Toyota Platinum Etios 2018 Review India - A closer look

To whom do you turn for advice when deciding to purchase a car? The internet? You will be overwhelmed after a few hours of doing your own research, and still clueless. Car dealer? They are trying to sell you cars as it is their job, no one wants to starve! The final option is to consult a car buff, or to be more specific, a car owner; that sounds like the most secure approach to your issue!

According to the result of J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2017 India Vehicle Dependability Study, the Toyota Platinum Etios has won the first place for three years in a row thanks to a landslide of votes from car owners. 
No more beating around the bush, IndianAuto.com team hereby introduce Toyota Platinum Etios 2018 Review India. 

The first place for the most reliable car in three consecutive years based on J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2017 India Vehicle Dependability Study

1. Toyota Platinum Etios 2018 Exterior

The car receives a fair share of chrome job which at the front end takes the form of two strips of chrome, and a thick slab on the boot lid, together making up a fancier-than-ever metal garnish for the whole car. Meanwhile, front bumper is made of carbon fiber and gets its own design character; the same can be said about the rear one. The new pair of power-retractable ORVMs can be adjusted to help navigate around on narrow roads and sharp corners. And as a piece of good news for all travelholics, the boot space is added with more accommodating capacity, making up to a total of 592 litres (largest in its segment), allowing you to bring about more luggage for any trip. In case a 592-litre storage compartment still doesn’t satisfy you, the rear bench can be folded up to create more cargo area going all the way from the trunk into the cabin.

Trunk with 592 litres of capacity – largest of its segment

The paint palette offers you 7 different colours in total: White, Silver Mica Metallic, Harmony Beige, Vermilion Red, Celestial Black, Classical Grey and New Pearl White. The limited edition gets 2 more uncommon shades: Phantom Brown and White Pearl Crystal Shine. A very strong spectrum there you can say. In short, retouches for the exterior is not that much to talk about, just suffices to pull off a fresh look but at the same time altered enough to not be confused with the outgoing model.  

2. Toyota Platinum Etios 2018 Safety Features

Regarding protection, the new design enables the whole car body frame to soak up and disperse impact from a car crash. SRS dual airbags come as a standard feature and appear on all variants of the Etios, minimizing accident impact on the occupants. It is accompanied by the Front Pre-Tensioner Force Limiter Seat Belts whose main function is to intensify the restraint performance, preventing passengers from being subject to the entire collision in an accident. Toyota even took a step further by adding to the instrument cluster the recently-developed central locking system which will automatically unlatch all doors if car crash occurs. The standardized safety package list is made further with ABS & EBD, 3-point rear seatbelt with Emergency Locking Retractor, dual ISOFIX child seat locks and reverse parking sensors for easier parking in unsupportive areas.

Up-to-date central locking system creates immediate escape if an accident occurs

No matter how long it lasts, a pleasant journey is guaranteed with best-in-class head/leg/shoulder room. And though the seat layout seems to favours number 4, a fifth person can always fit in effortlessly (with the rear centre armrest being folded up) and still comfortable is everyone (meaning no squeeze). That being said, even the higher-end variants of this Etios version still miss quite a few handy features, namely automatic climate control and rear AC vents (to help you survive Indian summer), also the expected multi-information display is nowhere to be seen. 

Ingress/Egress is something Toyota Etios can take pride in

For some reasons (out of design probably), sliding entry is always a strong point of Toyota Etios; in fact, ingress/egress is gaining more and more currency than ever because the population is growing bigger and the car sales haven’t shown much of declining signal so far. NVH as well shows a lot of enhancement as you can hear little noise and even though vibration can still be felt through the steering wheel or gear lever, it’s quite negligible. 

3. Toyota Platinum Etios 2018 Performance

The Etios this time will come with two options of the engine. The 4-cylinder 16V DOHC petrol engine has a size of 1496 cm3 and comes with EFI Fuel Supply System, producing 90 ps of max. power at 56 rpm and 132 Nm of max. torque at 3000 rpm, mileage stands at 16.78 kmpl. On the other hand, the 4-cylinder 8V SOHC D-4D diesel motor gets 1364 cm3 of size and fed by CRDI fuel supply system, in return it reaches the peak power of 68 ps at 38 rpm and peak torque of 170 Nm at 1800/2400 rpm; the mileage of diesel model is 23.59 kmpl. Both of these are mated to the 5-speed manual gearbox, quite a shame with no automatic transmission on offer.

Both diesel and petrol engine will come in a combo with 5-speed manual gearbox

4. Toyota Platinum Etios 2018 Price

Having a price range of Rs. 6.27 – 8.94 lakh (Ex-showroom Price in New Dehli) the Etios will find itself pitted against tough rivals such as the Honda City, Honda Amaze, Maruti Dzire, Maruti Belano, Nissan Sunny. The petrol and diesel variants are priced respectively at Rs. 6.27 lakh and Rs. 7.35 lakh and work their way up depending on the exclusive features each variant gets to be equipped with. It does not strike that much of impression in terms of new features, and being compared to rivals of the same price tag may cause it to get booed. But let’s look at a bigger picture here, you don’t get to experience full convenience offered by your car but you own the best-in-class boot space and a cabin of excellent sliding entry and comprehensive safety package, which applies so well as the primary trait to the group of clients who put safety before first. 

5. Toyota Platinum Etios 2018 Specifications:

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