My First Car - Toyota Etios Liva G (SP)


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Detailed photoshoot and pictures - Page 4
Detailed 1st Service report - Page 5

Hi All,

This is my first thread in Automotive India. Excited to talk about my first Car Purchase. I wanted to purchase my car during October end - November begining of this year. So started re-searching for the same around a month back (say mid September). The following were my inital criterias -

1) A petrol Car - i don't intend to use it for more than 600/700 kms a month
2) A hatch back
3) within 6.5 lakhs
4) Spacious, comfort while driving
5) Good mileage if not great
6) Hassle free maintenance

so with this initial criterias, i started looking out for petrol hatchbacks. Shortlisted the following 5 cars based on exterior looks and affordability (i wanted my car to be in the mid variant of the hatch back with atleast basic features like Music system etc within my budget of 6.5 lakhs )

1) Hyundai I 20 - Magna (O)
2) Volkswagen Polo - Comfortline
3) Toyota Etios Liva - G SP
4) Ford Figo - Titanium (given its top end itself is quite cheaper compared to the others in the list )
5) Maruti Swift & Ritz VXI version

My selection procedure, TD, eliminations etc during the past 1 month -

1) Hyundai I 20 -
Pluses - Great Exteriors, very good interiors, relatively spacious compared to most in cars in my shortlist, good interior features, smooth drivability, good gear shifts
Minuses - Bad ground clearance, petrol engine and power not enough to support its huge weight, slow pick up, a bit costly for the features.

Verdict - Reached my top 3 shortlist. Deliberated a lot given its great looks but finally rejected.

2) Volkswagen Polo -
Pluses - best looking hatchback (IMO), excellent no-nonsense exteriors, good interior ambience, smooth drivability, very smooth gear shifts, ground clearance, pot holes are managed very easiliy
Minuses - pathetic rear space, 3 pot engine, slow initial pick up, high maintenance cost, heard a lot of bad reviews on its ASS

Verdict - It had reached my top 2 shortlist thanks to huge discounts given by the dealers this month (the on-road price in bangalore for the comfortline was coming around 6.25 lakhs) and my heart wanted this car. But my mind somehow had other plans given its Minuses. So finally rejected.

3) Ford Figo -

Minuses - petrol engine not powerful enough, crumpled space, somewhere the petrol variant didn't excite me for some reason. So Rejected

4) Maruti Swift -

Pluses - Great pick up, very good power, ASS, Low maintenace cost, Above average looks (though i didnt like it so much. Would easily rate i20, polo and Liva ahead of it)
Minuses - Rear Space and height (everybody in the family is above average hieght. my self 6'3 inches) [frustration]

Final Verdict - Rejected

Final Choice -

Toyota Etios Liva [clap]

Positives - Attractive Exteriors, Best in class/segment Space, Great comfort, Great drivability, very good gearshift, Toyota Badge, hassle free maintenance, ASS, New beige interiors look far better than the older version (my make or break reason for selecting Liva), Airbags, ABS with EBD within 6.25 OR price

Negatives - No tachometer, seat height adjustable features, interior plastic quality could have been better but with the new Beige interiors it looks far better than before

At the end of the day, the positives overshadow the negatives big time. Considering my budget being less than 6.5 lakhs, the Etos Liva provided me with 20k discounts, Music System, Fog lamps, Airbags, ABS with EBD, hassle free maintenace etc for just within 6.25 lakh.

Had my budget been around 7.5 lakhs, i would have surely gone for Polo Highline or I20 Asta variant compared to Liva VX model. But within a budget of 6.25 lakhs, Etios Liva G SP makes a perfect VFM car.

Also guys and girls, please have a look of the New Beige interios. It might change your mind for the good. It surely did for me. :)

Curent Status - Have booked the Car. Awaiting its delivery in a week's time from now. Will post more details with pics soon.
 
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Hi anand,
Thats a quiet impressive write up.

Congratulations for booking your best choice your first carToyota Etios Liva[clap]

Wish you have many happy miles to travel with it.
 
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Congrats Anand... BTW from which dealer in BLR are you taking the delivery and whats the color?
 
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Congrats Anand... BTW from which dealer in BLR are you taking the delivery and whats the color?
I have booked it with Ravindu Toyota. I found the Nandi Toyota sales executives's knowledge to be very amateurish. Well, not to blame Nandi Toyota as maybe i met the wrong sales executives. But most of the Ravindu dealers's sales ex seem to know their job well except a few.

Frankly speaking, a good knowledgable sales executive makes or breaks the deal. For me, i had met one sales executive from Volkswagen Whitefield. He was completely on top of his job. He knew what he was speaking, no bluffing and made complete sense. He had almost convinced me to go for the Polo. [:)]
 
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Hello Anand,

Welcome to The Automotive India. Many congratulations for your Toyota Etios Liva. Except the interiors, i find this car great. Do post some pictures of the car.

Cheers.
 
Thread Starter #6
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Hello Anand,

Welcome to The Automotive India. Many congratulations for your Toyota Etios Liva. Except the interiors, i find this car great. Do post some pictures of the car.

Cheers.
Thanks Akash. I completely agree. I have gone with the Symphony Silver color. Hopefully the car should be ready for delivery by this weekend.

I need some help from all of you with regards to the Music System. Should i go for the Toyota Etios Liva music system or should i opt for something else like say a Sony or JVC. My biggest requirement is that the music system should fit well with the dashboard and shouldn't look odd.

Anybody who can guide with the music system piece [confused]
 
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Thanks Akash. I completely agree. I have gone with the Symphony Silver color. Hopefully the car should be ready for delivery by this weekend.

I need some help from all of you with regards to the Music System. Should i go for the Toyota Etios Liva music system or should i opt for something else like say a Sony or JVC. My biggest requirement is that the music system should fit well with the dashboard and shouldn't look odd.

Anybody who can guide with the music system piece [confused]
Do keep this thread updated with the pics as soon as the car is delivered.

As for ICE queries, feel free to open up a separate thread[:)].
 
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Do keep this thread updated with the pics as soon as the car is delivered.

As for ICE queries, feel free to open up a separate thread[:)].
Is there any active thread already on this topic? As otherwise i don't want to unnecessarily open up a new one. Also am looking for a 2 DIN music system.
 
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One more ask from anyone who has bought a Toyota Etios Liva Petrol variant -

If you have bought the car after 1st september 2012 - when the car underwent a small upgrade in terms of interiors (new beige interiors), better NVH and eliminating all suspension problems - can someone provide me if the NVH and suspension problems have been addressed? The dealers were very hung ho about the fact that these issues have been successfully addressed. Need owners experience
 

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Congrats on booking the Liva, Anand.[:)]
Very nicely written up! Wish you crores of happy miles in it! :biggrin:

What is the suspension problem in the Liva? I've never heard anything except NVH levels.
 
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Where did you book the car? Ravindu in Bellandur-ORR? I went to that showroom for a TD few days back and the SA seems sound about the job asigned to her. But she wasn't sure when I asked her about the Breaking distance from 100 to 0 without ABS. Even she was confused to answer me when I asked her for the RPM at which the maximum torque nad power produced.They aren't good in follow up otherwise I should have received atleast one call from them as I assured them to visit again in few days.
 
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Where did you book the car? Ravindu in Bellandur-ORR? I went to that showroom for a TD few days back and the SA seems sound about the job asigned to her. But she wasn't sure when I asked her about the Breaking distance from 100 to 0 without ABS. Even she was confused to answer me when I asked her for the RPM at which the maximum torque nad power produced.They aren't good in follow up otherwise I should have received atleast one call from them as I assured them to visit again in few days.
I had taken a TD from atlest 5 dealers of Toyota after i became clearer on my Liva purchase. 4 Ravindu toyota dealers and one Nandi toyota. The Nandi toyota people at Museum road didn't impress me as they couldn't answer most of my questions.

Ravindu Toyota is far better. And yes, am purchasing from ORR Ravindu toyota dealer that you mentioned. [:)] I met a person named Padmanabhan. He seemed to know his job. And i found all the dealers to be very rigorous in terms of follow up. I keep receiving calls from other dealers to purchase their car. The main purpose i went to so many dealers was to get the best price and negotiation possible [:)]
 

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