Needs advise regarding crosswind or Starex

[niky]

The Starex has much better interior materials and build quality than the Crosswind (though it's not perfect, there's some squeaking in the trim).

The Starex has much more comfortable interior accomodations. It can seat seven (2-2-3) comfortably, and 9-10 (3-3-4) if you pack them in (the jump seat beside the driver and the middle seat of the second row are kinda hard). Headrests in the second and third row are kind of low, but the semi-buckets are very comfortable. The ride is a bit floaty over wavy roads, but it's very stable over sharp ruts and bumps.

The Crosswind is more utilitarian. It can seat ten people with side-facing third row benches, but only seven with the forward-facing third row. Space is pathetic compared to the Starex, and the ride is quite bumpy and uncontrolled.

The Starex has better brakes (four wheel disc, to boot). Body control and handling are just average, but the Crosswind's body control is very poor, and the steering is very detached. The Crosswind is almost unbearably slow with an AT (it's okay in the city, but it's almost impossible to overtake trucks on crowded highways), and just slow with an MT. The Starex AT has a bit of lag, but it's very fast, and feels almost like a gasoline V6 at low speeds.


The Crosswind is more fuel efficient due to the lower weight, but my Dad claims that his CRDi Starex doesn't give him any headaches in terms of fuel consumption. It may not be Crosswind level efficient, but it's probably much better than Starexes of old.

The Crosswind's OHV non-CRDi engine has little that can go wrong with it. No timing belts or chains to replace, no fancy injectors to clog. It'll get you to 200k plus kilometers if you treat it right. THe Starex's engine is based on the hardy Mitsubishi 4D56, which require a little more maintenance. Long-term reliability of the injectors in Philippine conditions is an unknown. But there are no reported problems with the engine so far.

Both vehicles are turbo engined, which means you should be extra careful with periodic maintenance.

Good luck with the buy.