[automachine]

This is my first ownership review of my Etios VD. Let me start off with a quick background. I had been driving a 2000 mpfi zen vxi which truly was my best mate (or still is even though i sold it off).

Starting of this year me and my wife decided that we should get a new bigger car to replace zen. We had been scouting for the best replacement as I really enjoy driving cars. I decided to go for diesel as it made sense as my average running made it economical in diesel. So the ones considered included Tata Manza (I had driven Manza over a long trip earlier), i20 CRDi (My father in law owned Accent CRDi so my inclination towards hyundai crdi engines) and Linea. We were nearly hooked by Verna Fluidic crdi and almost booked it when the budget constraints forced me to look for an alternative below 8 Lacs. I wanted to test drive i20 sportz crdi but concept hyundai dealer in ahmedabad did not have a test vehicle so that got delayed. I had decided not to go for maruti as personally I did not like shape of Dzire and SX4 seemed too bulky for city driving. So when finally the diesel Etios was announced, I decided to book it as it seemed to be a practical car with good mileage and space and ofcourse the Toyota brand was an important factor too in the process. We choose Bluish Silver color as the chrome finish looked great with it.

The dealership experience with Infinium toyota was nothing great. Just two minor hiccups. First they said it would be better if I get the finance done from their agents. Secondly they said I had to get the insurance from them only and when I insisted that I want to take it from outside they mentioned that I would have to provide the details of the policy taken from outside as Toyota would ask them why customer did not take the provided insurance.
Anyways as I was too much occupied with office work, I decided to go with the United Insurance provided by Toyota to speed up the delivery. Finally got the delivery on 13th Oct. Here are my initial views after having driven 300 kms in 3 days time.

• Very light steering. Easy to drive in traffic and turn radius is also less.
• Engine is noisy on outside with diesel clatter clearly audible. Inside it is acceptable once you get used to it.
• No vibrations on the gear knob, pedals but you can feel the vibrations on the doors and floors.
• AC is chiller considering Ahmedabad climate. AC makes the engine more noisy at standstill due to the fan.
• Interiors are quite basic but spacious. I had no major issues with them. I was fine with dial cluster in center though it could have had better looks rather than the fancy printed looking speedometer.
• I felt the clutch was hard but eventually have got used to it. For few weeks I had been driving my bro-in-laws SX4 ZDi so perhaps I got used to the SX4's pedals and gearing. Etios VD gearing is smooth but the gear lever seems a little lifeless compared to the SX4.
• The thing I like in Etios diesel is the linear acceleration which is a boon in city traffic. The engine is not too powerful but the minimal turbo lag makes it good city sedan.
• Out on highway it does 100 km/hr around 2000-2200 rpm. My wife mentioned that the rear seats had some vibrations and swayed a bit which made her feel the car was going too fast. I reported it to dealer and they said that they would look at it during first service.
• On city uneven roads like patched roads and cuts, the Etios VD tends to bump off vertically if going over them at medium to high speed. I think this is due to its feather light weight and stiffer suspension setup in diesel.
• The build quality is just acceptable but the metal is too thin.

Planning the following accessories:
1) 3M sun film- SP35
2) 3M underbody and teflon coating
3) Elegance fabric seat cover
4) Leather cover for steering wheel.
5) Pioneer AVH 2390 DVD 2DIN player with JBL speakers in rear.

Overall it is a practical car with the toyota quality assurance. I think if Toyota takes care of the few issues like NVH levels then they do have a competitive product. Few pictures of my Etios VD. More to follow later.

[ghodlur]

@automachine,

Let me be the first to congratulate you on the Etios. The colour looks royal on the car.

Happy mile crunching and drive safely. Enjoy your new ride. You should do the run in and then start revving the engine more. Maybe after the first service the car will be free to be revved hard. Do post your experience post first service. Could you post some more interior pics too?

[SPARKled]

Congrats on your sensible purchase. Whats the on road price.

[guyfrmblr]

Congratulations! The color looks great. Please post some interior pics too.

How is the performance with 3-4 adults and AC switched ON (on a slope)? Update the thread with performance, fuel efficiency and other statistics once you start crunching more miles with your car. Have many more happy and safe miles with Etios.

[vasanthn21]

Congrats on the purchase.

I was quite keen on the Etios until I started hearing about the "rain water seeping in" problem reported by a few.

Incidentally I met an old friend last night who was driving Etios and he said he had no issues. I also read another Liva ownership experience in this forum where the owner had put pictures of the beading on the car (no beading on the door), but he mentioned there was no water seeping-in in Kerala rains! What has been your experience?

Would you mind removing the dealer's yellow sticker from the right headlamps? It doesn't gel in well, if you ask me!

[acsandeep]

Congratulations on the VFM purchase,please share the on road price as well.

[heman_369]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Congrats on the purchase.

I was quite keen on the Etios until I started hearing about the "rain water seeping in" problem reported by a few.

Incidentally I met an old friend last night who was driving Etios and he said he had no issues. I also read another Liva ownership experience in this forum where the owner had put pictures of the beading on the car (no beading on the door), but he mentioned there was no water seeping-in in Kerala rains! What has been your experience?

Would you mind removing the dealer's yellow sticker from the right headlamps? It doesn't gel in well, if you ask me!

The Yellow sticker on the right headlamp is a mandatory requirement of Gujarat RTO.
I own an Etios (P) and have driven 9k km's. I have never faced any water seepage issues.

Congrats automachine for the most practical purchase ! Drive safe and have fun

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by heman_369

The Yellow sticker on the right headlamp is a mandatory requirement of Gujarat RTO.
I own an Etios (P) and have driven 9k km's. I have never faced any water seepage issues.

Congrats automachine for the most practical purchase ! Drive safe and have fun

Good to know that you have not faced any seepage issues.

Can you throw some light on the RTO rule for the sticker? Not sure, I understand. What purpose does it serve?

[dkaile]

Congratulations on owning the Toyota brand for years of trouble free ownership experience. Do keep us updated on the quality aspect of this 'budget' Toyota.

[drmohitg]

Congrats on your first car and a very sensible one at that . Do post some more pictures specially of the interiors.

[sachinayak]

Considering you have driven the Manza before, and now own the Etios, how would you compare the two? Product-to-product how do both fare?

[Cooltronics]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Good to know that you have not faced any seepage issues.

Can you throw some light on the RTO rule for the sticker? Not sure, I understand. What purpose does it serve?

Technically, the yellow sticker cuts the glare from the headlamps for the benefit of oncoming motorists. Much like what the half black paint on the headlamp used to do in earlier days. I remember the rule being there since long as my grand father's FIAT 1100 also had the same yellow color painted.
Personally, I am not sure how much of a difference does it make for oncoming motorists, I like the black/yellow paint on top of the headlights as done my Army vehicles

[Cooltronics]

Hi Automachine. Thanks for the wonderful post and initial review !
Though I am a petrol head, I was blown away by the diesel engine of Toyota Etios Liva due to its very low initial turbo lag. I'm sure Etios sedan would be equally responsive.
Just the other day, I was reading an article where Etios beat SX4 in liner acceleration from 0-100 KMPH.
Drive safe and enjoy your new ride

[swiftnfurious]

Congrats on your VD! Please post some interior pics too. We would love to see it. And yes, please keep updating this thread - I guess this is the only thread we have on a Diesel Etios.

What I look forward is for long distance comfort at the rear especially, FE & service costs. I know it is going to take some time for you to write this & I am ready to wait, but please do update about all these.

Wish you miles of happy & safe motoring!

[puchoo]

Congratulations on the new car and wishing you many happy years with it. Its a good value for money product , there are niggles with the car but like you rightly said - one can get used to them.