Toyota Etios [2013-2014] User Reviews

I am using Etios G SP grey since Dec 2013. Drove it around 2000km. Took 1000km/1month servicing so far. Here is some write up about it

Exterior: It is mid size, mid budget and yet "long" sedan. Showroom look was impressive. I had done couple of modifications like a chrome front grill, bumper corner protector, paint coating and rust coating (bottom side) and fog light thing. Some of it are necessary and some just for looks. I say, yet without them the original look itself speaks for that you own a good looking car! Anyway I am thinking of adding allowable tints for the glasses.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort): leg spaces are good. There are scopes for driver's seat height as well for all seat head rest adjustments. For me 5 11 guy I find front and back both spacious even after inclination. Seats are comfortable like anyother cars. A pillow can be added for more! However I added artificial leather seat covers, wooden finishing, mats. Now the package looks complete. Music system they provided is good. But the remote looks very ordinary. Boxes are in front all 4 of them and still music is well enjoyed from every corner of car! AC is powerful and vents can be well directed for back people. Front leg area AC is good too. AC has no remote. Gloverbox cooling system is there. But there is no lock there on that glovebox. It is required in my opinion. The blue speedometer I like which many of you may too. Fuel indicator has eight bars each of 5.5 lit approx. 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox: Engine of toyota is good-people said it and now I say it. Highest speed of it goes to 220km and I drove it in 200kmph on expressway and with  complete control. Economy is around 12-14 in city and on highway around 17-18 roughly. There is no so called improvements after 1st servicing. Toyota guy said it won't too. Anyway the pedals are quite smooth but hill toe thing of break and throttle cannot be done unless your foot is big enough. Gear box seemed tight at first but now I feel them easy going. 

Ride Quality & Handling: Etios gives good ride quality. But be prepared to hit the road bumpers in a loaded condition. I dont like it at all. Handling is standard. Steering adjustment facility is there which I think will be good for drivers with diff heights. Steering came with leather wrap up! The other controls are suitably located. 

Purchase/ Service Experience: I bought it from Topsel toyota of Kolkata. It is good if not excellent. They came to our garage too for trial. All important items like jack, bulbs, first aid, triangles and screw driver and stepni were given and some gifts too like coockies and a rag. First service exp was good. Behaviors of toyota guys are good. They also offered me a discount on engine oil for second servicing in advance along with other few offers/discounts on washing etc. Regarding finance, they arranged some discounts but I could not manage a car cover, which I had to bought. Before purchasing make an idea of interests from diff banks in case of loans. They vary significantly and can be managed with words too! 

Final Words: A person who knows how to drive a car can drive any car. If a brand of Toyota attracts you, you may go for it like I went. It won't disaapoint you for sure. I am satisfied with it. I spent some extra money for some additions to add up satisfection level!! It has its value and class.

Areas of improvement: The light weight alloy body which if somebody puts hand on from outside feels unsafe (:P). It can be made lil sturdy. Alloy wheels are available in top variant not in my G SP. But in top  too the stepni are not alloy. Toyota may think of providing alloy wheels in lower models too.

** This is not a technical review I know. It is experience with this car in all aspects qualitatively. You may find it useful. Thanks for reading nyway. Best of Luck, Arijit 

Exterior The exterior is ok.  in fact it  is one of the few positive points of this car.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Interior is ok. It has good boot space. However the light in the boot gives trouble often. The gear lock which is provided by the company as optional is useless & gives lot of trouble  so much so that it may not be possible to unlock it sometimes.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Ok.

Ride Quality & Handling Not good as car stops frequently in traffic.

Final Words It is definitely not a good buy. Substandard parts used in this car can prove dangerous.Within 3 years of purchase my car was  towed to dealer twice. The gear wire snapped once completely ( luckily for me when i was not driving) & then the ABS wire also snapped which the dealer just repaired temporarily instead of replacing under warranty (under instructions from the company) knowing fully well that my life can be endangered by this. Company doesn't provide any customer care whatsoever. User is left to the mercy of dealer who misleads you to escape providing warranty.

Areas of improvement NA.

Exterior

 Nothing to complaint about as such, After all if you are buying any model of Toyota, then looks is secondary. Etios looks better then the 2008 versions of the corolla.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

 Space & Comfort - Nothing to complaint about. Features - well, If I needed features I had many options in the market. But would really appreciate if Toyota starts looking at this aspect.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

 Its been a one year relationship of some sort. The fuel economy has amazed me. This is a petrol varient I am using and I wonder if somebody could audit my figures.. Just a week back I have covered Mumbai - Jaipur - Mumbai. A road trip of lifetime... and the car returned a fuel effeciency of 20KMPL😄. Now I dont know if it was NH8 or the quality of fuel on the highway.. Whatever it was I have become a big fan of etios fuel effeciency.My previous was a Optra 1.8, 9KMPL, all the more reason for my gaga over fuel effeciency

Ride Quality & Handling

 1200 KMs from Jaipur to Mumbai - we left @ 7am and reached Mumbai @ 5 am next day. Almost 22 hrs of drive with some short breaks - And the car took it all in a stride of a champion. 8 hrs of sleep and we were normal. I guess that explains the ride quality.

Final Words

 If looks is the 3rd important point on your Must Have in My Car List - Go for Etois blindly.

Areas of improvement  

 Can I have 2 Wiper blades please - TOYOTA - Are you listening???

Exterior

 The Back side of this car is very boxy and not that appealing as its front, paint gets easily scratched and very evident as mine is a classic grey colour

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

 i wanted an ABS with airbag version and it is availabe in etios from the middle variant of this car

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox: 

 I was looking for an entry level sedan and zeroed on honda amaze, maruthi swift dzire and toyota etios, other brands where avoided because i didnt feel comfortable about the performance of those cars or the after sales services. i test drove these 3 cars:

swift dzire: good car, but i hated the turbo lag of the diesel version, there was a huge gap in the rpm to hit the turbo on. 

Honda Amaze: very powerful on paper at 100bhp, didnt feel so also poor steering and rough gear shifts let me loose confidence on this as i was planning for long journeys with my car.

Toyota Etios: very comfortable, steering adjustable, seat height adjustable, smooth engine, one will feel the turbo kicking on, excellent steering, superior gear shifts, made my day happy in the end. (Mind you i test drove all the three vehicles in a day)

Ride Quality & Handling

Excellent handling, city driving just became a wow. When i was cruising on the highway (thrissur-ernakulam in kerala) i felt the car not giving a formidable response to my throttle, but when i looked into the sppedo it was @140kmph. gues that explains it all

Final Wordss

 A good car to own, the etios diesel

Areas of improvement  

 wanted an automatic climate control for the AC, looks, a bit stiff clutch