[SafeDrive0107]

After numerous test drives of different cars and weeks of pondering, finally made up my mind and went ahead with booking the Hycross - ZX(O).

The wealth of knowledge on this forum and the experience shared by members who already own the Hycross really played a big role in making the final decision. I would like to call my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

Other options considered - Mahindra XUV700, Tata Safari, Tata Harrier, Hyundai Tucson and the VW Tiguan. Without a doubt each of these cars are good in their own way and have specific strengths that outshine others. But a decision had to be made and these are some aspects that worked in favor of or against each of these options. This is the order in which I did the test drives

1) Hyundai Tucson - Had very good year end deals when I started looking for a new car and that brought this car under the upper limit of my budget. Diesel was fun to drive but the petrol lacked the same punch. Loved the looks and the cabin felt luxurious. Family did not approve this and the lack of performance in the petrol variant stopped me from pursuing this further.

2) VW Tiguan - Hands down the best sales experience and test drive too. Without a doubt this is a driver's car and I think I kept considering this only because how good the sales experience was and I personally loved the test drive experience. The FE numbers, some anecdotes from friends on parts availability and the impending facelift version that is expected anytime soon deterred me. Once the facelift version hits the market, this would again be way out of my budget. Another car that came close to my budget only because of the year end discounts.

3) Mahindra XUV700 - Visited two different dealers, both promised to share pricing and arrange for a test drive. Surprisingly did not hear back from both. The sales reps were hardly interested in selling the car. Got an opportunity to drive a friend's car for a couple of days and did not feel the right connect with the car, again family did not like the back seat comfort and dropped it from my list.

4) Tata Harrier - The most sub-par sales experience, the first question on visiting the dealer was which car - good question to ask and the second question was which variant are you looking for? Isn't that what the sales rep is there for, explaining the different variants. Got a WhatsApp message with features by variant and the pricing. Test drive was arranged after a couple of follow ups. I had already driven a friends car extensively and loved the way the car handled, the interiors looked great and it is indeed a feature loaded car. Another issue with the sales team - form the time the new facelift was launched Tata had colours locked by variants and was surprising that you get to pick only from four colours or the full black version even for the top end variant. This was changed in Nov last year and I visited the dealer in Dec, they had no clue that it had changed and even when I said that I don't like the colors on offer, they said that is the way it works - chose from what is available for the variant that you pick. This was a bummer and made me look for alternate options.

5) Hycross - Decent sales experience, again did not need a test drive as I had driven another friend's Hycross in the past both in traffic and highways. The only need for a test drive was to see the comfort of getting this large car into my parking spot and it did not fare too badly. I thought once I get used to the car, it should be easier. Overall loved the city driving experience, ease of maneuvering such a large vehicle and the comfort. I think this one just screams comfort and that along with petrol + hybrid making it futureproof got me leaning more towards the Hycross. Couple of points that made me think twice - the interiors did not feel like a 40L+ car and the constant complaints about weak headlights especially considering that a lot of my highway travels are early morning.

6) Tata Safari - Friends suggested that I have a look at the Safari as well and I loved the way the car drove, felt really easy to drive in spite of its sheer size and again loaded with features. One main issue with this car was that the second row felt a little cramped if the third row was folded for luggage. You had to move the seat forward to accommodate the third row and that ate into the second row leg room.

Harrier and Hycross stood as the final two to decide from. Harrier lost out due to lack of petrol option and of course choosing a Toyota over Tata, enough has been said about this.

Hycross was the winner due to the space and comfort, family loved it and it will keep the second row occupants very happy. Petrol + Hybrid and the Toyota badge worked in its favour. This really stretched my budget and all the time was spent justifying the buy to myself. Once this was done, went ahead with the booking, have been told it will take two to three months so the waiting period starts.

Need to start thinking of accessories, will read up a little about that and reach out to this group if any help is required to make a decision.

[pradeepkm]

Originally Posted by androdev

I have this dashcam. I am using Toyota DVR app on my iPhone and managed to connect to the Wi-Fi of the dashcam and view the live recording. In my other dashcam (different brand), Wi-Fi is permanently ON so I can view the live recording on my iPhone even when the dashcam is recording - basically it's possible to have the phone connected to the dashcam all the time. In this Toyota dashcam model, I need to stop recording, enable Wi-Fi and only then I can connect to the phone. So anytime one wants to use the phone app, one needs to go through the steps of "stop recording > open menu > turn on wi-fi > connect phone to wi-fi". Is my understanding correct?

Yes that is the only way

[GinsB]

Hi,

I'm curious. Everyone says the Invicto is a rebadged Hycross. However, the specs show the Hycross has more boot space and is slightly larger. Is this accurate, or is false information?

[Voraciousrascal]

Hi,

After facing much difficulties with poor performance of the stock HL and Fog, I started looking for headlight/fog light options. My local Toyota showroom has DHC PL45 2" projector fog lamp. Is this a good option to replace my stock fog lamps? Anyone have used this particular model?

[jthomas]

Originally Posted by Voraciousrascal

Hi,

After facing much difficulties with poor performance of the stock HL and Fog, I started looking for headlight/fog light options. My local Toyota showroom has DHC PL45 2" projector fog lamp.

Even I am looking for adding fog lamps to my VX model. Do you know which one your dealership is offering and what is the accessories cost with installation?

I see two options of this fog lamp model
With 90watts
https://carconceptsshop.com/products...MaAqiHEALw_wcB

With 50 watts
https://carconceptsshop.com/products...45522728157339

[BUXX]

What is the original wattage of the Toyota installed fog lamps? All aftermarket brands seem to have higher wattage bulbs -30, 40W… i am afraid of putting too much strain on the electrical system

[Voraciousrascal]

Originally Posted by jthomas

Even I am looking for adding fog lamps to my VX model. Do you know which one your dealership is offering and what is the accessories cost with installation?

I see two options of this fog lamp model
With 90watts
https://carconceptsshop.com/products...MaAqiHEALw_wcB

With 50 watts
https://carconceptsshop.com/products...45522728157339

I was offered the 90watts one "PL45" by Anaamalais Toyota. They also have a bar light. I am not inclined towards bar light.

I am not sure about the stock wattage, I need to check. But, the technician told, it draws same amount of wattage.

[gea1313]

Hello everyone,

After a long and exhaustive search, I have done the booking for a hycross GX(o) 8 seater variant. My family's requirements were fairly simple, we needed a solidly built, comfortable and spacious vehicle for our upgrade. Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts about their hycross, this was a major factor in the decision making process. I had a lower budget to begin with and the options mainly considered were Mahindra XUV700, Hyundai Alcazar, etc. I think the car like ease of driving and the comfortable ride pulled things in favor for the Innova hycross. While GX(O) has a few features in addition to GX, I was surprised at the differences in features of a 8 seater vs 7 seater. Hoping to know from the group if we have any accessories store in hyderabad which can get some quality materials for the basic elements such as exterior fittings and changes on the inside such as pull up sunblinds which is available in the 7 seater variant.

I got the booking done in Harsha toyota and the sales rep himself felt unsure of the timeline for delivery. He initially started with 2-3 months delivery timeline considering this is a petrol variant and most bookings happen for hybrids and towards the end mentioned that he will try to get a car by next month. Is that possible and how can I get more information.

[SafeDrive0107]

Originally Posted by gea1313

Hello everyone,

I got the booking done in Harsha toyota and the sales rep himself felt unsure of the timeline for delivery. He initially started with 2-3 months delivery timeline considering this is a petrol variant and most bookings happen for hybrids and towards the end mentioned that he will try to get a car by next month. Is that possible and how can I get more information.

Congratulations on your booking and hope your car does come in a month's time as promised. I heard the same when I was enquiring as well, around 1 or max 2 months for the petrol variants.

Does look like the overall wait period has come down significantly. Hardly see any posts on this forum as well on delayed deliveries in the last two to three months. Anyone out here still going through the terribly long waiting periods?

[Corollafan]

Originally Posted by gea1313

Is that possible and how can I get more information.

I also initially booked GX(O) variant and was promised that I will get the vehicle after one month. This was about 6 months ago. But there was no sign of delivery after two months. Finally, I went for VX model which was available instead of GX(O).

Only way to track the status is by calling the SA every month. You cannot track it online. Someone mentioned in the forum that if vehicle is booked online then it can be tracked online, and you can specify preferred dealer where it should be delivered.

[kgt.v8]

Originally Posted by gea1313

While GX(O) has a few features in addition to GX, I was surprised at the differences in features of a 8 seater vs 7 seater.

The feature list between 7 and 7 seater is weird. 7 seater gets sun shades and wireless Android Auto/Carplay while 8 seater does not get these. I am look out for 2nd row bench seat, window sunshades and wireless Android Auto and this combination is available on VX which is out of my budget. I have to compromise and get 7 seater GX(O) for the feature list I want.

Originally Posted by gea1313

Hoping to know from the group if we have any accessories store in Hyderabad which can get some quality materials for the basic elements such as exterior fittings and changes on the inside such as pull up sunblinds which is available in the 7 seater variant.

I have seen some customizations done by CarSonics and some of them look of good quality. I have felt that quotes given by him are on higher side.

Originally Posted by gea1313

I got the booking done in Harsha Toyota and the sales rep himself felt unsure of the timeline for delivery. He initially started with 2-3 months delivery timeline considering this is a petrol variant and most bookings happen for hybrids.

The official waiting period is about 5 months for Hycross GX(O). I have seen very few GX or GX(O) Hycross in Hyderabad. Most of the ones seen on the road are Hybrids and hence salesperson are not too keen on GX(O) sales. My experience with Harsha Toyota has been bad with their Kondapur branch. They did not even bother to call me for test drive and closed my test drive enquiry. Their new showroom in Tellapur did not have any Hycross test drive till mid of January. The salesperson has not called back on test drive car.

Mody Toyota showroom has been very responsive on the other hand and they have offered me test drive as well. I felt engine noise was slightly more inside the cabin. Hycross has very good ride quality and no other 7 seater (except Carnival) offers so much space on the inside.

[gea1313]

Originally Posted by kgt.v8

Mody Toyota showroom has been very responsive on the other hand and they have offered me test drive as well. I felt engine noise was slightly more inside the cabin. Hycross has very good ride quality and no other 7 seater (except Carnival) offers so much space on the inside.

Though the feature list bit is weird, I don't think you should compromise on the number of seats if 8 seater was priority. I also saw some videos ever since I did the booking and car sonics atleast has solutions for the headlights, they use laserflux led projectors on GX and GX(O) variants. Apparently the higher variants headlights can't be altered. I did reach out to tellapur harsha branch since that was the closest to my home. I ended up at Kondapur branch on a weekend to do the test drive. 5 months waiting is going to be huge, I made the booking at tellapur branch hoping they would get an allotment faster as it's a new setup. The car like many other BHPians have quoted is known for its linear acceleration and smoothness, the sound is all about Cvt and it's set up. Let's stay in touch to figure out how the booking to delivery process works.

[outlandish77]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

DIY horn upgrade

Bought some shiny Hella Chrome Trumpets from amazon for 1600rs. It often goes on sale for less but my dad's bday was coming up and i wanted to gift these to him.
utious. The horns also sound deeper and way more.

Many thanks for the DIY suggestion with detailed pictures ,much appreciated.I managed to upgrade the same Hella Trumpets and are now working on my car. Great sound,absolutely recommend upgrade on the Hycross.

[SatanicVerses]

Hi Prasad S,

Would love to hear more about your experience with the Hycross ZXO. There's a lot of uncanny similarities. I also have a Rapid and the Hycross is supposedly alloted to me, if I pay the full money in 4 days, or else! :-P

I read some of your posts. I've also gone to a mechanic in Nerul for my Rapid, mine having done ~1.8lac kms already (since 2015). So I'd love to exchange some notes. Not sure how to post a PM, so just doing this one.

My Hycross ZXO would would come from Wasan too possibly around Feb 20-24th, so there discussion on that as well. How is your experience with the Toyota DVR Dashcam? I didn't get to see any reviews, though the limited read through many posts seem to convey that it is somewhat average. From my end, the quality of the video (to capture plate nos etc.) is critical, god forbid there's an event that requires this, plus it should be integrated internally. I'm somewhat tired of using the power socket with multi-use adaptors and boxes to allow multiple devices...keeps a clog of cables.

Wasan guys are also saying they can't issue a allotment letter with the Engine no and the Chassis no written in, as the car will be dispatched after 10 days, and they want me to make a payment in 4 days. My worry being that I make the payment for the base items only (negotiation of Insurance pending which they've quoted 2.7 lacs. It was some 1.7 lacs 6 months ago in their quote). I also don't want the PPF from them and the other items in their Extended 2 lacs package). Did they additionally charge you some ~15000 for RTO processing fees?

Happy to hear further. In case there are posts on the above topics by you/ others that I've missed before this message, happy to get a link to read through. Thanks.

[subbarp]

Originally Posted by SatanicVerses

Hi Prasad S,

How is your experience with the Toyota DVR Dashcam? I didn't get to see any reviews, though the limited read through many posts seem to convey that it is somewhat average. From my end, the quality of the video (to capture plate nos etc.) is critical, god forbid there's an event that requires this, plus it should be integrated internally. I'm somewhat tired of using the power socket with multi-use adaptors and boxes to allow multiple devices...keeps a clog of cables.

There are possibly better dashcams. However, got this one as this is installed by the dealer, no wires are visible, no sockets are used up, with neat fit and finish (front and rear).