[heman_369]

Background :
Circa Oct 2006 : Fresh out of the driving school grind, I was showing off my newly accquired 'Driving skills' to my mom and dad in our trusted Maruti 800. At a junction scraped a 2 wheeler marginally. What followed was a nightmarish road rage experience which lead to me not touching a car for next 2.5 years.
Dec 2007 : Got married ! Unfortunately for me, my wifey was drving from last 3-4 yrs. She insisted I learn driving immediately but I kept on dilly dallying saying 'I will start(learn) drving again just before we buy a car'
October 2009 : Got hooked to T-BHP as a non member, fascination with cars grew manifold and thoughts started appearing on owning one. Took driving lessons on my FIL's alto and started to drive. Slowly but surely I was able to put the past nightmare behind and started enjoying the drives. Driving the Alto was a pleasant experience and was able to clock 10k kms in a year.
October 2010: Finally manged to get finances in place and the hunt for a new car began.

Selection criteria and the process:
We began searching for a petrol hatch with a budget of 6 lakh rupees. GTO's Ford Figo review swept me off my feet. This was the car I was looking for. Spacious, good boot space, excellent driveability, bluetooth, ABS/Airbags.
Ocassionaly we would stare at the Jazz (before price cuts)and I20(Asta) and wished that they would have been priced within our budget.

Twist in the tale : Parents and in-laws vetoed the hatchback decision. 'We already have 2 hatchbacks in the family. Why do we need another one? You should get a big car'
Confusions galore, me and wifey went back to the drawing board. We decided to frame our mission statement. After much deliberations here it was.

'We need a sedan with a max budget of 8 lakhs and which seats 5 comfotably, has good boot space for our luggage on long drives, has ABS and Airbags, peppy enigne, decent after sales and running costs.'

The only 2 cars fulfilling our basic criteria were Manza and the to be launched Etios.
Manza is a fantastic, well rounded product from the TML stable. The rear 'Sofa' and the features list is quite brilliant. IMHO the petrol engine of Manza is a downer and doesnt provide the expected peppiness and driving comfort.

Etios is launched and we were thrilled when we saw that we could afford a Toyota sedan. The specs looked good on paper. The lure of the 'T' badge was just too much.
I must admit I am one of those who booked the Etios on the 3rd day of the launch even before seeing the car in person, forget the test drive and to add to it this was the very first car that I was buying. So much for the logical research prior to the decision! Huh !

The review by GTO was a big booster which soothed our nerves. The test drive sealed it for us and we confirmed our booking and started pestering the dealer for estimated delivery date. I will never book a car again without a test Drive !

Buying details :
Booked : 2nd week december 2010
Delivered : 12-Mar-11
Toyota Etios VX, Vermillion red.
Dealer : DSK Toyota, Pune
On road price: 7.72 Lakhs. No discount no freebies whatsoever.
Toyota genuine accesssories : Red + Black color artificial leather seats (made by Autoform), Garware Icekool Elite 50% VLT sunfilms for all windows and the windshield, Bumper corner protector, mud flaps, special floor mats, USB/AUX attachment, Luggage Tray, 2 pioneer rear speakers installed on the parcel tray, 3M underbody coating totalling to 25K.

What I Love : The excellent, effortless drivability of this gem of an engine. The driver position and all the knobs switches falling into perfect position providing excellent driving comfort.
The power and torque available on demand at low rpms. Coming from an Alto, it gives me a great adrenalin rush when i floor the accelerator pedal and the car just zooms off higway or city, with full load and AC.
The precise and effortless EPS. The superlight clutch. The minimal downshifts required in city. The ability to go over most speed breakers in 2nd gear and some even on 3rd. 170 mm of GC resulting in no worries about scrapping the underbody in most situations. A sweet spot struck by the Toyota guys on the balance, ride and handling. Confidence in the cars braking abilities. I thorughly enjoy each and every km of the drive.

What I Like : Abundant space everywhere. Huge Boot. Comfort of the highest order when seated in front or back. Steering mounted audio controls and the ICE setup with extra speakers and USB. Cooled glovebox. Good AC

What I can live with : (Missing features/Equipment) : Absence of Auto climate control, single reversing light, height adjustable drivers seat, centre cabin light. Plain vanilla exterior. Not to forget the spartan interiors without any bling. Overall NVH.

What I Hate : Road noise from the pathetic stock Goodyears, Absence of electric mirrors, absence of Auto door lock, no spare remote key. Dust accumulating on the inner part of the door frames.

Life so far with my Etios :10000 kms on the Odo.
Etios is definitely a built to cast car with cost cutting evident at various places like the door handles, the aircon vents, the centre placed console, single wiper, the thin boot lid etc.

Some of the cost cutting areas pass the muster of practicality
The single wiper does its job amazingly and covers a large part of the windscreen in a single swipe.
The rudimentary looking air con vents have decent throw and shut completely when required

But is it flimsy, does it have rattles? Water seepages? Absoultely not.
The overall build quality is lower than other Toyotas but if you compare with the options in the entry level C segment, I believe it is par for the course. I would have readily paid 1 lakh more if it had upmarket interiors and more equipment. But alas no car is perfect !

The apprehensions about the built to cost part changes as soon as one drives the car. Many of my friends and relatives who had expressed doubts over the car were blown away by the drive and comfort.

My Tankfull to tankfull measurements have consistently averaged at 13-14 kmpl with 70% city and 30% highway drving with 90 % AC ON
City FE is in the range of 12 kmpl and higways it is in the range of 16 kmpl.
One thing that i have noticed is that on the higways, if you drive above 120, the FE decreases to 12. Cruise on 100 and you will be able to get even 17 kmpl. Once a while I rip the engine on the MH Eway and it touches 160 km/hr.

Luggage on long drives is no longer a concern. The Etios boot can swallow 3 full size airport bags + 3 mid size bags + couple of handbags/rucksacks without a sweat.

The 1000 Km inspection happened in April. The NVH levels vastly improved around 3000 km mark. Currently the NVH levels are pretty much acceptable. I have booked a 10K servicing appointment next week.
The experience so far has been very good with the Toyota After sales.


What next :
A tyre change at about 25k kms. I want to get rid of the stock Goodyears and replace them with Michelins or Yokos.

Here are some of the Pics of my Beauty

[.anshuman]

Thread moved here from Assembly line section. Thanks for sharing the ownership report

[dkaile]

Congrats on owning the brand associated with long term peace of mind. And also a unbiased review of the inherent strength's and perceived 'weaknesses' of the Toyota brand which are just that - perceived.

[powertrain]

Congrats on your purchase buddy !!! You booked your car in Dec & got delivery in March???!!! You've got patience man!! I too have booked an Etios V-D. It's been one month & my patience is running out. The color looks good on Etios.
Enjoy your ride
Regards
Varun

[automachine]

Congrats on the red beauty and wishing many happy miles ! I too am in possession of Etios V-D (see my review here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ota-etios.html). I think due to the evident cost cutting, there have been voices both in favour and against the Etios. However personally I think the cost cutting and bare interiors are fine to go if you get a reliable car and service. The only downside I can think of is the NVH level, especially the vibrations felt to the occupant inside the cabin over rough patches and maybe Toyota should do something over there to make this car a hit product.

[RadiantKarma]

Hi heman_369,

Good to see your report. The Vermillion Red looks really good on Etios.

Yours is the first Etios on the forum done full 10 k. Cheerio!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your report. Guess you couldn't have asked for more from the car for your Mission Statement! Spot-on analysis too. At times, I was wondering if it was my own narrative. Indeed, the effortless driveability, light and precise controls, well-thought-out ergonomics, sweet balance of ride quality and handling, comfort, space etc. make this car a compelling proposition for those who are willing to look beneath the skin.

Your hate list is very small compared to your love list and that's great. The stock tyres can at least be replaced, albeit at a cost. (I guess I was lucky to get BS Turanzas.)

What I Hate : ...absence of Auto door lock, no spare remote key...

You can take some heart here too. Even ANHC ain't got either!

But is it flimsy, does it have rattles? Water seepages? Absoultely not.

Why don't you share some pics of the dash and other bits to assure us that the plastics really don't fall off at least till 10 k?! Just joking...

Keep crunching miles after effortless miles on this magnificent machine!

[Durango Dude]

@heman_369: Congrats. Very crisply written account of the Etios Petrol and can allay fears of the car in those having it in mind but are dilly dallying due to the bad press it has got from some quarters due to "high" expectations.

[heman_369]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Congrats on owning the brand associated with long term peace of mind. And also a unbiased review of the inherent strength's and perceived 'weaknesses' of the Toyota brand which are just that - perceived.

Thanks for your wishes. So far it definetly has been a hassle free ownership.

Originally Posted by powertrain

Congrats on your purchase buddy !!! You booked your car in Dec & got delivery in March???!!! You've got patience man!! I too have booked an Etios V-D. It's been one month & my patience is running out. The color looks good on Etios.
Enjoy your ride
Regards
Varun

Hang in there my friend ! I have been throught this but now when i look back it was completely worth it. Thanks for your wishes

Originally Posted by RadiantKarma

Hi heman_369,

Good to see your report. The Vermillion Red looks really good on Etios.

Yours is the first Etios on the forum done full 10 k. Cheerio!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your report. Guess you couldn't have asked for more from the car for your Mission Statement! Spot-on analysis too. At times, I was wondering if it was my own narrative. Indeed, the effortless driveability, light and precise controls, well-thought-out ergonomics, sweet balance of ride quality and handling, comfort, space etc. make this car a compelling proposition for those who are willing to look beneath the skin.

Your hate list is very small compared to your love list and that's great. The stock tyres can at least be replaced, albeit at a cost. (I guess I was lucky to get BS Turanzas.)

You can take some heart here too. Even ANHC ain't got either!


Why don't you share some pics of the dash and other bits to assure us that the plastics really don't fall off at least till 10 k?! Just joking...

Keep crunching miles after effortless miles on this magnificent machine!

Yes the Turanzas are much better thean Goodyears. Unlucky me !
I plan to do a detailed photoshoot after the 10k service next week.
Your wonderful ownership thread inspired me to come up with my own

[RadiantKarma]

I have booked a 10K servicing appointment next week.

Hey heman,

looking forward to further updates from you!

Keep revving!

[ajay_satpute]

Hey Himanshu,

No updates on this thread for a long time. Whats up with your Etios? Have you faced any issues in the heavy rains? Is the single wiper sufficient or do you think its inadequate for heavy rains?

Also, you should upload more photos here. We can do a photoshoot of your Etios, if you have some free time.

[heman_369]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Hey Himanshu,

No updates on this thread for a long time. Whats up with your Etios? Have you faced any issues in the heavy rains? Is the single wiper sufficient or do you think its inadequate for heavy rains?

Also, you should upload more photos here. We can do a photoshoot of your Etios, if you have some free time.

I have been plain lazy and havent updated the thread frequently.
Currently the Odo reading stands at 21k km in 18 months of ownership.
In August my Etios went for 20 k service.

Total time spent : 2 Hrs.
Total cost 1788 rs
Work done : 3Litres Semisynthetic oil+Oil Filter+Spark Plug+windshield wiper fluid + Tyre rotation + wheel alignment and balancing.

No issues to report so far which is turning out to be a 'boring' ownership experience.

Regarding the photoshoot, it will be my pleasure and let us target it for saturday after the Ganesh festival?