[sups]

Originally Posted by kavensri

After thinking about various other options available and also doing test drive of couple of cars, i have more or less decided to go with new liva.

I am in the same boat and might upgrade to a S-Cross next year or may be the new Etios. Just wanted to share one experience. The bigger Etios had better gear shift and had more planted feeling at the back seat compared to Liva in its diesel avatar. The wheelbase is longer in Etios compared to Liva.

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your no frills advise and I am now seriously considering the Liva. I think best for me would be to go for a Petrol version, though people say that Diesel versions are peppier.

By the way, as all of you are from Pune, please can you help me with your dealer details. Though I am located at Dapodi and since none of the dealerships are within walking distance, I do not mind travelling to any dealer in Pune who gives me a good and honest deal.

Contacts surely help.

By the way, I am waiting for a call back from the Sharayu Toyota.

I have very good experience with DSK Bavdhan, not sure about others. Have a longer test drive with the petrol Liva. It is not as free revving as the petrol motors in new Baleno. So, check if that suits you.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your no frills advise and I am now seriously considering the Liva. I think best for me would be to go for a Petrol version, though people say that Diesel versions are peppier.

Originally Posted by sups

Have a longer test drive with the petrol Liva. It is not as free revving as the petrol motors in new Baleno. So, check if that suits you.

If I were you, I would choose between the 3 cars below.

• Liva Diesel 1.4
• Etios Petrol 1.5
• Etios Diesel 1.4

Liva Petrol 1.2 is boring to drive around and I wouldn't recommend it. And since, Vios release might come up soon, I might even wait for that and whether Toyota would introduce the hybrid engine on the vios. But, that's if I have the patience to wait for 2 years or more, which I can afford to do it now because I have a wonderful no nonsense reliable car named Etios Diesel.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by sups

I am in the same boat and might upgrade to a S-Cross next year or may be the new Etios. Just wanted to share one experience. The bigger Etios had better gear shift and had more planted feeling at the back seat compared to Liva in its diesel avatar. The wheelbase is longer in Etios compared to Liva.

I wish I could go for Etios. As mentioned in my earlier post, i have severe space constraint in my apartment because of which i cannot think of buying a sedan. Otherwise, it would have been a proper upgrade for me from etios liva to etios sedan.
Btw, i test drove brezza and s-cross. I found brezza under powered at lower gears, rear seat comfort was not good and in general I found s-cross much better car than brezza. But, considering the many factors like what i am going to get more in s-cross compared to new liva, paying 3l more for s-cross (zeta version) did not make sense for me. Hence decided to go with new liva.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by sups

I am in the same boat and might upgrade to a S-Cross next year or may be the new Etios. Just wanted to share one experience. The bigger Etios had better gear shift and had more planted feeling at the back seat compared to Liva in its diesel avatar. The wheelbase is longer in Etios compared to Liva.
.

Having switched from the Liva to the Etios to the S-Cross - I can safely say that if you are willing to give perceived quality & performance (S-Cross) a miss, the Etios is a very capable product.
If you read my ownership thread on the 2011 Liva, I found the car's ride to be a little bouncier as compared to the 2013 Etios - which was (and is) much more refined and has a more comfortable ride. Between the Liva and the Etios - I would highly recommend the Etios for the better ride, and in the case of petrol - better engine too.

The S-Cross adds to the refinement, has better quality interiors, slightly more engaging engine (the Etios D is a dud with the AC on), and has an edge on the ride quality as well. As an overall vehicle, it makes sense if it is within your budget.
Worth mentioning though - the 5KKm S-Cross rattles more than the 35Kkm run Etios (same drivers, same commute, etc. In fact, the Etios actually faced worse roads when Marine Drive was under construction). Also, the S-Cross has a fair bit of niggles as reported in various ownership threads.

[sups]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Having switched from the Liva to the Etios to the S-Cross - I can safely say that if you are willing to give perceived quality & performance (S-Cross) a miss, the Etios is a very capable product.

Thats quite a valuable statement from a person who had owned Liva, Etios and S-Cross. I will give your experience before going for the upgrade.

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Between the Liva and the Etios - I would highly recommend the Etios for the better ride.

This is exactly as per my observation. 4 years I could not go for Etios because of budget. In fact I found the gearshift to be lot smoother in Etios.

Originally Posted by lamborghini

The S-Cross adds to the refinement, has better quality interiors, slightly more engaging engine (the Etios D is a dud with the AC on), and has an edge on the ride quality as well. As an overall vehicle, it makes sense if it is within your budget.

I in fact quite liked the interiors of S-Cross, better NVH and better high speed ride in S-Cross. Being a Maruti product, I think they will take care of the post sales support. It will be a tough call now anyway.

[heman_369]

I own a March 2011 Etios 1.5 Petrol run 70k kms. It still drives like a charm as if it came out of the factory today. I recently upgraded to XUV just because I got bored and wanted a occasional seven seater + automatic combination.

Believe me, nothing rattles or squeaks in my Etios.

Guess which car gives me more driving pleasure?

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your no frills advise and I am now seriously considering the Liva. I think best for me would be to go for a Petrol version, though people say that Diesel versions are peppier.

By the way, as all of you are from Pune, please can you help me with your dealer details.

Because of the stated lack of power from the petrol in the Liva - the 1.5 petrol is only available in the Etios/Etios Cross - I suggest a long test drive before choosing that. If your monthly running justifies the diesel, that might be the better option. In particular, diesel engines don't fare well with nature of use that has a lot of short trips of 15-20 minutes or less.

I suggest DSK Toyota at Bavdhan. Or anywhere else in Pune.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

In particular, diesel engines don't fare well with nature of use that has a lot of short trips of 15-20 minutes or less.

Even though, this has been a cliche, I've done exactly that with my Etios Diesel with the last 5 years and 1,11,000 kms of ownership. No issues whatsoever. The engine still feels like new!

PS: Post 10,000 kms, I've always been on fully synthetic oil from Toyota. Also, I do have one long journey atleast once in 2 months on an average.

[Sawyer]

Fair enough; my statement was based on the usual diesel wisdom. I have owned only 2 diesel cars, so I defer to your experience.

[lurker]

Conventional sense is that diesels once fired up need to run hard and heavy. I think this urban legend is to ensure piston, valve seating etc. Also in case of short runs service interval is reduced. But I have to say this about Maruti's. viz they are surprisingly easy to service. Get a few decent tools, everything can be taken care of inhouse.

Infact ask your dealer representative for a service manual and make your purchase conditional to getting hold of one. This is especially in case if maruti

[kotirajendra]

@amalji any idea if etios air bags have the infamous takata air bags. I mailed Toyota customer service but got no answer.
I am a bit worried.

[Sinner666]

We own a Liva GD, bought in Dec'15. Has covered almost 13k kms, and so far very satisfied with the car. Bought it as a No-nonsense car for Dad to drive around, and it delivers on those very parameters - Excellent visibility, low service costs (even though we have the Smiles service package), little turbo lag.

I even took it for 2 outstation runs - a short weekend dash to Manali, and a rather longish, and the extremely challenging Shimla-Kaza-Manali circuit, and the car came out remarkably well, and performed exceedingly well.

Fingers crossed.

[Majumdarda]

Yesterday evening I visited the Liva Showroom at PCMC, Sharayu Toyota to get a real world look and feel of the car.

Showroom was jam packed with customers awaiting delivery of their prized possessions, maximum of those were Inovas. I was promptly attended by a a sales representative, Simanpreet. She showed me the display car, which was the base variant and explained about the various features etc across other variants. No other model was available to check.

Car is super spacious and interior is fuss free. From what I understood, there are no frills thrown in and customer can have a very good feel while seating inside the car with big windows all around and ample leg, head and shoulder space. I am approx 6 feet tall and with the front seat adjusted for my composure, I found rear seat to have enough space as well. No test ride was possible on the day as there was no available cars but was informed that the waiting period is 15 days (I doubt this fact but still it should not be more than 60 days max).

But unfortunately, I have to let this pass even though I understand that its a very good family car which is easy to maintain and well adaptable for city as well as long rides. The sore factor is the pricing as my limit is till 550000. Below is the breakup at PCMC for Liva:-

V
Ex-Showroom : 579535
PCMC LBT : 19335
Road Tax and Registration : 55822
Toyota Insurance : 27660
TGA Kit : 31109
Smile Pack : 3197
Long Life Body coating : 7009
Toyota True Warranty : 9775
Handling : 6225

On Road : 739667 [701549 if I opt out the TGA and coating]

VX
Ex-Showroom : 634861
PCMC LBT : 21133
Road Tax and Registration : 61054
Toyota Insurance : 30099
TGA Kit : 31109
Smile Pack : 3197
Long Life Body coating : 7009
Toyota True Warranty : 9775
Handling : 6225

On Road : 804462 [766344 if I opt out the TGA and coating]

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

Yesterday evening I visited the Liva Showroom at PCMC, Sharayu Toyota to get a real world look and feel of the car.
...
Toyota Insurance : 30099
TGA Kit : 31109Smile Pack : 3197
Long Life Body coating : 7009
Handling : 6225

On Road : 804462 [766344 if I opt out the TGA and coating]...

I think you should try to avoid handling charges as well, plus opting for your own insurance will reduce the cost further.

[RavenAvi]

Overdrive's review is out.

Excerpts:

One of the biggest drawbacks of the suspension setup in the previous car was its tendency to sag when the car was fully loaded with occupants and luggage. Toyota has stiffened the suspension to address the issue and there is a noticeable difference to the old car. The low speed ride, as a result, is stiffer than before which means you do feel some of the undulations on the road. That said, the ride improves as speeds increase.

The suspension also does a brilliant job of ironing out the bumps and ruts, however you do hear a loud thud when you crash into large potholes. The handling, just like the old car is predictable and there is decent feedback from the steering as mentioned before. It holds the intended line through a corner and mid-corner bumps do not unsettle the car.