[rrsteer]

Hi all, what is the average of your Etios. I was shocked to know that my car delivered just 9.8kmpl based on the most recent calculation. This was 100% city driving (moderately congested city roads; not a metro) with AC on 10% times.

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by rrsteer

Hi all, what is the average of your Etios. I was shocked to know that my car delivered just 9.8kmpl based on the most recent calculation. This was 100% city driving (moderately congested city roads; not a metro) with AC on 10% times.

I get around 12kmpl in my Diesel Liva with AC on at all times. 100% city driving here.

Highways is a totally different story though. I easily get twice of what I get in the city.

[amateurpro]

My ownership report after spending 4 years with Etios V (July 2011).



The key things I like about my Etios are

• Driving comfort and pleasure.
• Good comfort (enough space for 5 adults)
• The biggest boot one can find in this segment
• Last but not the least, the car has not aged much in 4 years.

The few things I don’t like are

• Filmsy bumpers (front and rear)
• Missing rear a/c vent

Given below is my detailed review

Performance

There is nothing to beat an Etios when it comes to a spirited performance. I have reached a maximum speed of 160 kmph once with Etios. Normally, I try to stay within a range of 100 to 120 kmph even in the best of highways due to safety considerations unique to India. The acceleration is rapid and the high torque on offer makes driving such a pleasure. Even in bumper to bumper traffic conditions inside a city, one can cruise in 2nd or 3rd gear with one’s legs off the gas pedal.



Etios is built for driveability and not exactly for mileage. But if one knows how to handle this car, the mileage figures could drastically improve. This car needs far little inputs on accelerator pedal compared to most other cars. If driven properly with minimum acceleration and braking, this could return a mileage of 12 to 13 kmpl in city and 16 to 20 kmpl in highways, as I am getting now.

Interiors

The sitting comfort is awesome for the driver and passengers. Long drives are a pleasure anytime of the year. Look at the leg space for rear seat passengers when the front seat is pushed maximum to the front.




Etios is probably one of the very few cars that have provision to hold many 1 litre Tupperware sized bottles.



The chilled glove box also comes handy during long drives to store soft drink or water.



Our experience with audio system has been good after the addition of the rear speakers.



Air conditioning is good and works effectively even for the rear passengers. Rear vents could have served better for the rear passengers. Even during summer, the a/c is effective during long drives. Only for the short drives, the air conditioner may not cool the cabin fast enough during summer months.

Talking of plastic quality used in Etios, look at the recent pictures below. The plastic used on the dashboard looks as fresh as it did when it was brand new.

[ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]



Exteriors

No complaints again as the car looks as fresh as it was four years ago.

I would certainly prefer the bumpers to be stronger than how they are.
Just look at the enormous boot space. The boot is deeper than the three feet umbrella kept inside.



I have added few things like a rear parking sensor and 3M underbody coating for added convenience and durability at the time of purchase itself. Now that my 3M underbody coating is about 4 years old, should I go for one more round of coating again?

Only when I renewed my insurance last month, I realised that my car has entered the fifth year. I usually change my car once in five years. As of now, my Etios looks too new to consider a change for the next five years.

[subratasenn]

Originally Posted by saadat1992

People!
Have any of you tried wading through bonnet high water? I did today in my Liva Diesel and it started chocking when I braked on seeing a car come in the opposite. Created a huge wave and both my car and the one that came in the opposite( Jazz) got hit by the wave. After he passed, I started to move and noticed the car chocking.
Switch on my hazard lamps, backed out of the street. Scared the crap out of me because it happened sometime ago( 12:30am ) and it was raining.
Are the etios twins capable of handling situations like these? :/

Yes, it's capable of handling this. I just did last week. Frankly, most cars can handle this, if you know how to drive in these conditions. I've even waded through bonnet high water with my Alto VX (the 1100 cc model, now obsolete) with water flooding the floor of the car. These situations do happen one or two days in a year in Kolkata (in Mumbai too).

The tricks are:
1. Don't panic
2. Come to first gear when you are getting into deep waters ( )
3. Drive slowly but steadily. Do not try to go fast in a water-logged street in high gear.
4. Always put a light pressure on your accelerator so that water doesn't get into your exhaust pipe (that will spell trouble)
5. If you need to slow down or stop do that with your clutch
6. Don't think that your car is damaged if you see smoke oozing out from your bonnet. That's not actually smoke, it's water vapour as cold water is touching your hot bonnet. Hence, don't panic again.

Previously, petrol engines used to have a problem if water got into the spark plug ignition. With newer engines and certainly with diesel engines you can ride through till of course you are drowned!

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by subratasenn

Yes, it's capable of handling this. I just did last week. Frankly, most cars can handle this, if you know how to drive in these conditions. I've even waded through bonnet high water with my Alto VX (the 1100 cc model, now obsolete) with water flooding the floor of the car. These situations do happen one or two days in a year in Kolkata (in Mumbai too).

The tricks are:
1. Don't panic
2. Come to first gear when you are getting into deep waters ( )
3. Drive slowly but steadily. Do not try to go fast in a water-logged street in high gear.
4. Always put a light pressure on your accelerator so that water doesn't get into your exhaust pipe (that will spell trouble)
5. If you need to slow down or stop do that with your clutch
6. Don't think that your car is damaged if you see smoke oozing out from your bonnet. That's not actually smoke, it's water vapour as cold water is touching your hot bonnet. Hence, don't panic again.

Previously, petrol engines used to have a problem if water got into the spark plug ignition. With newer engines and certainly with diesel engines you can ride through till of course you are drowned!

I panicked because it was well past midnight and my car had battery issues :P

Help was several KMs away, backup car too was very far away.

It was a narrow street, I braked on seeing the jazz(This was my first time wading bonnet high water) , this was when I stopped giving throttle inputs cos naturally your feet tend to go to brake and clutch when you stop.

And then it started to choke! Then I decided to play safe and backed out of the street right away.

[sudev]

Sorry but wading water beyond the height of your air intake is wrong. Any water ingested into air intake will kill the engine with hydrolock resulting in bent crankshaft or piston rod's.

At best you can create continuous bow wave ahead of car by keeping constant speed through water. Exhaust will keep bubbling as long as engine is running.

[Shanenanigans]

I really hate to bump up old threads, but I can't seem to be able to find the USB/AUX accessory for purchase anywhere online. I asked the local guy if he can get it done, but he said I gotta get it done from Toyota since it's not an aftermarket system.

[mohaks19]

Hello folks. I was planning to upgrade the stock tyres on my Etios (G Petrol) that it currently shod with 175/65 R14 (shitty) MRF ZVTV tyres. Can I put in 195 section tyres? Was apprehensive if they'll brush against the sidewalls (a local tyre dealer claims they will). And which brand and model is the most apt for a corner carver? I was thinking of Michelin Energy XM2.

[amateurpro]

I like the cladding added to the hatchback that makes Etios Cross look super cool. Has anyone tried such cladding on their Etios Sedans? As of now, Toyota does not seem to offer it.

[kotirajendra]

Originally Posted by kotirajendra

Do bear in mind that the ETios sold in Brazil is different than the one sold in India. I checked the Brazil website and using google translated some of the specs. The Brazil etios gets load limiters and pre-tensioners. The boot space is also lower. Couldn't find the body weight anywhere so that is one aspect that I couldn't compare.

I bought home an Etios Petrol VX last week and we can now safely assume the Latin NCAP rating on it. The model I bought has seat belts with pre-tensioner and force limiter. This information was listed on the brochure that I got from the dealer. It is not listed on the http://www.toyotabharat.com/ website for Etios but you can find the updated specifications on http://www.toyotaetios.in/. Toyota has made so little effort to propagate the updated specs that neither those manning their facebook account, phone customer support or a dealer rep knew of it. I found it only from the dealer provided brochure.
Etios is today the most VFM car in the market; will post an initial ownership review soon.

[kotirajendra]

Originally Posted by mohaks19

Hello folks. I was planning to upgrade the stock tyres on my Etios (G Petrol) that it currently shod with 175/65 R14 (shitty) MRF ZVTV tyres. Can I put in 195 section tyres? Was apprehensive if they'll brush against the sidewalls (a local tyre dealer claims they will). And which brand and model is the most apt for a corner carver? I was thinking of Michelin Energy XM2.

Hi - I am no BHPian or an expert in tyres. However my 2 cents. After going through a lot of material on this website I came to a conclusion that there is nothing much to be gained from going to 195. You will lose fuel efficiency and I doubt how much more comfort you will get over what the Etios already delivers. The VX model ships with 185 and if you ask me I would play safe and go with that size. Frankly I found the stock Goodyear tyres that came with my etios (VX) good enough; I do lack a frame of reference to compare it against. XM2 is available in 185 and so is goodyear duraplus. The positioning of both these tyres is "tough and made to last" - and to my mind this translates to Indian conditions.
Let me know what conclusion you reach and the thought process and rationale behind it.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by amateurpro

The chilled glove box also comes handy during long drives to store soft drink or water.

Another thing I do with that glove box is to keep fruits in there for long trips. Gives a nice cool and fresh feeling, if you keep it there for 1 hour or so.

Originally Posted by amateurpro

Talking of plastic quality used in Etios, look at the recent pictures below. The plastic used on the dashboard looks as fresh as it did when it was brand new.

True that! And that's what quality means. Not how it looks aesthetically.

Originally Posted by amateurpro

Only when I renewed my insurance last month, I realised that my car has entered the fifth year. I usually change my car once in five years. As of now, my Etios looks too new to consider a change for the next five years.

Most Toyotas are 10-15 year cars. 5 years is a piece of cake for these durable machines.

Originally Posted by mohaks19

Hello folks. I was planning to upgrade the stock tyres on my Etios (G Petrol) that it currently shod with 175/65 R14 (shitty) MRF ZVTV tyres. Can I put in 195 section tyres? Was apprehensive if they'll brush against the sidewalls (a local tyre dealer claims they will). And which brand and model is the most apt for a corner carver? I was thinking of Michelin Energy XM2.

I would recommend that you switch to the 15" RIMs and supplement that with the 185 mm Michelin XM2 tyres. That way you are keeping the tyre size in sync with what the vehicle was originally designed for and you get better cornering ability due to

• lower profile of the 15" tyres and
• 10 mm wider tyres.

[amateurpro]

Many parts of Chennai had seen an unprecedented rainfall in the month of November followed by a destructive spell on 1st Dec. It led to severe flooding and scores of people lost their homes or belongings. Luckily, we did not have water entering our home as it did with many other homes.

Though better off compared to most others, we spent four nights without power, internet connectivity and mobile signals. When all else failed, our spirits and Etios kept us going.

Thank you Etios.

Last week, I was contemplating giving my car for service since life was returning to normalcy and my 50,000 km service was due. But my friends (none of them have a Toyota) told me that most service stations are not in a position to accept cars as they are overwhelmed with breakdown maintenance of cars affected by floods.

So I tentatively made a call to the nearest Toyota service station on 8th Dec to book a service appointment even if it means a month's wait. To my surprise, they were ready to take my car instantly and I told them to pick it up on the following day. They picked up the car as promised and within a day, they delivered the car home after completing the service. How is it possible that Toyota alone did not have much of waiting time in a flood ravaged Chennai? Did they have much less breakdown issues in their cars compared to other brands? The promise of Quality is very genuine in the case of Toyota.

Thank you again Etios. My next post would cover some of the minor cosmetic touches I have done to the car.

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by amateurpro

Many parts of Chennai had seen an unprecedented rainfall in the month of November followed by a destructive spell on 1st Dec. It led to severe flooding and scores of people lost their homes or belongings. Luckily, we did not have water entering our home as it did with many other homes.

Though better off compared to most others, we spent four nights without power, internet connectivity and mobile signals. When all else failed, our spirits and Etios kept us going.

Thank you Etios.

Last week, I was contemplating giving my car for service since life was returning to normalcy and my 50,000 km service was due. But my friends (none of them have a Toyota) told me that most service stations are not in a position to accept cars as they are overwhelmed with breakdown maintenance of cars affected by floods.

So I tentatively made a call to the nearest Toyota service station on 8th Dec to book a service appointment even if it means a month's wait. To my surprise, they were ready to take my car instantly and I told them to pick it up on the following day. They picked up the car as promised and within a day, they delivered the car home after completing the service. How is it possible that Toyota alone did not have much of waiting time in a flood ravaged Chennai? Did they have much less breakdown issues in their cars compared to other brands? The promise of Quality is very genuine in the case of Toyota.

Thank you again Etios. My next post would cover some of the minor cosmetic touches I have done to the car.

Both Harsha & Lanson have huge service centres. Which service center did you get your car serviced at? I was told that there was a half a KM long line outside Lanson, ECR. Its been more than fortnight since the deluge & I'm sure most of the flood hit vehicles would have been taken care of by now. Well, this is just my opinion! Not sure what the actual reason is

[amateurpro]

Hi @Saadat1992. I got it serviced at Lanson, ECR, Neelangarai. My vehicle was picked up from my home and returned the next day. I did not notice much crowd (of flood ravaged vehicles) in that showroom even in the first week after the big floods. I could have possibly missed what you are mentioning.