Showroom Experience: Toyota Festive Moments Celebration

For the final two months of 2008, UMW Toyota is giving away massive promotions for its entire lineup of Toyota vehicles. Dubbed the Festive Moments Celebration, the promotions were given an extra push as Toyota showrooms nationwide organised festive open houses on 15-16 Nov.

Customers are tempted by goodies such as vouchers to fully cover for three years of maintenance, low downpayment rebates, low interest rates, bodykits, and/or a Sony Video MP3 player. Different models are offered with different combinations of the above, though the free maintenance vouchers and low interest rates seem the most useful. According to the promotional materials, all offers are valid from 1 Nov till 31 Dec, with the MP3 players attached with the usual ‘while stocks last’ label.

I was at the Subang Jaya branch on Saturday afternoon, where despite the gloomy skies above, my companion and I test drove the manual versions of the Vios 1.5J and the Avanza 1.3E.

Festive Moment at the Subang Jaya branch.

Bad weather failed to stop us getting a test drive.

I have actually tested the Vios a couple of months back. While accompanying another friend car shopping, we tested back-to-back, both variants of the Honda City and compared them against the Vios 1.5S, which retails at over RM88.3k against the City’s RM79.8k (i-DSI) and RM85.8k (VTEC).

The 1,497cc 1NZ-FE VVT-i, paired with a four-speed auto, does not produce terribly exciting figures on paper, but gave the Vios adequate shove on the straights. On the bends, the car handled surprisingly well, despite not having an independently sprung rear axle.

Going inside, for the interior, the Vios lost a quite a bit of ground against the City. Despite being the newer model against the outgoing City, the Vios’ cabin was neither as well designed nor as well built. The cabin ambience felt a class lower, and the materials felt a grade lower. All in all, at close to RM89k, I think it is a bit pricy.

Toyota Vios 1.5S – overpriced at RM89k.

However, going down the hierarchy, Toyota has the base-spec 1.5J model for your consideration – yours for RM73.5k, if you’re willing to forego the skirtings, airbags, alloy rims, rear discs, electric door mirrors and even the intermittent function for the wipers (a shocking omission, this one). You also have the option of a manual transmission, which would slash RM3.7k off the pricetag.

Indeed, at RM69.8k, the manual 1.5J is well within striking distance of even the Proton Waja CPS, and making it now a far more attractive preposition. The only omissions of consequence are the rear discs and airbags, which are still fine to most people, though the lack of intermittent wipers (standard in the Perodua Kancil) is kind of like a shocking-omission to me.

Paired with a five-speed manual, the 1.5-litre engine gives the Vios more than adequate shove, with the engine revving smoothly up to the 4000-5000rpm range. However, I was a little dissatisfied with the quality of the gearchange, which despite being sufficiently precise, had a rather long throw, while the clutch pedal was light to the point of being tricky to balance. 

I rarely recommend the entry level variant of any model as my preferred choice, but in the case of the Vios, the maths say it all, the 1.5J, at over RM16k cheaper than the 1.5S, represents the superior value.

The 1.5J – at RM69k the Vios makes more sense

Dash is plain looking, but no complaints. Five-speed gear change sufficiently precise, but clutch a little tricky to balance.

The other model catching our attention was the facelifted Toyota Avanza. To be frank, while I’ve never quite fancied an Avanza, I do respect it for being a practical and sensible family carrier. It doesn’t tickle one’s fancy, but it gets the job done – ferrying your family and things around – with minimum fuss, and I respect that.

However, the folks at UMW‘s product planning division had bigger ideas and decided to tack on a set of skirts,  fake taillights on top of the D-pillar, and carbon fibre inserts on the dash. I have no idea how they came to this decision, but my companion and I found these new additions more than a little amusing. Rather than spending RM77.1k on the 1.5S, the smart money would either be on the RM69.9k 1.5E or the RM74.3k 1.5G, which both do away with these add-ons.

 
The facelifted Toyota Avanza 1.5S

What’s with the fake taillights?

Carbon fibre inserts for an Avanza?

Credit where credit is due, this water bottle hole is properly useful.

Another option to consider is the base model 1.3E, which goes for RM62k (M/T) and RM65.5k (A/T). I took a manual version out for a spin. That car came with 14-inch steel wheels but had the 1.5S bodykit which I suggest that you not take. You’d be surprised to read this: but it was a properly good drive.

The gear change was excellent – slick and precise in a way that a car like the Avanza has no right to be. When revved hard, the engine picks up pace quick enough for most people. You can’t take corners too spiritedly, but do you buy an Avanza for that? I suppose not. However, driven smoothly and sedately, the Avanza gives you brisk progress around town, and the superb turning radius makes it an excellent urban runabout.

I must admit that the Avanza gave me a properly pleasant surprise. On the road, I actually liked it better than the sedan-bodied Vios, an outcome which I totally did not expect. I would be quite happy to recommend the Avanza to anyone looking for a small practical people carrier, with the tested 1.3E manual my personal pick of the bunch. For those who want an auto, my fingers would point to the RM69.9k 1.5E, which is technically identical to the more expensive G and S variants.

Entry level 1.3E’s plain looks better than ‘sporty’ 1.5S

Though 1.3E test car is equipped with 1.5S bodykit.

Interior for 1.3E does away with carbon fibre inserts. Five-speed manual offers surprisingly good gear change quality.