Seven years of companionship, two marriages, out-of-print Prado car pickup report

Table of contents? User experience? Things worthy of praise for the mid-term facelift? Things to complain about? Let’s talk about modifications? Let’s talk about “domestic vs. imported”? Let’s talk about “part-time four-wheel drive vs. all-wheel drive” "Four-wheel drive"? Let's talk about "2.7VS3.5VS4.0" I have owned two Prados. The last one was the Middle East version 2700 that was launched in 2013. It was driven for nearly 6 and a half years and 72,000 kilometers. It was sold in June 2020. The current car is one of the 18 domestically produced 3.5-displacement TXL models. I ordered the car in May 2020 and took delivery of it in August. It traveled nearly 10,000 kilometers in 3 months. My experience of buying 2700 in 2013: I was interested in Prado at that time, but I was short of money and my budget was only enough to buy the Middle Eastern version of 2700. Compared with the RAV4 I drove before, many of the familiar configurations have disappeared in the new car: the seats are manual, the leather is rear-wrapped, the seats are not heated, the headlights are manual, there is no sunroof, and keyless entry It lacks features such as push-button start, and the key cannot be folded, like a dagger. The maximum power of the 2.7 engine and the 2.4 engine equipped with RAV4 is 120KW, and the acceleration ability is far behind. But soon I realized the advantages of a purebred off-road vehicle: you don’t need to slow down when passing potholes, the car is very springy, and you can no longer hear the "bang bang" sound of the shock absorber compressing to the end; When attacking steep slopes, you can actually go straight up without having to go around corners to lower the slope; the suspension travel is extremely long, making it difficult to encounter the situation where the tires are off the ground, and you can go very calmly even without electronic limited slip; the non-load-bearing body and excellent sound insulation on the road The noise filtering is exceptionally clean. Generally speaking, although there are some regrets about the power and configuration, I am quite satisfied with this 2700. It can take me wherever I want to go. This hard-working old man has never had any problems in the past 7 years.

That 2700 Big White, once accompanied me across mountains and seas

That 2700 Big White, once accompanied me across mountains and seas. I didn’t plan to change my car until one day in May. I was scrolling through Moments and saw the news that the Prado was about to be out of print in China, and I came up with the idea of ????exchanging it for a new Prado with good power and high configuration. I immediately went to a nearby 4S store and learned about the differences of each configuration model in 20 minutes. Then I swiped my card and paid the deposit. At that time, I ordered the 3.5L automatic VX rear-mounted spare tire version. I sold the car for 2700 the month after I ordered it. Then came the long waiting process. After waiting for more than two months, my mood also went from full of expectations to doubts. I became disheartened and felt that there was no chance. At the beginning of July, I ordered a Speedmaster as an alternative. However, because I didn’t give up, I never picked up the car. Finally, I received the long-awaited call on August 6, saying that a car had arrived, but the model I wanted was not available. Only the mid-range TXL rear-mounted spare tire version was available. I was asked if I wanted it, and I was given a discount. continue. Thanks to Abdul Latif Jameel Toyota for helping me realize my dream. Even if it is not the ideal VX model, I am still satisfied. Since it is a National V model, the only option is to settle in Chengdu by moving to another location. I chose Xichang for my first registration, and the process was extremely difficult: First, I received a call halfway through the process saying that heavy rains in Chengdu flooded the computer room, causing the Xichang Vehicle Management Office’s network to be interrupted. I drove to Hanyuan and had to turn back, and then another During the Torch Festival, Xichang took a week off. The temporary permit for cross-regional driving expired and could not be applied for again. I applied for the Shanghai temporary permit and set off again. Once again, a mudslide disrupted the Yaxi Expressway, and traffic control allowed it to be unilaterally released... ...There were many twists and turns, and good things were hard to come by. Fortunately, I finally succeeded in getting the license plate. Looking back on the entire car buying experience, it was really not easy.

New Dabai will continue to accompany you

New Dabai will continue to accompany you. Power: The most obvious change is that there has been a qualitative leap in power. I can no longer hear the hoarse roar of the 2700 when climbing in L gear on the plateau. Configuration: Many comfort configurations that have been absent for a long time on the RAV4 are back, and there are also seat ventilations, which is very cool when driving in midsummer. The new Dabai is equipped with an active traction control system (A-TRC). When sliding down a slope, the active traction control system intervenes in a timely manner, and there is an "arching" sound under the chassis. Let’s talk about the new gearbox: the automatic transmission has been replaced by a manual transmission. If you only drive in the city, gears other than D are rarely used, but it is different in mountainous areas. With more than 4,000 kilometers of travel in Tibetan areas, I gradually got a feel for this automated manual 6AT gearbox. It is best to switch to S gear when driving in mountainous areas. It is necessary to use it in two situations: 1. Engine braking on long downhill slopes.

Many drivers who lack experience in driving on mountain roads use the lowest D position and apply the brakes all the way downhill. Not only does it take a lot of time to brake, it is also easy for the brake performance to weaken or even fail due to high temperatures, leading to major accidents. 2. Speed ??up and use the lane to overtake. In D mode, you need to step deeply on the accelerator to downshift, which makes the drive feel abrupt. You can avoid this by manually downshifting in S mode. How to quickly restore from S1 or S2 to S6? Let me share a little tip: In S mode, push the gear lever upward and hold it for one second and it will be OK. There is no need to push it several times.

I bought a gear knob that felt really good and replaced it with the original one

I bought a gear knob that felt really good and replaced it with the original one

Original tire pressure monitoring system, intelligent engine start and stop, dark interior. These three functions are not standard on all series, but at least they are optional. ?Original tire pressure monitoring system: It is related to driving safety. Off-road vehicles often drive on unpaved roads. This road condition has three characteristics: first, it is easy to puncture tires, second, it is very bumpy, and third, it is noisy, and the driver alone It is difficult to detect air leakage in time due to poor perception.

Intelligent engine start and stop: Toyota's intelligent start and stop can be controlled according to the depth of your braking. When waiting to lift the lever, or on a stop-and-go road, you can lightly apply the brakes so that the engine will not stall. 10,000 kilometers show that it has saved 22.3 liters of gasoline, which is quite worth it.

Dark interior: The mid-to-late LC150 provides the option of dark interior, and dark interior has become the main sales force. The operating environment of off-road vehicles is much worse than that of cars, so choose dark interiors that are stain-resistant as much as possible.

Rich vehicle information: wiper water volume reminder, three types of fuel consumption information display after starting/refueling/resetting. There are many customization options, so I pressed the air conditioning AUTO button as the default setting of the original car. After changing the setting, the power A/C will be turned on in conjunction, so that the air conditioner power supply does not need to be started and stopped frequently.

The human-computer interaction system is too old-fashioned: Human-computer interaction equipment such as dashboards and car machines are too old-fashioned and feel a generation behind.

When the gearbox is sliding in D gear, it does not slide as far as the previous 2700. I feel that the old 4AT transmission is not hard-connected when coasting with oil, as if it is in neutral, very slippery, and The new 6AT transmission is in a hard-connected state when coasting with oil, and the frustration of gear switching can be clearly felt. ?KDSS failed to become standard equipment for all series. Prado is an off-road vehicle. The high ground clearance leads to a high center of gravity. The requirement for driving comfort on non-paved roads leads to soft suspension and high tire flatness. These characteristics result in poor road performance and obvious cornering roll. To solve the problem of excessive roll when cornering, Toyota developed the KDSS system. It is worth mentioning that KDSS is a comfort configuration, not a safety configuration. KDSS can reduce roll, but it cannot improve the cornering limit. Some people think that models with KDSS are not easy to roll over. This perception is wrong. The center of gravity of models with KDSS has not been lowered, the rolling moment has not changed, and the tire grip has not changed. The force has not changed, and the system that suppresses tire slip is not associated with KDSS. Unfortunately, Prado's main sales models are not equipped with KDSS. The main domestic models TX, TXL, and TXL-N, which account for more than 90% of sales in total, are not equipped with KDSS, and the same is true for the Middle East version. There are two versions of domestic models with KDSS: VX and VX-NAVI. In fact, the most ideal configuration among domestic models should be VX, but the output is very small. The rear suspension of VX-NAVI is changed to air suspension, and the durability and reliability are not as good. Normal suspension. ?Brake assist and adaptive cruise have not become standard equipment for the entire series: they are only equipped on the top model of the Middle East version. This model sells for 800,000, which is not cost-effective at all. I predict that this system will become the mainstream configuration of passenger cars within the next ten years, but it is indeed a pity that this generation failed to catch up.

Part One? Safety equipment:? Reverse visibility (ignored for TXL-N, VX and VX-N models)? Necessity: ★★★★★ Be sure to buy the original camera. There are three benefits: The image will not be blurred (a common problem with sub-factory cameras after being used for a long time, and there is a risk of spontaneous combustion), it supports direction and trajectory display, and the camera is hidden in the spare tire cover, which is conducive to keeping it clean.

Rearview mirror rain eyebrows? Necessity: ★☆☆☆☆Only protects the upper half of the car from raindrops, and even if the rearview mirror is clean, the line of sight is still easily blocked by water droplets on the car window.

Part 2?Entertainment equipment:?Carplay?Necessity: ★★★★☆?The most practical modification, modification highlights: connect the wire from the center console to the original car USB socket next to the handbrake , although the module supports wireless, I chose a wired connection. There are two advantages: first, it can be charged while connected, and second, I only connect it when needed. It is easier to manage which of the two mobile phones is connected. Disadvantage: The resolution of the original car screen is 800×480, which is a bit low, affecting the display effect. Data transmission with the host relies on analog signals. The image is not true color, and the solid color background is okay. When encountering the kind of image with rich layers and gradients, it looks like there are color spots. Also because of the analog signal, when the sound is turned up and no music is playing, you can hear the slightest background noise.

Sound system upgrade? Speaker upgrade? Necessity: ★★★★☆ Lossless replacement upgrade solution adopted, two front doors: JBL’s TY-SP11, 6.5” mid-woofer, two rear doors: TY-SP21 , 6.5" coaxial speakers, both sides of the driver's station: TY-SP32, 0.75" tweeter, I forgot the model of the A-pillar tweeter. After the upgrade, the treble is much clearer, the bass is richer and more powerful, and the sound is more penetrating. , it is easier to distinguish dozens of different musical instruments when listening to symphony

Host upgrade (ignored for VX-N and TXL-N models)? Necessity: ★★☆☆☆ Xianyu bought a brand new original one. It is true that the original JBL navigation head unit is difficult to use for human-computer interaction, but the sound quality of music and radio is good, it can set and display information about the vehicle, and the quality is quite stable. These advantages are incomparable to the sub-factory head unit. Cooperating with the carplay module can maximize the advantages and avoid the disadvantages. Because I upgraded the host + speaker at the same time, I cannot judge how significantly the JBL navigation host improves the sound quality compared to the ordinary Panasonic host. ?Part 3? Appearance and interior protection: With the previous car. Based on my experience in using it, I have done the following protection for the exterior and interior: ? Car Cover? Necessity: ★★★★☆ It is a must-have car cover for all car friends. The boss has made several kinds of films. I chose the one that can be machine cut. The cheapest film is less than RMB 10,000. I am very satisfied with the effect. I feel that there is no need to apply a film that costs tens of thousands of dollars. Why choose machine cutting: firstly, you don’t have to dismantle the car door to remove the handle, and secondly, it is more convenient than hand-cutting. It is cheaper and saves time. The disadvantage is that there is a one-centimeter-wide gap at the door handle. It is recommended that off-road vehicles stick to it for three reasons: first, it is easy to be scratched by branches; second, it is easy to be stained with asphalt, Stubborn impurities such as cement can easily damage the paint with chemical cleaners; thirdly, because I often go out and wash my car at roadside car washes, their methods are very rough. With car clothes, you can cover the door handles. Parts: ? Necessity: ★★★☆☆ It will be touched when getting on and off the car, and hard objects such as watches are easily scratched.

Films for the host screen, host casing and small screen of the air conditioning panel: ? Necessity: ★★☆☆☆The defects described on Xianyu are generally scratches on the exterior, especially the nail scratches around the volume knob. There are also scratches on the armrests if the rag is not clean when cleaning the car. Front area cover of the box: ? Necessity: ★★★☆☆ It is easy to get scratches when washing the car, and mobile phones and other items are easy to fall and damage this area.

Steering wheel cover: ? Necessity: ★★☆☆☆? The part you hold in your hand will become stained over time. It is best to protect it and sacrifice some grip comfort. ? Trunk rear guard? Necessity: ★☆☆☆☆? Trunk mat? Necessity: ★★★☆☆The plush material of the original car is difficult to take care of. The split trunk mat is indeed necessary and does not affect the use of the third row of seats.

Fourth. Some other functional modifications: Driver's side storage box Necessity: ★★★★★It is suitable for storing mobile phones, cards, keys and other items. Especially after connecting to CarPlay, there is no need to put the phone on the stand, it is just right to put it down. (Picture above)? Central armrest box storage box? Necessity: ★★★★★ You can divide the refrigerator into upper and lower layers, put drinks in the lower layer, and put some small items that are difficult to store in the upper storage box.

USB socket? Necessity: ★★★★☆The reserved socket in the central control position of the 18 Prado models is the latest square mouth, not the rectangular mouth of the old model, so the optional USB socket is not available Not much, I bought a somewhat expensive dual-port USB socket with a voltage regulator and supports QC3.0 fast charging. When the power consumption is large, dual ports are not supported for simultaneous power supply. It is installed together with the console and carplay.

European standard conversion plug? Necessity: ★★★★☆? Philips European standard conversion plug has very few protruding parts and is made by a large manufacturer with excellent workmanship. The 100-watt AC power supply provided by the original car can be put to good use. (Picture above)? Data cable? Be sure to buy the kind of spiral retractable black data cable. Otherwise, a few eye-catching white data cables will make the interior of the car look messy. ?Necessity: ★★☆☆☆?Part 5?Other body components:?Strengthen the tailgate lock?Necessity: ★★★★☆Because the tailgate is too heavy and uses a side-opening method, if you often drive on bad roads , there will be abnormal noise after a long time. My last Prado no longer made any abnormal noise after using this original TRD reinforced part. After changing the car, I removed the TRD lock. Bottom-hook models are also necessary to install.

Under-mounted spare tire hinge (ignored for under-mounted models)? Necessity: ★★★☆☆Buy another pair of wheel tires to be equipped with dual spare tires, a must for long-distance self-driving, like the original car On-road tires have a high probability of damage in complex road conditions. If you don’t want to change to off-road tires, bring an extra spare tire when traveling. I usually leave my schoolbag empty and only carry the spare tire at the bottom to reduce the weight of the tailgate. ?Trunk hanging loop (model 10 has its own hanging loop, model 18 has a groove)? Necessity: ★★★☆☆Necessary when installing the net bag to prevent luggage from sliding out. (Picture above)? Trailer hook? Necessity: ★★☆☆☆

Next, let’s talk about some topics that everyone always likes to struggle with. The domestic Prado has just been purchased, and there is no time to verify its reliability and durability. Not good to rate. But I have owned two domestically produced Toyota cars, the 2004 FAW Toyota Corolla. The quality is so good that I only go to the 4S store for annual maintenance, and the performance has not diminished at all. The parallel-imported 2.7 Prado has been driven for 7 years. Except for a recall to replace the valve spring, it has never been repaired due to malfunctions. According to Toyota's quality control, it is inferred that the quality of domestically produced Prados is comparable to imported ones. I visited the Sichuan FAW Toyota factory where Prado is produced. Toyota's supplier system is extremely closed, which ensures quality to a large extent. Toyota's two major parts groups, Denso and Aisin, monopolize the supply of major parts. Since the output of Sichuan FAW Toyota is not large, a large number of parts are imported. There are only a few companies that have settled in the surrounding areas to support the assembly plants. Chengdu Toyodabo Automotive Parts Co., Ltd. of seats and interior fabrics.

Cuolong Sanlianhaizi, Dege County, Sichuan

Cuolong Sanlianhaizi, Dege County, Sichuan The biggest disadvantage of the domestic 3.5 is the use of part-time four-wheel drive. Daily driving is I have driven both full-time and part-time rear-wheel drive vehicles for a long time. My experience is that full-time four-wheel drive is more fool-proof. You can just drive on most road conditions. Part-time four-wheel drive requires manual switching to H4 when going off-road. Pave the road and switch back to H2. There is almost no difference in driving control on daily paved roads between the two drive modes of H4F, full-time four-wheel drive, and H2, part-time four-wheel drive. There are three types of slippage: slipping when stepping on the accelerator, slipping when cornering, and slipping when braking. The four-wheel drive system can only solve the problem of slippage when stepping on the accelerator, and the VSC and ABS systems are used to suppress the latter two types of slippage. When the part-time Prado is driven in the H2 rear-wheel drive mode, if it encounters mud, ice, snow, or sandy roads, the starting acceleration will be more likely to slip than the full-time four-wheel drive model. The correct way to drive is to manually switch to H4. The switch can be performed while driving. , it’s a little troublesome, but the advantage is that daily driving is more fuel-efficient.

Siguniang Mountain

Siguniang Mountain How weak is the Prado equipped with a four-cylinder 2.7 engine? Let’s start with the data: the 4.0 Prado can break 100 mph in 9 seconds, and the 3.5 Prado is even faster, with the actual test hitting 100 mph in 8.5 seconds. The 2.7 before 2016 had a 4-speed transmission, and it could reach 100km/h in nearly 15 seconds. The 2.7 after 2016 had a 6-speed, and the acceleration was improved a bit, and it could reach 100km/h in nearly 14 seconds. The power of the 2.7 model is always a pity, no matter how Buddhist you drive. The acceleration capability of 2.7 is weaker than almost all small motor vehicles on the road. If everyone goes full throttle, you will definitely not be able to beat them. I drive like a Buddhist, and my driving style pursues stability and comfort. However, lack of power means that you cannot overtake cleanly, and it means that you cannot attack hills leisurely. In this way, you will feel tired while driving, and secondly, the probability of accidents is relatively low. Increase. Since 2.7 has been criticized by many car enthusiasts, why would Toyota equip the Prado with this obviously weak powertrain? To save fuel? No, the 4-cylinder 2.7 model is only more fuel-efficient than the 6-cylinder model under idling conditions. The fuel consumption in other operating conditions is the same as that of the 4.0 model and slightly higher than that of the 3.5 model.

To save costs? There are many engines for sale on a certain website. The 2.7 engine with model 2TR, the 4.0 engine with model 1GR, and the 3.5 engine with model 7GR are all very common. 2TR is indeed the cheapest, but the price difference compared with the most expensive 7GR is only It's more than 10,000 yuan (new), and the price difference of the car parts is less than a few thousand yuan. It can save a little cost. Although the cost is saved by 10,000 or 20,000, the selling price has dropped by more than 100,000. Obviously the reason simply to reduce costs is untenable. So why? To maximize profits! The selling prices of products like cars are very transparent, and you can’t just increase the price if you meet a die-hard fan who doesn’t have the money. However, each consumer has different recognition of the value of the same model. Some think it is worth spending 600,000 to buy it, while others think that it will not be bought if it exceeds 400,000. The difference between each consumer's inner price of goods and the actual selling price is called "consumer surplus" in Western economics. Manufacturers will try their best to drain every penny of your money and squeeze out your "consumption". The remainder". What it relies on is to subdivide a number of high, medium and low-end models with very small cost differences but huge price differences. The chip manufacturer INTEL has used this method to the extreme. The production costs of high-end and low-end CPU models of the same generation are almost the same, but there is a double difference in selling price, such as Celeron and Pentium, i3, i5 and i7. For the automobile industry, according to market experience, the price gap between high-end and low-end models of the same model can also be 1 times. The Middle East Overbearing 2700 can sell for over 400,000, the Middle East 4000 top model can sell for nearly 800,000, and the Lexus GX460, a "rebranded" 8-cylinder Prado, can sell for 1 million. The same goes for Cruiser. The entry-level Beggar's Edition costs 4,000 to the top-of-the-line model, which costs 5,700. The price has doubled from 70 to 140. Taking Prado as an example, there are usually three types of potential customer groups: the first type of potential customer A: the psychological price of buying a Prado is 600,000; the second type of potential customer B: the psychological price of buying a Prado is 500,000; the third type of potential customer C: The psychological price for buying a Prado is 400,000. How can manufacturers maximize profits? If only one configuration is provided: the production cost is 380,000, how to price it? If the price is no more than 400,000, ABC will buy it. If the price is in the 400,000-500,000 range, AB will buy it. If the price is in the 500,000-600,000 range, only A will buy it. ?Pricing?Sales?Profit?|?Pricing?Sales?Profit?390,000?3 units 30,000?|?500,000?2 units 240,000?400,000?3 units 60,000?|?520,000?1 unit 140,000 ?420,000? 2 units 80,000? | 550,000? 1 unit 170,000? 450,000? 2 units? 140,000? | vehicles, with a profit of 240,000. If two subdivided configurations are provided: low configuration: production cost is 360,000, high configuration: production cost is 420,000; low configuration is priced at 400,000, sold to B and C, sales of 2 units, profit of 80,000; high configuration is priced at 600,000, sold to A. Sales volume is 1 unit, profit is RMB 180,000; total profit is RMB 260,000. If three subdivided configurations are provided: low configuration: production cost is 360,000, medium configuration: production cost is 380,000, high configuration: production cost is 420,000, low configuration is priced at 400,000, sold to C, sales volume is 1 unit, profit is 40,000, medium configuration is priced 500,000, sold to B, sold 1 unit, and made a profit of 120,000. The high-end model is priced at 600,000, sold to A, sold 1 unit, and made a profit of 180,000? The total profit is 340,000. Obviously, the more configuration levels there are, the higher the profits a manufacturer can make. However, too many configurations will increase the difficulty of production management and inventory management. Therefore, when weighed, the number of configurations required to distinguish a car's grade will be around 4-8. How to set up the configuration is a big question. For manufacturers, the best configuration plan will definitely allow customers who buy different configurations to form several incompatible factions, calling each other stupid, and the contradictions are irreconcilable. They will never form a unanimous solution, that is, only a certain configuration is worth buying. of. You must make customer A willing to pay for the high allocation, customer B to pay for the medium allocation, and customer C to pay for the low allocation. If A buys a medium/low configuration, B buys a low configuration, or C feels that the low configuration is too cheap and switches to other brands, it will be a loss for the manufacturer. How to set it up specifically? The following two points must be met: 1. It must be enjoyable to have it, and it will not cause abandonment without it; 2. It cannot be easily modified later. At this stage, the differentiated configurations that are in line with my country's national conditions and follow the above principles usually include: power, sunroof, keyless entry, one-button start, light group, automatic sensing headlights, rain-sensing wipers, electric seats, heating/ventilation , electric tailgate, advanced speakers, cruise, lane keeping function, etc.

Examples of differentiated configurations that do not follow the above principles: automatic transmission/manual transmission (violation 1). After 2010, domestic manual transmission models have almost disappeared. Navigation, reversing visibility, body color bars, SUV side steps, etc. (Violation 2), if these are the only distinguishing configurations, many car owners will purchase the next-level configurations and then modify them. Therefore, providing several powertrains with significantly different power is a common tactic used by almost all car companies to differentiate configurations. Therefore, there will be disputes between 2.7 and 4.0, and 2.7 and 3.5 on the forum. There is indeed no standard answer. "If you have a meter, go for a 6-cylinder engine" is actually correct nonsense.