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?

[BlueBimmer]

wow 880k bargain na yan!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[topelcayaba]

hi po sa lahat, kmsta po kaya ang power ng starex pro at may chance kaya bumaba pa ang price nito because of the all new grand starex... paki advise nyo naman ako bout dis unit kung wais bilhin? tnx

[monmendoza]

Some of you have PM me asking for the performance of the starex pro.
After 4 months ok naman siya. It is the conversion that had some problems.
First we had the sliding windows that leak during the heavy rains. Di nila masolve so finally we just decided to remove the sliding windows and place a flat glass. second we had problems with the 2nd row folding jump seat. Palaging nakakalas and again, the supplier have a hard giving a permanent fix. So our mechanical engineer ask the machine shop to fabricate a better
pin para di makalas. So I think you have to choose the one that does the conversion very carefully.
In general though, the starex pro is much better than the L300FB when it comes to long distance driving comfort. Specially for the passengers. Of course it is also 300K more expensive so it is not a direct comparison. I have also surveyed our office drivers and they told me that base on our requirements, there is nothing that we can load in the L300 that we cannot do with the starex pro. Therefore we have decided to gradually replace our fleet of L300's. Next month siguro bibili kami isa pa na starex pro.

[eggman]

I see yung rear aircon lang ang local.....Ok nayan..

[OTEP]

The place where the A/C is installed is near Makati Med (nadaanan ko kanina). I'm not sure where the components are sourced but the system is installed locally. So long as it's cold and reliable, no problem with it being local, Korean, Indian, etc.

AFAIK, Philair also does rear a/c installs for Suzuki APV's without OEM rear a/c (basic and M/T models). But they use OEM Zuk components.

[monmendoza]

The place where the A/C is installed is near Makati Med (nadaanan ko kanina). I'm not sure where the components are sourced but the system is installed locally. So long as it's cold and reliable, no problem with it being local, Korean, Indian, etc.

AFAIK, Philair also does rear a/c installs for Suzuki APV's without OEM rear a/c (basic and M/T models). But they use OEM Zuk components.

Yeah otep thats right. In fact if it is cold and reliable, I prefer it to be made in the Philippines. Makakatulong pa tayo sa bansa.

[IMm29]

Yeah otep thats right. In fact if it is cold and reliable, I prefer it to be made in the Philippines. Makakatulong pa tayo sa bansa.

Oo naman. If they keep it cold and reliable, up to the usual Starex standards, then there's no reason to still have the a/c conversion done overseas.

[lui]

great alternative talaga ito compared sa urvan or hi ace commuter. naka power window/doorlocks na din sya. tapos with all the conversions mas mura pa din sya. plus din yung may nguso sya at lis nde umiinit yung loob. mas safe din sya sa front collision.

ganda talaga ng starex