Kesawi

See http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...showtopic=15886

Perhaps cars pre-1990's but the only extra safety feature the Kluger has over my Mazda is VSC and maybe a couple of airbags.

The Kluger will take further to pull-up during breaking, is less direct in it's steering response and is more likely to be taken "off-road"....all of which I would have thought may contribute to making the Kluger a more expensive car to insure.

Anyway, sorry to go OT !

[/rant]

Have a read of http://www.caradvice.com.au/19181/not-wort...ng-think-again/:

"Cars insured for less than $6000 are the most commonly stolen and the insurance data also reveals the number of thefts increases with vehicle age." and "cars above $26,000 were more likely to have items stolen from them."

Maybe the Mazda 3 is more likely to be stolen than the Kluger?

The Kluger rates pretty poorly on the NRMA car theft ratings though (http://www.nrma.com.au/keeping-safe-secure...gs/tables.shtml).

My partners new 2009 Mazda3 was insured for $200 less than my Kluger, but around the same rate as for her 1997 Camry.

Who knows how insurers work

I wonder how February will go given all the issues in the media at the moment with the safety recalls in the US.

I'd love to know how they calculate estimates on car insurance.

Our brand new Kluger is about 20% cheaper to insure than our 2003 Mazda 323 SP20 (which has a market value less than 50% of the Kluger)....

Go figure....

Maybe for whatever reasons older cars have a higher risk of being involved in an accident?

I thought it was law in QLD at least to definatly have a seperate rocker switch on Spotlights. Theres no Optional extra about it.

You are correct. Queensland Transport has issued a Vehicle Standard Instruction specifically covering spot and fog lights (See http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/resources/...or_Vehicles.pdf):

"Additional driving lamps must only operate in conjunction with the

high beam circuit and must be fitted with an independent on/off

switch."

This is different from the Queensland Transport Vehicle Modification Brochure (http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/resources/...r_vehicles2.pdf) which doesn't mention the requirement for a switch.

I'm not sure where this requirement comes from as neither the Transport Operations (Road Use Management - Vehicle Standards and Safety) Regulation 1999 (http://203.19.232.150/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/T/TrantOpRUVSSR99.pdf) nor Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 13/00 – Installation of Lighting and Light Signalling Devices on other than L-Group Vehicles) 2005 (http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislatio...Compilation.pdf) require the installation of an on/off switch, only that "The driving lamps must be able to be lighted only when the main-beam headlamps switch is in the “lamps on” position" (ADR13/00 Clause 7.3.7).

Regardless of the above i think it makes sense to have a separate switch as there are situations where the spot lights may not be necessary in addition to high beam.

Renewed mine just recently and had variations from $700 to $1200 depending on insurer. Found RACQ and AAMI were closest on price at the bottom end.

The more expensive insurances did cover a little more, such as all glass with the windscreen option and riot damage.

Another Fella has the same issues Quote from Kesawi "My black interior trim tends to get white marks everywhere, especially from finger marks. I've been using Meguiars Gold Class Dash & Trim Foam Protectant, which seems to clear it up and prevent them some what." From this thread http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...t=0#entry373673

Couldn't have said it better myself :)

It doesn't stop them, but they don't appear as easily.

are you still using Mobil 1 SuperSyn 0W-40, any ideas on why the avg jumped up, I would have thought better Oil equats to better avg. I was thinking of putting the same one in my kluger.

That is what I thought as well, since most of what I saw indicated synthetics give better fuel economy. However, the toyota stock oil is a 30 viscosity and the Mobil is a 40 which is higher viscosity. My understanding is higher viscosity = higher resistance = higher fuel consumption.

I personnally won't be putting the same oil back in as it was very expensive. Will probably try Valvoline as it is cheaper and is reported to be better with mileage (see http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...st&p=362937)

Also remember that there is a good chance that the car has been running in the workshop whilst not travelling any distance, which will screw up consumption figures...

This is true and it should in theory settle down to normal with the next tank. I have experienced long term changes in fuel consumption after servicing. The first happened when I changed the engine oil to Mobil 1 SuperSyn 0W-40, the average consumption jumped by 1-2L/100km, and I put it down to the oil. The second happened when I had the oil line replaced under the customer service initiative, the average fuel consumption dropped by 1L/100km.

According to another article used car prices are expected to reduce as well:

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...2-23272,00.html

Some of these are worth a good read:

http://www.negotiationtraining.com.au/arti...tiate-car-deal/

http://www.carbuyingguide.org.uk/car-buying-guide.php

http://www.carbroker.com.au/car-dealer-tri...ctics-scams.php

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_cont...-buying-tactics

Another tip is don't menton that you want to trade-in. When asked tell the dealer you intend to keep the car or give it to your children/parents/etc. Get them down to the lowest price on the new car, then 'change your mind' and negotiate a trade-in price for your vehicle. You'll have them locked in the new car price, and can then purely negotiate the trade-in value.

Theres no point in a dealer making a bad business decision to satisfy a one off thrifty customer.

Agree completely. However there is no point in the customer making a bad financial decision either. Always excercise the right to walk away before a contract is signed.

Dont forget to mention you do have to pay a penalty for cancelling the contract, its 2% of the total cost of the car, so if its a $45000 Kluger, $900 is a lot to lose out on. If your a savvy Buyer, and have screwed the price down, you will evidently be doing the dealership a favour by cancelling the contract, as there is often more money in the cancellation fee than the profit in the deal itself.

If there is only 2% profit in a car deal, then you should sack the salesperson :P Granted, the penalty will probably be more than a saving that could be made elsewhere.

You can always tell a dealer you will be willing to sign if the price is right and then walk away once you've got them down to their best price.

In queensland there is a statutory cooling off period, so you could take the contract to another dealer and see if they will better the deal, and then cancell the original within the time period.

Edit: The above is actually incorrect, the cooling off period only applies to used cars in Qld, not new (http://www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/Legal+Infor...uying+a+car.htm).

It's not really a nice thing to do, but then sales strategies and pressures aren't nice either.

The other advice given above is spot on. Know what your trade in is worth and get them to list the amount separately.

Third party brokers are a good way to get ripped off... they need to get paid too remember.

Whether it's a dealer or a broker you get ripped off one way or another :P

Hi All,

Have made the decision to purchase a Kluger (3 kids!), and this forum definitely helped make the decision, which wasn’t easy.

Tossing up between a new KX-S and a year old version.

Have an offer of a 2010 KS-X AWD (no extras apart from metallic paint) for $54k drive away, including full year of rego.

Should extras be a part of any deal – seems most posters on this forum have a few. Any thoughts on the deal?

Cheers

I got all my extras through the dealer when I bought the car, however it was probably quite a bit pricier that way.

I recently bought a Mazda 3 and decided to get the accessories aftermarket. It was only later that I discovered some of the accessories weren't available aftermarket and I had to go back through the dealer and pay the premium price they wanted. If they were part of the deal then I would have probably been able to negotiate a slightly better price (at the end of the day we're only talking a $100-$200 more on the small number of accessories I wanted).

Next vehicle purchase I'll find out what is available aftermarket and get some prices for the items I want and then use it to get the dealer's price down on those items. Once the accessories price is down, start negotiating on the whole of car price.

Also, suggest you investigate some of the car broker services once you have your lowest price. If you or your spouse are a member of a union there is a free service available from www.unionshopper.com.au but I haven't used any of them before so can't make any recommendations.

Great write up.

That microphone looks huge!

Did you hook up the reverse camera?

My black interior trim tends to get white marks everywhere, especially from finger marks. I've been using Meguiars Gold Class Dash & Trim Foam Protectant, which seems to clear it up and prevent them some what. I did notice something when I was washing the car yesterday and need to have a closer look.

Hi guys,

New member here and today I put a deposit on my first ever Toyota. (been driving for over 24 years)

Its a 2008 KX-S Kluger demo, silver in color, black leather interior, 7 seater and 8,000klms on it.

Drives like a dream and spotless throughout.(been on the showroom floor)

Getting it for $45,500 including all on roads and 6 months rego.

Hope thats a good price. Cheers.

PS-Great forum!!!

AWD or FWD?

What about the Kluger Altitude which was selling earlier this year?

Hi ,

Just checking ebay last night and I found this one

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/8-LCD-DVD-GPS-PLAYE...=item53df072c47

I am wondering if this is the same unit that Hado installed .

regards

Screenshots look different from the fly audio, and it is also half the price.

When I told my Toyota service dept that an intermittent rattle had started in the dash area of our Kluger she said they would look at it but it would be at my cost if they found something loose as I should have found it earlier for example in the first 1,000ks.

I just looked at the cow behind the desk and asked if she could point that out to me in the warranty information section of my manual. She declined as she was to busy at that moment but let me know that they would have a look at it as a priority if I happened to be driving around and close to the service dept and the rattle comes back!

I said when I am next in it will be for their compulsory Toyota advantage service and then she can show me where in my manual it mentions the time limitations on rattles.

Everthing with this dealer was good up until that crap answer she gave!

I'm sure there would be a legal case somewhere that has set the precedent for rattles. I know in the Subaru I had prior to the Kluger, the warranty specifically mentioned 20,000km as the limit for rattles, but I can't recall seeing anything similar in the Kluger warranty booklet.

Well my rattles are back <_< Had it checked again and the service centre secured some wires beneath the dash but it is still there.

So did they rip the dash out and replace the clips??

Nope, that will be the next step.

After a bit of travelling I've decided to just use the windscreen mount as well. For the amount we use it that works fine.

I bought a TomTom travel case and keep everything together in that in the glove box most of the time.

When using the unit I mount it on the far right bottom of the windscreen so the driver can see it at a glance without moving their head and it doesn't interfere with visibility of the road at all.

In this position the charging cord goes nicely down the dashboard to the right of the instrument cluster, across the top of the steering column and down to the cigarette lighter socket in the alcove in front of the "T-Bar" auto shifter. The excess cord curls up in the alcove for a fairly neat setup.

I mount mine in the same location, and had an additional 12volt outlet fitted under the dash so I don't have cables running everywhere.

Depends whether the scratch is through the clear coat or not. I believe the general rule is, if you can feel it with your finger nail then it is through the clear coat. If it isn't through the clear coat you could try something like ScratchX 2.0. If that doesn't work you'd need to get someone to repair it.

I've seen reports on other forums that car manufacturers have switched to more environmentally friendly paints, which are more scratch sensitive (Hence why your BA falcon may not have scratched). I don't know whether this is true of the Kluger.

Days 5-12

Spent a week in Glenelg exploring Adelaide city and suburbs. Mostly city driving. Every major road seems to have a 60km/hr limit. Someone forgot to put a freeway through this place.

There were plans for quite a few freeways in Adelaide (see http://www.ozroads.com.au/SA/freeways.htm), but for some reason Adelaidians don't like change (which is why I left).

Keep up the posts as I'm enjoying reading them

Well my rattles are back <_< Had it checked again and the service centre secured some wires beneath the dash but it is still there.

So, the size issue is still there. But you don't get many safe small cars..since they are small. There is a pretty small chance of ever being in a serious accident and I am a good driver, no accidents in 20 years! but that does not stop some idiot hitting you. If there was no accident risk I would get a medium car with a boot.

But being older with kids and insanely interested in their wellfare, i can't but choose to get something big.

If a medium car with a boot is all you need from a practical point of view, then go with that rather than a Kluger. It will be cheaper to buy and have better fuel economy. As for safety, there are quite a few medium cars that outscore the Kluger in the ANCAP results. Large cars do not necessarily equate with better safety (http://www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au/car_size_and_colour.php)