[vigsom]

Congratulations, @Tachyonites, on owning a great car for 10 years.

My only sore points on the Innova are the flex-friendly fenders and quarter panels, the flimsy AC vents which I have found broken on countless examples and the interior panels that would get dirty very easily.

The engine would get gruff at post 100kmph but that can be excused for the reliability and long miles that the engine is capable off.

The paint, surprisingly, would hold up quite well; same with the chrome on the V variant.

The stock audio in the V variant and in other Toyotas like the Corolla was nothing much to talk about. Camrys was reasonably good.

Originally Posted by Bhalla

I believe it’s a stupid rule to ban 10 years old diesel cars.If vehicle is in good condition, then it must be road legal irrespective of the age. There should be something like Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI)

It is unfortunate. Rather than look at the age of the vehicle, one must look at how many kgs of CO, SOx and NOx any vehicle spews into the air.

Look at how clean NCR was during the lockdown. Why? 'coz vehicles were off the roads. So it is the total number of vehicles that is the culprit rather than the age of the vehicle.

MVI inspection can be nothing but a formality, looking at how many vehicles there are on the road. Our population, and our capacity to buy more vehicles than required, are both uncontrolled.

[KPR]

Originally Posted by Tachyonites

Hello BHPians,
My humble steed completed its 10th year with us and to honor that, I am writing a long term overview for my 2010 Innova 2.5GX.

Congratulations for 10 years of innova ownership. Innova will never cease to run. Only if company decides to stop Innova tag itself (like they did with Qualis). Still many Qualis run in immaculate condition.

[Tachyonites]

Originally Posted by Merc_Freak

The Innova is a car with bullet proof reliability and can easily clock over 200,000 kms without a fuss if maintained properly. Cheers

Thanks a lot Merc_Freak.

I completely agree with you. Innova is know for its reliability and Toyota deserves a standing ovation for keeping its customers pleased with their steeds.

Originally Posted by Bhalla

Congratulations. You have maintained your Innova so well. Agree with all the likes and unlikes you mentioned in your post.
I believe it’s a stupid rule to ban 10 years old diesel cars and 15 years old petrol cars by NGT.

Thank you so much Bhalla.

I agree, there should not be any rule regarding the ban of diesels and petrol after 10 and 15 years respectively. Us car enthusiasts take immense car of our cars.

Originally Posted by vigsom

Congratulations, @Tachyonites, on owning a great car for 10 years.

My only sore points on the Innova are the flex-friendly fenders and quarter panels, the flimsy AC vents which I have found broken on countless examples and the interior panels that would get dirty very easily.

Thank you vigsom.

Yes, there are some sore points of the Innova but they are easily ignorable once the positive points of the Innova come into perspective.

Originally Posted by KPR

Congratulations for 10 years of innova ownership. Innova will never cease to run.

Thank you KPR.

Innova is the bread and butter model for Toyota and I don't think that this car would ever be discontinued or dethroned as the king of the MUVs.

[raman.aries]

Congrats on the 10 year and 2L+ ownership. We have a 2015 model Innova Z in the family that has run 80k. I dont think we will sell it for another 10 years; such a reliable car. I hope you keep it for a long time and extract maximum value from it.

[car_guy1998]

Originally Posted by Tachyonites

Hello BHPians,
My humble steed completed its 10th year with us and to honor that, I am writing a long term overview for my 2010 Innova 2.5GX.

Attachment 2071796

Nice review there.

BTW,we too have a same gen Innova,which is VX version in grey colour and its a 2011 one,which has run 1.66L Kms in 9.5 years(bought used in 2016 when it was just 75000 Kms old) and still the exterior and interior looks fresh though we had given the car for denting and painting 2 days ago when the car had met with a accident,which resulted in the dent of driver side door,fender and rear door.

This year,we had spent nearly Rs.25k for getting the car serviced along with replacement of few parts,Rs.35k for replacing the rear windows(which got cracked badly when it met with an accident in June 2020,luckily insurance paid Rs.25k) and Rs.18k for getting the whole car denting and painting.

And,last year,we had spent a lot by replacing clutch plates,brake pads,tyres and got a new seat covers too.Only thing I'm missing in this car is decent music system,which is on the radar,but we are in two minds whether we should sell off this car and get a new one as our car's age is almost 10 years old and poor FE is also the another reason why we are planning to sell off our Innova.

The FE we get in city driving is around 9-11 Kmpl while on highways,we get around 11.5-12 Kmpl.

I simply hate driving the Innova in city traffic due to being cumbersome while at the same time,I love being chauffeured in this car.For driving,we have Honda City Diesel,which I love to drive in the city traffic and my daily drive too and gives FE of 17.5-18 Kmpl in city driving.

[car_guy1998]

Here is my 2011 Innova story,which we bought it in the year 2016 when the odo was just 75000 Kms.

Background:
We used to have 3 cars i.e 2005 Innova V 7 seater,1998 Maruti 800 and 2012 VW Vento TDI.In Oct-Nov 2013,we had sold our 800 to a known person and had booked an used VW Polo.Due to some unavoidable reasons,had to cancel it.Then in Diwali 2014,we had sold off our 2005 Innova to my aunt due to parking problems in our society(now shifted to another place in December 2015).Im glad that the Innova has been taken care by our immediate family.After purchasing from us,my uncle got new seat covers fitted in this Innova.That car had run more than 4L Kms and unfortunately,lost in an accident in June 2019 and my uncle had bought another used Innova VX but this time a 2015 model in gold colour with fancy number totalling 9 and ran just 54000 Kms at the time of purchase.So,now the hunt for second car has been started since we disposed our 2 cars and Vento was the only car for us till now.Whenever we take Vento out,my dad always used to go in other cars and had to borrow my brother's Swift VDI sometimes.So,started to look for second car as a company for our Vento.

How this 2011 Innova came into our lives:

When we had booked Innova Crysta,I got to know from my dad's friend that he is gonna sell his 2011 Innova as he is also going to buy Crysta along with my dad.But his son didn't like the Crysta at all and cancelled Crysta and bought new Fortuner on July 11th.Around Mid-May of this year,dad had said me a good news that I'm thinking to buy this 2011 Innova and asked me how it will be?I said go ahead and dad happily agreed with this.Btw,that uncle has another Innova too,which was his first Innova too and still he owns it.Its a 2008 version and run more than 2L Kms and he is emotionally attached with this 2008 Innova.He bought the 2011 Innova to serve highway purposes whereas he still uses his 2008 Innova as his daily ride.He did Assam trip in 2011 Innova 3-4 years ago and did Varanasi trip too in 2011 Innova in 2014.Thats the reason it has run less in those years.So,I showed interest on 2011 Innova and asked dad whether we shall buy this Innova or new Crysta.He said new Crysta that time.But,we had a TD of new Crysta and dad didn't get impressed as it is overpriced and not comfortable as old Innova.So,that uncle had decided to sell the 2011 Innova to us as he understood that second car is needed for us.So,this car has run 76252 Kms before we bought the car.

Now,coming to the impressions,Innova is the highly preferred car for our family for its comfort and space.We don't care about looks or performance when it comes to Innova.But I highly adore for its comfort,space,reliability and lower maintenance.The colour which we got is Grey Mica Metallic colour.

+ves:

+Comfort,comfort and comfort
+Space
+Reliabilty
+Lower Maintenance
+Can run for lakhs of Kms being a Toyota

-ves:

-Lack of Aux,USB,Bluetooth in HU
-Okayish FE in city.But I got nearly 11-12.5 Kmpl on highways,which is acceptable for Innova
-Cumbersome to drive in the city


In the same year and few weeks after purchase,the car's previous owner had taken the Innova to Shirdi along with their new Fortuner(last gen),the driver had hit the car to the same Fortuner,which that uncle had purchased and resulted in frontal damage.This costed us Rs.2L and unfortunately,the insurance got expired that time.It took 4 months to get the car as we were in shortage of money,thanks to demonitization,which happened at that time.Finally,in the first week of 2017,we got the car back after selling off our previous Vento and it remained only one car until we purchased a Honda City in the same year and after more than 6 months of selling the Vento.

Till date,our Innova has crossed states like Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka,Tamil Nadu(2 times).The reason why we love the Innova is its comfort.Yes,Innova has lots of comfort and one can have a safe journey in the Innova and can sleep easily in the last row as well.The car had did couple of times to Tirupati,one time to Srisailam,one time to Rajahmundry,one time to Vijayawada,couple of times to Kanchipuram(TN)for two times(one in Oct 2019 and other one in Jan 2020,just before COVID) and the car has been run in all parts of Telangana as well.

The services has been done at Yashoda Krishna Toyota,Uppal till now and last service i.e 1.6L Kms has been done at Harsha Toyota,LB Nagar as we got the accidental repair done there itself so had to get the servicing done there itself.

The FE we get in the city is around 9-11 Kmpl while on highways,we get around 11.5-13 Kmpl depending on our driving style but we have achieved 15.5 Kmpl once on the highway.

Last year,we had spent lots of money by getting parts replaced like clutch plates,brake pads,steering tie rods,driver side ORVM,front windshield(which we had to change it due to crack),timing belt,new tyres and got the new seat covers along with doorpads and steering cover.I guess we had spent around Rs.1.5L just for rejuvenating the car.

This year,again we had spent more on accidental repairs as I had met with an accident in June when I was 100 meters away from our house,I had mistakenly hit the GHMC truck from side and in result,the rear RHS glasses has been broken into pieces and got it repaired through insurance at Toyota A.S.S and costed us Rs.35k though we paid Rs.10k from our pockets.

Again,3 days ago,when my dad was coming home,suddenly a biker came in speed and hit the car and ran away,which resulted in the huge damage on driver side door,rear door and fender.This time,had given the car to FNG and got the damaged part repaired along with bumper painting and removal of old scratches,which costed us Rs.18k and got the car back today.

This year,we had spent more than Rs.50k including 1.6L Kms service,which we had to spend Rs.25000 and in the process,we had replaced brake shoes,which costed a lot I guess.

From 2016 till now,we had run 90,000 Kms in this car and the present odo is close to 1.67L Kms,which will be completing in this week I guess.

The Innova is the car which my family loves due to its comfort,space and of course,the AC in an almost 10 year old car is way chiller than our 6.5 year old Honda City and the Innova might be a fuel guzzler,but reliable as well.

Will we sell off this car?Well the question seems to be difficult,but mostly it will be yes only because we are planning to sell off our Innova in 2021 as it is almost 10 years old and FE has become poor,which resulted in our pockets getting burnt by spending a lot on fuel and our long trips has been reduced due to COVID situation and with dad preferring the Honda City over Innova as his daily ride due to FE,we felt that its the time to sell off the Innova and buy something new.

In August this year,we almost sold this car to an individual,who saw the car in OLX and came to our home and saw the car and drove the car and he was impressed with its drivability.He had decided to purchase this car for Rs.8L,which we okayed and he told that he will call after few days as he wanted to arrange the money to buy the car.But,after few days,he backed off from purchasing this car due to personal reasons from his side.

Our next car won't be a Crysta or a Fortuner due to budget constraints but a C-SUV or a Crossover with Diesel AT will be a replacement for our Innova.

Here are the pics of our Innova,which were taken long ago and will be posting new pictures of the car post accidental repair.

[EightSix]

Hello Toyota Innova owners. We own a Diesel Innova of the 2010 vintage and could really use your assistance. With the current lockdown and the three pedal driving becoming tiring for my dad, our Innova is mostly parked. Looking at the current state of things, for about another half year or so I don’t expect much running for the car.

So I got these questions for you guys about maintaining the Innova battery and related. I know that there is are threads about maintaining a battery and taking care of a parked car but since I want Innova specific advice and this thread is an active community of Innova owners, here we go:

1) When an Innova or similar heavy car is parked (at a safe private parking) for months at a stretch, especially in the monsoon, do you recommend disengaging the parking break? My dad’s friend told him to do so (during the monsoon) and he did. But does it really help the car significantly or even at all? Is it a ‘best practice’? Or could it have any harmful consequences?

2) Second, we observed that our Innova’s battery (relatively new of March 2020) drains out completely within a week of not driving it. Does this happen to any other BHPian’s Innova? Sometimes, it takes even lesser number of days to drain out. Could it be a problem with our own battery? When we get it charged from an FNG for 24 hours, the engine starts normally. So definitely not a problem with the other mechanicals is it?

3) Many people told us to start it and revv the engine up to about 2500 RPM every alternate day/once in 3-4 days. However, ours is a turbocharged diesel I believe and having read the TBHP article on Turbo Diesel best practices, I think it is not wise to start it and rev the engine when it is standing. However, if you idle the car for a minute after revving it for a certain number of times, would it be okay to do so?

4) How much fuel would this above mentioned activity consume?

5) Any other suggestions that Innova owners or expert BHPians would have regarding this topic are also welcome and in fact, very much needed.

After all, taking care of a car when parked is just as important as taking care of it when being driven.

[aravind422]

Hi EightSix.

Engaging the parking brake for extended periods adversly affects quite a few vehicles. Should be the same for the Innova as well. For such long streches, it might be better to just leave it in 1st or reverse, OR even use a block of wood each on any two diagonally opposite wheels. Engaging the handbrake might put unwanted stress on the brake shoes, cables, etc. (since its for a lengthy period). I have a 2008 Innova and I never use the handbrake when parked at home, but I do use it for parking everywhere else.

Heres something I would do.
IF your parking spot is susceptible to dampness, it might be a good idea to lift all four tyres off the ground. Could avoid premature tyre rot.

My vehicle sits idle for weeks at a time, but the battery voltage does not drop below 12.5 (12.6V is optimum). If yours drains out so quickly, you should check wether its the battery itself being unable to maintain charge OR if some electricel component is sucking the hell out of it.
Anyway, its bad. A good battery should start a vehicle even after a gap of a couple of months.

I'm not too sure about this but... check with the service centre or any good electritian and if its OK, then disconnect the battery and see if it still drains. If it does, then it might be nearing its end.

Alternatively, if you are interested, you can get a quality battery charger with float charging inbuilt, connect it to the battery and leave it on for months at a strech. A good float charger should take care of everything without frying the battery. As a bonus, it might even improve the health of your battery.

Lastly, DO NOT START AND REV UP. If you have to, then start the engine, let it idle for 15 mins or so and then turn it off. Revving unnecessarily will not improve the charging in any way because in my (2008) model vehicle, the alternator charges the battery with a constant voltage of 13.8. It also stays the same even if the engine is at idle or roaring at its limit. Should be the same for a 2010 model too.

You are certainly right about turbodiesels. Revving immediately (or just shortly) after starting will destroy the bearings on the turbocharger. Should wait for the engine to warm up a bit. Same goes for stopping the eigine as well (let it idle for one or two minutes and then turn it off).

The last line in your post is something most vehicle owners neglect.
Thank you for reminding me.

And good luck with your vehicle.

[aravind422]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Not sure if this is an issue or not.

The brake pedal on our 2012 Innova VX 2.5 D is spongy or so I feel. In parked condition with engine running if I press the brake pedal 4 times or so, the pedal becomes hard and the brake light indicator on instrument console comes ON. Car has done 58500 kms.

Is this reason to worry ? I had to do an emergency braking from 50 kmph due to unmarked speed breaker and ABS did click in due to some sand over there.

Brake pads were changed once, not sure of Brake Oil. Has anybody else faced this issue ? With engine running, repeated application of brake pedal makes it hard quite soon. Am planning a 700 kms. trip this Saturday.

Did you get the spongy pedal checked??

If not, then do it at the earliest.

Might be something simple, or in the worst case, a bad brake master cylinder.

Good luck.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by EightSix

2) Second, we observed that our Innova’s battery (relatively new of March 2020) drains out completely within a week of not driving it. Does this happen to any other BHPian’s Innova?

3) However, ours is a turbocharged diesel I believe and having read the TBHP article on Turbo Diesel best practices, I think it is not wise to start it and rev the engine when it is standing.

2. I have parked my Innova for over 1 month at a stretch in monsoon as my hand had fractured from a fall. Battery is more than three years old and no problem at all.

3. I start it, let it idle for 15 mins, revv it to 3000 rpm slowly, and bringing it back to idle slowly and then idle it for another 5 mins. This was one twice in lockdown as I was afraid of poor quality fuel clogging injectors.

Originally Posted by aravind422

Should be the same for the Innova as well.

It is. Jammed rear brakes. But slight movement forward and it was back to normal.

Originally Posted by aravind422

Did you get the spongy pedal checked??

I got front brake pads replaced and old braking power was back. The front brake pads had worn out and hence the issue. Rear brake shoes will need some attention in around 5000 kms as per my estimate. The car is on stock brake shoes and car has just completed 84,000 kms last Monday.

[RJK]

Folks - Facing little trouble with our 2104 Innova (1.3L kms done). I have noticed that the cooling is next to none when the car is idling & becomes normal once we start driving. Anyone faced the same problem?

[sschivate]

Originally Posted by RJK

Folks - Facing little trouble with our 2104 Innova (1.3L kms done). I have noticed that the cooling is next to none when the car is idling & becomes normal once we start driving. Anyone faced the same problem?

Did you check the radiator fan?

[RJK]

Originally Posted by sschivate

Did you check the radiator fan?

Had taken the car for service anyway, SA said it is fine, no need to worry. Supposedly due to the heat wave in Bombay, it’s normal.

[John1994]

Toyota as we all know is name very common in India just because of that one car , yes you guessed it - the Innova. Launched way back in 2005 , the Innova has come a long way in being the 1st choice for anyone who was looking for a comfortable and practical people mover .The robust build along with the time tested D4D engine and comfortable ride has made sure that the Innova has retained it's title of being one of the most sought after MPV's in India even after 16 years of being launched. No vehicle has so far been able to matchup with the Innova in terms of long term reliability and longevity in the MPV segment. Kudos to Toyota Kirloskar for giving us such a fantastic product .

Now coming to my experience with the Innova :

The decision to buy the Innova and purchase experience :

We were looking for a car as we used to come for vacations from Dubai and did a lot of travelling during the time we were in Kerala and had grandparents at home who needed occasional hospital visits. The choice of cars were very limited back in 2010 unlike nowadays where you have plenty of new players in the market . As we would have airport runs as well , the Innova was the perfect car for us apart from its easy maintenance and comfortable ride quality. We purchased the vehicle from Nippon Toyota Kochi and I still remember that day of stepping into a showroom as a teenager with my dad 11 years ago happily taking delivery of our new car in April 2010.The only accessories we bought were spoiler and mud flaps apart from a installing a single din Sony Explod car audio system . I couldn't drive it as I didn't have a license back then and then finally got it in 2012.Driving for the first time was one of the best experiences ever especially when u get to feel the engine coming to life once you turn on the ignition.

The driving experience :

The Innova was fairly easy to drive for a newbie except for the parking in tight spaces. The gear shifts were very easy with a comparatively light clutch apart from a steering that was both light and instilled confidence .You can really feel the turbo kicking in after 1500 rpm. Overtakes were a breeze with that 200Nm of torque at your disposal. The car would just pull and pull during downshifts to 2nd and 3rd gears and the gear box would never let you down whenever you wanted to overtake. Even in Hilly roads and steep slopes with 7 passengers and luggage there was that diesel grunt to take on anything that came it's way without any fuss. The car has clocked about 98,000 kms in 11 years as it was mostly driven by us only during vacations and rest of the time for occasional hospital visits by grandparents . Servicing was done once a year apart from normal part replacements such as brake pads and clutch plate(once).

The car underwent a major upgradation in 2013 with a new set of alloys , rain visors ,blackening of B and C pillars , fog lamps apart from an Explod 7''
2-din infotainment system and Kenwood subwoofer. It was a much needed upgrade as the car looked much better. after these upgrades.

Even after 11 years , the car drives like it has just come out of the showroom brand new. That's how Toyota over engineers it's vehicles and they are able to stand the test of time. Even the interiors haven't undergone any colour fading or degradation once again highlighting the robust build quality. Buying the Innova is one of the best decisions that we made as it has been our family car all these years and has served us well. We plan to keep it with us as it doesn't seem logical to replace it with the overpriced Crysta that gives you terrible black interiors and nothing very different from the old Innova for 23 lakhs for the base model.

The Innova is a gem of a car that I cherish every day just by looking at it in our car shed. Looking forward to many more trips with this hell of an MPV

[RJK]

Guys - My 2014 diesel Innova (V variant) that has done 1.67L kms is now showing signs of reduced fuel efficiency. Used to be about 11-11.5 kmpl in Bombay city driving. Now, it has dropped down to barely 10kmpl - nothing has changed, neither the driving pattern or traffic pattern.

About 20k kms ago, fuel filter was changed at which point the FE had improved. Now again FE has reduced; another thing is that before changing the fuel filter, car used to take a longer crank to start, which was rectified upon changing the fuel filter. I see the long cranks making an appearance again. Going by the recent experience, it sounds like case of fuel filter again. But it seems hard to digest that fuel filter to go kaput in only 20k kms considering the fuel is also filled mostly from the same pump.

It will be due for a coolant change in the next service, recently has timing belt changed-all services exclusively at Toyota dealer except for brakes. Now I’m wondering if I should continue to spend money in this vehicle or just sell it off. I’ve spent about 24k last year on new tyres (approx 20k kms ago), new front and rear suspension dampers costing about 40k over last 2yrs. Sadly the rear dampers didn’t even last a year and have started to leak again. I’m in no mood to change again. Also, the front suspension ball joints are worn out and need replacement; lower arms also showing Signs of wearing out. All in all seems like another expense of 50-60k.

I’m very seriously contemplating getting rid of it now, and replace with Innova Crysta (G variant) something or the other needs attention time and again. What are your thoughts? More importantly, what’s the recourse for reduced fuel efficiency?

Thanks!