[SKannan]

You mean to say the rattles at low RPMs in higher gears? Had you removed & refitted the IP for any reason in the past? As far as I have seen Innova was a relatively rattle free car since I had travelled in them as Taxis extensively.

The blinding headlights from oncoming traffic may be the reason for the poor visibility on unmarked roads. Just my thought !

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by SKannan

..
... was the "presumed" great build quality!

Reliable it may be, like a typical Japanese vehicle.
However the build of both the Fortuner and Innova felt flimsy with weak/tinny-feel interior and exterior panels when checking out the vehicles as a prospective buyer.
Also both the vehicles are not wide enough (as much as an XUV500 for example) to comfortably seat three adults in the second row.

[Viper21]

I have booked the crysta gx diesel 8 str auto in super white this week.
As the gx super white is plain and basic I was planning on enhancing the looks and functionality
1. Chrome window garnish
2. Black + Chrome side garnish
3. Tail gate protector etc

I am also interested in n adding a 360 camera system

Where in Bangalore can I get these accesories? I am also impressed by what sonic cars secundrabad are doing on crystas . Any reviews or experience with them?

Thanks a bunch

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by SKannan

I believed Toyota Innova was a rattle free vehicle . Anyone else faced rattles & squeaks in their car?

I am just in the process of booking an Innova this week and one of the reasons for choosing Innova was the "presumed" great build quality!

Our Crysta had a minor rattle from LH B Pillar panel which service center fixed during service. No other rattle from anywhere, even when I've driven it roughly. Also it's gear knob has become free, which was surprising for me. Haven't got time to get it fixed yet.

I'll still call these one off cases. The car is built very tough and the interiors are robust. What I didn't like at all was the exterior finish. Paint quality has degraded quite a lot, and the panels feel ding prone.

[Shreyas Agarwal]

Originally Posted by SKannan

I believed Toyota Innova was a rattle free vehicle . Anyone else faced rattles & squeaks in their car?

I am just in the process of booking an Innova this week and one of the reasons for choosing Innova was the "presumed" great build quality!

Happy to report that even after 1.1 lakh km there has been no rattle from my car despite being driven primarily on an under construction stretch for the majority of its life.

But from the majority opinion it seems like I am the lucky guy here. Hope it stays that way. Touch wood.

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

What I didn't like at all was the exterior finish. Paint quality has degraded quite a lot, and the panels feel ding prone.

I used to think that the degradation of paint was a function of my chauffeur using the dirtiest rag he could find to wipe dust off a dry car but if its degrading with even the kind of care you put in then definitely there is something wrong which Toyota should work on.
Toyota paint quality is anyways very poor. The orange peel effect on darker shades of the Crysta and Fortuner makes me believe that Toyota employs monkeys in its paint booths.

Thin and ding prone panels has always been the gripe of every Innova owner since 2005 I guess.

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

Another major irritant for me is the front passenger seat, it shakes and vibrates crazy if the seat isn’t occupied. Very distracting while driving and irritating to see if you’re a rear passanger right behind the front passenger seat.

Being a primarily chauffeur driven owner, this is an issue for me as well. It doesn't make a sound but looking at it shaking is an irritant in itself. Tortured by this for over 12 years now. Faced this in my 2009 Innova and now with the Crysta.

If we are sharing some niggles, the headlights are shockingly poor on unmarked roads, during rain, with slightest of oncoming traffic.

While I find the low beams adequate, the high beams are more like small lanterns. They do almost nothing to light the road ahead. The lights are bad to the extent of being a safety hazard imo.
Heck, my 11L Urban Cruiser is way better in this regard. It does a way better job of lightning the road.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Shreyas Agarwal

Toyota paint quality is anyways very poor. The orange peel effect on darker shades of the Crysta and Fortuner makes me believe that Toyota employs monkeys in its paint booths.

Our car had numerous dust specs in paint(surprisingly 1 per panel) and I had a doubt that it was perhaps repainted. However, a quick paint depth test revealed that it was original paint. It was quite hard to believe.

Then there was this strange case of our car missing paint around engine bay. Link (Toyota Innova Crysta : Official Review). The car was unloaded in our presence, so there was no question of car being repaired by dealer. Our preliminary investigation revealed that it was perhaps a QC lapse at Toyota's end. Since we didn't have any issue with the car, we chose not to push it.
Recently a known chap got a Fortuner 4x2 in Bluish Black shade, and that too had similar dust specs on almost every panel. Very similar to ours.

Off topic, but recently Brotomotiv too posted a video about poor quality original paint on a Safari with dust specs and all. Toyotas paint has also gone along similar lines. Orange peel effect is even worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpDKdLHw8N0

Also, I may be wrong, but have a feeling that the finish on recent Crysta/Fortuners is very soft and easy to damage. Most resilient IMO are paint finishes of VW and Ford. Again this is my observation and I don't have any data to prove it.

[bravo82in]

Dear folks,

I own a 2020 Crysta Gx AT, 22000 km run. Of late I realized that the braking is jerky (Sudden bite) at low speeds and not so smooth at high speeds (I can feel a bit of jerk). Took the vehicle to Toyota work shop, SA suggested to replace the brake pads. he said brake pad have a life of another 4k kms left.

Just a few quick questions:-

1. What is the average life of brake pads of AT variant? (My driving is 30% city, 70% highway)
2. Can the problem be something else?
3. Are the OEM brake pads good enough? Is there any other brand better than the OEM?

Thanks and regards
Bravo

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

2) Highway performance : This car isn't spirited. Best to cruise at 80-100kmph. Anything more and the car does feel a little labored & the engine gets too boomy at higher RPMs.

Still?

The only thing that I h-a-t-ed in the old Innova was the short gearing on highways. You either cruise at 80km/h or accept the background noise and go at 3500+rpm.

Haven't driven the Innova Crysta at highway speeds yet, so can't comment. Why can't Toyota just give it the 6 spead gearbox? They did offer it for a short time in the Touring Sport.

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Also, I may be wrong, but have a feeling that the finish on recent Crysta/Fortuners is very soft and easy to damage. Most resilient IMO are paint finishes of VW and Ford. Again this is my observation and I don't have any data to prove it.

True. Atleast in the Asia/India specific models, Toyota paint quality is pretty poor. Easily chipped. Agree on the VW paint quality. A steel house gate hit the office Octavia, and I was expecting a dent or atleast paint to be exchanged. Was surprised to see there wasn't any blemish.

BTW, @Leoshashi. No ownership thread on the Innova. Not emotionally attached as the other two? Or simply cause the workhorse doesn't have time left to be pampered.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by bravo82in

1. What is the average life of brake pads of AT variant? (My driving is 30% city, 70% highway)

Depends entirely on the driving style. If we brake the same way as we do on a manual gearbox vehicle on the torque converter models, the brake pads will get over in 10k - 20k kms.

The fundamental difference that we need to understand is that torque converters have a loose fluid coupling which means when you take the foot off the accelerator, it almost coasts like being in a neutral gear. While this increases the ride comfort due to the lack of deceleration, it also means zero engine braking. This is what I have been practicing to take care of it.

• When you anticipate a deceleration situation, take your foot off the accelerator a tad bit earlier than what you would do on a manual gearbox. This is to compensate for the lack of engine braking.
• If you are coasting down a hill / parking ramp, switch to manual mode and slot it into one gear lower than what you would normally do in a manual gearbox. This is again to compensate for the loose fluid coupling on a torque converter
• When you are idling in a traffic light, slot it into N ( if you have a non touring sport variant ) or slot it into P ( if you have a touring sport with engine start / stop feature )
• Understand that the vehicle is 2 ton but still accelerates like crazy. If we drive at a higher speed than what the road traffic conditions permit, we just end up wasting fuel, brake pads and degrades passenger comfort. So, get a hang of the ideal speed for any road and try cruising at that speed.
• Validate your driving style by explicitly asking the brake pad thickness after every service. When the degradation in thickness is slow, you will know that you are driving the right way. PS: Some service centers note the brake pad thickness in your bill. But, some of them will only note it in their internal records. So, you will have to explicitly ask your service advisor to get this info.

I have been following the above practices and I have never had to replace my brake pads on the Crysta 2.8 AT. The odo reads 58,000 kms now. In the last service ( 55,000 kms ), the service center mentioned that it has around 4.7 mm brake pads left. So, it might last for another 5,000 - 10,000 kms. Once it's around 3.5 mm, I'll get it replaced.

Originally Posted by bravo82in

2. Can the problem be something else?

It can be a case of warped discs as well which is also a function of brake pad getting too thin, the weight of the vehicle ( which is already high ), and the frequency of aggressive braking. This could have already happened for you as well. I will recommend explicitly asking the service advisor on the condition of the discs and whether it needs a thin lathe cutting to make it smooth.

Originally Posted by bravo82in

3. Are the OEM brake pads good enough? Is there any other brand better than the OEM?

Thanks and regards
Bravo

The OEM brake setup on the Crysta is not good enough for frequent aggressive braking. But, I'll still stick with the OEMs for warranty and insurance sake.

[kcz]

Originally Posted by Viper21

Where in Bangalore can I get these accesories?

I took the delivery of my Crysta GX 8Str Auto (Silver) on 14th Nov. It still has <100KM on the odometer and is waiting to be taken on a long drive.

I got my car accessorised by Konark car accessories in HSR and found them to be reasonable in terms of quality and price. Still waiting for my seat covers that I ordered with them.

For 360 degree camera, I was promised by the dealer that I would get one (Multi terrain monitoring system as per Toyota) as a part of the Crysta special edition offer. I booked my car before Nov 1. Apparently the dealer is waiting for the kit to arrive and is keeping me on wait.

Yup! Car Sonics, Hyderabad seems to be doing a fantastic job wrt accessories but making a trip to Hyd just for accessories seems a bit too much to me

Thanks,
Kiran

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by SKannan

But what is the justification for the 4L that the VX variant commands over the GX variant? Apart from features like ACC, Fog lamps, Defogger, Ambient lighting, is there any other safety related feature added in VX?

That is what I was saying -- its not worth the money. You can add some of these thing in aftermarket at reasonable cost.

ZX makes sense from safety perspective.

[amalji]

2021 Mileage update for Innova Crysta Touring Sport Diesel AT

Current odo reading - 58000 kms
Vehicle age - 3 years 11 months

Raw Data


Mileage Graph

• Any mileage over 13 kmpl is because the drive is mostly highway.
• Highest tankful to tankful method mileage for 2021 is 14.43 kmpl and the lowest recorded is 10.11 kmpl
• On 4 lane highways outside of Kerala, I mostly try to use cruise control at 98-99 kmph GPS speed ( around 108-109 kmph on the speedo meter )
• On 2 lane and 4 lane highways of Kerala, I mostly try to use cruise control at 78-79 kmph GPS speed ( around 84-85 kmph on the speedometer )
• The only exception to the above 2 speed rules is when there is a bunch of slow moving vehicle and I want to get away from them. Then I forget the rules and does a blast to move ahead fast.
• The drive where I got the highest mileage ( 14.8 kmpl MID, 14.43 kmpl tankful to tankful ), 50% of the drive was in Kerala where I was cruising at 78-79 kmph. When I exited Kerala ( after around 325 kms into the trip ), the MID was showing a mileage of 15.7 kmpl. And then it came down to 14.8 kmpl by end of the trip.
• Cily mileage in 2021 was helped by the lesser traffic in Bangalore due to the after effects of the pandemic.
• Average MID mileage for 2021 - Tankful to tankful method - 12.08 kmpl, MID - 12.78 kmpl
• MID values seems to be manipulated by Toyota to give the customer a 'better feeling' of mileage. The average error is +5.79%

[sunilg33]

You are spot-on on the MID error. I also find the difference between actual and MID values in that range. My highway figures are around 14-16 and 10-12 in the city. Mine is a 2.8 AT.

[sridhu]

Originally Posted by sunilg33

You are spot-on on the MID error. I also find the difference between actual and MID values in that range. My highway figures are around 14-16 and 10-12 in the city. Mine is a 2.8 AT.

Typically I find the discrepancy to be about 0.5 kmpl (not 1.0 kmpl) on the Crysta. In the Jazz it is about 1 kmpl.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Still?

The only thing that I h-a-t-ed in the old Innova was the short gearing on highways. You either cruise at 80km/h or accept the background noise and go at 3500+rpm.

Haven't driven the Innova Crysta at highway speeds yet, so can't comment. Why can't Toyota just give it the 6 spead gearbox? They did offer it for a short time in the Touring Sport.

It's certainly not as bad as the older Innova.

Crysta Manual is an improved cruiser, with engine being at 3000 rpm at 140kmph. That's the maximum I've taken it to. For all cruising speeds of 100-110, it feels very refined and relaxed. Initially I hated it since Eco mode feels really lethargic and sloppy. But PWR mode is something else.

BTW, @Leoshashi. No ownership thread on the Innova. Not emotionally attached as the other two? Or simply cause the workhorse doesn't have time left to be pampered.

The Crysta was bought as a replacement of our Old Gen Innovas, which were used by my grandparents. After 2nd wave of Covid, they've been living with us, so the driver was no longer needed, and dad started driving it. Also since he got transferred to some other city, he took Crysta with him and I rarely get to drive it. Thus it doesn't get pampered like other cars at home which are directly under my maintenance, nor do I think I deserve to write an ownership review on it, mainly because I'm not it's primary user.

Regards,
Shashi