As for the length of the Innova... Length isn't everything

I can comfortably seat 7 adults in my Kangoo, despite the car being <4m.

I don't find it hard or scary to drive the Kangoo at 140-150 with one hand on the wheel. Due to the 1.4 with AT it won't drive faster.

Also I disagree with MPVs not being able to handle well at high speeds. The Touran easily does 180+. Won't feel it (I forgot that it had another gear, and the one I drove only had the old 1.9 diesel with 110+ HP). The Ford Galaxy is even better, a comfortable cruiser at 200. Relaxing even, despite having a comfort oriented suspension (the Touran is more sports car like). Of course different price class, but it can be done. And in base spec they are around RM 80k overseas. Considering that a Malaysian Touran that costs 166k or so would cost around 150-160k overseas... (It is a rather high spec car...)

stupid excise duty

one more thing. avanza is rear wheel drive. typically rwd vehicle is more robust than fwd.
before this avanza i own the first batch 1.3L avanza auto. no problem at all until i sold it and get back avanza

Wow, that's a long long reply.. Thanks for taking your time to give your reply.. 

Anyway the car that my mom drove before her first-gen Avanza was a first-gen Nissan Serena (1996 model I think), which was relatively large in size too (probably very similar in size to an Estima/Innova). So I don't think she would have any problems with a large car.

I agree that practicality wise, Innova would be the best since it's larger thus the space and passenger comfort would be much better.
And that Grand Livina would be better performance/handling wise since it's a smaller car..
I've read from somewhere on LYN before that the Innova can only deliver around 11-12km/L in city

Looks like Avanza is totally out of the question now. Options now narrowed down to Innova and Grand Livina only..

I noticed from the Toyota website that the air conditioning in the Innova is 1 air vent for each passenger whereas from the Nissan website it looks like the air conditioning vents are all only from the cockpit.. Is there a big difference between these 2 set-ups of both cars?

Innova getting 11-12km/ltr in city drive is very good already, probably too good to be true especially if got into some traffic jams.

For aircon, yeah Livina is not that good since it relies much on the front blower. It has a middle outlet at the bottom but not strong as you need to switch the aircon to blow also to your feet if you want the middle vent to get more cool air. So for passengers in the 3rd row, it will take a while for the cool air to get there. Middle row still not too bad. Aircon is one of the weakness of this car IMHO. The cooling coil is also not good quality (at least up to my version), but mine is already replaced under warranty when it leaked and after that no more issue. Btw Nissan already offers option to install middle blower at additional cost, so you can take this option if need to.

As for the length of the Innova... Length isn't everything

I can comfortably seat 7 adults in my Kangoo, despite the car being <4m. Actually my favourite seat in the car (apart from drivers seat) is in the 3rd row

I don't find it hard or scary to drive the Kangoo at 140-150 with one hand on the wheel. Due to the 1.4 with AT it won't drive faster.

Also I disagree with MPVs not being able to handle well at high speeds. The Touran easily does 180+. Won't feel it (I forgot that it had another gear, and the one I drove only had the old 1.9 diesel with 110+ HP). The Ford Galaxy is even better, a comfortable cruiser at 200. Relaxing even, despite having a comfort oriented suspension (the Touran is more sports car like). Of course different price class, but it can be done. And in base spec they are around RM 80k overseas. Considering that a Malaysian Touran that costs 166k or so would cost around 150-160k overseas... (It is a rather high spec car...)

u know why? because majority did not own them. i own both avanza and livina.
the livina 3rd row only for storage as its very hassle to go behind.
besides, its too low for aunty who prefer mpv due to larger view ahead. ask your mom, she will know.
mine is the 1.8. the performance so so only. dont expect much from mpv and nissan lol. fc also worst than my avanza 1.5.
and worst of all, smallest cabin space of all 3 u mentioned.
remember, this is a mpv we are talking about. cabin play the major role here. follow by price, and performance/safety.

Well I do won Livina and Avanza before. So yeah IMHO Livina still wins hands down to Avanza, I won't even think twice in saying that.

may i know what's your reason for choosing livina over avanza? 

You won not one, but two cars?!

Actually it isn't such a different price class. A bit higher, yes, but not that much. As I said, if comparing the same spec car our Cross Touran costs only maybe RM 10k more than it does in Germany. And since you can get a more entry level car for maybe RM 80k...

Avanza is almost like a car with very minimal boot space. Just it is registered to ferry 7 people that's all. Power wise ok only for the 1.5 version. But new Avanza very bumpy and floaty indeed, old version is almost the same but old one is nicer looking all round (hate new Avanza rear end). Rear aircond for 2 row but no third row.

Space wise Exora pawns all but FC and the ability to climb Genting is so so but I would say climbing Genting is a big no no for Exora. Sturdy on the road with it's 16" rims and massive brake disc for stopping power. 2nd and 3rd row aircond.

Innova is like Avanza's bigger brother with slightly more boot space with a massive 2.0 engine so no underpowered feeling.

If anyone who suggest Alza? Better not since sluggish for 1.5, no 2nd and 3rd row aircond, minimal boot space. There you go, building cars, people first.

In terms of driving experience and comfort, has the new 2012 avanza improved when compared to the first gen avanza? 

If the new Avanza feels the same as the first-gen Avanza, then I guess it would be a big no-no since my mom always grumbles about how the car feels when she drives

- Much more comfortable since it's not bouncing like the Avanza, and more quiet too.
- Much better handling on high speeds and during cornering since it's much lower ride height and wider. It feels more like a high station wagon instead of a tall MPV. If I drive the Avanza like I drive my Livina, I'd have flipped it many2 times over!
- I think Livina is a bit more spacious than Avanza.
- In my experience the Avanza is not that fuel efficient and the Livina is better FC with bigger engine and more torque too.
- Livina feels more solid as opposed to the Avanza which feels like a tin can!
- Finally the Livina is way2 much better looking car than Avanza, plus it has a lot more body kit options to make it look even better still!

So in my book, no contest really.

If want cheaper or prefer Toyota engine, better go with Alza than Avanza. It has the same engine, more spacious, better ride quality, better FC, much better look too, and much cheaper some more! Another no contest really!

about the same only. its the cheapest toyota afterall 
but u have to do your own math la. cheapest livina auto around 90k while avanza is just 74k, thats like 16k differences.
it may be alot to big but poor family hence avanza is the bestest choice.
if u can simply afford more expensive car then go ahead, get it. but take note of what i have told u la.
or simply go test drive

If she wants a car that is nice to drive... come to the conti side, we have handling.

Didn't they mention in the Avanza thread that the new one is much more acceptable?

I think best is just test drive.

Also... some people here say women won't notice the differences in how a car handles? They won't care? Well, apparently some do.

If she wants a car that is nice to drive... come to the conti side, we have handling.

Didn't they mention in the Avanza thread that the new one is much more acceptable?

I think best is just test drive.

Also... some people here say women won't notice the differences in how a car handles? They won't care? Well, apparently some do.

what for if good handling but keep going in workshop which is major deterrent by si lais?
for the budget, they definitely only can afford used conti mpv. and lets face the fact, conti does have more problem than japanis.
my dad used to own 1 merz c200 and 1 bmw 5 sili but both also more than 10 years ago la XD
enough reason to skip contis for the rest of his life and stick to japanis only nao