I own a Toyota Previa (an import). I bought this car when I found that my mondeo estate would no longer take me , the husband and three children and loads of luggage on holiday.
I went along to a garage and the only thing I knew I wanted was a people carrier that had to have loads of boot space.
I saw this one and opened the boot and fell in love with it, plus it had eight seats not the usual seven.
It was an automatic with air conditioning and in great condition. The price was great as well.
I snapped it up.
It is a fairly large car and as I said it has eight seats not the usual seven that most MPV's have. The great thing with the Pevia is that you can have the seats any way you want them. Al the seats in the back can face forwards or the ones directly behind the driver and front passenger can be turned around to face
the rear seats. The seats can also be all folded flat to make a double bed. Handy if driving on a long trip. Some of the seats can be totally removed and the others fold up to the sides of the car thus giving loads of space if you have any major removals to do, ie a three seater sofa!!
The windows are all equipped with curtain track so if you wanted to you could have little curtains up, there is even a track to divide the front of the car from the back (handy if you want to shut yourself off whilst driving).
This model is an automatic, and I must admit that buying such a big car and an automatic was really different for me as I had a mondeo estate beforehand. However, it is really super to drive, it is so easy it is untrue. No gears to worry about and for such a large car it manouvers wonderfully. When you want to reverse into a space this is made easier by the huge wing mirrors on either side of the car, they can be moved and tilted to any desired position from inside the car, and a rear mirror attached to the rear window.
The only thing with it being an import the indicators and wipers are on the opposite side to the the UK version of the Previa the Estima. This does take a few days to get used to but before long it is second nature. Everything you need to drive the car is right there attached to the steering wheel, lights, wipers, indicators and the gear shift.
This is a diesil engine, 2.2 and I was worried about the amount of money I would be spending to keep it on the road but to fill up the tank takes on average £35.00 and I usually go through 1 1/2 tanks a month. This is not too bad considering that I do alot of running around on short journeys, taking children to schools and pre-school and shopping and so forth.
A handy thing to have in this car is little cup holders in the rear and in the front so that you have somewhere to keep drinks without spilling them on to the upholstery.
It is air-conditioned and has a seperate fan for the back of the car. The rear windows do not open very wide and they are all tinted which helps keep the glare of the sun out. There is only one way into the back of the car and that is by a sliding door on the passenger side. This is okay but can be a bit of a hinderance if you need to get out of the car onto a busy street. I see now that newer models are equipped with rear doors on either side, which I feel is much better.
Insurance is not too bad, you have to shop around a bit. An imported car apparently warrants higher costs to insure, but for fully comprehensive insurance for myself and my husband comes in at under £500.
If things go wrong with it parts may have to be ordered but some places have them readily available, and costs are not to bad. I have just replaced my raidiator at a cost of £150, and I am having a new exhaust system built in stainless steel with lifetime guarantee for just under £200.
It has been great the best car I have ever bought. I do not do a lot of out of town driving and considering it is a big car it is not so hard on the pocket when it comes to the fuel.
The only advice I would give to people if buying one of these vehicles is that check that it has all the right documentation on being imported, or buy a British model.
There are a lot of stolen Japanese cars on the market and if you are not extra careful you might find that your car will be on it's way back to it's rightful owner in Japan.
How do I know all this? I had an accident in the car not long after I had it. Before my insurance company would pay up I had to get it verified by my local Toyota garage, I had a letter back to say that the engine and chasis numbers did not match with the original documents.
I went into to total shock as we had bought it from a long established garage. I had the police come around and thoroughly check my car. In the end it was only that the engine had been changed so infact my car was not a stolen one.
This was a huge relief.
So just be careful you have been warned.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Just echoing the other comments - if you add detail (how's the drive? Have you had any niggles or problems - besides the excellent warning about imports? How often do you need to refuel, and how much does it cost - stuff like that), I'll gladly re-rate - just leave a message in my GB! Cheers, Kate
LostWitness 05.08.2002 09:20
Sorry for the rating - you really need to include more detail about the car to get higher ratings.
COOOEEE 05.08.2002 02:35
I am looking to buy a car so all the information I can gain would help. Imagine I have never heard or seen a Toyota car and try and list both good and bad points. I will come back and read your review if you add more information on Toyota. Fionaxx
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