Team-BHP - Toyota Fortuner : Official Review

So finally took the plunge. Taking delivery of the big bull tomorrow morning from another city. pearl while 4*4 MT :)

No discounts (probably floor mats will be thrown in), but on the other hand not a single rupee of additional charges in name of depot fee, handling charges, essential accessories, and the like. Noticed this very late, but respect for Toyota/Dealer for sticking to the sticker charges [ex-showroom, TCS, RTO (receipt verified), FASTAG, TRC (delivery from different city)]. Took insurance from outside - no drama from dealer.

Also, not sure how much to believe of what sales team says (BTW a 4*4MT was not available in Mumbai too), but apparently given strike at Toyota plant, getting hold of new ones would be tricky atleast for sometime now. Maybe Toyota would use this opportunity to introduce the facelift sooner.

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4931826)

Taking delivery of the big bull tomorrow morning from another city. pearl while 4*4 MT :)

Also, not sure how much to believe of what sales team says (BTW a 4*4MT was not available in Mumbai too), but apparently given strike at Toyota plant, getting hold of new ones would be tricky atleast for sometime now.

Since the 4X2 AT has the most demand it’s usually in stock in all dealerships and the 4X4 MT is pretty rare and mostly made-to-order so no stock.

Also since the Fortuner Facelift is coming in Jan 2021 the dealership should have given some discounts atleast!

Hearty Congratulations for your beast!

Thank you all for your kind wishes. Hope to have many worry free miles and able to pass it over to the next gen.

The delivery experience was nothing much to write home about. Functional, efficient and devoid of any glamour.

Took delivery on Monday, when the dealership was closed for business and except for the two guards and the sales executive no-one else was present. All paperwork was completed and the car was cleaned up and parked in the delivery bay on the last working day, i.e. Saturday. Infact the car was just washed twice with water spray, temporary number pasted on plain paper duly taped up and car was ready for ride home for 350 odd kms. This was quite unlike my previous skoda experience where it was buffed up and ribboned up for delivery with all pooja done. I arrived in the city on Monday morning, took two hours to complete the PDI, and then simply drove off without much fanfare - i actually prefer that as opposed to being hounded by the dealership staff around and the car being decked up for everyone to notice the new delivery.

The sales executive kept his promise on delivery date and time, completed all paperwork in time as promised, kitted up the manual, invoices, documents, pooja kit, chocolate boxes and allowed us all the time to inspect and satisfy ourselves. The car was as already captured, 35 kms on ODO, spotless, and PDI was completed without any drama.

Tanked up and set course for highway for 350 odd kms back home. While everything was as expected, did miss android auto. Also didn't quite understand Toyota's logic to not provide coverings in wheel wells (small stones on mud roads created quite a rukus against bare metal). Drive was uneventful, cruised all the way at 80-90 kmph (with eco mode returned an exceptional fuel economy of 12.8 kmpl - although it was with not much passenger or luggage load, just two of us). Once the run-in period is over, will crank up a bit more, and test the power mode too.

Initial impressions - exteriors are much more attractive, flashy and lovable when compared to utilitarian interiors (dark brown actually felt ok, was disappointed initally for not getting the tan option), massive road presence, takes potholes well at high speeds, feels reliable and surprisingly not too sophisticated while driving - in a good way (compared to our superb or the endeavour which i test drove).

Temporary number was already allotted, while the RTO processing is completed in my residence city (payment is done, file submitted, waiting for the RTO staff to allocate registration number). Some pics attached during delivery and after it came to its new home and got bit of pampering at our own 3M car care store.

Free OEM mats to arrive later by courier as they were out of stock. Thinking of just adding 3M nomad mats in beige, and not investing in the so called 7D mats - which personally i feel too overly done and for some reason makes interiors feel less roomy. Also, thinking of getting the auto-fold rear view mirrors, 360 cam (if available), wooden gear knob and door trims to match the central console, and the full-suite extended warranty. Didn't feel much use of other cosmetic accessories.

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4934497)

Took delivery on Monday

Many congratulations and wish you hundreds of thousands of happy & safe miles on the truck :thumbs up The Fortuner looks lovely in white.

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4934497)

full-suite extended warranty. Didn't feel much use of other cosmetic accessories.

Could you please share some details on this front - no. of years of standard/extended warranty and associated cost?

Also, any insights into the facelift timelines from any of the dealers? Any idea if Toyota will continue to provide the manual transmission with the facelift as well?

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Originally Posted by cool_dube (Post 4934962)

Many congratulations and wish you hundreds of thousands of happy & safe miles on the truck :thumbs up The Fortuner looks lovely in white.

Could you please share some details on this front - no. of years of standard/extended warranty and associated cost?

Also, any insights into the facelift timelines from any of the dealers? Any idea if Toyota will continue to provide the manual transmission with the facelift as well?

Thank you for your wishes. I am glad i got to lay hands on the pearl white colour.

On extended warranty, I am yet to get quotes and options - dealership has offered to share all the options and associated costs when i visit them next for its first service. Will share it as soon as i lay my hands on it - wouldn't sign-off without clearance from my trusted mates at Team-BHP. :)

As regards facelift, these guys still sounded clueless. While they are taking bookings for facelift Innova, fortuner bookings seems to be on hault for now as they are not committing on tentative delivery dates - not sure if that is on account of the strike or facelift arrival, or both. But at this dealership they dont seem to have visibility on availability of fortuners next month. Will enquire more when i visit dealership next, and when its open :). Privately the sales guy confessed that they too get most details almost at the same time of the public release.

Overall with 3-4 Toyota Rajasthan dealers i interacted, i found one common aspect, which is that they neither try to oversell or undersell their products. They were neither too boastful of their commanding market position (atleast for innova and fortuner) or apologetic / defensive of their not so great products (liva, glanza, yaris or the urban cruiser). Atleast those i interacted with were polite, duly followed up, were honest about their ability to arrange the vehicle during mad diwali rush, and promptly referred inquiry to other dealers, if they were unsure of arranging the stock - didnt try to sell other product or version than what i desired in terms of colour or specs. This was very unlike of my recent interactions at Maruti, Hyundai or Skoda dealers in same area, who don't seemed to be bothered to followup (whether they had mad rush or not) or start trashing the competition at the slight mention of a product's shortcoming, or oversell a model / version that is readily available over what the customer desires. These Toyota folks seem to be aware and at peace with the shortcomings and strength of their products, for example, he straight up told me not to expect too much from the music system and that Android Auto is a big miss in this day and age. He didn't even once refer to the competition, or went into comparisons of why this v. that, within models or competing products.

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4935179)

These Toyota folks seem to be aware and at peace with the shortcomings and strength of their products, for example, he straight up told me not to expect too much from the music system and that Android Auto is a big miss in this day and age. He didn't even once refer to the competition, or went into comparisons of why this v. that, within models or competing products.

And that's the way it should be. The Fortuner's TG buys the car for very specific reasons. Incremental creature comforts are great but not essential for this TG. I mean just plonk a decent Blaupunkt or Pioneer in there and you get a better HU than most OEM ones.

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4935179)

As regards facelift, these guys still sounded clueless. While they are taking bookings for facelift Innova, fortuner bookings seems to be on halt for now as they are not committing on tentative delivery dates - not sure if that is on account of the strike or facelift arrival, or both.

Per my discussion with a dealer here in Bangalore, they are still accepting bookings for the current version, with a waiting period of 4-6 weeks, depending on the color/variant. Chaotic, for sure!

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4935179)

Maybe it is a dealer/sales-executive thing, because all Toyota SEs I've spoken to, do not miss a chance to bash the Endeavour, specially for it's smaller engine. Most of them, however, do reluctantly admit that sunroof is a big miss from Toyota but are taken aback when I tell them that personally I detest sunroofs and it is one of the factors keeping me away from the Endeavour :D

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Originally Posted by cool_dube (Post 4935514)

Haha nice one. In today's day and age, with smallest of cars trying to accomodate sun-roofs and moon-roofs, someone rejecting a car for having one would surely surprise the majority - but i can relate to it at some level - some things are a straight put-off for many people, could be looks, attitude of sales staff (heck i had one friend who just didn't like the dealership from the outside and refused to go inside). For me, sunroof was the second most missed feature after Android auto, but then the beast makes you forget all of it once you start the drive.

On bookings for new ones, while they are not saying no to take bookings, but given lack of clarity on time for delivery they probably are not actively seeking bookings, unless someone is too committed to keep booking amount parked with the dealer. Guess that is bit honest, remembered the times when Rapid was newly launched, Autobahn Mumbai took INR 25k as booking amount for Rapid Diesel, and even after 2 months with no delivery date in sight, had guts to ask 5% amount towards cancellation of the booking.

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4935682)

On bookings for new ones, while they are not saying no to take bookings, but given lack of clarity on time for delivery they probably are not actively seeking bookings

I agree - none of the SEs I spoke to, are pressing me to book the current model right away, although some did mention that the facelift will come with a price hike which could be as steep as 1.5-2 lac (I'd take that with a pinch of salt).

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Originally Posted by On the Move (Post 4935712)

Everything appears to be quite pricy, and based on feedback only the auto-fold mirrors seems to be the item i may opt for.

Why would you consider that as a must-have, unless you park outside on a regular basis, of course?

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Originally Posted by cool_dube (Post 4935758)

Why would you consider that as a must-have, unless you park outside on a regular basis, of course?

I too thought initially that auto-fold option is a luxury that one can live without, as its just a matter of pressing a button after start and before shutting down the engine,. But somehow it still doesn't seem to have gotten in habit. The size of vehicle necessitates these these are closed while parked, whether inside or outside, just to avoid any accidental encounters. Also, inculcating the habit among multiple drivers in the family too will be a task. Given the reasonable price of about 3.5k it will provide a much desired peace of mind. Also, most times it will also serve as an indicator that the vehicle is locked (save for an off chance where a smartass folds them manually from inside but does not lock the car).

I was more interested in remote tracking GPS accessories and a proper engine immobilizer for any theft attempts.