Toyota Corolla Altis 2008: Ownership Review

[abhijit_net]

Recently went into an issue - thought should record hear.
At 80,000 KM mark, I had changed spark plugs (Toyota genuine, but not Iridium like originals), after 4000 K, again engine din't feel that good.
Checked the spark plugs and they were already toast.
Went to Madhuban Toyota to get new Iridium plugs, and complain about old ones.
Iridium plugs were like 1200 per plug .
They said no one buys the iridium ones and i had to pre-order them. Normal plugs were at 306 Rs per piece, so i went for them again. No choice hear.
Since Skoda Superp spark plugs fit perfectly well, I am thinking of buying those Iridium ones next time. My mechanic can source them locally.
Ill make it a Toyota Altis Superb version.

 

[Akash]

Wow. I just went through the entire thread. Looks like Toyota does charge a bomb for small parts! However, I will have to admit that things like air con grill and others for cars like Civic too used to cost a bomb since they do not usually change the broken part but tend to replace the entire assembly which i find extremely annoying and impractical!

BTW Did you ever get a chance to check with the owners of the newer Corollas? With all the new goodies on board, i am assuming they must be emptying their pocket for smallest repairs!

 

[Mathew]

Recently went into an issue - thought should record hear.
At 80,000 KM mark, I had changed spark plugs (Toyota genuine, but not Iridium like originals), after 4000 K, again engine din't feel that good.
Checked the spark plugs and they were already toast.

We are also using the same, Genuine from Toyota, not iridium. No such issues.
My in-law is using the same version of Corolla. Please check the harness. Check with the supervisor or foreman. Or another service adviser.

 

[abhijit_net]

Hi Mathew, Please suggest which harness to check.

I don't take the car to Toyota ASS (pain in the ASS), I get things done from FNG.
Even for parts I have to do 1K advance payment and after 10- 15 days the part comes.
Some parts they just say, they were never made in India so they don't have them (ex. Door Light assembly).

 

[abhijit_net]

Car has crossed 90,000Kms hence took it for service.
Oil - Had ordered Mobil 1 0w-40 from 99rpm, but after 1 weeks wait time they rejected the order.
In nearby shop Mobil 1 0w-40 was available for 3,800/- but that shop was closed that day.
In other shop found Castrol Edge 0w-40 for 3,200/- seeing the 500/- difference, I just bought it.
Oil filter 850/- Coolant - 320/-
Went to FNG, while checking the breaks found that 3 of 4 had jammed pins, rubber on pins had expanded, hence was causing jam.
In few more days I would have faced completely jammed breaks. I was just in time for break repairs.
Enginer cover gasket was opened and re-sealed, which was not necessary at all.
Liquid sealent worth 320/- was used, earlier 30/- sealent was used, hence i think he suggested to re-seal.
Engine and Cabin Air filters were replaced. Spark plugs were in not very bad shape, were cleaned and re-fitted.
Removing the breaks and fixing them was very labour and time consuming (I was at FNG from 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM).
Labour cost was approx 2000/-

Total cost - approx 8,375/-

 

[abhijit_net]

After driving 300+ Kms, acceleration was a bit jerky some times.
Took to mechanic, checked spark plugs, they were toast, he said its normal for CNG cars, spark plugs will keep roasting. This time bought NGK 100 Rs plugs, let the Engine roast as many as it likes, no issues.
When the mechanic tried to start the engine, check engine light came up. He checked all wires, nothing was loose. Then he removed battery terminal, and put it back. It did reset the ECU and code was gone.
After this, I am noticing my old issue, where the engine drops RPM when accelerator is pressed and again picks up. During Last Servicing, same had happened. We had tested almost every thing to solve this problem, but could not solve. The issue got resolved automatically after driving for 2 days.
This time also same is happening, the more I am driving, more better its becoming.
There is surely some issue, just cant figure it out. I think Resetting the ECU brings it back.

 

[Ambylovers]

After driving 300+ Kms, acceleration was a bit jerky some times.
Took to mechanic, checked spark plugs, they were toast, he said its normal for CNG cars, spark plugs will keep roasting. This time bought NGK 100 Rs plugs, let the Engine roast as many as it likes, no issues.
When the mechanic tried to start the engine, check engine light came up. He checked all wires, nothing was loose. Then he removed battery terminal, and put it back. It did reset the ECU and code was gone.
After this, I am noticing my old issue, where the engine drops RPM when accelerator is pressed and again picks up. During Last Servicing, same had happened. We had tested almost every thing to solve this problem, but could not solve. The issue got resolved automatically after driving for 2 days.
This time also same is happening, the more I am driving, more better its becoming.
There is surely some issue, just cant figure it out. I think Resetting the ECU brings it back.

Any chance you left the fuel till the end and filled again. In this case also, the dust particals may cause this power loss issue. Power will suddenly go down and either you stop and start or keep idle for 1 minute or two it will vanish.
No need to take it to mechanic until it happens 100 kms once.

 

[abhijit_net]

It happens on petrol as well as CNG.
During 80K service we had removed the Fuel filter assembly, cleaned it thoroughly, but no improvement. We had removed/cleaned almost every component responsible for working of the engine (injectors, throttle body, whole air filter assembly, we were trying to pinpoint issue for 2 days).
I cant understand, how it starts after removing battery terminal, and then after 2 days of driving (70 kms) corrects itself.

Can this happen due to CNG fitment, I guess they reprogram the ECU for CNG.
But then on next taught, how does it clear itself.

 

[abhijit_net]

Car is now at 97,000+ KMS.
Car would not start some times. It was once in 6 month, then once in 2 months, now was down to once in 2 days. I did not want to get stranded on the road. So went to CST car market. Took some suggestions from repair shops. There is a shop near by who exclusely repair starter moters. Yesterday fixed a time and went there. There was no space in front of the shop so had to park the car near BKC trade centre where the repair started. They removed and checked the starter. The shop owner told me that "bachha switch" is faulty. I thought it was some relay to start the motor. He showed it to me and asked me to bring a new one or he can provide a second hand for 700rs. As per him second hand one will be original and i wont face any issues in future, new one will cost a lot. So i went with the second hand one. He cleaned the whole assembly, removed dust, rust, cleaned all contacts, used pretty liberal amounts of greas also poured ample amount of oil where required. After fitting the car started properly.
Cost of old bachha switch (solenoid) 700 and labour 500. Total cost 1200. I will try it for few days before enjoying the victory.

 

[gentrygeorge]

Hi All,
I have no idea, how i missed this post!! I too own an Altis, 2009, petrol. Bought it 2 yrs back, used it hardly for 6k Km!! :(. Jus got my tyre upgraded to the 205/65/15. The ride has been comfortable. Is anyone having issues with the break pedal.. hissing sound from pedal when i press it. I got it checked with a mechanic and he said it is an issue with the break booster!! Any insights on this issue?

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Can be booster,also chances for Master cylinder ( Does the pedal dig in too much ).
A simple cause can also be , air in brake line , bleed the brake line anyways , and refill new brake fluid .

 

[gentrygeorge]

The pedal does'nt dig too much. I had changed break pads a couple of months back. But the breaking performance was not satisfactory even after that. When i asked the mechanic he said it would take around 100 km for the new pads to adjust.. But still it's the same. I assume bleeding the brake line might help. Any idea how much it would cost? And what is the approx price for booster and master cylinder?

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Depends on labour charges.

 

[abhijit_net]

I think bleeding should do the trick. Even i have the hissing sound, i dint have much break fluid to do it so have planned it during 100K service interval. Break fluid is cheap, bleeding will certainly not cost much. i dont think any cylinder would be bad.

 

[abhijit_net]

It seems all my Accleration related issues were due to 3rd coil not working properly. Earlier this could not be traced as it was intermetantly working, while troubleshooting i guess it worked fine. Earlier spark plug of cylinder 1 used to be cleanest, so every one thaught thats the coil which was bad as it dint work hence spark plug was clean. I had replaced it with one from second hand market. Few month back i guess the coil 3 completely died. Today the mechanic was able to trace it and after replacement car is working fine. I had forgotten howmuch power the engine has. It was like driving the old Alto with 800 CC engine. Very happy after driving with all cylinders working. Vibrations also reduce by a significant amount. Today I realized why i had bought this car in the first place.