[CrAzY dRiVeR]

One month after the Official Review has been published, the thread has grown to just 60 posts (And just 4 pages!). Looks like this car has got least enthusiastic welcome (Atleast in team-bhp) among the recent launches.

Sales figures show a similar story as well. Related thread-
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...arket-did.html

[blackfire_9]

^^ Just updated this on another thread as well, about how we have almost decided on the Micra dCi. The liva is also still a strong contender but simply put, doesn't give that feeling of satisfaction which should be there after having spent over 6 lakhs for a car. it just doesn't justify the price tag.

Moreover, the micra felt much better built & better interiors that in my opinion are only matched by Vista. Though people like i20's interiors, they don't seem all that great to me.

Hope that helps.

[ff1609]

I did a test drive of Liva D as soon as it became available for a TD. People have already written quite comprehensive reviews already, so not much left, but some points:

1. Spacious interiors but how many of us actually ever have 5 occupants in the car? Anyway, ample leg and head room.

2. Really bland, two-tone gray interiors fail to impress. The diesel variant doesn't have any fabric inserts in door trim. AC controls, ducts, instrument cluster, everything looks very basic and the quality doesn't seem great either. Interiors aren't good enough even if it was a 1000cc hatch.

3. Did a TD at night and must say that the instrument cluster (which is just a speedo meter and fuel/ temp gauge) is reminiscent of Premier Padmini in some ways.

4. The car feels firmly planted and sturdy, on rough roads it is slightly less bumpy as compared to Swift. No ground clearance issues, goes over potholes and high speed breakers with ease.

5. On paper the Power difference between Liva and Swift D is quite obvious but on road, its a different story. Due to Liva's reduced weight it feels equally peppy as Swift. Infact the reduced turbo lag makes it easier to drive in city.

6. Since Liva D is priced in between Swift Ldi and Vdi, I think it should be compared to both. Compared to Swift LDi its a better buy as you get 4 power windows, ABS, 4 speakers and central locking for a little extra with the similar bland interiors of Swift Ldi. However Vdi, though just a tad more expensive has all of this minus ABS and speakers but much better interiors and a tachometer.

7. Toyota's brand image is a major factor behind most people's buying decision for this car. Resale value is often a point of concern for those who intend to sell their car soon enough. Liva's resale is likely to be at par with Swift, unlike Fabia, Figo & Punto - which fetch considerably lower resale values. Micra will probably have decent resale but not as good as Swift or Toyota.

8. One of my family members who wants to buy Liva D as a second car (he has a Dzire diesel already so didn't want a Swift again), made a booking during the first week of its launch and is still waiting for a Liva D in blue. No dealer in NCR knows when they will be able to deliver the car, so availability doesn't look good for Liva diesel either.

[ff1609]

Noticed a lot of oversprays (if thats the right term) in all Liva cars.

Usually one would assume that such sprays in the engine bay are a result of poor repaint jobs. I think it signifies poor attention to detail.

[ff1609]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

One month after the Official Review has been published, the thread has grown to just 60 posts (And just 4 pages!). Looks like this car has got least enthusiastic welcome (Atleast in team-bhp) among the recent launches.

Sales figures show a similar story as well. Related thread-
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...arket-did.html

True, cars with poor styling find very few takers in India, take Estilo or Logan for example. Morover, the Toyota badge hasn't worked winders for Liva because most people know that Etios and Liva aren't typical Toyota cars.

Poor availability of Liva Diesel is only making matters worse.

[aaren]

Today I was invited to do a TD of Diesel Toyota. Since I had TD'ed Petrol Etios, I picked out Liva Diesel and here are my impressions:

Pros:

a. Excellent drivability - good low end torque.
b. You can go to 5th gear literally from 2nd gear - I did this at the prompting of the SA and there was no knocking, no gasping. The vehicle just moved as if I have shifted to the next gear and picked up speed.
c. I could reduce the speed from about 100 to 20 in the 5th gear without shifting and continued with the pattern of increasing the speed and decreasing with intermittent braking - all in the 5th gear. No downshifting done in this entire sequence.
d. In one instance, I brought the vehicle to a halt by keeping my hands off the steering wheel and the vehicle came to a halt in a straight line. By the by, when I did this, the vehicle was running over 80 kmph and the brakes were slammed hard.
e. Extremely small turning radius - rotated the steering wheel completely and turned the vehicle couple of times. Amazingly small turning radius. Perfect for city conditions.
f. Good A/C.
g. Loads of space.

In the current version of Liva, 2 good things that I got to see:

a. Under the hood dampener
b. As compared the previous versions / batches, in the current version / batches of Liva, there is cover under the engine. In the previous batches, under the engine there was no cover and the engine was totally exposed. This has been done by Toyota based on feedback. I took photographs of this but seems I did not save it

Cons:
Since much has been said, I will add few of my impressions:

a. The Engine clatter when it starts;
b. The really really insignificant ODO
c. As compared to Petrol Etios, the Clutch in Diesel Liva is very long - you have to really push it till you hit the floor. I felt it to be ultralong play of Clutch.
d. No dead pedal and no gap between the clutch and the side of the dash for the driver to rest his feet. Not good.
e. In comparison to Petrol Etios, the reverse gear positioning is different. In Petrol Etios, the gear is located in the conventional point; but here it is different. It is a matter of getting used to, I guess.

Note from Support: Thread merged with existing official TD thread to keep all the discussion on this car at one place. Please continue the discussion here. Thanks

[Reinhard]

Aaren, thanks for that crisp compact review.
I believe the Liva's D4D is better tuned for me than the 1.3 MJD now I like to climb the gears quickly (and do so with the MJD anyway) and looks like the D4D is more capable with a significantly lesser turbo lag. Did you speed test the car? at 80kmph, where was the tacho needle? Was it below 2000RPM or above it? And how was the engine "feeling" at that speed? Did it feel like a robust highway performer like the MJD does generally? And does it have an MID? If yes, what was the FE it showed?

Good to see that the braking was balanced. Was it an ABS version that you Tested? (Sorry for this silly question, but I don't remember if the Liva's diesel variant comes with ABS or without it...I believe there is only 1 trim in diesel right?)

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by ff1609

Noticed a lot of oversprays (if thats the right term) in all Liva cars.

Usually one would assume that such sprays in the engine bay are a result of poor repaint jobs. I think it signifies poor attention to detail.

I agree. In fact the unpainted surface itself is a bit let down. A 4.5 lakh OTR Indica has fully & properly painted engine bay. These sorts of cost cutting measures are a bit unprofessional IMO and we should give a feedback to makers like Toyota that we are not paying for the brand logo on the grille, but for a quality product. I don't mind paying 50 or even 5000 rupees more for a fully sprayed on paint! Otherwise make sure there is no unguided spray fired at places that are supposed to be un-coated!

[aaren]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Aaren, thanks for that crisp compact review.
I believe the Liva's D4D is better tuned for me than the 1.3 MJD now I like to climb the gears quickly (and do so with the MJD anyway) and looks like the D4D is more capable with a significantly lesser turbo lag. Did you speed test the car? at 80kmph, where was the tacho needle? Was it below 2000RPM or above it? And how was the engine "feeling" at that speed? Did it feel like a robust highway performer like the MJD does generally? And does it have an MID? If yes, what was the FE it showed?

Good to see that the braking was balanced. Was it an ABS version that you Tested? (Sorry for this silly question, but I don't remember if the Liva's diesel variant comes with ABS or without it...I believe there is only 1 trim in diesel right?)

Thanks.

Let me try and answer some of your questions:
a. I drove upto 110 kmph but it was a short drive. Hence, I would not say that the TD was a conclusive one.
b. I guess the early part of the official review would answer some of your questions.
c. Liva Diesel comes in essentially 1 variant only and that has ABS. However, the buyer does get an option to add Airbags as an option.
d. IIRC, during the discussions, the SA told me about the ARAI FE figures and it was more than 21+ kmpl.
e. One thing I need mention here is that the car glides over the small potholes and other distortions in the road and that too at a slow speed. The ride was a fairly smooth one though the roads were not.
e. I did not observe or felt any turbo lag at all.

Am also adding some photos between an earlier version of Liva and the current version to show the under the bonnet cover provided in the newer versions. The earlier version is of Liva Petrol and the newer one is Liva Diesel. However, currently the newer version of Liva Petrol also has been equipped with the cover under the engine under the bonnet.

Under the hood dampener

Liva Diesel under the Engine Cover - the floor can be partly seen on the left

Earlier version Liva - the Floor can be seen clearly below

[kiran]

Originally Posted by aaren

Am also adding some photos between an earlier version of Liva and the current version to show the under the bonnet cover provided in the newer versions. The earlier version is of Liva Petrol and the newer one is Liva Diesel. However, currently the newer version of Liva Petrol also has been equipped with the cover under the engine under the bonnet.

Thatz true that Liva-G does not have a cover under the engine. I have seen this before booking the Liva-G. However I do not see any problems without this cover. The water/dirt does not spill much on the engine. I can see the engine area always clean with out any dirt and does not need regular cleaning. I have done the under body coating, but that did not include engine area.

[deehunk]

My cousin is looking for a diesel hatch, we had shortlisted Punto and Liva for test drives, already there is a Swift diesel in his home and Ritz not considered due to reaar shaping. We went to Ravindu Toyota on ORR, Bellandur, the sales person were very friendly and the TD vehicle was arranged very quickly. My cousin took the keys and started the vehicle, I was at the rear seat, he is a 6'2" guy and I am 5'9", the most visble factor for me was the comfortable legroom I had after having seen the Punto. Having driven the Swift for 2 years, his comparison was with the Swift and this car disappointed with performance. Meantime I did a thorough check of the interiors, could not understand why a person will pay Rs.6.7 lakhs for this car, my observations: Interior plastics on par with Maruti some areas and new cheap quality benchmark for switches, door handles, door levers, seat belts, seats, gear lever, knob. The seats look like some road side tailor has stitched them, the fabric quality less said much better. Even an Alto interior looks much better than this "Q" car from Toyota. The only good things were the shortest gear shifts, braking, soft clutch and engine noise at low speeds. This car is perfect for a city ride and should return 18+ in city, but a strict no for highways. The sales guy told engine and transmission are imported from Japan so the price is high can't believe what he said ot it may really be the case but this car is overpriced by more than a lakh atleast than it actually deserves.

[lamborghini]

Recently picked up a Liva G(d) to replace the Fiesta as a city runabout.

Quite happy with the decision, specially the higher seating, space, ease and comfort of driving (no turbo-lag, not that audible, good visibility, comfortable seats). However, would have liked better interiors, handling, and ride! Soft suspension, though better than an i10, etc., is no where close to the Fiesta's though it does take potholes better than the 85kkm old suspension on the Fiesta.

The FE seems to impress with the car having done 200km and the fuel bar only going down by 1 bar!! Waiting to test out the FE.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by deehunk

car is perfect for a city ride and should return 18+ in city, but a strict no for highways. The sales guy told engine and transmission are imported from Japan so the price is high can't believe what he said ot it may really be the case but this car is overpriced by more than a lakh atleast than it actually deserves.

Beg to differ here. I've driven the same engine on my etios diesel. 150 kmph and the car feels quite relaxed. Thanks to that tall 5th gear, which is relaxed at 2000 rpms even at 100 kmph. That's like a virtual 6th gear!

you won't get the kick at 2000 rpm like in a swift diesel. But, you get into turbo mode faster than a swift diesel at 1800 rpm. Add to that the lighter kerb weight. So, it compensates well even though it's not as fast as the swift diesel on the highways. So, I would surely rate it as a highway cruiser even though it's not as fast as the swift.

With regards to interiors, fabric quality of the seats can be ignored because it can be easily corrected with a good seat cover. With regards to ergonomics and back support, it's one of the best in class.

[nkrishnap]

A couple of pics of the under body cover in the diesel Etios and Liva. This is made of plastic. Wondering what good this plastic is of in case of an under-body impact. Or is this put to reduce the NVH





Insights from the experts are welcome as I am willing to experiment with this one in the petrol Liva.

[CRtorquefan]

Called Toyota dealer today & enquired about New Liva Diesel 2012 variant & as per him only its Interiors are Refreshed, though he haven't revealed the exact details.
And the New 2012 Liva is in Transit from Toyota plant & will arrive in next few days.

So, anybody here having any more details/pics of the New 2012 Liva ??