1 year with my Innova Hycross: 7 specific ownership points to note!

Just completed the car's second service, wherein most of the repairs and the labour charges are covered via the AMC package.

BHPian santosh.s recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Completed 2nd (10k km) service yesterday. Since I have taken AMC package, engine oil, oil-filter, gasket and windscreen washer fluid cost was covered under that and labor is free of cost anyway until 3rd service. They charged me only for alignment and balancing (~2.3k) and another 200 for PUC. The last one year's experience mirrors what many people have been sharing. A few specific points that I wanted to mention are:

1. Did anyone face any issues with TPMS (Toyota mentions it as TPWS or something like that in the manual)? For me, it worked fine during initial few months. Then one day I saw a warning saying this system is malfunctioning and no pressure numbers were shown. Since I wasn't sure about it's severity and I was on a long drive, I asked the SA. He just asked me to continue with the journey ignoring it and visit service center upon return. A friend of mine told me that it is a common issue which happens due to water accumulation while washing. When I did 1st service (at a different center), folks there too said that such issues with TPMS are very common across brands. Based on these feedbacks I thought that bulletproof Toyota quality/reliability may not be of any use in this case and/or it is another case of cutting corners for this car. I have been facing this warning once in a while, but for the rest of the time (about 70-80%) it has worked fine. During the last few moths, the frequency of the problem increased so much so that it now worked only 10% of the time! This time I asked them to look into it and claim warranty if necessary. However, they found that the sensor has broken apart from the valve inside tire. I asked them to remove it to be sure of the root causing and I think it may possibly cause damage to inner lining of the tire. They said that warranty won't cover it because it is a physical damage, and the cost of 1 sensor is whopping 6k+28% GST (so damage of roughly 8-10k ) Reminds me of Baleno parts (sedan) which used to cost double on an average as compared to other models. Most likely it is a consequence of messing with alloys/tires (I have changed stock wheels and tires in an attempt to tilt ride-handling balance more towards comfort). I don't see any reason why this sensor should break just like that during normal usage, unless there was some negligence in the process of moving them from stock wheels to new ones. Anyway, I have to bear the expense now and get it fixed. By the way, it is not readily available in their stock, they will procure it upon order.

2. Issue of central console edge obstructing left knee of driver (or right knee of front passenger) is quite a serious problem in my opinion. It not only causes discomfort to knee or surrounding area due sharp edge, but also limits knee room in otherwise spacious and comfortable car. I really wish they should have made the central console much smaller and curved with smooth surface facing knee/leg. Door panel area around window switches also creates a similar problem, though to a much smaller extent and hence can be ignored. Pulling the seat a bit backward makes it a bit less troublesome.

3. Auto mode of 360 degree view is so convenient, though video quality and indicator based automatic blind views (like in Tata/Hyundai cars) are absent. There is one issue with auto mode though- once active, you can not see navigation information (or anything else for that matter). To cancel camera and to see the phone screen, we have to either use a button on multimedia unit or touch screen. I wish return/exit button on steering could be usable for this (it is not). However, found a workaround accidentally- phone button can be used to cancel camera. It is actually meant to take you to phone screen, but with carplay/android auto, it can indirectly serve the purpose You can't use it while on call though, because it will end up disconnecting it. Camera modes are quite limited, adaptive guidelines work very well.

4. Auto headlights work fine, you don't really have to touch the switch most of the times. Auto high beam is useless though, it gets triggered by any light source, so it is helpful only in dark areas and with sparse traffic on roads. They should have given more powerful projector LEDs and proper yellow foglamps with sufficient brightness.

5. Rain sensing wipers are missed, assuming they would work as smoothly as auto headlamp on/off. Just curious, can it be retro-fitted by any chance? Nice thing is that manual control has provision for both adjustable intermittent as well as single wipe (mist) modes.

6. I was a bit shocked to hear about drive shaft issues that people have reported, in view of high expectation from Toyota. When I asked SA, he told that if you notice any unexpected sound while turning steering, then it may be applicable and that they will fix it. I have not noticed such noise so far, but I do notice that it breaks suddenly at times in stop and go traffic while using auto hold feature (which is a boon in city like Bangalore!). I guess may be due to a kind of race between whether to move the vehicle ahead or to stop, which arises under such situations. He said that it is normal and shouldn't be a problem (and my gut feeling tends to agree with him). I wish there were multiple modes to engage auto hold function, like permanently on, one time, or for a short period (like a minute or 5-mins) after which it should disengage on it's own. Also an option of a steering mounted button to release brake and resuming driving. They should have integrated the display icon that shows whether it is enabled or not and whether it is currently holding the brake. They are placed at two different corner's of the display!

7. ADAS features work well. Initially I was disappointed by absence of automatic emergency braking. But realized later that for Indian condition, using it in warning only mode (which they have forced in India) is a better option for obvious reasons. Blind spot detection, collision warning, rear cross traffic alert, front/rear sensors and automatic camera based on that are so useful, definitely enhance overall safety and convenience. Lane assist and adaptive cruise control are useful only on highways. Even on highways, their usage gets limited due to chaotic road , traffic conditions and people's driving sense in general (lack thereof). Acceleration and braking is pretty harsh though, even with lowest settings. Tuning could have been better to make it more useful practically.

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