Avanza floaty, bumpy, not safe at all. Also very outdated model. Meant for 3rd world.

Grand Livina floaty above 110 or so? Complaints by owners here. Sort of meant for 3rd world.

Innova outdated. Meant for 3rd world.

My pick would be Exora CFE, or if you want smaller Alza. Though really I'd rather get a second hand conti. I did and am happy.

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...)

This post has been edited by kadajawi: May 25 2013, 07:40 PM

That and having the gov fix car prices. VW and Ford etc. could probably offer cheaper cars IF they were allowed to. Simply remove the sun roof, offer more entry level engines, manual gearbox, smaller rims, no body kit, no HID, ... A J spec Touran if you will. Good for bringing you and your family around safely.

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...

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.

IMHO proper maintenance is needed, but then a conti can be pretty reliable too. Especially newer ones. Of course if you are a cheapskate you'll ruin the car. Find and fix upcoming problems early on and you won't break down. My conti was 5 1/2 years old when I bought it, now it's 8. Never broke down (a flat battery once, but after a while it started again ). Yes, there is wear and tear, but that's to be expected, and I'm not exactly a gentle driver. Same with the other contis in the family. Relatively problem free cars. Not perfect, but nothing that would make me regret getting them. And I'm talking about French cars. The only way to be less reliable is to buy a Italian car.

Also it is not just good handling but also safety. What for good reliability if you'll die in a crash (that may be caused by someone else)?

My mother prefers driving manual too...

And yes, the gearbox makes a huge difference. Especially if the auto one only has got 4 speeds and is a torque converter. Those eat up some power. AMT and DSG are more efficient, but more problematic...