emm.. if you can overcome that, I would say Estima is way way better.

My father in law had a Innova since 2005, and in last year change to a new Serena. And at times my family (of 4) travel with him to KL and SG, so I can relatively say the pro and con of Innova vs Serena on normal daily usability.

Innova (used 10yr)
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+ It's hell of a durable car, in the past 10 yrs it nvr gave my FIL any headache, only normal service required, absulutely nothing !!
+ Driving in 2 or 3 ppl, the car is not so comfy due to its suspension settings (from ladder frame). But if you sit 5-6 ppl in the car, it's quite comfy. It's a big MPV, so drive like one. Don't bother about handling.
+ Durable, and it's aToyota, so the resale value is pretty fine after 10 yrs used. Bought 105-108k, sold for 40k after 10 yrs, since not much issue with maintaince, it's about 6.5k per year.
+ High ground clearance, parking not afraid of hitting curbs.

- The biggest issue for Innova is not the FC, as it's pretty decent for such a large car. But it's the small fuel tank !! On town driving, it lasts only 350-380km per tank due to its smallish size Even on long haul JB-KL, it barely last 450km.
- 8 seaters setting, getting in and out of the car is not as easy as those with sliding door and walk thru central path.
- Swing doors, for a proper MPV for large family, at least for me, sliding doors is much much prefered. It takes up a lot less space to open and close, so your passengers will not hit the wall or other cars easily.
- The car is ugly, damn high wheel arch gap It does not make the car pretty even if you change to larger rim, in fact it makes its ride harshier. And you should never lower the car coz it compromise the ride.


Serena (used 1 yr +)
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+ Great features for the money. LED headlights, powered sliding door, SAT NAV, mild hybrid (much better than normal hybrid coz less electronics integration with hybrid battery).
+ Magic seat setting is awesome. Can easily convert into 7 seats or 8 seats.
+ FC is decent in town, excellent on long haul. I could nearly do a 700km on a single tank going from JB to Kuantan via Mersing road.
+ Better SAFETY features, VSC is fitted although airbags count is still at 2

- My FIL still said Toyota is better Especially on the service center quality. Nissan support made him
- For my old man ok, but I DAMN HATE the CVT. The car is at least 150kg heavier than a Innova. Even the engine is more powerful, it has to work hard to proper the car. The CVT kind of amplify this point, as the engine rev up before I could feel the power. Definitely not to my liking, but I reckon that most ppl are ok with it especially for MPV (ppl don't expect to zoom zoom around). Personally I like the kick feel from conventional gearbox.
- Reliability, nothing happened so far. But Serena FB group members, a few of them suffered from CVT failure (on CBU pre-facelift batch). Not heard of CKD issue yet.
- Resale value definitely not as strong as Innova, further dampened by Nissan aggressive offer from time to time.
- EPS (electric power steering), bad feedback when driving. Again for most ppl ok, but I am very particular on that. Dont like it.


Estima 2005
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I changed my wife Alza into a old Estima after considering many points above. Was thinking hard on Biante but the lack of used car (back in last year) and new ones too expensive. Space for Biante also too small to be a proper fullsize 7 seaters.

+ Estima has god car like resale value, especially those with 7 seats and 2 power door. I expect to lose RM4-5k a year with my old Estima
+ Comfy, damn comfy. So much so that my kids ask my not to drive my Audi A6 on weekend drive to my FIL house or when we go travelling
+ 2400cc has decent power, never feel I needed more

+/- FC on long haul is pretty good. one litre RON 95 can hit 11km, but on town driving even if I maintain at below 2500RPM most of the times, it drinks about 7-8km per litre.

- SAFETY, quite lack of it. Crucially even the new Estima 2006-2015 model does not have ESP / VSC Latest 2016 new facelift I am not sure. Too expensive anyway.

Not much comment on the ACR50 (06-15) model, it's quite expensive to the extend that is not worth it. Yr make 2006 car is a whopping 20k more than a 2005 car (old model). And this model has notorious EPS (glok glok sound) and CVT. So I did not consider it when I was searching for my Estima last year.

No debate here, about the need of ESP. It is even available on my old Merc toy car which is from 2002, damn Toyota

Nevertheless, just for sharing of knowledge, ESP / VSC do come as a cost subsequently if one use his/her car long enough. How it works (the way I know it) is to fit all 4 wheel with speed sensors, these sensors send info to the ECU which communicates with the ABS brake system. In the event that some wheel spin at a diff rate, the brake system will slow down other faster spinning wheel to gain control of the car. Other that this, there are few other sensors (again electronics), like accelarate sensor, letheral sensor, and steering sensor to detect if the car is loosing control. So, ESP is quite a complicated system with many many sensors.

No sensor is built to last, especially it is fitted so close to the spinning wheel, high heat and at times water ingress will konk the sensor.

My Merc SLK once have a faulty letharal sensor, and the effect was that the car brake by itself even when there was no wheel spin or loose control. And when it happened, it bracked the left front and left rear. I nearly got into accident because of ESP Got to quickly get it fixed. And the brand new sensor is EXPENSIVE !!!!