my honest opinion.. avoid Innova..

if you are going to ferry your family members, get the safest one you can afford and Innova is definitely not one of it..

I lost someone dear to me in an Innova, since then I am very alert on news of accidents involving Innova with fatalities of more than 1 occupant, and the average is 3 fatalities..

A lot of cases due to blown tyres, including in my case..

Sorry but heed my advice, get the safer one..

If compare to sedan car, Innova definitely have higher chance of passenger getting hit if accident do occur in the
rear part. If a sedan car and Innova both involve in the same accident like being hit by a lorry from behind, which
car passenger have better survivor rate? not brainer question, rite?

Back to the TS question,

it depend on how many family member you need to fetch.

For GL, it drive more like a sedan car, body length same as sedan as well,
if the third row was used for keep good or standby only, then no problem
to own one, the FC was better than Innova, the maintenance shall be same.

For Innova, it you have big family member to fetch, why not ?
but due to long wheel base and heavy, the FC tend to be suffer abit,
the cost of maintenance shall be the same.

The Exora is probably better. Much better: Touran, Sharan, C4 Grand Picasso, 5008, ... I'd even trust an Alza more.

Are we talking about the Malaysian Yaris or the European Yaris? European Yaris... well, the Innova has an weight advantage, but the European Yaris is quite good. Malaysian Yaris, no clue. It's a new Vios without the boot, which is a facelifted old Vios, which is a downgraded version of the previous gen European Yaris. The Malaysian Yaris certainly isn't at the height of safety tech, for that you'll have to look (in the B segment) towards the Kia Rio, Peugeot 208, Ford Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost. The Preve is probably safer than those though, and it is cheaper.

If you are desperate to find a car less safe than the Innova, there's always the Perodua Viva.

You can't look at it in absolute terms. Some sedans are better than some MPVs and vice versa.

Then there are several things to pay attention to. Generally speaking higher riding cars (MPVs, vans, SUVs, pickups), especially with a soft suspension, tend to roll more likely or can simply lose control. They are more likely to crash on their own. They do have a mass advantage, i.e. if say a pickup runs into a Viva, it will not slow down that much, the Viva has to absorb most of the forces. i.e. you'll kill the Viva passengers by running through it.

Stability control helps with the losing control part, which makes it especially important for those big, tall vehicles like MPVs. In general it is the most important safety feature a car can have, apart from seatbelts. More important than airbags. It also saves a lot of money, since it helps AVOIDING accidents. You're more likely able to steer away from an accident, and to stay in control of the car.

Then the part that is supposed to save your life/reduce injuries when an accident did happen.

For example the airbags. They only work together with seatbelts, because basically they are big explosions contained by a bag. Since the airbag needs to get "soft" before your head hits it, it needs to fill up with air very quickly. If you are already where the airbag will inflate at the time where it is still being filled with air, it is like being punched in the face. Very hard. While your head and body are moving towards the fist. But when wearing a seatbelt, when the car senses an accident and triggers the airbag it will also trigger explosives in the seat that will pull on the seatbelt, basically pulling you towards the seat. Then you will be slowly released so that your chest isn't injured too much. The airbag will then protect your head from hitting hard parts of the car at a very high speed. It will be a bit softer, and that's what saves lives.

The airbag needs to be where your head is moving towards, i.e. front airbags only help when you have a frontal collision. Side airbags, curtain airbags etc. only help when you have a side impact, so your body doesn't hit the door frame or window.

But all the airbags in the world don't help if the area where you are sitting collapses. You'll be squeezed to death. So a strong passenger structure is important as well.

And finally there is the crumple zone, the front end of the car basically. It should get rid of the engine if necessary (because the engine doesn't compress, but is pushed into the passenger area where it'll crush your legs), and otherwise crumple so that the area where you are sitting in isn't stopped as abruptly as possible. If the area is too soft, your tougher passenger area is stopped too abruptly, and you'll get injured by hitting the interior of the car. If the area is too hard, your tougher passenger area is stopped too abruptly, and you'll get injured by hitting the interior of the car.

So saying that one class of car is safer than another doesn't really work that well, and each feature has their own purpose, designed to protect you in one or another situation. They have to work together to protect you.