Hi ... I am also from South Africa, where they make the car we are all complaining about. I have a friend who used to work for the Toyota SA factory, and trust me, the car is a assembled from Start to Finish in that factory. This includes the "wonderful" gearbox. Yes ... I also crunch into 2nd all the time ... I also thought it was the way I was changing.
One thing though ... you guys think your Toyota dealerships are full of nonsense, we cannot even fit any aftermarket parts without voiding the warranty .... I have been trying to get my car lowered since day one of ownership ... the only option they have given me is to buy (import) the Sportivo kit which I think your cars come out with as standard and have it installed by Toyota SA. Only problem is, the dealers are so ignorrant, because not all of them know about the approved kit, only a couple of them are willing to fit the kit .... hows that for customer service
How's that ... we export a car to Aus, only to be told that the only approved lowering kit for the car comes from Aus ...