[rahulb22]

This is my first post on Team-BHP though I have been a member for close to 3 years now. So, I request you to excuse me if there any unforeseen errors in this post.

The urge to change my car has been there for more than a year now, but it was not strong enough to take the plunge. Finally, the time came in June 2020. But now there was a conflict between the heart and the brain:

Brain said, “Go for a new Kia Seltos diesel automatic, since it is BS6 ready with a plethora of features and a spacious SUV”

Heart said, “Why not a used Innova Crysta which has a torquey engine, loads of space and is one of the best options for those long highway tours”

So, it all happened on a lazy Sunday morning when I stepped into a Toyota U-Trust showroom, just to kill some time. I just happened to check out some of the options available, and instantly liked an Innova Crysta, which looked well maintained. After a quick test drive, the price negotiations started and I started my elaborate PDI, which included a detailed check of the vehicle by my FNG. The deal became even sweeter when U-Trust agreed to exchange my car for a mutually agreed price. So, with all the processes completed, the car was home in 5 days flat.

Before I get to further details, a few pictures to set the tone.


Parting ways with my beloved Ertiga, which has been an impeccable companion without a single breakdown in 6 years



First Glance of the vehicle at U-Trust and I fell for it

Alternatives Considered

I have been a diesel head all through, and therefore I was looking at interesting diesel options. My requirements could be summarized as follows:

• Strong diesel engine
• A SUV/MUV with good highway manners
• Stress free ownership experience

With the above factors in minds I looked at the following options:
1. Kia Seltos
Likes

• Plethora of features
• Good diesel and gearbox combo
• Well rounded SUV

Dislikes

• Quite pricey for the space it offers
• Risk of Kia being a new entrant into the market
• Slightly stiff ride

2. Tata Harrier
Likes

• Great SUV Looks
• Good Ride
• Spacious and classy interiors

Dislikes

• TATA's suspect After Sales
• Slightly beyond my budget

3. Pre-worshipped Innova Crysta as it is a tried and tested Family MUV. A new one with a decent feature set was anyway beyond my Budget.

Purchase Experience

The purchase experience with Toyota U-Trust at Nandi Toyota, Kanakapura Road was quite good. The sales representative was quite supportive with requests for multiple test drive as well as a quick check at a FNG. They were also transparent with the vehicle history and RC transfer. I was also offered a Dealer warranty for one year and 3 free services.

However, I was in for a shock during my first long drive after my purchase. Before the delivery, I had clearly asked if a service was done before delivery to me, and the same was confirmed. I had even offered to pay from my pocket if an additional Oil change and Check-up was required, as the vehicle was stationary at their yard for a few months, but I was told it was not required as every thing was taken care. On the highway, I had an issue with steering vibrations, which I got checked at Mangalore. It was during that visit to United Toyota that I was told that the 50000 kms service was overdue and the vehicle was due for Oil change and the Brake Pads has worn out. I went crazy and gave a piece of my mind to the Sales Rep at Nandi. He was quick to blame the service engineer, but overall it had completely spoilt my impression about them.

Vehicle Overview

Innova Crysta 2.4V Manual (50,200 kms on the ODO)
The vehicle is a July 2016 manufactured, company-maintained car. It seems to be mostly chauffer driven with complete service history available at Toyota. After taking delivery, I have now driven the car for about 3000 kms, mostly on the highway. Having migrated from an Ertiga (VDI), which has been my drive for the past 6 years, my impressions would be mostly relative. Please consider the below points as my personal opinion.

Likes

• Comfortable family car
• Commanding driving position
• Bucket seats provide a stress free travel experience
• Bullet-proof reliability of Toyota
• Good ride over broken roads
• Robust build. Vehicle still feels close to new even after 50k kms on the ODO

Dislikes

• Heavy steering at city speeds
• Slightly notchy gearing from 1st to 2nd gear
• Lack of creature comforts (Android Auto, Auto dimming IRVM etc..) in such an expensive car
• 5000 Kms service interval is an irritant
• Large dimensions make it a bit cumbersome to drive in the city

My typical usage is a daily drive to office in city and probably one weekend drive per month which would mean about 1500 Kms a month.


Safety

The following aspects are an upgrade for me, over the Ertiga:

• 3 Airbags
• EBD and Brake Assist
• ISOFIX mounts
• Clutch start system

Overall, a decent safety package, though I miss the 7 airbags from the ‘Z’ Variant. In terms of overall safety, the vehicle feels solid and built to last.

Exterior Styling

The overall look for me is more SUV than MUV. The vehicle is quite big, compared to the Ertiga and feels so when you drive, with the huge bonnet area as well as a higher stance. The overall build quality feels adequate, but felt better on the old Innova. The fit and finish is good as to be expected by Toyota standards with uniform panel gaps all around.

The wipers have a good spread.The headlights are a combination of led for the low beam and halogen for the high beam. I found them quite adequate with decent throw. The auto headlamp feature on the V variant is also quite useful.

The wheels look small for a vehicle this big, and a set of wider tyres would have looked better. I personally like the 16 inch alloy design with 205/65-16 tyres. I resisted the temptation to go with wider tyres during replacement as I drive with full load quite often and did not want any risk in that regard. I was also worried that it would make the already heavy steering worse at city speeds.

Interior Design & Quality

The interior was a refreshing change for me with better features such as

• Automatic Climate Control
• Keyless Entry
• Steering Controls
• Ambient Lighting
• AC vents for every row
• Captain seats

Overall, I enjoy the higher seating position which gives a ‘King of the road’ feeling. The seats are very comfortable with good bolstering. There are a good number of cubby holes and bottle holders for those long highway trips. There are two spacious glove boxes, one of them being cooled. Even the space below the armrest is quite spacious for storing stuff. The overall quality of the leather on the steering, gear knob and armrest seem to be good and aging well. The overall quality of plastics inside the cabin though hard, seem to be well put together.
The steering is adjustable for reach and rake which is useful. The Instrument cluster is good looking with very nice 3D kind of dials as well as a small MID which gives all the useful information like ODO, average mileage, range as well as ECO score.
The Infotainment system seems quite basic for a car of this price with no Navigation/Android Auto. Even the speakers are below par and warrant an upgrade, which I did.

Interior Space and Comfort

The interior space in the Crysta is extremely good. Legroom, Headroom and Shoulder room are in abundance and long journeys should be a breeze. The third row, though not the most comfortable space in the cabin, should be good enough for short journeys. Luggage space is adequate with all 3 rows up. With the 3rd row folded, there is enough space for a week-long road trip for 4 passengers.

For the driver, the seat height adjustment though Manual, helps find a good driving position. All controls feel at hand and the driver should not have any complaints. The huge glass area and high seating position gives a good view of the road ahead and ensures good judgement of the vehicle dimensions. The ORVMs are well sized and give a good view on either side. My only gripe is the lack of Auto-fold option in this version of the Crysta. I have to look at Aftermarket options for the same.

Engine, Gearbox & Steering

The 2.4 Litre Diesel engine feels powerful, especially after driving the 1.3 Mutlijet on the Ertiga. While I always had to downshift gears at the slightest hint of slowing down on the Ertiga, the need for gear changes on the Crysta are far less making it easier to drive in the city. The engine modes further add to the flexibility of the engine making it equally capable in the city as well as on the multi-lane highways. More on that later.

The Gearbox is quite precise for a vehicle of this size, but it would seem heavy and a bit notchy for those migrating from a hatchback or a sedan. The second gear especially needs extra effort. The clutch is a bit hard but quite manageable considering the kms clocked in this vehicle. I hope the clutch stays the same for the next few years, going by the Innova’s reputation.

The steering feels a bit tight when stationary but feels quite free on the move. A lighter steering would have been better at city and parking speeds.

A lot has been said about the poor NVH levels of this engine, but I find it quite manageable, probably because I am a Diesel head.

Suspension, Ride and Handling

Having driven a lot of SUVs and MUVs, I would like to call the suspension ‘balanced’, as it is not carpet-like as on the duster but it is much better than the ones on the Ertiga. With two on board, the front is smooth while the rear tends to bounce a bit. Body roll is quite evident and the vehicle is best driven at sedate speeds. The ride quality feels quite good and small potholes are dismissed without much fuss.

Braking

In my first highway drive after the purchase I experienced the infamous vibrations on the steering at high speeds and I almost thought I had made a wrong decision. I went to United Toyota in Mangalore who thankfully fixed it with the Brake Disc skimming and change of Pads. The problem has stayed away ever since and hopefully it will stay that way.
The overall braking feels quite adequate for a car of this size. In one instance of emergency braking, I also experienced the ABS kicking in and the vehicle came to a halt without any hassles.

The Drive

I have now completed about 3000 Kms since the purchase, with about 70% on the highways.

City experience: As traffic has been quite lean due to the current COVID situation, the city drives have been pleasant. The best thing I like about the Crysta, is the ability to use the 3rd Gear almost like an automatic within the city. It can pull comfortably from very low RPMs without the need for frequent downshifts. The huge ORVMs also provide a good view around the car though you need to be extra careful considering the huge dimensions.

Highway experience: The vehicle has very good highway manners, provided you drive it like a traditional Ladder on Frame MUV. On a straight line, you can maintain triple digit speeds all day long. There is enough torque available on tap and very seldom would you need to downshift for a quick overtake. However, on the twisties, you need to keep your speed in check, as the body roll is quite evident. Having driven the old Innova, I see that the Crysta is a lot more comfortable at highway speeds compared to the older model.
I also tried all the Drive Modes on the highway and realized that these were not just marketing gimmicks. My observations are as follows:
Eco Mode: Best for city driving. The power is a bit subdued but quite adequate for sedate driving within city limits.
Power Mode:Best for Expressways with 4 or more lanes. Very aggressive power delivery. It felt a bit scary the first time. It almost felt as if the car was accelerating without throttle inputs. In this mode, you would reach extremely high triple digit speeds before you realize and would be jerky in scenarios of constant gear change
Normal Mode:Best for Long distance commute. This was the sweet spot for me where the power delivery felt smooth with decent fuel economy.

Mileage
From my limited experience so far, I have got about 10.5 km/L in Bangalore city traffic. This is mostly free flowing traffic and does not include any real bumper to bumper traffic.
On the highway it is clearly dependent on the style of driving. Just for reference, I tried the same stretch of the Bangalore-Hassan 4 Lane highway (about 180 kms) on Power Vs Normal Mode and my experience is as follows:
Power Mode ~ 11 Km/L (Bit heavy on the Throttle)
Normal Mode ~ 13.5 Km/L (Maintaining consistent speeds)
So, I am sure if I maintain around 80-90 kmph on the highway, the efficiency could be even better. But that is a tough thing to do as you do not even realize the speeds on this vehicle.

Accessories/Expenses after purchase:

• Interior & Exterior Detailing (from Elite Car Care)
• Art Leather Seat Covers (from Elite Car Care)
• Michelin XM2+ Tyres (from Madhus)
• 7D Mats from Elegant Auto Retail
• Infinity Refence Components for the Front) + Coaxial for the Rear (from Car Culture)
• Philips HB3 premium Halogen Bulbs for High Beam (DIY)
• IPH HID Projector Fog lamps (purchased from Blaze India and installed through FNG)

After Detailing and change of seat covers


My learnings from a second hand purchase

• Always look for known vehicles (relatives/friends), TBHP classifieds or trusted dealerships
• Create a checklist for yourself to ensure that you are satisfied with the condition of the vehicle before saying a ‘YES’. Attaching the one I created just as a reference Car_Checklist.xlsx
• Ensure that you get the vehicle thoroughly checked by an FNG
• Check the vehicle registration history (on Vaahan) as well as service records (with dealership)
• Negotiate well before saying a ‘YES’ to the deal. Use the online valuation options to get an idea
• Ensure that you receive appropriate documentation from the dealer before taking delivery or handing over your car

Conclusions

Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase. The Innova has a strong fan base in our Team BHP Forum and outside and I hope to be one among them, with a fuss free ownership experience. I wish to enjoy a punchy diesel (probably one last time) with a manual transmission before I join the Automatic (and probably electric) bandwagon after a few years.

A big shoutout to
GTO – for being my inspiration to go for a Second hand car for the first time in my life
Paragsachania – for being my Wikipedia on the Ertiga and much more

Hope it makes for an interesting read!!

Cheers
Rahulb22

[jkrishnakj]

Congratulations Rahul. With just a 50K on the ODO, I would say that the Innova you picked has just about finished its engine run-in. This car won't disappoint you and you can be a very happy and fuss free owner for the years to come. I own a 2.8AT and am one very happy person when I drive my car.

Wishing you miles of joy and happiness.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Tigger]

Did I miss the purchase price of the car or was that not posted?
Additionally, the cost of accessories needed to make it exclusive to taste & ownership and lastly how much did you need to spend on getting it up to speed?

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by rahulb22

So, I request you to excuse me if there any unforeseen errors in this post.

Congratulations on your vehicle, @rahulb22. The 2.4V is the best variant - has most of the goodies of the Z and feels premium.

First of all, please never start your address or a post with an apology. That's what an ace speaker once told us.

The purchase experience with Toyota U-Trust at Nandi Toyota, Kanakapura Road was quite good. They were also transparent with the vehicle history and RC transfer.

during that visit to United Toyota that I was told that the 50000 kms service was overdue

Classic example of how trust is lost at Toyota U Trust.

My friend had a great purchase experience but a horrible post sales experience when he got a 2010 used Fortuner from Lanson Toyota Koyambedu Chennai.

He never went back to them for anything with the car after that.

Always look for known vehicles (relatives/friends), TBHP classifieds or trusted dealerships

Yes, I agree on the relatives/friends part but in pre-owned searches, it is a treasure hunt, and one can strike gold anywhere.

So my view here is to explore all sources.

In Chennai, I've typically found the best vehicles with individual owners who are employees in the private sector.

[rahulb22]

Originally Posted by Tigger

Did I miss the purchase price of the car or was that not posted?
Additionally, the cost of accessories needed to make it exclusive to taste & ownership and lastly how much did you need to spend on getting it up to speed?

Hi Tigger,

The price breakup as follows:
Price for the Crysta - INR 15,50,000/-
Exchange price for my Ertiga - INR: 5,35,000/-
Final Outflow - INR 10,15,000/-

Additional costs

• Interior & Exterior Detailing - INR 13,000
• Art Leather Seat Covers - INR 10000
• Michelin XM2+ Tyres - INR 32000
• 7D Mats from Elegant Auto Retail - INR 8000
• Change of Speakers + Damping + Installation - INR 30000
• IPH HID Projector Fog lamps - INR 7500
• 50000 Kms Service - INR 11000

In-terms of the real need to bring it to speed, only the Service was essential, since even the tyres were good for another 10k kms.

The rest was to make it exclusive to taste and ownership.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Rahulb22

Originally Posted by vigsom

Congratulations on your vehicle, @rahulb22. The 2.4V is the best variant - has most of the goodies of the Z and feels premium.

Thanks a lot Vigsom. The V Variant does look quite well equipped.

First of all, please never start your address or a post with an apology. That's what an ace speaker once told us.

Thanks for the feedback I will keep it in mind for future posts.

He never went back to them for anything with the car after that.

It is quite likely that even I would do that, as I had a better experience at United Toyota, Mangalore. However, I would still want to go one last time to talk to the service engineer who said that the car was serviced and ready for delivery.

Yes, I agree on the relatives/friends part but in pre-owned searches, it is a treasure hunt, and one can strike gold anywhere.So my view here is to explore all sources.

I agree with you. I meant that family/friends/reliable forums could be the first option, as many of us may not have the expertise of deciding the condition of a car while buying from a stranger and having a common reference at least gives more confidence.

[manasmadaan]

Congrats on the purchase. I too have recently purchased a used crysta 2.8 Z AT variant, so welcome to the group. Wish you a wonderful ownership experience with this beast

[CalmConquests]

Originally Posted by rahulb22

Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase. The Innova has a strong fan base in our Team BHP Forum and outside and I hope to be one among them, with a fuss free ownership experience.

Hearty congratulations on the new car purchase! At 50k kms, an Innova is still pretty much a "new" car in my book! I have a 2.4V Crysta diesel myself too, plus a lot of experience with Toyota vehicles. In fact we currently have 4 different Toyota vehicles in our fleet ! My innova has clocked 40k kms & my fortuner has clocked about 50k. They are absolutely bullet proof.

Ive experienced the brake wobble issue at highway speeds once in my crysta & once in the fortuner as well. However, both the times we just replaced the brake pads & phased the discs & everything has been fine.

Over the last 3 years, almost every vehicle I've sold has been replaced by a Toyota.

They can really take the abuse our indian road conditions throw at them. Plus the after sales service from the toyota dealer here in chennai, Lanson Toyota, has been pretty satisfactory. I am sure you have years of happy motoring ahead !

[Shanky_1002]

Congratulations Rahul! Innova Crysta is the perfect upgrade from an Ertiga and you've got one in pristine condition. Please do share more information/working updates on the HID's you've added. Wish you many many miles of happiness with your new wheels!

[rahulb22]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Congratulations Rahul

Thank you very much jkrishnaki

Originally Posted by CalmConquests

Hearty congratulations on the new car purchase!

Thanks a lot CalmConquests

Originally Posted by Shanky_1002

Congratulations Rahul! Innova Crysta is the perfect upgrade from an Ertiga and you've got one in pristine condition. Please do share more information/working updates on the HID's you've added. Wish you many many miles of happiness with your new wheels!

Thank you Shanky_1002. On the HID Foglights, I will upload some images shortly.

[headbanger]

What a lovely purchase Rahul. Congratulations.
Wishing you lots of miles with the mile munching champ.

[RAHS]

Hello Rahul,

Congratulations on the pre-owned Crysta! It's a great deal I must say.

Did you consider Fortuner? Also, when you visited Toyota U-Trust, did you find any fortuners there? If yes, I am curious to know the price bracket.

Crysta should keep your family happy, it's a great highway car

Cheers,
RAHS

[rahulb22]

Originally Posted by headbanger

What a lovely purchase Rahul. Congratulations.
Wishing you lots of miles with the mile munching champ.

Thanks a lot Headbanger!!

Originally Posted by RAHS

Hello Rahul,

Congratulations on the pre-owned Crysta! It's a great deal I must say.

Did you consider Fortuner? Also, when you visited Toyota U-Trust, did you find any fortuners there? If yes, I am curious to know the price bracket.

Cheers,
RAHS

Thank you RAHS.

I did have a look at the Fortuners also, but frankly two main reasons why it went out of consideration:
1. Pre-facelift versions (2010-2014) also were listed for about 18-20L, with more than a Lakh kms on the ODO
1. The facelifted fortuner was well beyond my budget (28L+)
2. Though it is very robust, for me it is not a great family car and therefore did not suit my requirement

I did not see any fortuners at Nandi U-Trust, but did find a few when I explored the U-Trust site. You could check them out on the website if interested and then approach the dealer if something interests you.

Cheers
Rahulb22

[audioholic]

Can you post pictures of the IPHCAR fog lights against the LED headlights? I'm curious to know if it's a worthy purchase.

[EV Fan]

Originally Posted by rahulb22

It was during that visit to United Toyota that I was told that the 50000 kms service was overdue and the vehicle was due for Oil change and the Brake Pads has worn out. I went crazy and gave a piece of my mind to the Sales Rep at Nandi. He was quick to blame the service engineer, but overall it had completely spoilt my impression about them.

Hi Rahul

I am also looking to purchase from Toyota U Trust and just wanted to know about how they handled this scenario.

Was the service provided as a compensation of their shortcoming while selling or was it pulled out of your free 3 services?

Wanted to know if they atleast acknowledge their fault and fix it or just chuck it off like other used car dealerships.

Also if you can share some details on the charges and timelines for the ownership/insurance transfer