New Toyota Hi-ace Minivan

[chanchao]

Loads of people drive pick-ups privately, even thought they don't do much cargo hauling. I'm one of them, actually.

I was just browsing the Toyota site (www.toyota.co.th) and their minivan is a pretty nice vehicle and around the same size as a typical pick-up. (Some models like the 'Commuter' are just a bit bigger than a pick-up, others just a bit smaller).

Surely these vehicles would be as versatile as a pick-up, more so perhaps because there's less issues when it rains.

The seats can probably be removed or re-arranged to have some decent cargo space.

Price-wise they cost just a bit more than a higher-end pickup; Passenger models start at 920,000 baht including vat and airconditioner.

So for people who would need a lot of space, say perhaps those who buy station-wagons based on pick-ups like those Thairung jobs based on the Isuzu truck, why not look at an actual minivan?

[Heng]

Toyota Granvia owner here. Totally reliable and comfortable, and despite being a special import by SEC, any Toyota dealership can service it.

[Plus]

I think there's a registration issue - you cannot register them as private cars and you need to have a special license.

Granvias were modified by SEC to avoid 11-seat barrier for people carriers, right?

[Heng]

Not sure, Plus. Ours only has 4 individual seats and a sofa bench type thing.... can't imagine 11 seats fitting in there.