Fortuner 4x4 ownership; Why I replaced my BMW 3GT with this rugged SUV

This is a paradigm shift for me from a fast petrol sedan to a rugged diesel SUV.

BHPian graaja recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I brought home an Attitude Black Toyota Fortuner 4x4 AT this July to replace my BMW 330i GT.

What I like:

• Tank-like build
• Hydraulic steering with excellent feedback
• The ability to tackle bad roads without breaking sweat
• High seating position gives an excellent view of the road and the traffic ahead
• Loads of boot space to carry my Astrophotography equipment
• The AC is very effective and cools the car quickly, even when the sun is harsh. The 2nd and third rows also get their own AC vents.
• The 11-speaker audio system has excellent sound quality
• Ventilated seats
• Comfortable middle-row seats with adjustable inclination and very usable third-row seats
• Toyota’s reliability, customer care, and low maintenance costs

What I don’t like:

• The engine gets very gruff and noisy at 2000 RPM and above
• Very heavy steering gets tiring when operating at slow speeds, while taking U-turns, etc.
• Small AdBlue tank requires a refill between scheduled oil services
• The unknown behavior of DPF regeneration in high altitudes
• It is low on features, as it misses a 360-degree camera, rain-sensing wipers, memory seats, etc.
• No wireless CarPlay or Android Auto
• No provision to play music from a USB drive or SD Card. Needs a phone to play music
• Thigh support is not that good in the 2nd and 3rd row seats
• Bouncy ride at low speeds
• 4x4 AT comes with H/T tires. 4x4 deserves A/T tires

I will use this post as an index for important future events like services, upgrades, etc. This will make it easy for users to locate the topic of interest without having to browse through many pages.

Table of Contents:

Important Updates:

BHPian graaja recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Car Selection:

The BMW 330i GT had served me well for 6.5 years. Detailed ownership experience can be found in below thread.

A GT joins a GT - Estoril Blue 330i GT M Sport Comes Home

I created lots of good memories with the car—the road trips to Arunachal and Meghalaya, Leh and Hanle, my regular astrophotography trips to Coorg carrying all my equipment, trips to Goa for my triathlons, and numerous other trips in South India. I planned to keep the car for at least eight years, but that new car itch started in June.

Though I drove the 3GT through very bad roads during my Arunachal and Hanle road trips, I was still limited by its capability and had to skip some routes (for example, the road from Pangong Tso to Hanle) that required a proper SUV.

I wanted to upgrade to a more capable car that could take me (and my astrophotography equipment) to more places, places that the 3GT could not. Only an SUV could do this. So, I listed the following requirements.

• An SUV with high ground clearance and 4x4 or AWD.
• Preferably a turbo petrol engine, but open to diesel if the DPF regeneration is handled well
• High reliability. I should be able to drive the car to any place without any worries
• High on safety, preferably 5-star Global NCAP rating
• Comfortable rear seats
• Ample cargo space. Though the 3GT had very good boot space, the spare wheel occupied part of the boot space, and I had to install a roof box to carry my equipment during the astrophotography trips.
• Good dealership network and customer service
• I love technology. Gizmos like a digital instrument cluster, 360-degree camera, ambient lighting, etc., would be an added bonus.
• Budget: 65L, can stretch to 75L

Vehicles Considered:

BMW X3 M40i or X3 30i with xDrive:

The X3 M40i is my dream car, but its 1.1 crore on-road price was way over my budget.

An X3 30i with xDrive would be fun to drive and, due to the higher ground clearance, could handle bad roads better than the 3GT. The car comes loaded with technology and would be a good upgrade (at least lateral) to the 3GT. However, BMW stopped making the X3 30i.

X3 20d was the only option available, but it cost 95 lakhs on-road. Even with good discounts, this would not fit my budget. So, with a heavy heart, I had to drop these models from my list.

Skoda Kodiaq:

For a long time, Skoda Kodiaq has been at the top of my list as a potential replacement for the 3GT. This car ticks a lot of boxes. It has higher ground clearance than the 3GT and can take bad roads, the DCC can provide both a comfortable ride for the family and when in the mood and roads and traffic allow, can also be sporty in sports mode, the 2.0TSi and the DSG combo would provide good performance, the car has ample storage space when the third row is folded, and has lots of gizmos like the digital cockpit, 360 camera, panoramic sunroof etc.

However, when I spoke to a few friends with experience with the Skoda dealer at Coimbatore, everyone discouraged me from buying a Skoda. As I wanted trouble-free ownership, though my heart was all for a Kodiaq, I also had to drop this from my list. I did not even go for a test drive.

VW Tiguan:

The next consideration after Kodiaq was the Tiguan. I have had a decent experience with VW dealers in Coimbatore with Jetta and Polo GT. Though the experience is nowhere near what I have had with BMW, it was not bad either. I booked a test drive, and after a couple of days, a sales executive from VW brought the Tiguan for a test drive.

The Tiguan felt more car-like in handling. The 2.0TSI + DSG combo was very smooth and had adequate power. The Tiguan also has good technology, such as a virtual cockpit, panoramic sunroof, adaptive headlights, etc.

The Tiguan had a few drawbacks. Its very stiff suspensions made it very harsh to ride at city speeds. However, this was a solvable problem.
A friend who owns the Tiguan has changed to Koni shocks and reported that this significantly improved the low-speed ride comfort.

Compared to the Kodiaq, Tiguan has less boot space and would not fit all my Astro equipment. I will have to use the roof box.

Though the Tiguan may have better ground clearance than the 3GT, it is still a softroader and may not be able to handle some terrain I may encounter on my road trips.

Overall, I was not excited about Tiguan as an upgrade at all.

Audi Q5:

The Audi Q5 is comparable to the Kodiaq, and I thought of checking it out. But again, I heard very bad reviews about Audi support in Coimbatore and reliability concerns. Considering the usage I was planning. I still wanted to check the car out and booked a test drive, but I got no response from Audi. I no longer felt like pursuing this and dropped it off the list.

Ford Endeavour (or Everest):

Many friends suggested that I wait for Ford to bring the Endeavour. But I did not wait for two reasons. First, Ford has not officially announced this. It's all still a rumor. Second, even if Ford brought the Endeavor or Everest, it would be a CBU and would mostly be priced atrociously.

So far, my search for a replacement has been disappointing.

Enter the Fortuner and Hilux:

I was speaking to BHPian Quicksilver, a close friend of mine, and when I mentioned my requirements, he told me to check out the Toyota Fortuner and Hilux. He said Toyota is the best choice if I was looking for a peace-of-mind ownership experience. Both the Fortuner and Hilux are built like tanks and can handle the worst of the worst roads, and the Toyota customer experience is very good.

I love sedans for their agility. I loved pushing the Jetta or the 3GT on curvy mountain or forest roads. An SUV would take away this fun. At least monocoque designs will provide some level of driving fun. But a body-on-frame SUV will completely take this away. This is the reason why, in my initial list, I had the Kodiaq, Tiguan, and Q5 and not the Fortuner or the Hilux.

I love luxury and technology in cars, and the Fortuner and the Hilux miss out on this. My friend told me the same luxury and technology is what make these cars unreliable. In addition to the bad dealership experience, it can become a pain owning these cars with the kind of usage I put the cars through. For example, though I greatly enjoyed driving the BMW in Ladakh, Arunachal, and Meghalaya, there was always a small fear of what would happen if the car developed some problem. The last dealership in the northeast is in Kolkatta, and in the north, I think it is Chandigarh. I still undertook these trips because BMWs are generally more reliable. This will not be the case with a Kodiaq, Tiguan, or Q5. These cars are not known to be reliable and, at the same time, do not have a dealership network like Toyota.

After considering my priorities, I decided to sacrifice the fun-to-drive part and check out the Fortuner and Hilux.

I decided to visit the showroom and have a look at both cars. It was a Sunday, and I took my daughters with me. At the showroom, I was received by Mr. Rahul, a senior sales consultant. He showed me both cars and immediately arranged for a back-to-back test drive of the cars.

I found the ride quality a little better in the Hilux compared to the Fortuner. And Hilux had an imposing road presence. However, the rear seat comfort was totally lacking in the Hilux. The seats were upright, and there was no option to adjust the incline. They also lacked thigh support. It would be fine for short drives. However, long drives can be very uncomfortable for rear-seat passengers. The most significant advantage of the Hilux was the huge storage space. However, I did not have use for such a huge storage space.

The Fortuner was much more practical with more comfortable rear seats with adjustable inclination. Even the third-row seats were very usable. The Fortuner had decent boot space that could hold a couple of suitcases with the third-row seats up. With the third-row seats folded, the boot space was quite decent. I could easily load my portable Astrophotography setup and some more luggage. With the 2nd row seats too folded, the boot space becomes enormous.

Though my heart wanted the Hilux, my mind was all for Fortuner. My elder daughter liked the Hilux, while my younger daughter liked the Fortuner.

I asked Mr. Rahul to bring both cars home so that we could do another long test drive, this time with my wife. As promised, he got the cars home the next day, and I did a couple of long test drives of both cars.

Hilux parked in the portico. There is barely space for someone to squeeze through when the gate is closed.

The Fortuner is a better fit in the portico.

My wife totally ruled out the Hilux for its uncomfortable rear bench. She also did not like the pickup truck design. She liked the Fortuner for its practicality as a seven-seater, relatively more comfortable rear seats, etc.

So, I decided to go ahead with the Fortuner. Some friends suggested I wait for the next generation to come. But there is no idea when this will happen. It may take a couple of years. But I needed the car now!

Color and Variant Selection:

The Fortuner has three 4x4 AT variants: the regular 4x4 AT, the Legender, and the GRS. The on-road prices of these variants are listed below.

Fortuner 4x4 AT - 52.92 Lakhs
Fortuner Legender 4x4 AT - 59.52 Lakhs
Fortuner GR Sport 4x4 AT - 64.42 Lakhs

The regular and Legender versions were almost 6.5 lakh apart. The only differences between the regular 4x4 and Legender were the body kit, dual-tone exteriors, and headlights. The GRS had sports suspensions but missed out on the 11-speaker music system and ventilated seats. I did not feel it justified a 12 lakh price difference with the regular 4x4 AT, so I decided to go with an Attitude Black 4x4 AT version.

Continue reading BHPian graaja's ownership experience for more insights and information.