[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by Amrit@wheels

Congratulations on reaching (almost) the 50k mark and wishing you many more. I love reading your small travel reports. With the current gen Fortuner, the only major con is the price tag. This is a personal opinion.

Agree its pricey, and the likes of Legender 4x4, GRS are super expensive. The current gen is almost 8 years old and an all new gen should arrive later this year or in 2025. Expect the new gen to breach 60L mark.

[Amrit@wheels]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Agree its pricey, and the likes of Legender 4x4, GRS are super expensive. The current gen is almost 8 years old and an all new gen should arrive later this year or in 2025. Expect the new gen to breach 60L mark.

Can't believe we bought our first gen Fortuner for like 20L on the road Good ol' days...

[PrideRed]

50K service

The car has been munching an average of 15K a year. While the car completed 3 years earlier this month, gave it for service last week as ODO had hit 50K. Booked an appointment at United Toyota Puttur which has been my go to place ever since it was started. Other than regular service ,there was a small crack in wooden portion of steering wheel which I wanted to get rectified.

Service included below:

1. Engine oil- Toyota now have switched to 0W20 which is slightly more expensive.

2. Wheel alignment and wheel balancing.

3. Oil filter

4. Gasket, windshield fluid etc.

5. 50K inspection and top up.

Total cost for service came to 11.6K which is super reasonable given I paid 5K recently for my 2013 Activa service

The steering wheel had developed a hairline crack and was replaced under warranty. This is my second replacement and expected Toyota to provide a solution. I feel the material is not of good quality or its not suited for our environment. Warranty claim was seamless though. Front brake pads have 9mm thickness and factory rear ones are at 5mm. Tires are due for replacement in another 5K or so. Overall a big thumps up to United Toyota folks.

[PrideRed]

During service, advisor mentioned battery may need replacement in sometime. Post service car was working fine including start stop system. Car was parked for a week without running and earlier this week, battery went dead. Since the car had completed 3 year mark, decided to replace and I needed car immediately for a drive. Only Amaron was available in stock in nearby shop and decided to go with same. Battery with exchange costed 9K.

[PrideRed]

Since couple of weeks, had noticed that right shocks squeaks during cold start, especially after wash and if car is not run for couple of days. The noise would go away after few KM drive. Had reported to service center at Puttur. Probably some sort of lubrication would have done. Since the car had extended warranty, asked service advisor to check for replacement. Dealer updated all required details and voila, Toyota did approve the request to change shocks. Part came next day and front shocks were replaced under warranty. The replacement was done soon after and car was ready by 3PM.

While the noise has vanished(checked it after wash), happy to report that ride has improved too. There is bit more stiffness on smooth roads and absorbs bad patches better than earlier. With tire change I am sure things will be much better.

[Amrit@wheels]

@PrideRed, as you stated, some proper lubrication would have fixed the problem but I am glad that you managed to get the front shocks replaced. Toyota India leaves absolutely no opportunity to rip the customers off so it's only fair that someone gets such princely treatment, and you absolutely deserve it
P.S. What tyres are you going for? I know that you love to take your Fortuner on and off the road so I am expecting some quality AT rubber. Is it the good ole' Japs or do I smell some burley Yankees? Guess we will find out soon enough!

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by Amrit@wheels

P.S. What tyres are you going for? I know that you love to take your Fortuner on and off the road so I am expecting some quality AT rubber. Is it the good ole' Japs or do I smell some burley Yankees? Guess we will find out soon enough!

Went with Bridgestone Dueler AT D002. To be honest Dueler HT are pretty good, there are super silent, lasted long , good performer on highway and did perform reasonably well off road too. Some of the short comings were, poor traction off road post 50% life, bit of a struggle on slush, looks sad on a burly truck, expensive at about 18-19K here in KA. I was happy with these but wanted to try out something different, preferably AT. Did not have a use case for BFG, had Geolanders in my Endy which felt pretty ordinary. I liked Apollo AT2 for the price/looks and LTX trail based on feedback. In meantime, Bridgestone launched D002, liked the pattern and reasonably priced too. Comes with 2Years unconditional warranty plus 3Years warranty against manufacturing defect.

Have driven about 1500KM on new tires, being AT, tire noise is a bit more than HT. Grip levels are good and so is the comfort compared to Dueler HT(had run 52K). There is not much perceivable difference w.r.to braking. So far find them good . Looks great too.

[Amrit@wheels]

This is the first time I have seen the A/T variant of the highly popular Dueler series. The tread pattern looks quite aggressive and suits the car very much. I just wish they came with highlighted branding though. If you don't mind, can you share the cost of these?

[PrideRed]

Car has put decent miles this year though less than earlier years. Most of the drives have been short one’s . Goa, couple of drives to Chennai, and of course many Bangalore-Puttur drive. Car has done 58500KM and by year end hopefully should see the car hit 60K mark. Newer cars in garage have reduced some of the drive for Fortuner . For most of the drives, car was packed to the brim, extra space and seats have been put to full use. With kids growing up, have come to realize the importance of extra space, no car is big when you travel with kids .

New dueler AT is pretty good. There is bit more noise than HT and slight drop in fuel efficiency. That said the tires are better in wet conditions and braking is better too. Tires perform much better off road being AT. The stock tires which had run 52K were struggling for traction, the 500NM torque would make them slip easily even on tarmac, newer tires results in much lesser TC light blink in console.

With industry changing fast, good to see Toyota sticking 10 year life span for this platform.