[amalji]

Originally Posted by GTO

Saravanan Mohan drops the following email. Thanks for sharing!

"The above information may be confirmed by form members like amalji who has good relationship with dealers. "

Talked with the service head in Nippon Toyota.
He did confirm on this issue. And he said, it's applicable even for the Innovas. Infact, he said that he has seen this only on Innovas till now, and most of them are govt escort vehicles who use their horns continuously to push through traffic.

The impact?

Airbag Spiral cable might have to be replaced ( Costs around 10k for the Innovas, not sure about the cost for Etios. Will share when I get it. )
So, in case the airbag spiral cables are damaged for a vehicle fitted with additional horn, Toyota won't respect the warranty.

Probability of Occurrence

The service lead mentioned that as "very rare". Nippon Toyota has 0 occurrences of this issue for Etios/Liva till now. They have seen it in some innovas. But, most of them were used as government vehicles which bang the horn continuously to make way through traffic.

Symptoms of failure

Either
Airbag indicator glows up on dash.
or
Horn stops working.
You won't end up in a situation where you do not know that the airbag is not going to work if an accident happens. So, in that respect, it's good. I was afraid of this when I first saw this post.

What I'm going to do?

I'll keep my Bosch horns intact for the following reasons

• Probably of occurance is so low. 0 occurance for all Etios/Liva sold via Nippon Toyota was re-assuring
• Safety doesn't take a hit since it does give a symptom when it fails, so that I can proactively get it repared.
• Maximum damage that I'm going to take ( even if this rare occurance happens ) is around 6000 or so.
• A louder horn on Indian roads, I consider it as a necessity for safe driving, especially in a densely populated state like Kerala, where pedestrian facilities are pathetic in most parts.

Lesson Learnt

Understood that even changes that we think are harmless can cause issues to other components. It's always safe to make any modifications only from OEM dealerships. Especially, if you are a Toyota customer in Kerala ( since, I've not accessed Toyota dealerships in other states ), try to stick to Toyota dealerships for any modifications because almost everything you need is made available there.

[driving_smartly]

Originally Posted by DwarkaDelhiWala

Once they turned toward Inderpuri side (i know you are in Kerala but some one who is in Delhi might find it interesting) - the road which is almost empty and no red lights - they switched on the instrument. He drove in between 40-50 KM/Hr, 5th gear and almost on left side of road. Meter showed average of 14.4 KML. Then one traffic light came and FE dropped to 11 KML. After that he took a U-turn and switched off the instrument as soon as we entered main Patel Nagar Road.

Any further updates ? Was Toyota A.S.S properly able to address this low FE issue ?

One of my colleagues in office has Liva VX Dec 2011 model and even he reports poor FE, but it does not bother him as he has done around 5.5k in 27 months of ownership.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by amalji

What I'm going to do?

I'll keep my Bosch horns intact for the following reasons

• Probably of occurance is so low. 0 occurance for all Etios/Liva sold via Nippon Toyota was re-assuring
• Safety doesn't take a hit since it does give a symptom when it fails, so that I can proactively get it repared.
• Maximum damage that I'm going to take ( even if this rare occurance happens ) is around 6000 or so.
• A louder horn on Indian roads, I consider it as a necessity for safe driving, especially in a densely populated state like Kerala, where pedestrian facilities are pathetic in most parts.

Spend 300 INR on a relay.
Relay works like this.
If you have your powerful horn on a relay, the current through the horn pad will be miniscule(even less than stock horn). Relay wiring will take all the load.

[saadat1992]

Usage of relay helps a lot! My Liva has 2 relays for non oem fitments! The 90/100w headlamp relay and the horn relay. The horns I use are the Hella Red grille Supertones which are very powerful and are working just fine with the relay.

[anand.shankar]

I Posted this question earlier, not sure which thread.

I have a 2011 Petrol Liva, on cold starts I experience erratic RPM. It fluctuates between 500-800 RPM, the engine shudders a bit as well. I know these RPM values from the OBD II BT adapter I have connected to the car. But the situation is stable once the A/C is switched on. Then the RPM sits between 800-900 clicks.

I tried resetting the ECU by disconnecting the -ve battery terminal overnight. The next day the situation was worse, the engine RPM was all over the place even after warm up . It became better after 100~200Kms. Is this felt in other Livas as well ? Or does my car/ECU have an issue ?

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

I Posted this question earlier, not sure which thread.

I have a 2011 Petrol Liva, on cold starts I experience erratic RPM. It fluctuates between 500-800 RPM, the engine shudders a bit as well. I know these RPM values from the OBD II BT adapter I have connected to the car. But the situation is stable once the A/C is switched on. Then the RPM sits between 800-900 clicks.

I dont have any such issues in my diesel Liva. During cold starts, it gets a little bit clattery(not too loud) and it settles down after a couple of kms.
Get it checked with Toyota!

[rajivr1612]

Hi I have a 2012 Liva GD model. Running is very low, just recently crossed 11,000 kms. The third free service is coming up next month.
The only complaint I have is since the past few months the gear shifts have become bit hard. Not that it was butter smooth earlier, but 1st to 2nd is bit rough and 2nd to 3rd is also not quite smooth. Further shifts are ok.
Can someone help?

[Kn1ght1941]

Hi guys,

I bought a Liva V in March this year, and I must say, Toyota has tried hard to improve its image with the updates.

Toyotas do not have excellent interiors in their budget models anyway, but they are comfortable and durable.

I have not experienced any problems with the car even though I have used it quite a bit. I am taking it for a road trip to Kolkata later this month, and the reports will be posted on the forum for all to see.

Happy to say this is my 7th Toyota owned, and in its category it is a pretty competent car.

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

Hi I have a 2012 Liva GD model. Running is very low, just recently crossed 11,000 kms. The third free service is coming up next month.
The only complaint I have is since the past few months the gear shifts have become bit hard. Not that it was butter smooth earlier, but 1st to 2nd is bit rough and 2nd to 3rd is also not quite smooth. Further shifts are ok.
Can someone help?

2012 GD & just 11k kms? Wow.
How often do you drive it?
Mine's 2012 GD too! Its currently at 28,500~ and I thought my running was low :P
Do you keep it idle for weeks? That might actually be the reason for the gear shifts to become hard.

[subratasenn]

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

Hi I have a 2012 Liva GD model. Running is very low, just recently crossed 11,000 kms. The third free service is coming up next month.
The only complaint I have is since the past few months the gear shifts have become bit hard. Not that it was butter smooth earlier, but 1st to 2nd is bit rough and 2nd to 3rd is also not quite smooth. Further shifts are ok.
Can someone help?

Gear shifts are not hard in Liva, only the clutch is hard. During my third free service, TASS changed some component in the gear assembly free of cost even though I was not complaining.

The service person said that this was needed as per the instruction given to them with 2012 diesel cars.

Frankly, I didn't bother to notice which part they were changing. I've found slotting the reverse gear has become better with this component change.

In any case, if you are having a problem with gear slotting, go ahead and tell the service people to correct it. They'll do that with a smile, that's the positive aspect of Toyota servicing.

[rajivr1612]

Originally Posted by saadat1992

2012 GD & just 11k kms? Wow.
How often do you drive it?
Mine's 2012 GD too! Its currently at 28,500~ and I thought my running was low :P
Do you keep it idle for weeks? That might actually be the reason for the gear shifts to become hard.

Almost 80% of the 11k kms are from my Chennai-Kerala-Chennai trips. One Salem trip coming up this weekend.
Local drive is only during weekends to nearby malls.
My 3rd free service is coming up in few weeks. Anything that can be done by the service centre for this? Apart from this I have no other complaints.

[rajivr1612]

Originally Posted by subratasenn

In any case, if you are having a problem with gear slotting, go ahead and tell the service people to correct it. They'll do that with a smile, that's the positive aspect of Toyota servicing.

Will sure do that. Clutch for sure is hard. This gear issue is also quite recent. Apart from this, the car is has given me a headache free ownership.

[anand.shankar]

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

Will sure do that. Clutch for sure is hard. This gear issue is also quite recent. Apart from this, the car is has given me a headache free ownership.

I have a 2011 V petrol, Clutch-GB config might be different from the Diesel. The clutch and the GB are quite light. But I feel the gear shifts are too vague.

I don't have any persistent rattles but if I hit a pothole or rough patch all the panels throw a fit and act as if they are not screwed in properly. It feels the same as my office Indicab which has clocked 2Lak kms. :

[rajivr1612]

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

I have a 2011 V petrol, Clutch-GB config might be different from the Diesel. The clutch and the GB are quite light. But I feel the gear shifts are too vague.

I don't have any persistent rattles but if I hit a pothole or rough patch all the panels throw a fit and act as if they are not screwed in properly. It feels the same as my office Indicab which has clocked 2Lak kms. :

Clutch is a bit hard on diesel model. But after the third free service shifts feel much better. I had put in a word to the SA. Also got the front shocks changed under warranty. So no more "thud" when hitting potholes. Absolutely no rattles after two years.

[manduks]

I test drove the Liva VX a couple of weeks ago. Was impressed with the improved quality of plastics and low NVH - though I don't understand how fog lamps + steering control + alloy wheels + electric adjusting mirrors adds 50K to the price of a Liva V!!

Anyway, during the test drive I think I oversteered a bit while taking a U-turn, perhaps I was used to an Alto without power steering. My friend who owns an Innova and Altis said that he has experienced a tendency to oversteer in all his Toyota cars. It's not much of a problem once you get used to the steering which felt very very light to me.

While I liked the overall look and feel of the car plus the drive seemed fun, the one thing that I have a nagging doubt about is the side door. It felt very light and thin when I shut the door - at least to me. The worry I have is that in a side impact collision, this could affect the driver/ passengers significantly than a full front impact. Is my fear unwarranted? Would this apply to other cars as well - Brio, Swift or Grand i10 which I am also considering?