Toyota Wish – People Transporter for the People

Not the most exciting vehicle no doubt – it’s not a red prancing horse. Straight line performance is not what you’d call exhilarating, but then, which MPV is? But MPVs exist for a reason, and that reason is to move people and stuff around efficiently – and reliably. I mean, who wants a break down when there’s lots of stuff to be moved? You forgive the car when its an Alfa and it breaks down (because buying an Alfa is a ‘heart’ choice), but that’s not on at all for an MPV.

And for that purpose, the Toyota Wish is suited to a T. Spacious on the inside, it’ll seat a family -Mom, Dad with three kids with no complaints (sorry, I exaggerate here, kids always complain and fight). And it will do well even if those three ids were full grown teens. Even with five up, there’s still room to spare for the luggage for a long trip up north – the smooth shifting automatic coupled with the quiet and willing 1.8L engine is ideal for driving effortlessly on long trips up to KL and also pulling up Cameron Highlands with all your stuff.

The drive is unremarkable – Toyota makes no sporting pretensions here. But what it does, it does well. Providing comfort for all passengers, the inside is quiet and conversations are easy even at highway speeds. Wind noise is a minimum and tire roar is kept mostly at bay. Switching from another japanese car into this one, I find all the switchgear immediately falls to hand and familiar with that positive action that tells you, yes, the signal light is engaged. The car handles tidily for something of this size, and will understeer if pushed but I don’t suppose the demographic that are drawn to this car will want to test the limits with kids in tow. Going over bumps is more controlled and easy compared to smaller vehicles like a Fit/Jazz – it will feel more smoothed out though not totally removed.

Fuel consumption is frugal for a 1.8L MPV with Toyota’s DOHC VVTI and even if driven with gusto, should still return a very respectable fuel efficiency figure. This engine is also known for reliability and so far I have not heard of any unmodified example that has had it’s regular oil changes running into major problems earlier than 200,000km.

Its the perfect car in every way on the points that count to most people making the ‘head’ choice for their family – the Wish ticks all of these boxes – it is comfortable, spacious, has good carrying capacity, frugal fuel consumption and reliability. But more than that, we have one here for sale that will surely save you some money – a 2006 register, dark blue model that was owned by an expat lecturer and with only 96,000km on the clock. Contact us and take a look for yourself. At S$36.5k, it’s a value deal that’s got to be snapped up before you lose out.

This is the car you’d want for your family if you’re looking to capitalise on that expected gradual decline of COE prices as we approach 2016, when you can then collect the scrap value and then bid for a new car. Until then, you’ll have personal family transport and are cushioned from any fluctuations of the COE.