Altis Glitch

[Vit4wd]

Foe your info, even the Japan made G9 Corolla (2000 to 2003) has persistent problems like warped externmal window frame rubber seal, faulty power window motor, what more can you expect out of a Thai assemmbled product, even if its a Toyota?

 

You are just paying a premium for the brand name.

 

i had a bmw 523IA '97 model before my toyota. It had its own problems with power windows too.There was one occasion when the windows would go down but not up, so i had to drive it with irritating wind noise for about a week before i cld send it in for repairs.

 

Engine problems set it in the 5th year with uneven cylinder wear and tear.After fixing that for a hefty 4 figure amount, the prob came back and steering had a lot of noise too.. sold it in its 7th year.

 

I guess every car has its own little problems here and there

 

 

 

 

I have this gut feel that BMWs are problematic by nature (no ofence to BMW owners).

 

My family had a '90 318i. Also developed lots of problems. The servicing warning light on the dash board keeps coming on even aftr performance Motors reset it. In the end, we just lived on with the light always on and tracked the service interval thru the odometer.

 

My army friend's '01 520i also had this same problem, and jerky gear changes too.

 

My colleague's '02 735i's in-built mobile phone got faulty in 6 mths and Performance Motors (PM) could not repair it. They had to being in a new set from Germany. And last year on a bright sunny day, the car simply refused to start & PM had to reset the ECU.

[Kasparov_1]

Haha so many victims eh.

 

WEll just to share more.. my family's 01 Volvo V70 2.0T had a crapload of problems too. Sold it in its 3rd year because of engine problems. Apparantly there was some prob with the turbo and ECU. The car just wouldnt start and if it did, the gears changed very jerkily and sometimes at idle the engine would just die. In and out of the workshop too many times and my family got sick of it.

 

The altis and camry are out first japanese cars cos we thought their made better.. but they have their own problems too.

 

But to be fair, quite a number of my friends families' BMWs dont experience any problems and are really happy with their rides.

[Essentiale]

paying a premium? its almost the cheapest in its class

 

its the TOYOTA brand name...

Edited August 21, 2005 by Essentiale

[Cheekg98]

sometimes it's luck

[Dipstick]

I am of the impression that the Altis is a face-lifted Corolla. It uses the same engine, the interior is largely the same and the doors are also carried over. Only the front end and the rear have been redesigned. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Kasparov_1]

yeah i totally agree with cheekg98. sometimes if not most of the time its luck!! Haha.

 

I mean, we also cant expect thousands and thousands of toyotas to be perfect. Surely there'll be a few with some defects here and there.

[Vit4wd]

Let's just say that the Altis is the cost cutting Thai version of the Japanese Corolla.

 

Altis is not sold in Japan.

[Gnoikj]

whao...thats kinda like selling 2nd rated goods to other people, AND making a profit out of it..at the same time, telling customers u value not to buy this ...

 

or maybe there's juz no niche in the jap market for the altis...

[Koolaba]

Heard that this Thai made car has workmanship prob(loose part or funny noise), any1 2 verify that

 

The quality of Thai-built Altis has dropped tremendously compared to the Japanese-assembled Corolla. I have sat in a colleague's Altis with poor fitting plastics. My neighbours encounter fitting, quality issues on their Altises.

 

http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/gforum.cgi...g=Altis;#983934

 

Are you considering to get an Altis?

[Dagger13]

Definitely no.....bad experience previously, driven honda city(2nd generation) 4 less than 2 yrs.....same things, workmanship sucks.

[Koolaba]

Have u ever considered getting a Conti e.g. Skoda? You can check out the feedback in Skoda Owners' Group.

[Dagger13]

Was comtemplating on contis like megane, focus or astra, dun noe much abt skoda

[Koolaba]

I have good ownership experience with Skoda. If you are keen, I can share with you through PM.

[Bentwy]

I'm not sure if the pple here who are lambasting the altis are actual owners. My family does own one (and I'm its chief driver), and yes there are problems with its final touches, like a creaky suspension and a problematic alarm system (which is by a SINGAPORE company and assembled by SINGAPOREANS by the way). And sure I do blame it on the thais not assembling it properly all the time.

 

BUT to say the altis is not a corolla is very far fetched. The engine is 100% pedigree japan toyota. Ask anyone who has driven a nissan and an altis and ask him about a comparison. In terms of finesse (and to me power) the altis beats the nissan hands down. FC between the older CVTC nissan engine and the VVTi is also very apparent. Thailand (Bangkok) taxis are mostly altises, yes, but by far are the MOST COMFORTABLE taxis I've been in.

 

Anyway, its interesting to note that Bimmers are always the cars you see breaking down on the roads. So what do we blame here? Lousy German Engineering? It's funny when it comes to Conti cars it's "luck" and to Thai assembled cars it's "poor assembly". But so far I've not seen any Altis having real engine problems on the roads.

 

Just my two cents....

[Leslielai]

So far nearly all the negative responses I've seen in the forums or heard about the Altis are not about engine reliability problems but rather the BUILD QUALITY.

 

Without a doubt, the Altis has a true blue ever-reliable Made-In-Japan Toyota engine. What is the use of having an almost unbreakable engine if what that is built around it is of questionable quality? Makes no sense to me.

 

Till date, the Altis almost always appear the victim in the accidents involving Altises I've seen.. if you get what I mean

 

My 2 peso

Edited September 12, 2005 by Leslielai

[Koolaba]

Well said

 

Pay a visit to auto repair workshops which have experience repairing Thai made Toyotas: Vios, Altis, Camry. They can give u a deeper insight on what these Toyotas are made of, hidden to the general eye, and of course hidden to the loyal Toyota fans.

[Koolaba]

Will you want to own a car with a purportedly good Japan made engine but with other parts which are not manufactured up to the usual Japanese standards? Other than the engine block, most of the parts found in the Altis (Vios, Camry for that matter) are sourced from Thailand.

 

When cars break down, they happen due to a combination of factors, not excluding negligence of owners, wear and tear of certain parts. To classify cars like BMW which break down on the roads due to lousy German engineering is generalisation.

 

I presume that you own one of the Altises produced in the later batches. The earlier batches of Altises may not really qualify as cars which have not broken down on roads due to engine related problems or related problems causing the engine to fail.

 

Still remember the recall on the first batch of Altis and Vios to fix the faulty fuel gasket?

[Gnoikj]

Er...have you by any chance compared the build quality to other cars? Sure its a toyota, with a long dependable brand name, but seems like the majority of complaints are not on the engine, but everything else...

 

What I'm saying is, are your views/opinions made based on comparison with any other cars and if so, what cars? So as to give a better picture on where you are coming from...