[amateurpro]

Originally Posted by amalji

Regardless of how basic or bland the car was, it was a joy to own it. The fundamentals were so strong and still it was cheap to buy and maintain.

Amalji and Sawyer, I feel the same way about the car after six years of ownership. It is way better than other cars in its segment on comfort, performance and reliability. I am happy owning it for how the car behaves.

But GTO has a point. The car certainly has a poor brand image. When so many happy owners are there, there should be no room for poor brand image. It all boils down to ugly styling that has not been fully corrected with two face lifts over seven years. You can improve the looks even if you do not want to overload the car with equipments (scope to learn from Honda City). I guess Indian market has been too kind to Innova accepting its bland look (Innova started looking good after Crysta IMO) and paying a hefty premium. That must have given the confidence to Toyota to ignore styling in Etios.

It is still not too late. Etios is a great product that needs some cosmetic make over.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by amalji

Her reply - "we've gone through the same roads many a time. The Etios felt much more comfortable. Don't you agree?"

The Etios has a sorted ride is what I felt. So quite a decent car on bad roads, abuse friendly too! However, it is also a fact that Sedans/Hatches will behave completely differently compared to monsters like Crysta which are essentially body on frame.

A simple case is when you take typical speedbreakers inside a parking lot (Plastic ones) one wheel at a time and you know that Sedans or hatches will not pass the passengers as much jolt as the bigger vehicles (SUVs, MUVs etc). There is a lot of lateral movement of the body in a SUV and the passengers often feel they are being moved, literally. Also the fact that in a sedan you are already sitting low adds to the lesser 'human body roll' factor :-).

However, the Crysta will fare much better over bad roads at speeds that the Etios wont more so due to the bigger wheels and suspension and of course the weight factor. More specifically, roads that are evenly broken can be tackled in a better manner in your Crysta for sure due to the tire and suspension advantage.

The only time I usually see a Sedan being babied is when it has a softer suspension, GC is low, Overhang is longer and potholes are very deep - None of these should be an issue with the Etios or many other cars and I will include Linea as well here from my own experience of driving it on super bad roads at good speeds and it felt planted.

The ride quality of crysta is far from "supremely comfortable" mentioned by almost every reviewer.

I only feel that the comparison by the reviewers would be with vehicles from the same segment?

If so, I find Crysta's ride to be very much comfortable at all speeds. On how it fares on bad roads is what I am yet to experience as it is just once I was driven as a copax for a BLR-MAS-BLR drive few months back with another BHPian.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by amateurpro

It is still not too late. Etios is a great product that needs some cosmetic make over.

By now it is very clear that cosmetic makeovers - by that I mean genuine ones and not slapping on bits and pieces - are not a Toyota competency.

IMO, even the same cosmetics with a radical improvement in materials used where the interiors are concerned so that the feel inside is more than just built to last utilitarian, and some extra features like a rear AC box, driver armrest, and a good autobox would have made a difference if done a few years ago. Along with a further reduction in road noise.

Fortunately since it is Toyota, I don't lose sleep over after sales service for another ten years even if they stop making the car today.

[sibot]

I think if they at least tried to give the interiors a makeover, people would take to it a lot better. We were seriously considering Etios at one point in time and was excited about the launch of the new Etios, seeing the brazil launch, alas Toyota gave India one more step motherly treatment. I get that the car has great ergonomic design, but if it just doesn't appeal to the person driving, what use is that? You can have great ergonomic design and also be appealing.

[yatin]

@sibot, when I bought mine a couple of months ago, I realized that the Etios was the fly in the ointment. You are looking at a 'proper' sedan (C2 segment) & you see this C1 segment car, also a proper sedan but with barely the essentials & no frills.

You probably see the missing frills & wonder why you'd buy just C1 & not C2. I saw the frills in the Ciaz & asked wondered why I'd pay 1.5 lakhs more for frills on a weaker engine, or 2 lakhs more for a strong engine in the City.

Maybe people looking purely for a functional upgrade are in a minority, but the Etios suits them to the 'T'. From a money perspective, they can't give more at that price (look at what you get for that price in an Amaze, where Honda probably makes more than Toyota due to 14% lesser cess).

I guess all complaints will be addressed if Toyota puts out a C2 car. They might not even keep such a big car in C1 if the 2020 emission norms make engines costlier.

[Sawyer]

The other thing to note is that together Etios+Liva still consistently reach 3000 a month sales which is very respectable at the price point. That this is largely in the taxi segment is by no means a negative since the cars are not being bought there just because they are cheap a la Indica some years ago.

[Durango Dude]

The most under rated car without any WoW factor: that's the Etios! I just fell in love with it when I test drove it (petrol). It has a cavernous, comfortable interior+boot, very sorted ride and handling, great engine, smooth gear shift action, safety and great after sales to boot. It was any day better than the '16 Verna which I test drove immediately after the Etios; what a disappointment '16 Verna was.

The Etios is begging for a better exterior/interior, automatic transmission and dropping of it's taxi image. For that the Etios can't be an Etios it may be a Vios or Yaris.

[Chetan_Rao]

The Ativ looks like a good replacement. The video in the other thread gives the impression it's almost like a baby Corolla, which is arguably what the Etios should've been to begin with.

The answer to a lot of practical buyers' prayers, if it's launched soon and reasonably kitted/priced.

[Chitta Pradhan]

Etios has got lot of accolades from Bhpians for it's superior ride quality. Is it Linea good? If anyone who has experienced both, please compare them with regard to ride quality only.

And yes, it's high time for Toyota for launching City & i 20 competitors with quality interiors & with all the bells & whistles. I am sure that the interior & exterior looks of Liva/Etios is repelling many prospective buyers of the duo.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by Chitta Pradhan

Etios has got lot of accolades from Bhpians for it's superior ride quality. Is it Linea good? If anyone who has experienced both, please compare them with regard to ride quality only.

And yes, it's high time for Toyota for launching City & i 20 competitors with quality interiors & with all the bells & whistles. I am sure that the interior & exterior looks of Liva/Etios is repelling many prospective buyers of the duo.

The Linea has a far more comfortable ride quality than the Etios. The Etios is very pliant at whatever speeds, but the Linea is planted.

However, in terms of overall comfort - the Etios with it's better legroom + headroom gives the Linea a tough fight; but purely on ride quality is no match for the Linea.

What I like the most about the Etios (and other Toyota products) is their functional nature. Easy to drive, good ground clearance for 99% of the road conditions we encounter daily, very comfortable rear seats with good legroom, good trunk space, and a practical interior (cubbyholes and storage space).

Honda, VW/Skoda, Hyundai are great cars too undoubtedly, but on poor roads will bottom out and give rise to the 'crossover' segment, or have some sort of functional element that could be improved upon (rear seat headroom / ingress and egress / ride quality / rattles etc. - even though aesthetically they're spot on).
Probably the reason we have two Toyota's in the family for all the work the Germans can't / shouldn't do.

[TusharK]

Toyota has quietly introduced the Etios Platinum Limited Edition in India. It is available in VX trim with a petrol or diesel engine and is priced at Rs. 7,83,900 for the petrol and Rs. 8,93,900 for the diesel model.



The Platinum Limited Edition is based on the standard Etios sedan, which measures 4,369 mm in length, 1,695 mm in width and 1,510 mm in height. The wheelbase of the car is 2,550 mm and it comes with a 45-litre fuel tank, while boot space is 592-litres.

On the exterior, the limited edition gets new colour options - Phantom Brown and Pearl White with Crystal Shine. At the front, it has a double chrome grille and chrome fog lamp bezels. It gets body coloured door handles and side protection mouldings with chrome inserts. The B-pillar has been blacked out, while there is a chrome garnish on the boot as well.

The Platinum Limited Edition comes with dual-tone interiors with ivory and brown seat fabric, door trim with brown fabric insert and door armrest in brown finish. It gets a 3-spoke leather-wrapped, multi-functional steering wheel and chrome trim around the shift knob and air-conditioning vents. Additionally, it has a 6.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth and voice recognition, electric foldable ORVMs, height adjustable driver's seat and tilt adjustable steering, cooled glove box and rear defogger.

Mechanically, the Etios Platinum Limited Edition is identical to the standard car. It is offered with a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine which produces 89 BHP @ 5,600 rpm and 132 Nm of torque @ 3,000 rpm. The diesel option includes a 1.4-litre, 4-cylinder unit which makes 67 BHP @ 3,800 rpm and 170 Nm @ 1,800-2,400 rpm. Both engines come mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.

In terms of safety features, the Etios Platinum Limited Edition gets driver and passenger side airbags, ABS with EBD, ISOFIX child safety seat anchors, rear parking sensors and keyless entry.

Link to Team-BHP News

[Tarmac.terrorist]

Another stupid update to an outdated car. To get things going they need to revamp the whole interior while adding multiple features expected in this segment and sprucing up the exterior aswell. Then they can expect some action. Just a colour change and added chrome won't help them IMHO.

[i74js]

Toyota may not want to have two cars in C segment. Yaris is almost certainly coming in India though several reports have indicated that it may not be offered with a oil burner; this launch is just another attempt to keep the assembly line running with some alterations here and there.

Etios is on its way out as beyond the standard "Toyota Reliability Tag" there is nothing more to report about this car that may attract buyers shopping in this segment.

Nissan Sunny & Toyota Etios can go hand in hand !!!

[amateurpro]

I just tried my hand on creativity. I have tried a new design for the rear of Etios using basic image editing techniques. I have used both the old chrome and new chrome strips together in this image to see how this works. Not really sure if it looks good, but certainly interesting. Please bear with my basic image editing skills. I like this because of the relief provided by the two chrome strips. Looking forward to your opinions & suggestions on the same.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by Chitta Pradhan

Etios has got lot of accolades from Bhpians for it's superior ride quality. Is it Linea good? If anyone who has experienced both, please compare them with regard to ride quality only.

The old Linea ( 2012 and before ) had superlative ride and handling. But the latest generation of Linea no longer rides well on broken roads at low speeds. In this regard the Etios is better than Linea. But in highway Linea still beats all the current crop of cars in the segment including Etios. Not to say that Etios is bad in Highway driving. My daily ride currently is a 2014 Honda city. The Etios rides much better than the 2014 City on broken surfaces and marginally better on the highway as well.