Cancelled my Scorpio N booking for Toyota Hyryder: Ownership experience

I also test drove other cars like the Kia Sonet and Tata Nexon EV but I felt that the Hyryder would be a good upgrade from my old Maruti Swift diesel.

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Swift to Hy(brid)Ryder

Almost all of the comparison of my Hyryder would be with my previously owned Swift 2014 ZDI. Swift had clocked close to 1.2 lakh kms before I decided to trade. Cars I took a test drive of include Sonet, Nexon EV, S-cross, XL6, and Scorpio N.

Booking

Had booked the Scorpio N Z4 (4x4) variant on the launch day in July 2022. Did not get any introductory price. My booking was on the waitlist since it was not a top variant. Even after 4 months, the status online showed the expected delivery as July 2024.

Now the news came that Toyota announced the launch of Hyryder, so I booked the Hybrid S variant even without a test drive or seeing the vehicle in person. I was happy with what the features it offered on that leaflet and I felt it was a good upgrade for my Swift.

Fast forward - I took delivery of a Hyryder (White) on 6th February 2023. My missus was not very convinced with getting a 5 seater, as she wanted a 7 seater. I also cancelled my booking of Scorpio N and got a refund after a 10% deduction.

Jotting down my views in comparison to cars I own/owned.

The best part

• Provides a very comfortable ride for 5. It is made for Indian (Bangalore potholes) roads.
• Getting a mileage of 22 ~ 23 KMPL (40% city and 60% highway) with highway speed ranging 80-110 KMPH, NO cruise control and in ECO mode. Heck, the Hyryder gives my Suzuki Shogun (2 stroke 93 model) a run for its money in the mileage front.
• Very spacious especially rear bench. All my folks are happy with good leg and shoulder room.
• High GC much needed for our ‘Free Size’ speed breakers and ‘Surprise Pot Holes’
• Happy with the Headlights, was not Happy driving Swift during the night with STOCK headlights.
• Music system starts almost instantly as soon as I switch ON and Connectivity on Android Auto is excellent and have no complaints though I am still unable to make calls using Voice command and I don’t think Toyota and Google are in sync yet for this.
• Fancy lights below the dashboard near the ABC pedals (also provide for co-pilot). For whatever this is provided but a feel-good factor.
• Power windows button though looks the same as SWFIT, the operation is very smooth in Hyryder. Thank goodness the door doesn’t vibrate when windows roll up/down unlike my Swift.

Things I need to be aware of

• Turning radius (U-turn) is higher and competes with my MM550.
• NVH is good (at least inside). When the engine kicks in, the outside sound seems slightly higher than other petrol cars.
• During hard braking, people in the rear bench tend to notice more (read scared) in Hyryder as compared to Swift.

Issues noted

• System showed an Alarm once ‘RDS Interruption’ went away after some time on its own.
• There was a vibration noise occasionally in front of the cabin finally found the culprit to be IRVM. It does vibrate sometimes and makes an irritating noise but not always. Took it to the service centre once he tried all sorts of driving and didn’t vibrate at all to my bad luck. Even now it does make irritating noise and there are no screws to adjust/tighten.
• There is a kind of squeaking noise coming from the back left (boot area) when driving over potholes or a few speed breakers. Got it fixed by SC.
• Changing gears (P-R-N-D-B) is hard/rough and you get a feeling like you are forcing it to change rather than a smooth shift.

Things I wish it had

• Adjusting time delay for intermittent wipers. My first car, a preowned 2005 Getz-GVS had this feature, neither Swift in 2014 nor Hyrrder 2023 manufactured provided this.
• Door (at least Driver side) doesn’t Auto unlock when I shut the engine. Not sure if there is an option to change this.
• The AC buttons (recirculation on/off are small unlike Swift), as I use these quite often and hate these tiny buttons.
• I feel providing Gear shift from P - D is more meaningful and user-friendly as against P - R - D. There might be some logic, as all manufacturers provide the same way, but wonder why.

Yet to understand or need more clarity

• There is a button provided for Traction control but it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.
• EV mode button is provided near the hand brake but whenever I select it, a message flashes as ‘EV mode not available’.

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