note : ayaw ni TS ng van or pick-up...
Hmm to be honest i'm leaning towards the APV; there's something i find quirky about it, although it is a bit cramped for my taste.
i find it odd na wala masyadong votes for the Avanza. Di ba ganun kaganda? i've seen some 1st gen Avanza taxis, definitely hasn't aged well.
The APV is not a bad choice IMHO. A cousin owns one for family use and doubles as a delivery vehicle in their business. Good vehicle overall and fits your space and ride height requirements. The APV is not far off in terms of space vs your other AUV options and is undoubtedly more refined being gasoline-engined. My only qualm about it is FC.
Rode Avanza's before (1.3s) and it did sound strained and as a result it gets really noisy in the cabin. couldn't say anything about the 1.5s though.
Left field option would be the recently launched Mahindra Xylo MPV - P850,000...from topgear: The seven-seater Xylo has a 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel with a variable-geometry turbo, rated at a healthier 120hp and 280Nm.
It's not very popular but you might want to consider as it is a very good proposition in terms of value. It's 100k more than the APV GLX MT but still well below your price cap and has a diesel engine compared to the APV's gas-fed mill(which is not known to be frugal). The xylo has at least 25hp more, twice the torque at half the rpm (as low as 1600 rpm) and has a suspension set-up which looks promising...Double Wishbone Type IFS up front + Multi-Link (5 Link) at the rear vs the APV's MacPherson strut & coil spring + Rigid axle with leaf spring/3-link rigid axle with coil spring. It is about a foot longer though and you might be put off by that.
The other suggestions are really good...i.e. the ertiga/innova. very good feedback for the ertiga and i'm sure you are very familiar with the innova already.![]()