Avanza, more stable than the APV? I'll ask what ghosthunter has asked, again... have you all driven these things?

The APV is a tall and tippy-feeling vehicle, but so is the Avanza... and the set of the suspension of the Avanza is more tail-happy than the APV. Where the APV plows (understeers) into a corner, the Avanza rear end starts to step out... which may be a problem on wet roads... especially considering that the Avanza is not a sports car and doesn't have the steering of one.

The mid-engined APV doesn't have the same heat issue as the old L300s, but I don't like the driving position that much. That said, the interior is a million times better than the base 1.3 Avanza and slightly better in Type II spec than the 1.5... but since your budget is 600k pesos, the 1.3 Avanza is all you can get... a car that has the interior of a 1990 Corolla Taxi.

Just don't get the automatic... economy on the matic sucks. The 1.3 Avanza would be better bought in manual, too... the 1.5 is just powerful enough to pull with the AT and get decent consumption, but the 1.3 is overburdened by it, and has a hard time climbing when equipped with the AT and loaded with a full complement of passengers.

In terms of maintenance, you're stuck with the casa on both for the first two or three years, anyway. After warranty, well... The Avanza engines share nothing with the old Tamaraw and are not the same as with the Vios, either... so while some parts might be easy to get thanks to the taxi fleet use, others may still be difficult. Thankfully, there are importers who specialize in parts for both cars... you just have to hunt at Banawe for them.