The Starex Pro - 14 Seater Van

[monmendoza]

2 monthS ago, I bought a starex jumbo. I was satisfied with its overall performance that I convinced the office to buy as starex pro as an alternative to our mitsubishi L300 FB vans. We took delivery of the our first starex pro tonight. Basically the Starex Pro with shuttle van conversion is a good alternative even compared to the more expensive Nissan Urvan Estate and The Toyota Hi-lux commuter. Tomorrow I will post pictures of the Starex pro. Some salient points

1. 2.6L regular diesel engine (non turbo, non crdi)
2. 79HP 5HP higher than the L300 (i think) almost the same with the Urvan and lower HP (102) compared to the Hiace commuter.
3. 880K including comprehensive insurance, dual aircon, shuttle van conversion. Much cheaper than the estate and the hiace commuter
4. twin rear swing gate doors
5. power windows
6. power door locks.
7. sliding windows
8. With Am/FM cassette
9. 3, 3, 4(fold and tumble) , 4(side facing folding seats x 2) seating configuration total of 14 passengers.
10. comes only in white color
11. Front disc brakes, rear drum brakes
12. Steel wheels with full wheel cap cover
13. 170 nm torque
14. Same dimensions as starex jumbo ( making it 1 of the largest vans)
15. Full carpet for roof and sidings. No lawanit.
16. Choice of carpet or rubberize metallize plastic for the flooring
(we choosed the metallize plastic )
18. Much bigger cargo space than a Revo or an adventure.

I will post my first impressions tomorrow and of course the pictures.

[niky]

How's the leg room? The seating configuration is intriguing, as it seems to give more knee room than the cramped hiace commuter (wonderful engine on that one, though)... but I can't help but feel the 2+2 side facing fourth row might be a bit tight.

Pics!

[monmendoza]

How's the leg room? The seating configuration is intriguing, as it seems to give more knee room than the cramped hiace commuter (wonderful engine on that one, though)... but I can't help but feel the 2+2 side facing fourth row might be a bit tight.

Pics!

Hello niky, The 2+2 side facing fourth row is slightly shorter than the revo almost the same as the adventure but legroom is much wider because of the width of the jumbo pro. The legroom of the other seats is more than acceptable. You can also place cargo under the seats if used as a commuter. I am posting pictures below.

[monmendoza]

In general, build quality of the conversion compared to the build quality of the GRX Jumbo is not up to par. Iba pa rin talaga ang gawang Factory. But compared to the FB, mas maganda naman ito. As Promised ito na ang mga pictures.
Picture 1 with all seats down.
Picture 2 with 2 side facing seats up and 3rd row up for maximum cargo space
picture 3 rear view with the two side doors. step ladder was extra option at 6.5k
picture 4 side view with 3rd row seat folded.

[impulzz]

wow nice van! malakas din ba aircon?

[monmendoza]

The second set of pictures:
picture 5 - side view with 3rd row seat in upright position
picture 6. rear aircon. Malamig naman
picture 7. View from the front passenger side
picture 8 - Dashboard view. Meron pa rin siyang tachometer.

I forgot to mention that the windows in the middle are sliding type and we ask not them not to remove the iron grill protection. Iyong mga L300 kac sa office, ilang beses na nana nakawan by destroying the side locks.

[BlueBimmer]

wow 880k bargain na yan!

[zero]

thanks mon for sharing this.
my sister is still scouting for a van kasi to replace her 18 yr. old L300,
baka magustuhan niya ito?

[niky]

RE: not as refined as GRX: Commercial van naman kasi, di passenger van... pero expected.

Ansarap gawin mega-taxi o FX ata yun... sulit ka sa space!

So far as I see, the one advantage the Commuter has is that great engine... but seating and access are greatly affected by the ultra-tall seating position and short body (which gives little knee room).

[IMm29]

We have a major Starex convert and loyalist in monmendoza ;) Hehehe!

I'll add a +1 to what niky said. The PRO, despite being converted to seat passengers, won't feel as plush as the GRX. But by the pics, it doesn't look all that bare. I'm not sure if it's going to be as relatively comfy as the straightforward, front-facing commuters for shuttle service tho, but it is quite versatile.

[cta2]

Please post contact person number and dealer...

I have already asked Hyundai Global and they gave me the ff quote:

Unit 805T
Conversion 88T its called "School Service"
Rear Aircon 35T

Grandtotal of 928T

If I can get 880T (converted and insurance and aircon) will buy one already!

Thanks!!!!

[monmendoza]

Please post contact person number and dealer...

I have already asked Hyundai Global and they gave me the ff quote:

Unit 805T
Conversion 88T its called "School Service"
Rear Aircon 35T

Grandtotal of 928T

If I can get 880T (converted and insurance and aircon) will buy one already!

Thanks!!!!

contact lui in this forum. Masyadong mahal ang quote sa iyo. The unit cost is also 805K but He gave me a 55K discount. I am not sure if the 55k offer is still valid but I am quite sure my discount pa rin iyan. Aside from that our full conversion cost only 77K (75K lang kung carpet ang flooring). Rear aircon cost is also 30K. Initial test drive masyadong malamig ang aircon, kaya ang thermostat level sa gitna lang. Of course the van is only 2 days old kaya di pa masabi. Our plan is to convert all our company service L300FB to starex Pro if there are no major defects in 6 months time and we are satisfied with the starex pro.

[oldblue]

mabigat ba dalhin sa traffic compared to an L300FB?

[IMm29]

contact lui in this forum. Masyadong mahal ang quote sa iyo. The unit cost is also 805K but He gave me a 55K discount. I am not sure if the 55k offer is still valid but I am quite sure my discount pa rin iyan. Aside from that our full conversion cost only 77K (75K lang kung carpet ang flooring). Rear aircon cost is also 30K. Initial test drive masyadong malamig ang aircon, kaya ang thermostat level sa gitna lang. Of course the van is only 2 days old kaya di pa masabi. Our plan is to convert all our company service L300FB to starex Pro if there are no major defects in 6 months time and we are satisfied with the starex pro.

Malamig talaga ang aircon ng Starex, front and rear. Kaya kahit mabagal yung dati naming Starex, comfortable pa rin siya sa loob, kaya di nakakainis.

mabigat ba dalhin sa traffic compared to an L300FB?

This I'd like to find out. Our 2.6L NA AT Jumbo (and 9 seater as well) is slow. Perhaps a relatively lighter (because it's bare-er) MT 2.6L NA Jumbo would be a bit quicker.

[monmendoza]

Malamig talaga ang aircon ng Starex, front and rear. Kaya kahit mabagal yung dati naming Starex, comfortable pa rin siya sa loob, kaya di nakakainis.


This I'd like to find out. Our 2.6L NA AT Jumbo (and 9 seater as well) is slow. Perhaps a relatively lighter (because it's bare-er) MT 2.6L NA Jumbo would be a bit quicker.

I test drive it yesterday. In flat roads, its not obvious that it is slow, but going up to Antipolo, or any winding road uphill for that matter like baguio or sagada , I don't think that it will compare with a starex crdi . Not even close.
But compared to an L300, mas madali siyang drive lalo na hinde ako sanay sa kambio ng L300 na nasa steering wheel. It also faster than an L300 FB. Masyado kasing makalampag ang L300FB kahit nong bagong deliver iyon, tumutunog ang upuan pag nakafold. The ride is also very smooth. It does not seem like a leaf spring suspension.

[IMm29]

I test drive it yesterday. In flat roads, its not obvious that it is slow, but going up to Antipolo, or any winding road uphill for that matter like baguio or sagada , I don't think that it will compare with a starex crdi . Not even close.
But compared to an L300, mas madali siyang drive lalo na hinde ako sanay sa kambio ng L300 na nasa steering wheel. It also faster than an L300 FB. Masyado kasing makalampag ang L300FB kahit nong bagong deliver iyon, tumutunog ang upuan pag nakafold. The ride is also very smooth. It does not seem like a leaf spring suspension.

Oh, it's not going to be close to the CRDi. Maybe a bit closer, if ever, to the TDIC, but not the CRDi on full boil. Hehehe!

I think the L300 is more geared to low speed hauling, rather than being comfortable doing some relatively high speed highway cruising. I think due to the additional weight, our LWB Jumbo didn't seem less comfortable compared to our SWB GRX. I'd like to know eventually how the Starex overall (emphasis on the suspension) will fare when doing more PRO/L300 FB duties. I hope it's up to the task.

[eggman]

14 seater yan?Parang yan ang 18 seater version ng Starex Pro..Ok naman yan kaysa sa Urvan Shuttle na vinyl ang seat trim..Ang alam ko ang aircon ng Starex Pro ay galing sa Phil Air(in short local lang ang aircon nya)...But ok nayan...

Anyway kukuha rin kami nyan(16 seater version nga lang) para isama sa Urvan ng lola ko..

[IMm29]

Ah talaga? Local na yung air con ng Pro? Well, I hope ok pa rin yan. Sayang naman kung hindi, madadamay pa ang rep nung ibang Starex kung sakaling hindi malamig ang aircon ng Pro.

[monmendoza]

Ah talaga? Local na yung air con ng Pro? Well, I hope ok pa rin yan. Sayang naman kung hindi, madadamay pa ang rep nung ibang Starex kung sakaling hindi malamig ang aircon ng Pro.

The aircon is orginal factory aircon from Korea. What is local is the rear aircon which is connected to the same compressor. They just added an expansion valve and evaporator . The Difference compared to the aircon of the FB, is that the Starex Pro rear aircon has its own separate condenser (aircon radiator) different from the condenser of the front aircon. The way I remember our L300 FB they share only one condenser for the front and rear aircon evaporator.

[IMm29]

The aircon is orginal factory aircon from Korea. What is local is the rear aircon which is connected to the same compressor. They just added an expansion valve and evaporator . The Difference compared to the aircon of the FB, is that the Starex Pro rear aircon has its own separate condenser (aircon radiator) different from the condenser of the front aircon. The way I remember our L300 FB they share only one condenser for the front and rear aircon evaporator.

Ah ok. Thanks for the clarification. This should still be ok.