Current Vehicle: 2006 Toyota Fortuner 2.7 G Lux Auto


Cons : It's Big and Intimidating for pedestrians

Pros : It's Big and Intimidating for pedestrians


Hello everyone, I live in Jakarta - Indonesia and have owned a 2006 Toyota Fortuner with 52,174 kms so far (multiply it by 5 if you're from US, I'll explain later). I have to say that this car is by far the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. I've been in a minor accident with this car 5 (five) times, taking it for off-roading on Cipanas Hill (puncak) for at least twice a month, abuse it on Indonesian "poophole" roads, drove it like a maniac, and only goes for routine oil change service every 15,000 kms (it should've been 5,000/10,000 kms)....but so far? NO PROBLEM AT ALL.

Now, for those who doesn't understand what sort of roads we have here in Jakarta - Indonesia, then let me enlighten you with some of its amazing features:

1. Every road in Jakarta is equivalent to light / heavy off-road by US or European road standards - no kidding here!
2. On the middle of certain (if not most) roads, you can find a hole so huge that you can lay a goat on it and it still got some room to spare
3. The most well treated roads (less than 5%) such as highways and "government official roads" have at least plenty of small to medium sized holes on it, and they're occasionaly wavy
4. The average commuting time is 6 to 10 times longer (even more) compared to the same distance travelled by US / European roads. So Indonesians typically have lots of idling time on the car due to the road conditions and heavy traffic. This accounts to more wear and tear on engine, brakes, spareparts, etc.
5. The infinite list goes on.... just ask any Indonesian and they'll wrote a book about it

So the equivalent condition of the car in Indonesia compared to the same car in another country might be measured by multiplying the car mileage by 3 (52,174 x 3 -> if you live in better asian countries) and 5 (52,174 x 5 -> if you live in Western countries).


GREAT THING ABOUT THIS CAR:

1. It's huge and tall (1.84 meters height), capable of smooth passage through 0.7 meter of flood.

2. Looks like a monster from every angle compared to other SUVs

3. Reasonably priced at Rp. 342,000,000 (equivalent of USD$ 38,000,- excl. tax, insurance, license, etc.)

4. Quiet cabin and great leather interior finish

5. 2.7 engine feels more powerful than it seems

6. Took it for a spin during heavy rain on 4th January 2007 at Jakarta Timur. After a while I saw an approx. 1/2 meters flood in front of me (floods with no currents are absolutely common in Jakarta during rainy season) and just drove through it with no problem. Of all the cars in front and behind me (mostly suvs) only two makes it (isuzu panther touring and another fortuner), the rest are stranded while others just turn the other way around.

7. Runs up and drives on pedestrian pavement with ease (everyone does it in Jakarta)

8. Runs over busway divider even easier (tip the police $5 if you got caught)

9. It runs over ANYTHING...heh...heh...


COMPLAINS ABOUT THIS CAR:

1. The gas mileage. Well, I really can't complain about getting 11 mpg; But my wife (a pacifist) only got 15 mpg on a full tank. While my neighbor who also owned a fortuner gets an average of 14 mpg.

2. The interior rattle. I think most of the rattles came from the center seats and it's been there since 4,000-something kms. The passenger seats and dashboard also have some minor rattles.

3. Clacking noise. Upon switching on the air conditioning unit, I constantly hear a clacking noise every 1 - 2 minutes, the dealer said it's normal. I'll be taking it to another mechanic for inspection next week.

4. It is difficult to measure the distance of the front end nose and left end nose of this car due to its tall and rounded design (despite its very high seating position). Unfortunately, it looks cool though.

5. Suspension is quite stiff and gets uncomfortable, it easily fatigues the driver after a long period of driving.

6. Top speed of only 170 kph (as tested during midnight highway). Well, it's quite reasonable though due to its high center of gravity and hydroplaning, but upon touching 150 kph somehow the steering just feels quite light.


GREATEST THING ABOUT THIS CAR:

Been in minor accident 5 times - with no problem! Just needed some touch-up paint, some polishing, and it looks brand new. Now...as to the victims...heh...heh:

- Honda civic reverse on parking lot and hit my front left bumper. He had to replace his rear bumper due to the huge dent and minor cracks. The fortuner? just minor dislocation of bumper, but to my surprise I just push it back from the side to it's original location and voila.....it snapped back to original position and looked as if nothing happened.

- During an emergency braking, a modified low-riding bmw rear ended my car. his bonnet (hood), bumper and grilles had to be replaced. The fortuner? a little bit of touch-up paint at home, some polishing, and looked brand new. Why? thanks to fortuner's body height, this low-riding bmw only manages to hit the bottom part of my rear bumper (flexible but strong) and ended up hitting the fortuner's spare tire instead (it's located at the bottom rear of the car's chassis).

- In the parking lot (again), an isuzu panther SUV goes head first into the lot and hits my front left bumper (again). His isuzu's bumper had to be replaced due to cracks and denting (sounds familiar?). The fortuner? a small scratch this time, but with minor dislocation of bumper (again) but it could be snapped back to its original position (again). Repair the scratch with touch-up paint at home, some polishing, and it looks perfectly new (again).

- I reverse-park too fast and ended up hitting a thick tree branch behind me. The bad news is that the +-5" thick tree branch poked at the rear upper trunk door (just above the plastic chrome trim). That's quite a noticeable dent, so I went home, strip the inner-rear trunk door of its trim and knocked the dented part with a rubber hammer. To my surprise, it "THUDS" back to its original position after some knocks without a very noticeable dent from up-close. I've done this to my previous corolla and mazda before but their dents are still noticeable even from 5 meters away. Talk about great body quality of fortuner!

- While stopping for a RED light on saturday night around 1:30 AM (lots of illegal bike racers around this time), suddenly I heard a big THUD and felt a slight movement at the rear of the car, followed by a SPLAT noise (what the hell?). apparently, a motorbike rider rear-ended my car. The front wheel of the bike is slightly dented, thus explaining the THUD noise. But the SPLAT noise just doesn't make any sense. Apparently, the rider (not wearing a helmet - which is common in Jakarta despite the law) hits my rear window thus generating the SPLAT noise - mystery solved! Took the guy to the hospital, he's ok, but this a**h*** said it's my fault for stopping at GREEN light and reported to the police that he's wearing a helmet (despite carrying one but not wearing it), not racing and on his way to his girlfriend's house. The police believed him and I ended up paying the damages! #@!%$! (a typical "small hits big so big is wrong" scenario, it's common in Indonesia). Anyway, this fortuner escaped without a scratch (again). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/460.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/460.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/460.gif)

Wow! After all I read, your SUV is like a super car! really you put it through a lot of things and still reliable. congratulations! I had a RAV4 that I trated like a princess and never failed me! I had better mileage though, I think... But seems like you are one of those lucky people that really enjoy your driving experience! Good and bad!

Tonnares,

Your post is one of the most interesting experience-posts I have ever read. Thank you for that great discertation on the Fortuner. I am going to be looking more closely at that vehicle here in Canada.

Tonnares, are you originally from Indonesia ? Your English is amazing !!! Even better than some of us English-Speaking peeps.

Thank you, Berlinlife (IMG:style_emoticons/default/liebe011.gif) . It's great to hear that we shared the same enthusiasm with toyota's line of SUVs. Actually, Toyota Fotuner = Toyota Hilux = Toyota Tundra = Toyota 4Runner. They're basically the same car, with different looks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux). By the way, recently I've just figured out about its tank-of-a-car history upon seeing these videos (http://youtube.com/watch?v=RRZzkrLSXj0) & (http://youtube.com/watch?v=h0Fzrsf4G2I). I've had my eyes on RAV4 for a long time too, as every RAV4 owner I've ever met says that it's equally reliable with Hilux (IMG:style_emoticons/default/s12.gif) .

Thank you Pongo (IMG:style_emoticons/default/liebe011.gif) , I felt very flattered upon reading your wonderful reply (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif) . You are right, I'm 100% Indonesian. Tonnares is actually the combination of both my name Wilson Sutonna (a former church carpenter) and my wife's name Anna Resali (a former nun)....thus I've sinned ever since. As for my English, I've learnt the most part of this wonderful language from my German childhood friend, while the rest are from western and european books. By the way... I still remember 'till now of how his father compared Germany's road law with Indonesian's road law though, it always made me laugh. I even told his story to the cop who caught me driving my fortuner through a grass picnic park for shortcut. I bribed him $5 and we laughed together. How ironic...

Thanks for posting the picture! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/liebe011.gif)
I believe that if you can enjoy your car, even when there are problems, you can really have fun, and to me that is the important part of life, to have fun! The only objection to the Fortuner, is that since it is the other name to the 4Runner... then it becomes one of the only models of Toyota that I can't drive! It is too big for me! I just can't be climbing into a car, I need it to fit me in my short stature... but that's why Toyota has RAV4s! for people like me! And thank you Pongo for not saying anything about it!!!