I’ve got Sh700,000 and a family of five, help me choose the most suitable car

Hello Baraza JM,

I read your column on a weekly basis and I am moved by your insight on cars. I would like good advice on beginner cars. I have a young family of five for now, open for getting other children in future. I also enjoy driving. Road trips will definitely be a family affair once I get a car. I am looking for a minivan, 2WD preferably, a car that will serve me well for five-six years with low maintenance and low fuel consumption. My Choices are Toyota Sienta, Toyota Wish, Toyota Noah, Toyota Alphard or Toyota Rush. My budget is Sh600,000 to Sh700,000.

Please briefly review them and comment on space and comfort, performance, durability, availability of spare parts here, fuel efficiency, smooth ride with a bit of off-road driving capabilities.

I would also request a brief review of my wife’s dream cars. Her options are Toyota Camry, Toyota Fielder, Toyota Corolla (New model) and Toyota Mark X. Which is the best in terms of the considerations I mentioned?

Kind Regards.

Dr Chris Muindi.

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The correct answer to your family transport query is the Toyota Alphard, but it seems you showed up for this exam carrying a pen with no ink in it. Sh700,000 is large but not large enough for that large van. You need at least twice that outlay to get a good Alphard. The fuel cost won’t be low, but I daresay, with a family of five, fuel costs will be the least of your financial pressures, especially six years from now if you choose to widen the scope of your genealogy, if you catch my drift. Not all Alphards are 3.5 V6es, though, some come with a 2.4 four-cylinder, however, if you enjoy driving, then listen here, I have an idea.

Get the wife a Mark X and steal it often when she is not looking. Vans are not driver’s cars, and the Alphard, being the biggest, feels the most commercial. Yes, it is luxurious and the 3.5s are actually really quick for their shape, size and weight, but Alphards are still not drivers’ cars. The Sienta beats it in terms of driver engagement, funnily enough, but for family road trips, what you want is the Alphard, not any of those others you listed there, especially not the Rush.

Then when you want to unwind by yourself, bumping to your favourite tunes on an easy cruise when everybody is at a birthday party or sacco meeting, asking yourself if raising half a football team is what you really wanted out of life, you want a Mark X. Effortless V6 power, smooth, subtly aggressive with a touch of class... you can’t go wrong. Corollas and Fielders are buzzy little taxicabs while the Camry looks like a staff car from the Japanese embassy, what you want... sorry, what your wife wants (wink, wink) is a Mark X.

So now: space and comfort belongs to the Alphard (and the Mark X). Performance also favours the Alphard (and the Mark X). Take a guess where durability goes? Yes, you are half right! The Alphard, but not the Mark X. The second generation car doesn’t look like it’s ageing well if my observations are anything to go by. Availability of spares depends on two networks: automotive and internet, but then again, these are all Toyotas, and fairly common ones at that. No prizes for guessing how readily available parts are. Smooth rides follow the same Alphard + Mark X recipe.

Fuel efficiency and off-road driving capabilities are the sticking points at which you throw out everything I’ve just said and select the Rush, but whether or not you actually want to do this is a matter that is open to debate. For one, only the new model will carry seven people and even then, I’m not sure that is the path to take. It is a good car in its own way, but it is very susceptible to crosswinds (goodbye road trips on open highways), it has a 1.5-liter engine (goodbye road trips on hilly highways) and at 100 km/h the engine is turning at around 3500-4000 rpm (goodbye road trips that involve conversation between you and your expansive family).

Double the purse, get an Alphard then figure out how to convince your better half that a Mark X is not a vehicle for conmen, hoping that she will not cotton on to what is going on if she reads this...

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I plan to buy my first car, one suitable for a young family, which of these would you recommend?

Hi,

I’m a very big fan of Baraza's column, anyway, I have a young family and I’m looking forward to acquiring my first car. Which hat would be the best choice among these? I have in mind the Honda Fit, Nissan Note, Mazda Demio and Axela.

I’ll appreciate your feedback.

Best regards

Ochiel Daniel

Get the Axela. The rest are all taxis. Young families are very impressionable and sensitive to public opinion, don't subject yours to ridicule.

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Your advice is appreciated

Good morning,

I was so happy to see your response to my question on which SUV to get in the August 19 issue of the Nation. You have made my week. Yes, I shall go for the Vanguard, I can't go wrong with your advice. Thank you and keep doing your good work.

Regards

Sammy

Good morning Sammy,

You are right, you can't go wrong with Car Clinic. I'm glad I made your week, you just made mine with your feedback. Responses such as yours make me feel like giving this column 10 more years of my life. Have a good week.

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Baraza, what do you have against Nissan cars? I own one and have no complaint to make about it…

Hi JM,

I have been following and reading your articles for some time, and one thing that comes out is your preference for the Toyota and Subaru models. I beg to differ when it comes to your low opinion of Nissan models. My first car was a Toyota AE80, a good car served me well, but which was stolen while I attended a church service. I replaced this one with a Nissan B15 super saloon manual in 2010 for Sh550,000. It served me well with no hiccups until 2019 when I sold it for Sh400,000.

Now I own a Nissan Wingroad DBA-NY12 with an option of four-wheel drive. It is very fast, spacious, and beautiful to look at.

Baraza, I am a mechanic by profession, and I feel that you have something against Nissan models. Give an honest opinion, not a biased one. A good vehicle is one which will take you from point A to point B while offering you comfort and safety, is mechanically stable and economical.

Mind you I have driven almost all models you can think of, but Nissan is pocket-friendly, the rest are side shows bro. The only part I will agree with you is that the body gauge of Toyota is a bit high than the Nissan’s.

Tony.

Hi Tony,

It's good you are a mechanic, we need a lot of your kind, what with having an industry dominated by and filled with used, untropicalised imports whose owners and drivers think hope and prayers are acceptable substitutes for synthetic oil and original filters.

While you have your lane, I have mine: you repair vehicles, I review them. Two different things. This allegation that I have something against Nissan needs to be substantiated before I take an oath that every such claim will be responded to in an overreaction peppered with a stinging barrage of unbridled vitriol that will only hurt my accuser's feelings and further escalate a misunderstanding that was no fault of mine to begin with. I have nothing against Nissan as a brand or as a company. I’d like to be very clear about this.

You are right, a good vehicle is one that will perform its tasks without qualm. But there exists such a word as “average”, and if your compatriots outshine you and your middling capabilities, then guess what? You end up looking not so good. That is Nissan.

It not only gets leapfrogged and overlapped in the automotive rat race, but punters, current and prospective, start losing faith in the company's ability to deliver as they're left floundering in the dust. You know things are bad when a French car company wants nothing to do with you.

This will not degenerate into a contest of who has spat on more walls than the other, but while you may have driven “all models”, I have too, including some that you have never seen: they do not even exist, or are yet to exist, or were meant to exist but didn't.

I don't just write words on a weekly column, my reviews shape and influence the models of vehicle that you can buy and drive. Those reviews are grounded on exposure: the wider, the better, and it is why I have no brand affiliation.

If “Nissan is economical and the rest are sideshows,” as you put it, then perhaps you need a deeper look at these sideshows: as we speak, Nissan is wringing its hands asking itself when the rain started beating it.

The company is in a quandary, sales are poor, their reputation is sinking and unless an external bailout occurs soon, the whole enterprise may have to fold. That is not bias, it is fact; fire up your internet, locate a search engine and type in “Nissan financial status” then look at the results.