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-   -   Toyota Etios : Test Drive & Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/93914-toyota-etios-test-drive-review-4.html)

Thanks GTO for the great review. I had been eagerly awaiting for this one and rewarded well before monday morning :)

I feel Etios is what Toyota stands for, doesn't necessarily excites but at the same time satisfies all the requirements of a customer which in India market is even more relevant with our value for money attitude. I am certain Etios will have an impact throughout the sedan segment uptil honda city and not just entry level like dzire/manza.

Brilliant review GTO.:thumbs up Saw an Etios last week at Worli, have to say that it looks acceptable and not that ugly as i had imagined in the flesh! When do deliveries start ?

With the color design, it seems that seat covers would be essential! I look forward to hearing about the FE

I kind of like the side profile of the car than many other 8+ Lakh cars in the market. As always superb review.

Thanks GTO for bringing up this review.

I guess all of the Toyota vehicles till data have that Chrome addition especially in the top end models, I had the same chrome feel in my Corolla ans Camry as well. Also Innova top end and Fortuner comes with the same level of Chrome treatment. So this is not something new to Toyota.

Good to hear the body roll is less in a Toyota Sedan, Both Corolla and Camry suffered from lot of body rolls.

Now few questions GTO :-
1. Does the car come with immobilizer?
2. What is the service interval of Etios and how many free service??
3. I guess remote boot lock and petrol tank boot lock are standard, any cost cutting there as well??
4. Why no extended warranty??

I will say this is a glaring miss.
But I guess thats because safety may not feature as a priority for the buyers in this segment. And even without NCAP, an Etios maybe safer in comparison with Dzire / Manza :)

From what I heard the sedan was conceptualized first, and that could be the reason for this.
By the way, the hatch does not have the dated look of the sedan.

Thanks a ton for that awesome review GTO. I had written to the mods earlier that your review on the Etios was long due since T-BHP reviews timings nearly match the timings of reviews by other websites and magazines.
The mods had assured me that it would be here. Thanks once again for a review as is your usual style , practical, to the point and precise.

Awesome job GTO - been waiting (i am sure many others were too) for this for a some time now.Rated 5 stars.

On tot he car = The handling capabilities came as a pleasant suprise. The car may not be a looker, but it still looks a hundered times better than the ugly (IMHO) DZire. Toyota is doing an (little cheaper) NHC - a peppy, fuel efficient and spacious car with the right badge which can easily kill the competition. All in all, i do not see a single reason for anyone to buy a DZire petrol anymore (may be rural areas where Toyota service is not available)

The real question is - can they supply fast enough to cater to the demand?

Brilliant review. I was wondering why I could not find the Etios Review all these days. I've been seeing an Etios on the road for a while now. Must be the dealer TD car.

The base version will make an excellent taxi. Hope all the ageing taxis on the roads are replaced with this. Considering the reliability of Toyota, it will be a hit in this segment. I wonder is Honda is planning a competitor.

Undoubtedly, this is going to be a massive sales success (it already is!). I cannot really explain it, but this car irritates me, perhaps it's because of it's looks (which are also disproportionate) and its blatantly obvious cost cutting measures. While I have not had the chance to check out the car in person, it seems 'cheap' to me, and I am not referring to just the price of purchase.

The 900kg weight along with the bootlid feeling flimsy also riles me up. Think about it, the Swift and the Ritz weigh almost a 100kgs more. An A-star with an automatic transmission weighs almost as much (895kgs, 860 for manual tranny). That's the difference in weight with cars made by Maruti, a manufacturer that usually keeps the weight down to the bare minimum. Unless Toyota came up with materials that no other car manufacturer knows about, they've cut corners. The less said about the interiors with their 100cc motorbike like instrument console, the sun visors from an Ambassador to the saggy cloth in the boot right behind the seats and the countless other omissions, the better.

Since I criticized the car's proportions, which differs slightly from GTOs views, I thought an illustration might help (at the bottom of the post). Any car, which has a boot longer or almost equal to the length of the bonnet, would look disproportionate. It afflicts the Manza and the Dzire too. Reducing the length of the boot would have resulted in lesser capacity (very slightly) that could have been offset by folding rear seats, which are a boon anyway.

Thanks GTO for the review that shared the nooks and crannies of Toyota's made for India sedan. It keeps me grounded to the fact that brand value (not being facetious here mind you, I understand that brand value takes some building) would trump styling, glaring omission of kit and just about everything else each and every day.

Thank you GTO for the wonderful review. The overall design, Dash, Interior funky red inserts, not meeting the expectations. Dropped my plan to wait for the Etios Hatch.

The Etios will also grab market share from Honda City. Though the segments might be different, the badge status is the same, and Etios top end costs 6.86L while City top end costs approx 10L ex showroom.

A lot of people might prefer the Etios top end over City top end (manual), just to save 3 lakhs.

Great review GTO. (As always :))

However, for the car itself I am not sure what to make of it. It has a few ("considered as bad") features, which IMO would make a few already made opinions look not so smart.

1) Central console - A lot of folks gave crap to VISTA for its central console. It would be interesting to see what would be said of ETIOS
2) Cost cutting - A lot of people gave crap to NANO just because it is an inexpensive car. Now, Etios shares a few features with NANO - single wiper, central console, thin seats, integrated headrest and not sure what else. Does this mean TATA can learn the art of cost cutting from Toyota if ETIOS is a success or is it only advisable to cut costs for established brands? I would say most of it is in the mind of consumers.
3) The Looks - I am not a fan of this car's grill. I don't agree that a company like Toyota can only design so much for a product aimed at emerging markets.

However, this product is all set to be a huge success and it would be a puzzle how a logan fails whereas Etios succeeds?

Thanks for the pics and pointers.
Was waiting for the etios thread and this really is a Damp Squib.

Poor man's toyota ? (no offence intended)

First things first...GTO and superb car reviews are synonymous now..Hats off to how you come up with such a wonderful report.

Secondly the car, I will quote Amartya here "I cannot really explain it, but this car irritates me, perhaps it's because of it's looks (which are also disproportionate)".
It looks bad to me atleast, not that will dent any of its sales, because if looks were to be of any importance, D'zire might be rusting in the stocks (no offence, personal thoughts only).
But I am getting worried about the Tata's now, because Toyota might have targeted D'zire, it will hammer more of the Manza here. As GTO said, Maruti is a maruti after all.
Etios surely is a good offering and with Toyota tag, it might do a Fortuner soon. A good ride and peace of mind is what most will need, and since this is the lowest cost offering of Toyota, it might give the pride feel to its customers, as all other competitors are known for cars costing much less. Also on a second thought, how will it effect the Linea numbers, considering Manza dented that too. Hope Fiat doesn't end up in single digits soon (hope not, I love the Punto).