Why the overpriced Hyryder is still a better option than Innova Hycross

For my usage, although the hybrid SUV feels overpriced, it is still a better VFM option than the Hycross.

BHPian drsachin recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I had booked Hyryder and yesterday I went to do PDI of the car allotted to me at Toyota Noida. The moment I reached the showroom, my parents immediately reached the spot where p\Pearl white colour Hycross was displayed it was a VX variant. For a moment we had forgotten that we had come for a pre-delivery inspection of Hyryder. We spent 30 minutes with the Hycross and my mother checked the on-road price on the brochure and immediately said, "son this Hycross is priced at Rs 28 lakh and it appears like a 40 lakh car, on the other hand, the car you are buying is a Rs 22 lakh car but it appears like a 15 lakh car. Please cancel your Hyryder booking and instead pay Rs 6 lakh more and buy this Hycross. To have further discussions with the family we immediately left the showroom without the PDI. In the evening, I went to the biggest showroom in North India. One thing I noticed at various showrooms is that the waiting period for the VX variant is not the same across showrooms. At most places, it's 15 months for all Hybrid Variants but at some showrooms, it's 2-4 months. Something is seriously wrong with the Toyota booking process.

I could not sleep yesterday and the pros and cons of owning Hycross were crossing my mind. I can not wait too long before I ask the showroom to pass on my Hyryder to the next customer in the queue.

Today morning it was very clear to me, I just can't use Hycross for my daily use and decided to go back to the showroom for Hyryder PDI. We are a small family with 4 adults and a small kid

I drive 90% of the time alone to my work. I am a doctor and my use case involves driving a lot after a tiring day of work. Most of the time while driving either I am too tired, feel sleepish and my reflexes are really down. Although I consider myself an expert driver with an experience of more than 3 lakh km, but I am now on the wrong side of 40 yrs, so my reflexes are further going to go down. That's one of the reasons now I am looking to buy automatic cars instead of manual. I have driven Safari and Hector a lot so I am comfortable driving SUVs of this size. But Hycross feel way too big than both of these, the size was really intimidating. Although it's just 5 cm bigger than Hector and 10 cm bigger than Safari.

So what happens if I own Hycross for daily use?

I will drive for a year or two and it develops scratches and ugly dents in my crump-ish hospital parking. I start avoiding trips which involve parking in tight spots, so my in-city trips need to be well-planned. I decide to use Hycross only on those days when I am expected to reach the hospital early, I may find a good parking spot easily. My yearly denting painting charges keep increasing and my resale value keeps falling. I finally decide to hire a chauffeur for my work. Or I may decide to buy another small car for just those days. Or I may decide to sell it off after 3/4 years.

So the whole thought just defeats the purpose of owning a hybrid as my monthly usage will come down. I just feel the car is oversized by at least 4-6 inches for my use case. Why don't they just launch Corolla Altis with a hybrid engine? That would fit my use case.

So finally did the PDI of Hyryder today and will do the final payment on Monday.

Now the reasons - why I felt Hycross is better value for money than Hyryder:

1. It's a 5th generation proper Toyota hybrid car, using the latest TNGA-C platform and the latest p610 gearbox. This same platform is used by a large number of Toyota and Lexus cars.
2. Built quality is the best in the segment. It's almost tank-like.
3. Powerful engine. I compared the specifications with a similar specs hybrid engine used in Hector launched in Indonesia. The combined torque figure of the Hybrid Hector is 320nm. So the combined torque figures of the Toyota Hycross are definitely more than that of the hybrid Hector.
4. Features such as Paddle shifters, manual mode gearbox, 360 camera, front parking sensor, electronic parking brakes with Autohold, auto fold side view mirrors, beautiful automatic headlights and taillights are found even in the base VX variant. And of course the colour scheme (Pearl white, Blackish Ageha glass flakes). Some of these features are missing even in the top Variant of Hyryder, that's a shame.
5. Probably the best aftersales value in the used car market.

So although I am continuing with my Hyryder booking, it definitely feels over-priced by at least 5 lakh.

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