the plight of the Civic infront of me!

one more piece of advice needed, i intend to put reverse sensors on the rear bumper, any advice if i should stick to toyota or can look at after market?

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by ScorpMan

I was about to give him a huge thrashing for this, but i tried to bring it back to shape by putting a bit of pressure from inside the tyre wall (it is quite easy to access, by simple putting the plastic covering aside), and WOW, it back to its original shape. After that, it has happened twice and the same repairing technique worked wonders.

The same thing happened to me. While it was standing at a tyre filler, one scooter waiting behind me got smacked by a car. and the scooter banged into my car's rear bumper. The bumper went in but came out on its own. So it can take some light impact, but bigger force impact results in larger damage.

The best thing for keeping the car silent long-term is to befriend a service advisor at Toyota, and get minor squeaks/rattles rectified every quarter (3-4 mths). It takes less than 30 mins (excl. time to reach the station). The squeaks inevitably develop from the passenger front and involve loosening of some nuts in doors, rear view mirror, airbag, etc.

I have a Toyota service advisor living close to my home, and I have got squeaks rectified at home too.

[ScorpMan]

one more piece of advice needed, i intend to put reverse sensors on the rear bumper, any advice if i should stick to toyota or can look at after market?


Best would be to stick to Toyota. It might be expensive, but the quality of their accessories & fittings is worth paying extra.

[vasudeva]

Do these reverse sensors make any sense???. I am very bad at reversing and not judging when to stop. Result: over 14 years, lots of nicks and scratches on bumpers of various cars (use spectacles since 1991 but even that does not help).

[ScorpMan]

I think it depends on how comfortable you are reversing a particular car, its rear-view visibility, height & length of the boot. In cars like SX4, it does make a lot of sense.

[vasudeva]

More than 6 months since the last post. Whether continuing this thread is debatable (car no longer in production) but nevertheless if it is some interest, my Corolla H4 has now completed 3 years and is out of warranty. Not that it matters.

My 2 year report had 37K approx. However, it has now increased to only 45.5K as of week 157 (7-mar-10) or 3 years. The low mileage accrued during the last year was mainly because my office shifted to NOIDA. Thus, instead of driving 71 km every work day (to and fro), I now manage with only 22 km. Weekly average for a full week has ranged from 120-280 km.

In year 3, costs incurred include:
1. service in 5/2009 at around Rs. 14,000. This included service+ brake pad replacement+rear brake disk replacement. I had to incur an extra cost of Rs. 5 K approx because I delayed replacement of brake pad by 2-3 days.

Other costs on cleaning, petrol, and denting/painting are not included because those are optional.

Expected costs in year 4 (till March 2011) would be mainly tyres. They have done 45.5 K and most of them are good enough for another 10K or so. However, one of the 4 has now been punctured 1-2 times in the last 3-4 mths. Do not want to replace that with the spare one since that is almost new (except for some emergency replacement) with less than 100 km on the road.

FE has gone down considerably during year 3. Till year 2 (or till 2/2009), it averaged 10.5-11 kmpl. That was because of some highway driving. In year 3 however, it has dropped to around 9.5-10.3 kmpl with the highest being 11.4 (previous 2 year highest exceeded 13). The drop is attributable to shorter distances, more city driving, some broken roads (blame the PWD, Metro, Commonwealth, and all govt agencies). The drop in mileage hardly matters to the wallet though. My monthly fuel bills have dropped by around Rs. 4.5-5K, apart from 1K savings on Gurgaon toll payments. Not considered is the savings on wear and tear (consider tyres, brake pads, service, etc) which could add up to another 1K per month.

Overall year 3 has been another great year for my car and reinforced my commitment and loyalty to both the car and the company. As they have taken care of me, I will repay their commitment by buying only a Toyota for my wife (sometime next year).

Finally, would the forum administrators consider revising the thread title to say 45.5K/3 years.

[MAS]

Great going Vasudeva.

As always your report is a pleasure to read. I own a 2004 H4 (W/out ABS). It has done 30K kms now (as i drive the Fusion most of the time). I had a hissing noise coming from the engine whenever it is accelerated. Lanson guys have informed me that it is due to a faulty bearing of the A/c compressor & would cost me 45K.

Otherwise the car is great and is really a pleasure to drive.

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I had to incur an extra cost of Rs. 5 K approx because I delayed replacement of brake pad by 2-3 days.

Why did it cost you 5K extra for a delay of 2-3 days?