Initial experience with my diesel Toyota Etios

automachine · 21st August 2012, 09:44

Well it has been some time I posted an updated. Actually I wanted to get the 20K kms service completed so that I can provide a comprehensive update. Just few days before the service schedule, my car met an accident with a tempo coming at high speed from service lane before outer ring road at near my place in Ahmedabad. The impact was on the left front side and it turned the car 90 deg. Everyone inside car was safe but the car suffered quite a lot of damage. The car is now with the dealer and I am waiting for the assessment of the damage done. So would keep posted on the repair work.

AutoIndian · 21st August 2012, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by automachine

Just few days before the service schedule, my car met an accident with a tempo coming at high speed from service lane before outer ring road at near my place in Ahmedabad. The impact was on the left front side and it turned the car 90 deg.

Very unfortunate indeed, it pains to see the car in that condition for no fault of yours. The rogue tempo drivers bother least about other road users. The impact seems to be a major one as the sheet metal has been torn apart & the suspension spring is visible

Quote:

Originally Posted by automachine

Everyone inside car was safe but the car suffered quite a lot of damage. The car is now with the dealer and I am waiting for the assessment of the damage done. So would keep posted on the repair work.

That's the silver lining in the dark cloud. Car damages can be repaired, but damage to the limb or life is irreversible. Thank your stars that everyone is safe. Do let us know the what the dealer/insurance company has to say. Wishing you & your car a fast recovery from this incident.

amalji · 27th August 2012, 03:27

Oh!!! Good that you survived that accident without any injury. Thank God.
Do, keep us updated about the car repair process.

sups · 5th December 2012, 16:37

Hi automachine, how is your car performing after the accident? Could you get it repaired upto your satisfaction?

automachine · 22nd June 2013, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by sups

Hi automachine, how is your car performing after the accident? Could you get it repaired upto your satisfaction?

First of all, I am extremely sorry for not replying earlier. The car is performing fine and it has covered 36K+ kms on ODO. No issues with respect to engine performance or chassis stability etc except for the door touching the metal sheet on sides above front wheel. This was corrected to some extent during 30K service. I do feel that Toyota should have provided thicker metal sheet even though the chassis is strong enough to handle hard collision accident like I had encountered.

automachine · 22nd June 2013, 21:04

Before I cover the 30 km service, the accident damage came to around 85K of which I had to pay around 15K and rest was paid by the insurance company United Insurance. Just after that I had to replace the rear door as it got damaged due to my negligence in reversing the car while the door was open and it got stuck at my residence iron gate.
30 Km service:
The service was done at Infinium Toyota, Ahmedabad. I asked the SA if he can order the front suspension for replacement under warranty as Toyota was providing them free of cost. Initially he said it would take couple of weeks,however fortunately he found the part available and himself suggested to get the suspension replacement during service. I asked for synthetic oil change and usual service. The service quality was good though not exceptional. However I do not the like the fact that they keep asking to give 10 rating when getting feedback call from Toyota HQ.

No issues in driving performance and pretty happy with car so far with long trips and covered 36K+ distance on ODO. Fuel average seems to lie between 17kmpl to 20 kmpl depending on driving styles. It seems on highway it is best to stick to below 120 kmph to get best fuel average. One of my hella black trumpet horn started giving issues (it would turn off and on) on highway runs (strange as the issue never occurred if car was stationary) so replaced it with Roots which gave the same issue and finally replaced it with Minda black trumpet. However I think the Minda horns sound different from Roots or Hella so still planning to go for Hella again which were quite good to hear.

Here are the parts bill:

automachine · 22nd June 2013, 21:19

It has been raining heavily and I noticed that the wiper did not function properly as it left water patches and made the windscreen blurred. I visited Reliance Megamart and noticed hella wiper blades. So bought the 26 inch Hella dynaedge which costed around Rs 788. This one is different than the regular blade as it has single steel frame. The replacement was a DIY job and easy to do. The performance is good now, though i feel the cheaper model Hella Premium (around Rs 250) should have been sufficient as not sure how long these would last. Some pictures of the wiper blades. Second picture shows the older one placed side by side with the newer.

automachine · 12th August 2013, 18:53

Monsoon drive update:
1) Having some issues with the Hella Dynaedge. Basically it is giving noise when the wiper moves (Wiper rubber with glass). Also the wiping is not clean. The wiper vibrates and that leaves lines.
2) Had a major issue of water getting into the cabin and whole floor and the matting with damping material getting soaked. Initially I thought the rubber seals on floor might have got cut and water got in when I drove through water logged area (plenty in Ahmedabad this time). So go the damping removed at Automall Bodakdev (Paid INR 900. my mistake as the guy is simply looting for this simple task). Then I had the damping material (Those are below the black carpetting) dried out in sun for couple of days. Now that the floor was exposed and I was still getting water inside so tried to investigate it myself. Finally found that water was coming through some area below the dash board on the inside of left wheel arc. Finally took it to Toyota and they took 3 days to figure that it required a welding at some spot from inside. I realized this was probably an issue due to an accident I had met last year when a tempo rammed on the front left side. The dealer probably did not do a thorough check on metal weldings at that time. So finally this was not a defect of the car but probably due to dealer's oversight in thoroughly doing the accident repair job.
So far crossed 38K without any major issue except a headlight relay fuse going off twice which caused the headlight to malfunction. Again this relay was an aftermarket fitment.

21st August 2012, 09:44	#61
automachine BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 125 Thanked: 66 Times	Re: Initial experience with my diesel Toyota Etios Well it has been some time I posted an updated. Actually I wanted to get the 20K kms service completed so that I can provide a comprehensive update. Just few days before the service schedule, my car met an accident with a tempo coming at high speed from service lane before outer ring road at near my place in Ahmedabad. The impact was on the left front side and it turned the car 90 deg. Everyone inside car was safe but the car suffered quite a lot of damage. The car is now with the dealer and I am waiting for the assessment of the damage done. So would keep posted on the repair work. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

27th August 2012, 03:27	#63
amalji Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 1,683 Thanked: 3,318 Times	Re: Initial experience with my diesel Toyota Etios Oh!!! Good that you survived that accident without any injury. Thank God. Do, keep us updated about the car repair process.
	() Thanks

5th December 2012, 16:37	#64
sups BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 319 Thanked: 219 Times	Re: Initial experience with my diesel Toyota Etios Hi automachine, how is your car performing after the accident? Could you get it repaired upto your satisfaction?
	() Thanks

22nd June 2013, 21:04	#66
automachine BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 125 Thanked: 66 Times	Updated 30K+ km review of Etios VD driving pleasure Before I cover the 30 km service, the accident damage came to around 85K of which I had to pay around 15K and rest was paid by the insurance company United Insurance. Just after that I had to replace the rear door as it got damaged due to my negligence in reversing the car while the door was open and it got stuck at my residence iron gate. 30 Km service: The service was done at Infinium Toyota, Ahmedabad. I asked the SA if he can order the front suspension for replacement under warranty as Toyota was providing them free of cost. Initially he said it would take couple of weeks,however fortunately he found the part available and himself suggested to get the suspension replacement during service. I asked for synthetic oil change and usual service. The service quality was good though not exceptional. However I do not the like the fact that they keep asking to give 10 rating when getting feedback call from Toyota HQ. No issues in driving performance and pretty happy with car so far with long trips and covered 36K+ distance on ODO. Fuel average seems to lie between 17kmpl to 20 kmpl depending on driving styles. It seems on highway it is best to stick to below 120 kmph to get best fuel average. One of my hella black trumpet horn started giving issues (it would turn off and on) on highway runs (strange as the issue never occurred if car was stationary) so replaced it with Roots which gave the same issue and finally replaced it with Minda black trumpet. However I think the Minda horns sound different from Roots or Hella so still planning to go for Hella again which were quite good to hear. Here are the parts bill: Attached Thumbnails Last edited by automachine : 22nd June 2013 at 21:12. Reason: Updated 30K review. Title change + adding more info
	() Thanks

22nd June 2013, 21:19	#67
automachine BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 125 Thanked: 66 Times	Re: Initial experience with my diesel Toyota Etios It has been raining heavily and I noticed that the wiper did not function properly as it left water patches and made the windscreen blurred. I visited Reliance Megamart and noticed hella wiper blades. So bought the 26 inch Hella dynaedge which costed around Rs 788. This one is different than the regular blade as it has single steel frame. The replacement was a DIY job and easy to do. The performance is good now, though i feel the cheaper model Hella Premium (around Rs 250) should have been sufficient as not sure how long these would last. Some pictures of the wiper blades. Second picture shows the older one placed side by side with the newer. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by automachine : 22nd June 2013 at 21:21. Reason: spelling mistakes
	() Thanks

12th August 2013, 18:53	#68
automachine BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 125 Thanked: 66 Times	Re: Initial experience with my diesel Toyota Etios Monsoon drive update: 1) Having some issues with the Hella Dynaedge. Basically it is giving noise when the wiper moves (Wiper rubber with glass). Also the wiping is not clean. The wiper vibrates and that leaves lines. 2) Had a major issue of water getting into the cabin and whole floor and the matting with damping material getting soaked. Initially I thought the rubber seals on floor might have got cut and water got in when I drove through water logged area (plenty in Ahmedabad this time). So go the damping removed at Automall Bodakdev (Paid INR 900. my mistake as the guy is simply looting for this simple task). Then I had the damping material (Those are below the black carpetting) dried out in sun for couple of days. Now that the floor was exposed and I was still getting water inside so tried to investigate it myself. Finally found that water was coming through some area below the dash board on the inside of left wheel arc. Finally took it to Toyota and they took 3 days to figure that it required a welding at some spot from inside. I realized this was probably an issue due to an accident I had met last year when a tempo rammed on the front left side. The dealer probably did not do a thorough check on metal weldings at that time. So finally this was not a defect of the car but probably due to dealer's oversight in thoroughly doing the accident repair job. So far crossed 38K without any major issue except a headlight relay fuse going off twice which caused the headlight to malfunction. Again this relay was an aftermarket fitment.
	() Thanks