Help me to choose from Toyota Rush/Rav4 or Daihatsu Terios (under 8.5MN)

[GoldBugBee]

Fellas,  I'm planning to buy a Toyota Rush, Rav4 or a Daihatsu Terios under a budget of 8.5mn. Likes a small SUV with some ground clearance.(Not the Rav4s with 2000+CCs) Honestly I know nothing about these cars and in need of your expertise, wisdom, experience, knowledge and literary anything which will assist me to take a decision. So please help.

[iRage]

Rush and Terios are the same cars with different badges (and being from two different manufacturers, the packaged accessories/features will slightly differ). this car is an entry-level mini crossover.

The RAV4 is a larger mid-sized crossover.

So you are essentially comparing limes with oranges. Which vehicle will be better for you will depend on your requirements (which you have told us nothing of).  

For your budget you are looking at the 1st generation of Rush/Terios or 1st to 3rd generation of RAV4. So that is quite a few models.

Why do you not want a RAV4 with 2000cc or above ? The only RAV4s less than 2000cc are the 2WD variants (which come with 1.8L engines). To be honest, the 2WD variants are nothing but station wagons with a bit of ground clearance. Handling is not that great and from the day you buy it you will wish that you would have bought the AWD variant. Maintenance and running cost-wise there really is not much difference. Your 2WD RAV4 will probably get 1kmpl extra than the AWD variant, but then when you use it with a heavy load or go outstation, that saving will be completely lost. Also, the AWD variants are more desirable than the 2WD variant. So..if you are hoping ot get the <2000cc variant to save money...just stop listening to all the myths and buy the variant that makes sense.

 

 

 

[GoldBugBee]

@iRage thanks for the insights. first of all, I changed my mind on Rav4's CC limitation after your explanation. So I'm all ears.

My requirement is quiet simple. Need bit more ground clearance than a car. The vehicle will be used by parents mostly and it is convenient to have a easier seating position for them. Diesel or Petrol as long as they deliver acceptable fuel consumption as per their vehicle classes. (At least 10kmpl is preferred). Reliability is a main concern. Auto or a manual (Manual is preferred though) 7 seater is not required. a lower maintenance cost is nice to have as well. So these are the basic requirements and a car not too much old is preferred. Preferred YOF 2010 and newer but even something after 2005 is acceptable since my budget is limited. Not limited to specific brands as well and preferred good uncommon models if any.

Even open to suggestions of other categories if they meet above criteria except ground clearance and seating positions. (loves Mazda 3 / Axela, KIA Cerato / Soul, Nissan Juke, Suzuki Grand Vitara)

Did i make this complicated? 🧐

[iRage]

Yes but no.

1. You are not going to get 10kmpl in any of the crossovers like RAV4, XTrail, CRV, etc... out of these three the most economical (for us in the past) has been the CRV. For pure city driving we are looking at about 7-ish on average. If you go on the highway/outstation then you get about 12. So for a tank of fuel you will be averaging about 8ish. A Rush/Terios with a 1.5L engine would be the closest gasoline vehicle that would get you closer to the 10kmpl mark. Your hope of getting atleast 10kmpl can only be achieved with a Hybrid and those are well above your budget. You do find ones advertised for below 8.5mil, but considering what a majority of them are going for, these might be cheap for a reason.

You will not find any diesel RAV4s. Less than a handful of diesel RAV4s were imported from Europe (Asia and Japan did not get the diesel variant). If you are lucky, you might be able to find one of these or a diesel XTrail. The latter, too, is rare because people did not get them down due to the high import taxes.

The only manual rav4s you will find are the first and second gen ones (these are well before 2005) and 3rd gen rav4s from Europe. If this car is being used by your parents, you might want to consider getting an automatic. With old age, driving a manual in traffic can be too much of a physical toll.

You might want to look in to some Korean options...you might be able to get a slightly newer car than any of its Japanese competitors for the same amount of money. However, these do seem to show a lot more age than the Japanese vehicles. Again..doubt you will hit the 10kmpl mark.

Grand Vitaras are a good option. Feels very industrial compared to the likes of the RAV4, X Trail and CRV. Another option would be the Pajero iO (older than 2005 though). You can find both in manual and automatic. The Grand Vitara would be easier to maintain these days compared to the Pajero iO. In terms of maintenance, the Toyotas obviously has more parts availability than the others. Sadly most of these parts are cheap or Chinese fake ones. So, if you are looking at maintaining the vehicle using genuine parts, I would say maintenance costs will more or less be the same across the board.

For cars like Mazda 3/Axela you are looking at a ground clearance that ranges from about 150mm to about 165mm on average. Cars like the RUSH, Vezel, etc... have anything from 165 to about 180mm of ground clearance, and cars like the RAV4, X trail have anything from 180 to about 220mm of ground clearance. Keep in mind that things like body kits and undercarriage components might result in the car having a lesser ground clearance in real life than what is indicated in the spec sheet.

So if you are okay with something like a Mazda Axela/3 ground clearance, now you are opening up a whole lot of possibilities including the likes of a Suzuki Swift (the Maruti one has crazy ground clearance but poor safety equipment), Corolla Fielder, Honda Shuttle, etc...