3.0 Exterior | 3.0 Comfort | 3.0 Performance |
4.0 Fuel Economy | 2.0 Value for Money |
Update 44000K
1. Got front suspension problem resolved at 40K service. Got front suspension replaced under warranty.
2. Mileage is 22-23 in highway around 100-110kmph.
3. Maintenance cost is low compared to swift. Swift average servicing costs about 7000 with mineral engine oil. With recommended synthetic oil it would cost 1500 more. Etis average service cost is 3500. Got smile pack 40K/50K/60K km servicing together for Rs10000. My friend's swift third service(20K km) alone costed him Rs10000 with mineral oil.
Serive/maintenance costs as below
1000kms - Rs50
10k kms - Rs1830
20k kms- Rs1850
30k kms - Rs3300
40k/50k/60k - Rs10000
Nothing else is changed in car till now. left headlight is gone. Using spare headlight that came with car.
4. No major problems faced till now. Facing a small problem with very very minor noise in steering. Hoping to get it resolved in 50k servicing.
5. Engine/Road NOISE is the is the major problem with this car.
Selection
I wanted a diesel car which should be.
1. very driveable(my definition to this word is without frequent gear changes and should be able to pass though any speed beaker in 2nd gear) in city.
2. should have ABS and Airbags(really useful??)..So I wanted a topend model in any car that i select.
2. composed highway drive(at 90-110kmph)..as I travel almost 1500kms per month on highway.
3. Good mileage and ride quality(I doubt whether my Liva met ride quality req).
4. Very good interiors and features like alloys, fog lamps.
Shortlisting and Delivery:
It was easy for me as most of the models are out of my budget :) my budget was 6.5 to 7 at max
I20/POLO/PUNTO/MICRA/PULSE/SWIFT --- topend models are out of my budget more than 7.5L
vista --- not considered for its build quality(may be should have considered this too after looking at LIVA's average build quality)
Beat --- I liked everything apart from space
LIVA --- in my budget and good proven D4D engine and spacious
I alomost selected Chevy beat..as it has everything i wanted and most importantly it is the cheapest of all(6.5L onroad hyd LT with OPTION pack)..I must say Beat's driveability and ride quality is excellent..
Finally my wife's suggestion arrived :) All She wanted is a safe "spacious" car..
All of a sudden by selection is gone..Beat has very less rear seat space..no thigh support at all..
Now I left with only one option LIVA as vista is out of my mind..without lot of thinking or research i selected LIVA by trusting T-brand
Delivery was smooth as expected from Harsha Toyota, Hyderabad..they did nothing wrong here..
So now did i get what I wanted?? here are my initial observations...
pros:
Very driveable in city..you can go past all the speed breakers in 2nd gear..
spacious..three guys can perfectly fit into back seat
good progressive breaking(personally i dont like swift/beat sudden beaking mainly at lower speeds)
cons:
average build(way below expectations) finishing..Look at dash and other interior corners for 10 mins..u will come to know i am right..Am disappointed with Toyota in this regard...
Car doors looks very light..not sure how safe is it..Its lightness is evident from its weight of 980kgs(smaller beat weighs nearly 1100kgs)..
When i close the back doors it makes lot of noise..reminds my 4 year old 800..I can give u hell lot of examples that its not built well..
bad insulation(high NVH)..u will hear hell lot of tyre and engine noise from inside even when ur or good road with AC on..On bad roads it gets worst..i could not believe that 10days old car rattles like this..
not very smooth gear shifts(hoping it will improve after first service)
very soft front suspension..front suspention jumps and gives weird sound at small sharp speed breakers at low speeds..
low ground clearance..In paper it might look same as other(173 mm)..My car hit the ground 4 times in first 3 days..nothing major though :)
average interiors compared to ther cars in the segment..I think everyone agrees with me..
costly spares(4 chrome finish rings for AC vents costs 1500)??? Actual value of those rings cant be more than Rs 100..I know spares will be costlier than value but not expected to be this high..May be its too early to comment based on only one...
Missing features like(alloys/autodown power windows/fog lamps/boot lamp)
very low powered head lamps(my old M800 lamps looked better)??? Is it the case with every other car that default lamps are very less powered??
turbo lag??
In-built speakers sound quality is below average..
Mileage and performance:
performance was good if u shift gears correctly to stay in turbo zone..If u dont it struggles..To stay in turbo jone the gear shift speeds are..
1st to 2nd at 10kmph
2nd to 3rd at 25-30 kmph
3rd to 4th at 40-45 kmph
4th to 5th at 60 kmph
Every gear pulls well from even lower speeds than mentioned above but pulls slowly..I tried to pull from 50 kmph in 5th but it took lot of time(5-8 secs to get past 60kmph).
Weekned i went to Kurnool from Hyderabad(230 + 230)
Full tak to full tank mileage 20KMPL with 95% AC on(but AC at min level)..480 kms(460 on highway + 20 in city) with 24 litres of diesel..hoping it tobe improved another 2kmpl after first service..
Highway driving is mostly at 90-100 kmph, occasionally touched 110-120..engine is happy at 110kmph. I tried to push it further but it looked stressed..
Gear shifts are as specified above to keep it in toubo zone.
Other observations:
Antenna wont come as standard..and u must buy it from showroom..its not available in open market.
Need to leave engine idle for 2-3 minutes to allow turbo changer to get cool down(after long drives, not required for city driving though)..is it the case with all the diesel engines??
Service intervals are 10k, where as its 5k for beat..
Final verdict: Its early to say but i am already feeling that should have gone for beat :(
Driveable, Reliability, After sales service, Mileage,low maintenance costNoiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise, Rattles