Advice Needed: Buying a new SUV

[spider_A7X]

Thanks to all the suggestions mga sir... 😊

[reactor]

based on your criteria its all in the fortuner except for the MT. all your options are on fortuner 2013 AT (VNT). you will have no regrets on this SUV pati maintenance is cheap.

[spider_A7X]

based on your criteria its all in the fortuner except for the MT. all your options are on fortuner 2013 AT (VNT). you will have no regrets on this SUV pati maintenance is cheap.

Yes sir actually my close friend in Abu Dhabi will also buy a Fortuner later this year for his wife, his choice is the 4x2 G AT (VNT). But I prefer the manual tranny kasi mostly sa province naman gagamitin.

[Syuryuken]

Hintayin ko na lang lumabas yung bagong Everest

[boytsiks]

Yes sir actually my close friend in Abu Dhabi will also buy a Fortuner later this year for his wife, his choice is the 4x2 G AT (VNT). But I prefer the manual tranny kasi mostly sa province naman gagamitin.

Why dont you get the Fortuner 4x2 AT as well? Stretch your budget a bit since you're will to spend at least a 100k for the upgrades. I think most of those upgrades are found in the 4x2 AT Fort. At least you'll get the comfort of AT while having long drives.

Re: Leather Seat - Forts have leather seats already, right (?), please correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, kinda agree with most of the posts here, balisawsaw talaga ang abot mo sa leather seats. My good old sedan has leatherette seat covers before, I havent used them for at least 8 yrs already.

But if you can wait, there's an upcoming all new Everest.

HTH

[spider_A7X]

Why dont you get the Fortuner 4x2 AT as well? Stretch your budget a bit since you're will to spend at least a 100k for the upgrades. I think most of those upgrades are found in the 4x2 AT Fort. At least you'll get the comfort of AT while having long drives.

Re: Leather Seat - Forts have leather seats already, right (?), please correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, kinda agree with most of the posts here, balisawsaw talaga ang abot mo sa leather seats. My good old sedan has leatherette seat covers before, I havent used them for at least 8 yrs already.

But if you can wait, there's an upcoming all new Everest.

HTH

Kaya naman po istretch ang budget to get the AT variant, pero MT po talaga ang preference ko. Mga AT lang po ng Fort ang may leather seats.

Anyway I still have around 6 months to decide, sana lumabas na ung bagong Everest by then. 😊

[spider_A7X]

Repost lang po..

Good day mga sirs!

This is my very first post in Tsikot, though I’ve been reading lots of posts here for like 6 months now…

I am currently planning on buying an SUV for myself and for my folks back in the Philippines. I’m currently working here in Doha and I’ll buy the car on my next yearly vacation (1st quarter of 2014). My budget is 1.4M (cash) and around 100K more for upgrades. This will be our first ever brand new car and I’m planning on keeping it for at least 5 years.

I narrowed my choices down to three in order of preference but you are most welcome to suggest other models:

1.Toyota Fortuner
2.Ford Everest (upcoming model)
3.Chevrolet Trailblazer

I excluded the Montero Sport in my list since I am not a fan of its exterior styling (no offense to MS owners out there.).
My dad suggests that I should only go for either Toyota or Mitsubishi since their reliability has been proven over the years and there are abundant parts available.
I myself is leaning towards the Fortuner since based from the specs that I’ve read (in the old Toyota Phil. website) it contains the most complete features when compared to its Automatic counterpart (please correct me if I’m wrong). Also my family lives in the province and the nearest Toyota Casa is around 2 hours away. Actually Toyota is the only dealer near our area AFAIK.

To summarize, below are my desired configurations of the vehicle:
1.4x2 M/T ( Manual Transmission is a must)
2.latest model, diesel engine
3.w/ GPS Navigation, DVD player, Bluetooth
4.Rear (backing) Camera
5.Leather seats & door trims
6.Automatic Climate Control

May I please request your inputs as to what SUV is the best to buy given the above criteria.

I understand that leather seats & door trims, GPS Navigation and Rear Camera comes only as add-ons for the Toyota Fortuner 4x2 G MT (w/ VNT). I checked with Toyota Commonwealth and the SA told me that the price of the genuine leather seats & leather door trims is 75K, GPS costs 12K and Back-up camera is 9.5K. Is this a good deal? My instinct tells me that it’s too expensive however I’m not really a car enthusiast and I’m hoping that you guys can give me an idea as to how much the reasonable cost of each item will be. Also if you can recommend other Toyota dealers and/or SAs that will be really helpful.

Do you think it’s worth waiting for the Fortuner that is rumored to be released late this year or next year? How about the new Ford Everest?

All comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you guys!

[renzo_d10]

Fortuner ka nalang. Mukha namang gusto mo.

And if gusto mo MT, mag-MT ka. Wag ka magpadala sa comments dito na mag-add ka for AT variant na. Personally, I prefer MT as well, kaya kahit anong pilit na mag-AT ako ayaw ko.

Anyway, if you can live without leather seats then better. Mainit kasi eh, tapos summer mo pa bibilhin. Still your choice though. If ever you decide to push through, andyan naman ang Seatmate, Leder Interia etc. etc. that can help you with your leather needs.

[GTi]

Yan ang pangit sa leather. Out of the sun lagi nakaparada ang sasakyan namin kaya hindi ganon ka laking issue ang "hot" leather seats. I really hope that the seat coolers equipped in some KDM vehicles wold be standard in all PH spec vehicles though... Leatherette seat covers are also more advantageous in that they wouldn't absorb heat as much as genuine leather seats. You also won't have to worry about them cracking under intense heat or deteriorating after much use. I also doubt that having your seats done outside the casa will have any impact on your warranty, unless you have some sort of warranty claim that involves seats, perhaps.

As for the GPS, would you be using it a lot? If it is just for the occasional out of town trip, I'd suggest you use your smartphone instead. Modern smartphones are about just as good as stand alone GPS units. I use my Nokia N8 for this task (being one of the few smartphones in which the GPS can still fully function without internet).

Now you mentioned seating 7 people for out of town trips. Remember that the cars you are looking at have rather cramped 3rd rows with limited headroom and legroom. You will also have nearly zero space left for luggage, unless you are fine with strapping luggage on the roof. For something with a more comfortable and spacious 3rd row, might I suggest the Kia Carnival instead.

[Syuryuken]

mas magandang MT lalo na pag nakapalda ang passenger mo