[shardul_pathak]

Originally Posted by graaja

Change to A/T Tires, TPMS Installation and PPF


I checked various films, such as 3M, Garware, GSWF, and XPel, and received quotes ranging from 1.5 lakhs to 2.7 lakhs. I found this to be an expensive affair. But considering the black paint and the usage, I decided to go ahead and get it done. Went ahead with the XPel PPF. I got it installed at NextGen Autoshop in Coimbatore. They did paint correction work before applying the film. There were a few paint chips on the bonnet and a couple of mild scratches on the side, of which nothing could be done. These battle scars are now preserved under the film.

Below are a few pictures from the PPF installation.

Hi Graaja

I am sorry to constantly pester you, but this thread and your decision was one of the key motivating factors for me to go in for the Fortuner. I had been debating about the choice/VFM aspects on other threads, but when I saw your post, I knew that this would be the right choice. PLUS, I would get a guiding light to all the things I could possibly do to the car, with your detailed and in depth reviews!

As for the PPF, would you mind sharing the final cost you had paid. Given that its an expensive affair, I am in 2 minds about it. I have owned a black Camry in the past and I know how difficult it is to maintain in sparkling gloss.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by shardul_pathak

As for the PPF, would you mind sharing the final cost you had paid. Given that its an expensive affair, I am in 2 minds about it. I have owned a black Camry in the past and I know how difficult it is to maintain in sparkling gloss.

No worries about the questions. Please feel free to ask. I am glad to be of some help.

I went with Xpel PPF, which was on the pricey side. It cost me 2.7 Lakhs for the whole car. I got a quote of 1.85 for Garware Premium and 1.65 for 3M, but I went with XPel as this was considered to be an industry standard, and there were lots of positive reviews on this brand.

[shashi792]

@graaja, congragulation on you upgrade. I have booked my 4x4 AT and delivery is scheduled for next week. I opted for Pearl white with chamois interior. I had my own share issue of maintaining a black car with my previous Harrier Dark Edition. Dust collection and cleaning was the least of the problem, crazy unknown folks had threaded lines with key/metal object across the car (I had the ppf'ed my car).

Is there a separate telegram/whatsapp channel for Fortuner (We had THUG group for Harrier). The group was to work on bulk deals (Tyres, PPF, Lights etc..) & quick help ?.

How much did it cost you for the 360 degree camera ?. The accessory guy was not there the day I visited the showroom. I saw a box named MoCo 360 displayed at the showroom. I was planning for 360 cam and wireless charger (from leader edition).

[graaja]

Originally Posted by shashi792

How much did it cost you for the 360 degree camera ?. The accessory guy was not there the day I visited the showroom. I saw a box named MoCo 360 displayed at the showroom. I was planning for 360 cam and wireless charger (from leader edition).

It cost me about 35K to install the 360 degree camera. Not sure if MoCo 360 is the same as Modiber.

[shashi792]

Originally Posted by PKG

Graaja, great choice and thanks for the review after your road trips too. I got myself the same !! but MT and White. I wanted a Silver Fortuner but the dealer in Bangalore would not sell me one and was not offering any discounts for anything other than Black what you have and White and one off-white. I had posted also in the original Fortuner forum to check. I had no choice but settle for the White. The discount and offers were quiet a sum to ignore. I got more than 2 Lakhs discounts and offers. What was on-road of Rs. 50,78,000, was given to me at Rs.47,83,000. with all the extended warranties, everything on the pricelist.

.

Congratulations @PKG, I booked mine last week and the delivery is scheduled for next week. I got the pearl white 4x4 AT. I checked with Ravindu, Nandi & Viva. Finally settled with Viva. Ravindu was point blank 2L but only White and Black. Viva was more accommodating in terms of options and just a better customer experience. With Viva I got it for 50.80 L without EW and maintenance Package (Onroad was 53.80).

My source at TKM informed me that the Fortuner line up will receive a minor update (48 V mild hybrid) only by the end of 2025 with same front face and a new Gen (with most features from Hycross such as ADAS, Hybrid etc...) is bound for mid 2026 going to early 2027 & Hilux is here to stay (against all the news about TKM stopping the manufacturing)

[viXit]

Originally Posted by graaja

Hi diesel&dust,
.
.

Is your Fortuner the previous generation that came with 3" fog lights? The light throw in your car looks very good.

Mine has 2" fog lights. I have read good reviews about a 2" projector model Nova 2R which are 2" projectors that are suitable for this generation Fortuner. Got some good reviews from a couple of friends who have installed these in other cars. I will be going and checking this projector and then make a decision. Need to check how the light output is in a 2" projector.

Hey Graaja,
the trim where the fog lights mount can accommodate 2" projectors on our cars. But a replacement trim that matches the design with a 3" orifice is available in the market to get the better 3" projectors fitted in our 2024 model cars.

Although I haven't personally needed it.

[graaja]

First Oil Service - 10,000 Kilometers:

Sometime in December, the car hit the 10,000-kilometer mark, and it was time to get the first service done.


I fixed an appointment for the first service. I used the Toyota Connect app to fix the appointment. Fixing the appointment through the app was a breeze. The app lets you choose the service center, service advisor, type of service, etc. I fixed an appointment for 10:00 AM. I decided to try the 60-minute express service option and booked this. The estimated delivery time with this option was 11:30 AM.

The service process at the Toyota service center was smooth. I was assigned a service advisor within 5 minutes of reporting at the front desk. He came and inspected the car, took pictures of the car, and asked me if there were any problems with the car, etc.

The service advisor taking pictures of the car.


Other than the scheduled maintenance, I had only two requests.

1. The sunglass holder in the roof light assembly was not opening and closing properly. This has to be either repaired or replaced. Video below shows the problem.

https://youtu.be/wb2HaYzlMaA

2. I wanted to enable the manual DPF regeneration override. Right now, there is a button that brings up the manual regeneration menu. But even when the DPF status shows three bars, it would not allow initiating a manual regeneration. I heard that it was possible to start regeneration even with one or two bars, and this has to be enabled in software at the service center. This will be useful while driving in high altitude areas like Ladakh, where regeneration would not work beyond some altitude. During these situations, it would be good to force a regeneration before starting a drive to a higher altitude area like Hanle or some high passes.

The service advisor also listed some services like AC duct cleaning, wheel alignment etc., which I asked him not to do. I asked him to do only the mandatory scheduled maintenance stuff like oil, oil filter, air filter etc.

After this, the service advisor took the car inside the workshop, and I was handed over the car at around 1:30 PM. The service advisor explained to me that with a big car like the Fortuner, it is impossible to finish the service within 60 minutes, and he sincerely apologized for the misinformation.

The car being serviced.


As this service was covered by the Smiles package that I had taken during the purchase of the car, I paid only for the Adblue refill which cost about 900 INR.

Experience with Toyota Service:

I had a mixed experience with this service.

The scheduled maintenance itself was very smooth. Except for the longer wait than promised (which I am fine with and understand the reason), I feel that they did a great job. The car feels much smoother after the oil service, and the engine feels more responsive. The car was washed very well, and the interiors were thoroughly cleaned. I rate a 5-star for this part.

However, they did not address the sunglass holder issue or the request to enable DPF regeneration. I remembered this only after coming back home. When I called the service advisor to ask why this was not done, he very casually told me to bring the car back, and he would look at the issue. He also told me about the warranty claim process being very time-consuming, etc., and I will have to bring the car once again to get it replaced. My concern is not with the warranty replacement process itself. I understand the need to raise a claim, the time it takes to get it approved, and the need to take the car back after the approval. But this could have been done while the car was being serviced. I found a general attitude of indifference with the service advisor about these other requests. I got a feedback call the next day and told them I was not satisfied with the service. Within an hour, I got a call from the customer relationship manager, and he apologized for this mistake, he promised me he would get this resolved and requested me to bring the car. But as this is not a critical issue and I was busy with lots of travel and other work, I have decided to get this addressed during the next oil service or whenever I get time. I will bring up the DPF regeneration manual override at this time, too.

This is the part I am not happy about. I will reserve my judgment on how Toyota addresses this issue when I take it to the service center next time.

Modiber 360 Camera Problem:

There is one more problem that I need to get resolved. The front camera in the 360 degree camera setup fails often and I see a blue screen where the front camera image should be. The camera image shows fine sometimes but fails most of the time. Below are a couple of pictures of the problem.





I am yet to report this issue. Will update the thread when I get this resolved.

[graaja]

Installed: 70mai 810 Dual Channel Dashcam

A couple of weeks back, I installed the 70mai 810 dual dashcam in the Fortuner. I used the hardwire kit and the ACC fuse in the fuse box in the passenger footwell to power the dashcam. I prepared the wiring for the electrical connection and a friend helped with the wiring.

A few pictures of this installation.

The full kit - front camera, rear camera, rear camera cable, hardwire kit.


The fuse tap comes with a bullet connector.


I ordered male and female bullet connectors from Amazon and prepared the GND and hardwire kit wires. I tied both ACC and BAT signals together, as I did not want the parking mode record function.


The fuse layout. I used the ACC signal from this.


Fuse tap fixed on the ACC signal for 12V supply to the hardwire kit.


The GND cable was fixed to a bolt that was present in the chassis.


The hardwire kit neatly tied up.


Opening the grab handle to remove the A-pillar trim.


The A-pillar is removed. Noticed the curtain airbag in the A-pillar. The cable was carefully routed behind the airbag and bunched with the existing cables.


Routing the cable from the hardwire kit to the A-pillar to power the front camera.


Routing the cable to the rear windshield to power the rear camera.


The front camera is fixed to the windshield.


The rear camera is fixed to the windshield. Please pardon the dust. I forgot to click pictures on the day of installation when the car was clean.


I haven't analyzed the video quality under various lighting conditions, etc. I just installed the phone app and checked the basic functions like connecting to the camera, downloading the videos, etc.

I had a chance to check a video clip of a close call I had on the highway yesterday, and the video quality is quite good, and car license plates are readable. There is a lot of reflection from the windshield, for which I have to install the CPL filter that I have purchased.

[graaja]

A Close Call on the Highway:

Yesterday, as we were returning back from a trip to Pondicherry, we had a close call on the highway. This Taigun driver suddenly decided to stop on the fast lane and take the exit he missed. I saw the emergency braking of the BMW in front of me and slammed the brakes. Truth be told, I did not think it would stop in time to avoid a crash. But the Fortuner proved me wrong. For its 2.75 tons, it shed speed from a little more than 100kph to almost 30kph in just under 3 seconds, all the while being rock steady! I think it was a combination of the excellent brakes, ABS, the Tough Dog suspensions with almost negligible diving which kept the weight on the rear wheels, and the grippy Vredestein AT tires that saved the day! Below is the video of this scary incident.

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

Closing this update with a few pictures from some of the recent drives.

Coffee stop at my favorite coffee shop on the way to Madikeri.


Another coffee break by the road side.


The Fortuner with my Astrophotography setup during a trip to Coorg on New Year's Eve.


A few pictures of the Fortuner by lush green fields near Villupuram during a drive from Pondicherry to Coimbatore.






That's all folks, I have for now. I will update the thread soon with the installation of 2" LED projectors replacing the existing fog lights.

[Mukunthan91]

Did you service your vehicle at Anamalais in Thudiyalur service station? They are quite busy with too many cars and often the service is a hit or miss.
There is also a new Toyota dealer in Trichy road where the feedback is good, next time try them for a change.

[RennSport]

Originally Posted by graaja

Yesterday, as we were returning back from a trip to Pondicherry, we had a close call on the highway. This Taigun driver suddenly decided to stop on the fast lane and take the exit he missed. I saw the emergency braking of the BMW in front of me and slammed the brakes. Truth be told, I did not think it would stop in time to avoid a crash. But the Fortuner proved me wrong. For its 2.75 tons, it shed speed from a little more than 100kph to almost 30kph in just under 3 seconds, all the while being rock steady! I think it was a combination of the excellent brakes, ABS, the Tough Dog suspensions with almost negligent diving which kept the weight on the rear wheels, and the grippy Vredestein AT tires that saved the day! Below is the video of this scary incident.

Wheww! That was a very close call indeed.
One question I have is whether the dashcam automatically senses and downloads footage of heavy braking, strong swerving etc.

Happy Motoring.
RS

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Mukunthan91

Did you service your vehicle at Anamalais in Thudiyalur service station?
...
There is also a new Toyota dealer in Trichy road where the feedback is good, next time try them for a change.

Yes. I went to the Thudiyalur service station. I was not aware of the other service center in Trichy Road. I will try this for the next service. Thank you so much for pointing this out.

Originally Posted by RennSport

Wheww! That was a very close call indeed.
One question I have is whether the dashcam automatically senses and downloads footage of heavy braking, strong swerving etc.

Yes. The dashcam has a feature that senses sudden deceleration and braking and saves these clips in a separate folder. For some reason, this particular incident was not saved. I have to check if this got disabled somehow and enable it again.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by graaja

2. I wanted to enable the manual DPF regeneration override. Right now, there is a button that brings up the manual regeneration menu. But even when the DPF status shows three bars, it would not allow initiating a manual regeneration. I heard that it was possible to start regeneration even with one or two bars, and this has to be enabled in software at the service center. This will be useful while driving in high altitude areas like Ladakh, where regeneration would not work beyond some altitude. During these situations, it would be good to force a regeneration before starting a drive to a higher altitude area like Hanle or some high passes.

This may not be available for Fortuner/Hilux/Innova manufactured post mid 2022, ask your dealer to check after connecting the tool. Some of the owners who tried to get this custom mode were told the Techstream tool doesnot give the option for some of the cars. Personally have found this quite flexible and should have been provided by default. However many users are not even aware of presence or usage of DPF button, adding more functionality can become complex.

[vkochar]

Nice write up and great pictures.

I have the same spec Fortuner since August '22 and with an Innova and Fortuner in the garage I am going ahead with the Camry and the Innova to be replaced with the Hycross or perhaps another Fortuner.

That is how rock solid the Toyota brand is once you have owned it and experienced journeys and airport drops and picks with the entire family and there luggage.

My Innova Crysta has done 2 lakh kms and the Fortuner has done only 40,000 kms in over 2 years as it is used only for airport runs and picking up clients.

It is a no brainer but honestly what Toyota needs is to load / spec it slightly as it is too basic but still continues to sell in insane numbers due to the rock solid peace of mind and ownership. Resale is phenomenal for these cars / suv's.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

This may not be available for Fortuner/Hilux/Innova manufactured post mid 2022, ask your dealer to check after connecting the tool. Some of the owners who tried to get this custom mode were told the Techstream tool doesnot give the option for some of the cars. Personally have found this quite flexible and should have been provided by default. However many users are not even aware of presence or usage of DPF button, adding more functionality can become complex.

Thank you for this information. I was not aware that this feature was not available in the later versions. I will talk to a good technician next time I visit the service center.

Even at the Toyota service center, no one seems to have a good idea of the system, and this is frustrating!