Happs

We've got two car seats fitted and were also concerned about them damaging the leather as they will be on for a few more years. The best solution we found was to find a bath mat that matched the colour of the leather and put underneath. Not only are they thick enough to offer some protection, the rubber backing means they don't slip. We eventually found one that is the exact colour as the leather - almost look like they came with the car and you can hardly notice them. That's a great idea thanks! Yeah it'll be 7-9 years that we'll have the seats in the car still with the new reg's (which is a good thing), so I'm expecting that no matter what I use they will never be quite the same again!

Good to know guys thanks...

I feel your pain, unfortunately some of them are just cowboys. I had a similar experience with my previous car (Holden dealer). Picked it up after work just as they were closing so I paid in good faith expecting all the work to be done and it hadn't. They had to fix something behind the dashboard and when I got in may car guess what, passenger side and centre console was still removed and sitting on the passenger side! It was barely drivable. The service statement said 4hrs labour to resolve the issue. I took them to task on it saying how could they quote me for work that had been completed when clearly it hadn't. Not only was the dash still removed but the issue was still there! So I asked them did they just quote what they feel like and not actually base it on the 'actual' work performed? They danced around the subject and offered to fix it the next day. Barely an apology or indication that they had stuffed up.

That's pretty much spot on what I negotiated for mine, plus the additional cost for AWD which I went for. I got the nudge bar too. What's the ETA on yours? Mine's late December.

Hi, I have a Kluger on order and will be installing a baby and child seat in it. It has leather seats and I was wondering if anyone can recommend a way to protect the leather from any damage (scratches, tears, stretches etc). I assume there are many in this forum that use a Kluger with children. Baby seats sometimes come with a thin blanket or cloth sort of thing that you put under the baby seat as a bit of a barrier between it and the car seat. But it's too thin to really do any good and there are still indentations in my current car (with cloth seats) and the seat foam where the safety belts attach hasn't bounced back. I'm really concerned this will happen (and possibly even worse) with leather seats. Thanks for any tips or lessons learned people would like to share. EDIT: I guess something like this is what I'm after, but I'm not sure if they're available over here? Seat Protector EDIT 2: Turns out they are in Aus: Urban Baby Ivory Stork

I didn't know they weren't available yet? I ordered them for mine, but it's only due in late December so the dealer didn't say anything to me about it?

More than happy to let you know but that car is only due for delivery in Dec, so it's a while away...

hhhmmm, I'm awaiting the arrival of my Grande, and I have been using a windshield mounted TomTom device and recently Google Maps (via my Android mobile phone) for navigation and both perform very well indeed. Sat Nav was a consideration when choosing the Grande so I will be very interested to see how it compares to what I've used previously. As you say, it's a very expensive 'option' that seems to perform worse than a $200 TomTom device.

I have a silver AWD Grande in stock. Think your dealer is on drugs or something. Weird, I specifically asked him to follow up on a silver or graphite for me.

Local dealer advised that all Grande's from the current shipment have been sold. 3 month wait now, Jan 2011 delivery if the next shipment is all pre-sold...

I had a look at the CX-9 too but I decided against it because Toyota have fixed price servicing, and secondly the CX-9 drinks a lot more fuel.

Congrats!!! (great comment from the better half too!) So c'mon, what's the stats (colour, options etc)? How is the drive? Were you driving the old Kluger previously or is this a complete departure from what you usually drive? I'm going to be coming from a Mazda 3 (just a bit of a change!!).

I'm in Perth actually. But I am looking at cars interstate, don't mind transporting something here.

I am looking at picking up the new (face lifted) KX-S AWD or the Grande AWD depending on price. I'll add Sat Nav to the KX-S, and to either I would add a nudge bar, tow ball and side rails. Happy to post what I go for and the price when confirmed.

Hi, There seems to be a lot of discrepancy between dealer pricing on the new face-lifted Kluger so I thought it might be useful for buyers to share their experiences and prices to help others understand what price points are possible. For example, on CarSales there are drive away prices for a brand new Kluger AWD Grande ranging between $61,990-$78,990! What discounts are reasonable to expect? Feel free to share as much or as little as you'd like, model, options trade-ins etc. related to pricing your new Kluger. Happs.

Yeah sorry I should have been clearer, I meant USB connectivity.

The e-brochure on the Toyota site is still the old one. I want to see some pics of the 50/50 rear seats and new specs. BTW - spoke to my local dealer on Friday and he said the Grande has iPod USB connectivity on the Sat Nav unit. Everything else I've read and researched suggests otherwise. I hate getting conflicting stories from dealers, they really should know their products much better. (Same guy also told me the third row of seating was exactly the same as the old model).

Fantastic. I've asked my dealer for one in Graphite or Silver. Still haven't seen one (other than pics) with the new face lift.

Congratulations!!! I'm looking forward to seeing a new one in the flesh.

Can anyone please tell me if there is a child safety seat point on the 3rd row of the new Kluger?

Absolutely, by why in the world not! A $11k Getz does. It's not expensive or difficult so it just baffles me. There are some after market options to add one, but it should be standard.

Please can someone explain to me why the cheaper variants get USB input (unless they option Sat Nav), but the Grande with Sat Nav doesn't. This is 2010/11 right? A $75,000 car that you can't plug a portable music device into is ridiculous!

It's hitting the mainstream media now. First article on CarAdvice: http://www.caradvice.com.au/87122/2010-toyota-kluger-update-sees-price-drop/ ...and now TMR: http://www.themotorreport.com.au/50691/2011-toyota-kluger-previewed-by-new-overseas-highlander GoAuto: http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/1F7B08D8B31BC4AECA2577B9007F7ED7 EDIT: Still the old eBrochure on the Toyota site And why do they give you the option of Private or Business on their pricing page, the difference on the $74k Grande is $15!! That's ridiculous!

There's still not a lot of coverage in the general media about the new model (TMR, CarAdvice etc) which I find surprising. I think they (Toyota) will release details from Sydney Motor Show tomorrow, but considering the cars are already arriving in the showrooms it seems a little late. But nonetheless I'm looking forward to more photos and specs...

Well spotted, that's amazing!