[car_guy1998]

TLDR: 1 year of ownership with our Hycross Hybrid

Completed an year of ownership with our Hycross this Sunday (28/07/2024).

Background:

We used to own Type 2 2011 Innova VX, which was bought pre-owned in 2016 when the odo was at 75k Kms and sold it off in 2022 after adding 1.2L Kms on the odo (1.96L Kms was the odo when we sold it off). Apart from Innova, we have a 2014 Honda City iDTEC, bought pre-owned again in the year 2017. We felt the need for a second car as the Innova felt too large as our only vehicle and the Honda City has run 1.88L Kms till date (out of which we have driven 1.53L Kms till date) and we might replace it with an EV or Petrol AT soon as it has completed 10 years of age recently and since we have this car for almost 7 years, which we never imagined as we keep our cars for 5 years or less, but this is an exception due to economic reasons.

We were happy with both our cars until the AT bug had hit us and moreover, our usage with Innova was getting reduced off late due to Covid and in the meantime, our Honda City was driven more than our Innova due to FE it gives when compared to our Innova (gives no less than 18 Kmpl when compared to 8-9 Kmpl, which the Innova used to give). A few months later, we decided to bid goodbye to our Innova and with my plans to move abroad (which I eventually did last year), the first thing I thought is to make my dad sell off the Innova and get a Diesel AT C-SUV like Seltos or Creta as they sufficed our needs for a family of 3 (more on that later).

Requirements:

- Has to be Diesel since our running is around 3000 Kms a month and can extend to 4000 Kms a month. Diesel was the main preference until Hybrid came into the picture

- Has to be AT since most of the usage will be in city limits though dad was okay with getting an MT (he still drives our 2014 Honda City Diesel even after getting the Hycross) since he is chauffeured most of the time but after being persuaded by his friends, who bought AT vehicles, myself and our chauffeur, he said yes to AT as he will also be driving the car whenever I and our chauffeur is not around

- It should be 7 seater (dad's choice) though I was more keen on getting a 5 seater since we are a family of 3 and we barely travel together

- Budget- We had started with 22L and ended up extending by 10L more

Cars considered:


- Kia Seltos Diesel AT
- Hyundai Creta Diesel AT
- Mahindra XUV700 Diesel AT
- Mahindra Scorpio-N Diesel AT
- Toyota Hyryder Hybrid
- Toyota Innova Crysta Diesel AT/MT

While in used, I had considered Endeavour and Fortuner along with Crysta 2.8 AT but ruled out later as dad wasn't okay with getting a used car anymore (our last 3 car purchases were used hence was keen on new this time).

Didn't consider Tatas due to horror stories and dad wasn't okay with spending 30L on a Tata even though I like their designs.

Initially, booked the Seltos D AT and was supposed to get delivered but had to drop due to personal reasons and in the meanwhile, dad had heard about Toyota launching Innova in Hybrid guise, which made him seal the decision and I persuaded him to get Scorpio-N or XUV700 Diesel AT (though I liked Scorpio-N more) instead of Hycross as I wasn't keen on having a Toyota again as I wanted something unique this time in the sea of Innovas and Fortuners, which most of my dad's friends own but dad didn't pay heed to this as he wanted only Innova and nothing else. Even today, I curse him the same but can't do anything. Maybe, during our next purchase, where I'm planning to replace our City next year, will consider getting a Seltos D AT or Scorpio-N D AT but dad is keen on having an EV this time.

Pros:

+ The car is quite comfortable and spacious in all 3 rows, which justified the "Innova" tag. In fact, Hycross is on par with OG Innova in terms of 3rd row comfort if not better and way better than Innova Crysta IMO, which made my dad get this one over Crysta

+ The interior looks modern and well designed, one of the best designs in an Innova

+ Ride quality is so excellent that it can it can tackle the bad roads easily and while travelling, I felt like as if I'm travelling in a Volvo bus

+ Has enough power on tap though the engine has bit lag but manageable

+ The engine is too silent that no one can hear the sound and people, who sat in our car, thought it's an EV at first

+ Drives like a car in the city due to being built on Monocoque FWD chassis and easier to drive due to its light steering and in fact, its way easier to drive than its predecessors and our 2014 Honda City

+ Gives an amazing FE of 16-18 Kmpl in city traffic (main reason for buying this car) while on highways, it gives similar or less due to cruising at the speeds of 100+ Kmph.

+ Gets all needed features even for base variant, which is VX (Auto Headlamps, Push Button Start, Auto Fold ORVMs, Apple Carplay/Android Auto though wired, Alloys, TPMS, 360 degree camera) but missed out on 6 airbags, which got introduced just few days after purchasing the vehicle, though gets all safety features like ESP, TC, Auto Hold


Cons:

- Though the interior design looks good, at the same time, the plastic quality is very bad for a 30+L car, which isn't acceptable and switches in the car are made of cheap quality, due to which the ORVM adjustment knob came off on its own within a year of ownership. Had to replace it along with ORVM foldable mirror switch (it comes simultaneously in Hycross it seems as per my SA), which costed me Rs.2500. In fact, the quality of the interior is not as durable as Crysta and Fortuner

- The headlights is not that sufficient for late night driving even with the fogs on. This is the common problem in all Toyotas including Fortuner but unfortunately, it's a sealed unit and can't upgrade to better lights though we can manage with this setup for now

- The HU is so laggy that I had to reset it for multiple times and the CarPlay disconnected randomly. And, it misses out on Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto though I had done a Jugaad by getting Carlinkit for our car

- Could hear some tak tak kinda sound while turning the car to the right and later came to know that it's a driveshaft issue, which is the common issue faced by other Hycross owners. Hope, Toyota will recall for fixing this issue soon

Dealership experience:

Had booked this car on 28th March 2023 at Harsha Toyota, LB Nagar, giving the booking amount of Rs.50,000. Almost a month after booking the car, we were offered a car but couldn't go ahead with it due to some reasons. In fact, after booking the car with Harsha Toyota, one of my dad's friends had insisted us to look for cars at Mody Toyota as well (the same guy, who used to run Ford dealership before and the same group runs Skoda, VW, BYD and Honda apart from Toyota) as he bought his Hycross from that dealership just after its launch IIRC. Then, finally, in the month of July, we were offered a car and we went ahead with our finances and did PDI four days prior to car delivery and during PDI, the car had run just 6 Kms and was manufactured in the end of June and our came with E20 Fuel sticker.

Service visits till date:

First 2 services were done at Harsha Toyota and in that, I had given the 1st service while 2nd service, i.e, 10k Kms service, was given by our chauffeur as I was out of country. From 3rd service, we had moved to Mody Toyota, which was a newly opened one (their 3rd branch in Hyderabad) and was very near to our house though Harsha Toyota is also within our vicinity but decided to give at Mody Toyota as it was new and less crowded (Harsha Toyota is filled with overflow of vehicles, which made us give at Mody Toyota even though dad insisted to give the car Harsha Toyota).

And, the last we got our car serviced was in the month of May just after coming back from Kerala trip at 31,885 Kms at Mody Toyota.

Till date, service costs are reasonable for this car

Milestones:

First 1000 Kms were done just after 10 days of its purchase and completed 2000 Kms on the odo same week itself as we had a trip to Srisailam.

10,000 Kms had come up in mid-Nov while 20,000 Kms had come up in mid-Feb and 30,000 Kms had come up in mid-May. BTW, this very milestone was achieved during our Kerala trip.

Incidents happened till date:

- When our chauffeur was coming back home, a Chhapri Thar driver, who was also drunk, hit the car from behind and that Thar guy didn't even stop and zoomed ahead, which resulted in dent on the trunk. This happened just after 10 days of purchase and was heartbroken seeing this. Later, my dad got it fixed without claiming the insurance at Harsha Toyota itself for Rs.8000 after a month and half of this incident

- Another incident was when I was going to bring some groceries, I by mistakenly hit the car to the divider at the speed of 40-50 Kmph on a deserted road, which is behind our gated community and that road is used by newbie drivers, resulted in damage of front left suspension as well as wheel rim and tyre

Luckily, no major damage or scratch to the exterior or to the front bumper, which is surprising to me as well as to my dad and chauffeur or else, it'd have costed a bomb.

And, I immediately got an alert from Toyota app stating that collision has happened.

This incident had happened just a week after Kerala trip and getting it serviced. The damage costed us Rs.1,10,000, where Rs.1L were paid by the insurance and we had to pay just Rs.10,000 from our pocket.

FE figures:

As I said above, we are getting around 16-18 Kmpl in city traffic while on highways, we are getting similar or less mileage. I got 16 Kmpl overall during my trip to Kerala and I got 17.5 Kmpl (T2T) once when the car was new.

Overall, fuel costs are reasonable that we had spent Rs.15,000 (not joking) in total during our trip to Kerala, where we did 2000 Kms in total. If it was Fortuner or Endeavour or Crysta, it'd have costed more than that.

Would we buy this car again? Absolute YES, would get one eyes closed albeit in ZX(O) as we tend to keep this car for more than 5 years and has all modern features. We regretted not getting this variant as bookings were stopped at the time we booked ours and or at least VX(O) variant as it has all bells and whistles like factory fitted fog lamps, wireless CarPlay/Android Auto. This variant was launched just few days after booking the VX variant and was almost decided to change the variant to VX(O) but since we needed the car soon, we had to get the VX variant with 2 airbags. And, another regret was not waiting for VX with 6 airbags, which was added just after few days of purchase of ours.

My dad had almost decided to trade-in this car for top variant or at least for VX(O) variant just for 6 airbags as he cares a lot about safety.

Overall, this car has impressed us a lot apart from driveshaft issue and interior quality, which my dad doesn't care much about it.

After travelling in our car, a few of my friends had started considered getting this car due to the comfort it offered and FE even for a bigger car.

In fact, a friend of mine, who owns a 2020 Endeavour, was so impressed with the comfort that he wanted to get one retaining his Endeavour.

That's all for now!

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

My car got keyed badly yesterday. I’m very sad since I have an expensive ceramic coating and personally hand wash it weekly. I had only parked it at a paid parking and at a restaurant parking, not even on the street. I am not sure when it happened. Just wanted to vent because no matter how much you take care of your possessions, something outside your control will still give you heartaches.

Update on this. I took it to my detailer and got it fixed.

More than the scratch itself, it was the overthinking that was ruining my peace of mind.
Questions kept running through my head such as "Why did they do this? Did I not park correctly? Who did this? When exactly did it happen? Is there anything I could have done to prevent this? Is there any point of me taking care of my car if it is just going to be a bigger target for some miscreant?" I don't think I would have minded as much if someone had just accidentally swiped it but knowing it was done intentionally was ruining my sleep.

Initially assumed it would require repainting the panel. Thankfully they managed to polish it out.





Polishing removed the ceramic coating on the area so had to leave it for an additional day to re-coat it. Altogether the damage to wallet was less than 2k which I believe was more that worth it for the quality and amount of work done.

[Ks2790]

Thats a commendable job; given how bad and deep it was. Cant seem to find the scratch at all, or at least thats what the pictures suggest.
I too would be getting mine ceramic (graphene) coated only; given how fuss free it has been as compared to PPF in my past experience. Although with a wait list of 5-8 weeks from now, my colour hopefully should be much easier to live with.

[dearchichi]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

I took it to my detailer and got it fixed.

It's great to note that your car is now looking as good as before! Most of us have to face your ordeal some day.

1. Was there any local touch-up of the paintwork? The scratches seemed to be quite deep.

2. Do you know what percentage of the clearcoat was shaved off by the polishing process?

3. Do you think PPF might have prevented the scratches from getting as deep (though the panel might have had to be refilmed)?

I look forward to many more of your instructive updates.

[Puntoo]

Toyota Innova Hycross ZX, ZX (O) hybrid bookings reopened again

Source: Autocar India
https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...d-again-432419

[Thead]

Originally Posted by Puntoo

Toyota Innova Hycross ZX, ZX (O) hybrid bookings reopened again

Source: Autocar India
https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...d-again-432419

Thank you for the helpful post, I just booked mine.

The fix looks flawless and whilst the financial damage is small, it is a very sad moment when a new car gets damaged.
Also, thank you very much for some very well written posts from you, I have truly benefitted from them.

[Paritoshkalra]

Has anyone got the PPF done on a White INNOVA HYCROSS? If Yes, Please share your experiences. What about Yellowing issues with PPF especially on a white car?

[Ks2790]

Originally Posted by Paritoshkalra

Has anyone got the PPF done on a White INNOVA HYCROSS? If Yes, Please share your experiences. What about Yellowing issues with PPF especially on a white car?

Have had a horrible experience with PPF on a candy white Slavia, this being the first ever encounter with PPF altogether.
Had chosen the Garware premium with a 5 yr warranty and had paid 1.2 lacs, upon the detailer's recommendation. I was unaware of the yellowing properties and was pretty happy with the initial few months and the ease it gave in dusting the car off in NCR climate.
However; within a year the yellowing was too apparent and it looked almost yellow. The detailer being known( 3M Noida formerly), offered on my behalf to take it up with the company for a complete replacement. Though replaced after 3 months of pursuing- the entire process was a hassle and resulted in a door being repainted; which was a nightmare on a new car.

That being said- I always felt that the graphene coating on my Pearl white jazz bought at the same time, applied by the same detailer and maintained by me the same way, has proven its worth.

Also had to get the ppf changed once on a panel due to poor application; and the car seemed to look as if it had been repainted afterwards on that part( due to the new ppf being new vs the yellow old ppf)
Adding to this, the new one is also yellow now; but I'd rather call it off white as it's not as bad as the first application.

Id rather live with graphene coating that allows to live with peace of mind and not having to remove the PPF after it is nearing its shelf life. It's a major hassle removing an old PPF, and no matter how careful or experienced the detailer might be- its very much possible for a panel to lose its paint while removing the PPF. This might be easy to fix in the initial years of the car ownership, but the matching would be difficult as the car gets older.

PPF might be great for darker cars( provided its taken care of), but it's certainly not what I would personally recommend for a white/ pearl white car.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

I know many of us here have been talking about DTE issues, but I have been continuously getting 749kms as the DTE when I fill fuel (auto cut-off method).
But the main issue for me is that when I fill fuel in my vehicle, even when the DTE is showing me 10 kms left, it will only take 42-43 litres!

I'd sincerely suggest you not to experiment with how much you can delay refueling. It can adversely impact fuel pump life and it is not worth driving with such low fuel levels on regular basis.

[jinojohnt]

In fact the low fuel warning light goes off quite early in the Hycross. if you fill immediately after the low fuel warning light goes off, you will still be able to fill only around 42 liters. That means there was 10 liters left (given that the tank is 52 liters). May be Toyota has put some buffer to keep the fuel pump submerged all the time (for cooling). Hence it may be wise to always have at least 10 liters in the tank.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

Update on this. I took it to my detailer and got it fixed.

Initially assumed it would require repainting the panel. Thankfully they managed to polish it out.

Attachment 2635075

Attachment 2635076

Glad to know that you were able to get the scratch removed, without major damage to your wallet.

Although, I couldn't help but notice that even Attitude Black under the flashlight is showing bluish-green pearls in the paint, I always thought Attitude Black is a solid colour like Super White, I guess I was wrong !!

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

Glad to know that you were able to get the scratch removed, without major damage to your wallet.

Although, I couldn't help but notice that even Attitude Black under the flashlight is showing bluish-green pearls in the paint, I always thought Attitude Black is a solid colour like Super White, I guess I was wrong !!

Thank you, I washed the car today so I'm working on getting a video uploaded which shows it more clearly.

We chose attitude black specifically because it was the exact same colour we had on our previous Toyota for 6 years. It is metallic black with bluish flakes. The paint code is Toyota/Lexus paint 218. Depending on the region, it is also called Attitude black or midnight black.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by Ks2790

Thats a commendable job; given how bad and deep it was. Cant seem to find the scratch at all, or at least thats what the pictures suggest.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

Update on this.
Polishing removed the ceramic coating on the area so had to leave it for an additional day to re-coat it. Altogether the damage to wallet was less than 2k which I believe was more that worth it for the quality and amount of work done.

Originally Posted by dearchichi

1. Was there any local touch-up of the paintwork? The scratches seemed to be quite deep.

2. Do you know what percentage of the clearcoat was shaved off by the polishing process?

3. Do you think PPF might have prevented the scratches from getting as deep (though the panel might have had to be refilmed)?

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

I feel bad for you. It really pains a lot when such incidents happen. Would a ppf save us from such incidents?

Originally Posted by jthomas

That really hurts. Scratch is too deep and should get repainted as it's quite visible.

Thank you for all your wishes! It was very comforting when I was in a bad headspace.

I have uploaded a video that shows what it looked like on the day of the scratch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2syth_jebPI

After the fix, my detailer showed me that there was a very small mark left. Honestly, I didn't notice it till he pointed it out to me.

I took this after washing it today. Moving the torch around because I was struggling to find it despite knowing it's there. It's completely invisible unless you know exactly where to look and point a torch at it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4_MMlrESAU

There was no touchup paint involved at all. Just buffing.

Thankfully, the scratch hadn't cut all the way down to bare metal as I had expected.
Now whether that happened because the person who keyed it had weak hands
OR
Whether the ceramic coating added enough microscopic thickness and made it juuust strong enough to prevent it from going all the way through....
I have no idea. Ceramic coatings are designed to protect from chemical elements, not physical.

Either way, pretty happy with the result of the fix, especially considering how cheap it was.

As for full body PPF, yes that would definitely have prevented the scratch from touching the paint but it would have damaged the PPF itself. Cost of replacing the PPF on the panel might have taken the cost up to 8-10k, not to mention the lakhs you spend initially at the time of install. The self healing layer is very thin and only supposed to heal from minor scuffs and marks. Compare that to the few drops of ceramic coating fluid it would take to recoat just the affected area. Or the 5k it might cost to repaint the door.

Yes, I know there are cheaper films out there but those come with additional disadvantages such as yellowing, bubbling and needing to be ripped out and replaced every few years to prevent it from permanently bonding to the paint and having your paint ripped out at the time of removal.

I have PPF only on the headlights (because any rock chips on them and you will need to replace the entire unit) and door edges and door sills (Damage prone areas that will face some kind of abuse almost every day. A decent detailer will use the cut pieces left over from applying PPF for another car for a very nominal cost) . I don't think it's cost effective to put PPF on the entire car unless you are driving a limited edition Ferrari.

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

1. The Hycross doesn't idle. When the engine turns on, it immediately revs up and starts charging the battery which can be surprisingly noisy. Once its done, it turns off.
The engine is kinda noisy overall but then again this is a 2L engine making 150-170hp without using any turbo charging so I don't mind that it is tuned more for power and mileage than refinement.

Thank you, Cresterk for this valuable info. When I went to see the Hycross, I was initially put off by all the noise, which I didn't expect from a petrol engine. Now that the science is clear, it makes sense !

[Thead]

So I finally took the plunge and booked a zx(o) yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the indicative delivery date is in November of this year. This came on the booking form that comes from Toyota via email. Now, I am not sure how accurate is the date but perhaps some fellow BHPians can validate the date on their forms with the actual delivery date.