QUOTE(littlefire @ Feb 25 2020, 01:49 PM)
Yup. Agree with the ESC / ESP.
Anyway i got friends driving the AWD version of Estima, Alphad & Vellfire no heard of any complain.
May i know what is the issue with it?
the 4WD Estima are generally reliable, but most users reported high FC. Estima are already having not so good FC, we are talking about 7-8km/L in town driving, and 10-11km/L on highway cruising. Those 4WD Estima are worse than that, maybe 10-15% worse off.
Then it comes the resale value problem, usually the 4WD Estima are higher spec cars in Japan, so probably you are asked to pay a premium when you buy them. Then when you want to sell, many potential buyers are scared with the high FC, so it's very hard to get buyers or you will get very low trade in price for it.
Lastly on the drive itself, these 4WD Estima are not designed for spirited driving, so having 4WD actually makes the car less sweet to drive.
What I am also not sure is that whether the 4WD system takes up unnecessary space undercarriage, you may have a smaller fuel tank as a result. Not a good configuration considering Estima are having bad FC, all the more you want a bigger fuel tank, not smaller one