2022 Toyota Granvia VX Six-Seat Review

This week at DiscoverAuto, we’re talking about a fairly forbidden topic to Australians: people movers. Flashback to the 1990s and the early 2000s, the Toyota Tarago was such a hugely car locally with those needing to transport lots of people. Yet fast forward to now, and not only is the Tarago no longer in existence, but many of its rivals have also perished thanks to the continued rise of SUVs. Handily however, a Tarago alternative is still sold by Toyota locally: enter the 2022 Toyota Granvia VX. Based on the Toyota HiAce, the Granvia is a more luxurious proposition which can carry either six or eight people.

The Toyota Granvia competes in a market that has few competitors, with just the Kia Carnival, Hyundai Staria and the Volkswagen Multivan available on the market. Though this is a limited market, there are still buyers for these large people movers, so does the Granvia have what it takes to keep the Toyota’s reign in the people mover market going? Let’s find out.

Price & Equipment: 6.5/10

There are two models of 2022 Toyota Granvia: the entry-level Granvia at $65,150 plus on-road costs and the top-spec Granvia VX, which starts at $75,841 plus on-road costs (or around $83,000 drive away).

Standard equipment for the Granvia VX includes 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic rear sliding doors, leather seating with an eight-way electric driver’s seat, electric second and third row captain’s chairs with two stage seat heating, automatic LED headlights, LED front fog lights, auto wipers, auto-folding and heated exterior mirrors, a digital rear mirror, dual-zone climate control (one zone for the first row then another for the rear rows), rear sun shades, an 8.0-inch touchscreen, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation with live traffic, digital radio, keyless entry, three-colour LED ambient lighting for the rear passengers and a 12-speaker Pioneer premium audio system.

Safety features include nine airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, speed sign recognition, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, forward collision assist, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors with a 360-degree camera, auto high beam and rear-cross traffic alert.

We would like to see the addition of a sunroof (or two), heated front seats, driver’s seat memory settings and a power tailgate. Other cars in this class have these features so it is a shame to see that the Toyota does not.

There is a limited amount of colours available on the 2022 Toyota Granvia: the standard colour is ‘Ebony’ (black) while ‘Crystal Pearl’ (pearl white), ‘Silver Pearl’ and our test car’s ‘Graphite’ paintwork add $675 to the price. A no cost option in the Granvia VX is the addition of a fourth row (bringing the total amount of seating capacity to eight).

Rivals for the Granvia VX are the Hyundai Staria Highlander which is $66,500 plus on roads ($9,341 less than the Granvia), and the $71,890 drive away Kia Carnival Platinum. Both these rivals have an alarm system, electronic park brakes, driver fatigue detection, larger wheels (18-inch on the Staria and 19-inch on the Carnival), power tailgates, sunroofs, tyre pressure monitoring systems, heated and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheels and opening rear windows over the Granvia.

The 2022 Toyota Granvia is on average $10,000 more expensive than its rivals and offers less equipment. On paper, the Granvia doesn’t seem to add up in terms of value for money.

Engine & Performance: 7/10

The sole engine available on the 2022 Toyota Granvia is Toyota’s familiar 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel that is also used in the LandCruiser Prado and the HiLux.  In this tune, it produces 130kW of power (at 3,400rpm) and 450Nm of torque (between 1,600rpm and 2,400rpm). Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed torque converter automatic transmission – the Staria, by comparison punches out the same 130kW of power and less torque at 430Nm, but the Carnival offers 148kW/440Nm.

The engine in the Granvia is no powerhouse and it is also a little vocal when accelerating, which this engine is known for. Weighing a full 2,665kg (tare) means that the Granvia goes nowhere in a hurry and we think it could really use the power bump that the Prado and HiLux both received (150kW of power and 500Nm of torque) as accelerating up to highway speeds can be alarmingly slow.

The transmission is smooth and does an excellent job of managing what little power the Granvia has. There are no lags between shifts, and it selects gears quickly. The claimed average fuel consumption figure in the Toyota Granvia is 8.0L/100km and while this is surprisingly good on paper, we saw an average figure of 11L/100km in purely urban driving.

Considering that many Granvias will be driven solely around town – potentially in hotel shuttle use – we think that Toyota should develop a hybrid drivetrain for it, or import the full-Yakuza Vellfire and/or Alphard from Japan instead. Both are available with hybrid drivetrains, both are much cooler than the Granvia and thanks to Australia’s import laws, there are already thousands on Australian roads already, so they’re already quite familiar to us.

Ride & Handling: 8/10

People movers are supposed to be comfortable to offer the best ride comfort for their passengers. We found that the ride for front passengers in the 2022 Toyota Granvia for is very good, there is a perfect amount of dampening without feeling too floaty. Yet in contrast, riding in the back of the Granvia the ride is a little firm, especially when comparing it to the Carnival and Staria. Handling is something that people movers aren’t known for and the Toyota Granvia is no exception. Due to the sheer mass and volume of the Granvia there is quite a lot of body roll, this means you need to slow down more than expected for corners in order to not make passengers uncomfortable.

For the most part, the active safety features on the Toyota Granvia are quite good. The adaptive cruise control is great, the blind spot monitoring works well and the auto high beam while occasionally over sensitive does work well. The problem we have is with the lane keep assist, which is overly aggressive, if it detects you encroaching on another lane not only will it swerve you back into your lane but it also brakes for you, which can upset the balance of the car.

Interior & Practicality: 9/10

The interior of the 2022 Toyota Granvia VX is rather luxurious on the surface with high glass black trim, faux wood trim and cream leather seating. Comparing the interior to the one used in the Toyota HiAce on which it’s based and you would be forgiven for thinking they are different cars. The Granvia’s interior does make it feel more upmarket, though for the extra coin you would hope it would.

There are plenty of storage options in the Granvia. There is a deep two-tiered centre console, a storage tray in front of the centre console, a decent sized glove box, deep door bins, a cup holder from both the driver and passenger, a small storage pocket next to the gear selector and a card holder down below.

The quality of leather used in the Granvia is very good, it feels soft and supple while still being relatively easy to maintain (for cream leather). Our test car had just under 5,000km on it and the leather looked excellent. The plastics used in the cabin are hard wearing and though not fantastic to touch, will at least stand the test of time.

The 8.0-inch touchscreen in the cabin is one of the things that let the Granvia down compared to its rivals. It can be slow to respond to touch and can leave you waiting for menus or the map to load. The quality of the screen is also quite grainy, as with the same system in other Toyota products. The wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto worked well, though the Pioneer sound system wasn’t amazing.

Opening the automatic power rear doors of the Granvia reveals four captain’s chairs, which have power recline and a power leg rest – they entertained passengers greatly and felt like they were from business class of an aeroplane. They are very comfortable and travelling in the Granvia can be quite serene for the rear passengers. In the rear there is a total of six USB-C ports, sunshades for all rear passengers, three-colour ambient lighting and an air conditioning zone, plus each rear seat is heated.

Open the boot of the Toyota (you will have to get out of the way of it as it swings wide open) and you will see that cargo space will depend on how far back the third row have their seats pushed, but in an average position there is a fair amount of cargo space. Toyota does not claim how big the boot is likely due to how adjustable the interior seating is.

Service & Warranty: 6.5/10

The 2022 Toyota Granvia VX comes with the brand’s five-year unlimited kilometre warranty which is the same that is offered by Hyundai for the Staria, but two less than the Kia Carnival. The Toyota does not come with any form of roadside assistance whereas the Kia and Hyundai come with 12-months’ worth of roadside assistance, which is extended by a further 12-months for up to five years in the Hyundai and seven years in the Kia.

The Granvia requires being serviced every six months or 10,000km, which is much less than the 12 months or 15,000km requirements of the Staria and Carnival. Servicing the Granvia over the span of five years or 100,000km will set owners back $2,600 – Staria will cost owners $1,800 over the span of five years/75,000km and the Kia Carnival $2,573 over the same period.

2022 Toyota Granvia VX DiscoverAuto Rating: 7.3/10

While the Toyota Tarago was something of a legendary car, the 2022 Toyota Granvia misses the mark. With a clear focus on its rear passengers, the Granvia is more of a shuttle service car than a family people mover. That will suit some buyers – like hotels – just fine, but both the Hyundai Staria and Kia Carnival offer more comfort, much better value, a better driving experience and a far superior aftersales program.

We still think the Granvia is worth consideration if you’re after a big family bus, because it’s very comfortable and it features a lot of standard equipment. But ultimately, we think that it has too many limitations to be truly recommendable to those looking for such a big vehicle – it’s slow, poor value for money and not amazingly well packed either.