Moving from a Tata Safari Storme to a Toyota Innova Crysta

Innova is a tried and tested product and combined with Toyota's service, it seemed to be a better deal.

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Toyota Innova Crysta is not a new player in the field, but an old one that is ruling the sales chart for quite a long time.

How Crysta entered my life

Our beloved Safari Storme turned 8 years old in the January 2021. The car was mechanically good and the odo reading was approximately 1,07,000 km. As with most of the Safaris ranging from the Dicor to the Storme, they start to show their age when they are past their prime. It was decided to sell the Safari and look for a new ride.

Budget

The budget was set to 30 lacs on road. Though there was a provision of extension.

Parameters taken into account

1. 7/6 Seater- The first requirement was the car should be at least a 6 seater. I never liked the idea of compact SUVs or compact sedans.

2. Diesel- The preferred choice for this purchase was diesel.

3. No 4WD- Since all the off-road duties were handled by our V-Cross, there was no point of adding another 4WD into the garage.

My requirements were simple and clear, as these days, cars north of 20 lakhs get decent safety features and all the bells and whistles so I didn’t want to complicate my buying experience and wanted to focus on my main requirements.

Options Considered

1. The new Safari- The Safari nameplate carries a sentimental value for all the Safari owners, I believe. Moreover, I always liked the Harrier and now a seven-seater version called Safari resembling the same was on sale. I was definitely attracted to it and went to the Tata showroom to check out the Safari in person. Since 2005, we always had one Tata car in the garage.

2. Toyota Innova Crysta- To be very precise, it was not my first choice. There are so many Crystas on the road and I was reluctant to be a part of that first, but somehow went to check out the car. Innova is a tried and tested product and combined with Toyota's service, it seemed to be a better deal.

There are not many options for a 7-seater under 30 lakhs. I was not interested in XUV500 so that left me with these two options only. Both the options were evaluated. When I bought V-Cross a year ago, I listened to my heart over mind but this time I had to listen to my brain and the brain was definitely vouching for the Crysta.

Before buying a new car, we had to let go off the Safari Storme first. The Toyota dealership were not providing exchange service, but they had a private dealer who used to provide services to customer who wanted to sell their car. The Safari was sold at a good price.

Booking Experience

Since I had already checked out the car at the showroom, the dealership sent a person to complete the booking experience. The car booked was an Innova Crysta Z in manual transmission in silver color. I actually wanted auto transmission but since it was going to be my father’s primary ride, he wanted a manual transmission so had to go with the flow. The car was booked and I paid a token amount; the car was promised to be delivered in the 45 days period.

Almost 20 days after, the salesperson called me to tell me that the booking that was done before our booking was cancelled and If I was interested in getting the car before the delivery date. But the twist in the story was that it was not the car that I had configured but rather a VX variant in Pearl White and an 8-seater (rear bench seat). I was not sure whether to wait or get the car. Discussed the whole scenario with the family and we decided to check out the car before coming to a conclusion. I was ready to compromise on the variant and seating configuration, but white color was somehow stuck in my head. Our V-Cross is Pearl White, the Verna is Polar White and the Safari Storme was also Pearl White. My family had no problem with color, so I had to succumb down and accept the fate. The car was finalized, and my father wanted the delivery the same day. So, I did a quick PDI while my father handled the accounts. We decided not to opt for finance and paid the full amount the same afternoon and car was delivered in the evening around 6:30 pm.

The total price came down to (approx.) 24.5 lacs on-road, Punjab. We were offered accessories worth 25 thousand by the dealership and complimentary under coating (rust protection). Since the car was delivered on a short notice, it was not registered. So, I thought of doing it myself and got a fancy number of my choice while all the road tax related paperwork was handled by dealership.

The car has completed 2,500 km so far, I couldn’t drive the car much due to the lockdown but did a few long runs in between.

The things I like about the car

• Comfort- Before getting Crysta, I used to feel that all the praise the Crysta gets in terms of comfort is exaggerated a little bit, but now I totally agree.
• Decent Performance- The 2.8L was a monster, but the 2.4L is not a slouch either. The lag is minimal, and the engine feels more revv friendly than the Safari Storme and teh V-Cross. The power mode and manual transmission are a pretty good experience in their own.
• Driving modes- There are 3 driving modes – Eco, Normal and Power. They change the throttle response depending upon the mode.
• Last row seats- The last row seats are best suited for children but are better than competition.
• New Infotainment screen- In the previous version of the Toyota Innova Crysta, the touchscreen was not the best in the business and many people complained about it. The new touch screen is very much capable with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and is definitely feature loaded.

The things I don’t like about the car

• Audio quality- The infotainment screen has improved leaps and bounds from previous generation, but the sound quality remains almost the same i.e. its average and nothing to sing praises about it.
• No soft touch material on dashboard- The materials used in car are good but a touch of soft touch material on dashboard would have been a nice touch.
• No dead pedal - There is no dead pedal in the manual variant.
• Lack of sunroof – I am not complaining but at this price point, they should have provided one.
• No auto dimming IRVM- There is no auto dimming IRVM, you have to switch it manually.

The official review of Toyota Innova Crsyta has covered all the points beautifully. I am covering the points briefly.

Exterior

The new front fascia looks better than the previous version, but the indicator placement is a bit out of place. The grille is larger than before and there is a subtle touch of chrome around the grill and headlight. The headlights are blacked out with projector for low beams and halogen for high beams. The fog lamps are placed very low and are LED. There is no DRL in the Innova Crysta.

On viewing from the side, it looks like a van, a nice van though. The car is long and bulky but those 16 inch alloys (same alloys from Baleno and Glanza) look small on a car . The tires are, in my opinion, skinny too (205/65/R16). Car looks purposeful and definitely not trying to look macho. The external rear view mirrors get the puddle lamps which are a nice touch. They do not fold on lock and unlock but Toyota provides accessory for the same.

There are almost no changes in the rear from the previous model. The car gets a rear spoiler with integrated third brake light . The rear wiper does a good job of cleaning the glass area. The rear taillight is all halogen.

Interior

Toyota definitely believes in 'if something ain’t broken, don’t fix it'. It's not that it is a bad design, but a few changes or updates are always refreshing. The gauge cluster gets 3D treatment with blue illumination and looks quite good. The MID provides plenty of information like fuel consumption, range, average speed, elapsed time, ECO drive, outside temperature, audio display, phone caller display, warning message.

Third row is decent in size. Headrests are provided in 3rd row along with cupholder, charging cable and AC vents. But third row is best suited for children. Adults can use the third row but it may prove uncomfortable on a long drive.

There are no changes in the interior from the previous model except new infotainment screen. The new infotainment screen supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. There is also option of Mirror Cast and Toyota smart device link. The screen is crisp and sharp. There is no in-built satnav like the previous model but maps can be accessed using Android Auto or CarPlay. To access the Android Auto or CarPlay, one has to plug the wire in the USB slot present in the center armrest, the slot below AC controls is for charging only.

The ZX comes with good looking leather seats and lower variants get fabric seats. The fabric material on the door pads is a dust magnet. The rear tray comes handy while munching on food.

Safety features

The ZX variant gets 7 airbags while the other variants get 3 airbags. The car comes standard with ABS with EBD, Traction control, Hill start assist, Vehicle stability control, ISOFIX points at the rear and 3 point seat belts for all passengers.

Driving Experience

If driven the way this car is supposed to be driven, its very fruitful. Put the foot on the throttle and car pulls smoothly without much lag. The acceleration is not explosive, rather very linear. The engine likes to revv but diesel clatter is audible around 3000 rpm. Straight roads and Innova Crysta are made for each other, this car is a mile muncher. The car feels planted at high speeds. But when it comes to corners, you will definitely feel that that it’s a van and not some corner carving machine. The steering is heavy but after having used the Storme and V-Cross, I am used to heavy steering wheels. The ride quality is good overall.

Things changed or upgraded on the car

1. Seat covers – The fabric seats were not bad, rather good according to our climate but there were easily stained. So I decided to install seat covers from a company called Dolphin. The fit is very neat and looks premium. They costed me around 15k.

2. 7D mat- All the cars in the garage had laminated floors done, but this time, I thought of trying 7D mats. The mats are from Autoform and costed me around 7k.

3. Doorpanel Fabric- The fabric on the door panels were replaced with the same material as that of seat covers. The fabric material was a dust magnet.

4. Rain visors- Just got them for aesthetic purpose.

5. PPF on interior panels- PPF was done on all wood finish and piano black panels. Piano black panels are prone to fingerprints and scratches so for peace of mind, I decided to get PPF done on these panels.

6. Accessories from Toyota- Auto folding rear view mirrors, Wood garnish for rear doors, exhaust tip, car cover, boot tray, mats and under body rust protection.

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