Toyota has read the mind of the customers of this segment. They know what features to retain or add and what to omit.
BHPian poloman recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Completed around 150 km so far.
- The car is highly predictable. You won’t get any surprises. Toyota QA is superb and churns out almost exact copies of the car. For example, the mileage is exactly as mentioned multiple times in the forum – 12 km/l on highways and 8-9 km/l in the city. Panel gaps are mostly uniform. Contrary to some reports in the forum, I find the paint quality to be also excellent. Could not find a single defect or speck in the paint, maybe due to the pearl white color which hides a lot of imperfections. But overall Toyota is miles ahead in the quality department, I feel.
- Toyota has read the mind of the customers of this segment. They know what features to retain or add and what to omit. I always prefer a full-sized spare alloy wheel over a sunroof any day. Opinions may differ on this. I am not a fan of bling features and taglines like “internet inside” in a car. But absolutely look for safety features like max airbags, hill assist. etc. Prefer simplicity and emphasis on safety in the machines. I am an electronics engineer, but don’t like too many electronics in my car.
- No need to write about this again since this is widely known, but comfort is best on highways. The car is easy to drive in the city also. But the ride is a bit bumpy to my liking at lower speeds and undulations on road are felt on steering. Difficult to park not due to size but due to heavy steering. I have to do a 3 point turn to park due to an adjacent pillar. So it is a good amount of muscle work. Otherwise, you won’t feel you are driving such a long car, till you look back.
- A lot of people tick off Innova from their list just due to the so-called ‘taxi image’. I don’t find any merit in this argument. This is an extremely good looking and comfortable car. No one is going to judge your societal status just because there are too many Innova taxis. Public understands the merit of this car. So if you like the car, go ahead and buy it. Don’t give a damn to that envious neighborhood uncle ji’s or friend’s comment “why you bought a car with a taxi image?”. The only problem I find with Innova is that it is at least 3-4L overpriced.
- The key fob looks and feels a little flimsy. But nowadays this is the case with most cars.
- The worst thing about this car is the dinosaur era automatic gear selector layout. I always need to look at the lever to move it to the desired gear. While parking this is highly irritating.
Lastly don’t always go by your instincts when you are buying a car. 45-50L is serious money for the salaried class. Like businesspeople, you can’t write off depreciation or claim tax benefits on car loan interest. This will be a significant amount. So don’t do what your business friend is doing. Changing expensive cars every 5 years. They won’t tell you how much they are saving in the process.
Deliberate on your needs, ponder over your finances, do multiple test drives and factor in expert opinions and ownership reports on informed forums like Team-BHP. Happy that this thread could influence many like-minded people and balance the push and pulls in life.
Here’s what BHPian sunilg33 had to say about the matter:
Congratulations.
The highway mileage should improve to around 14+. Max efficiency I’ve got is between 80-100 and anything above 110 there is a drastic drop in the mileage.
Here’s what BHPian padmrajravi had to say about the matter:
Congratulations. From a flashy red Polo to a ubiquitous white Crysta. One can see the change in thought process over a decade too.
Well, read 1 and 4 together and you know where that extra 3 lakh goes. It offers unmatched peace of mind when you are traveling with family. And there will be no personal leaves due to family emergencies to take your car for a service action.
Regarding the gated action of the gear lever, you will soon gain muscle memory to do that. I had trouble for the first few days and then it started behaving much more smoothly. I feel I don’t make any adjustments for the gates now. It just automatically falls in place with downward and upward movements.
Here’s what BHPian One had to say about the matter:
Congratulations on your purchase, love the pearl white colour. Is it easy to touch up and maintain that shade because it beats the Super White for me any day?
Keyword: Toyota Innova Crysta: Owner shares his initial impressions