Time for an upgrade

The idea of switching car first came into context when the government decided to introduce the tax free holiday to boost the economy after the havoc causes by the Covid-19 virus. So, we thought that this might be the right time to upgrade our mode of transportation since the aging Proton Inspira was already on its ninth year while the Suzuki Swift felt like its going to disintegrate anytime soon. Our first option was to go for an MPV or Crossover.

So, few names have been thrown into the frame. My very first choice was Honda BRV. The reason is because of the spacious third row seating. But it’s not to my wife liking. She felt that the car is too slim, to the point that she felt her shoulder was touching her friend’s shoulder when driving her Honda BRV. We also gave some thought for Perodua Aruz but decided not to pursue it because of it being too generic (too many people own them). That also ruled out Toyota Rush because we just don’t see the reason to pay an extra RM20k for more or else, the same car as Aruz. Mitsubishi Xpander meanwhile, is still a long run before it reaches Malaysian shore.

Running out of option, we decided to increase our budget a little bit. Next in line was Toyota Innova. Decent choice but again, not to my wife liking. So, we arrived to our last and most sensible choice, the Nissan Serena. It ticks every box available for a car to transport our small family. Lots of space, flexible seating option, tons of USB ports, decent entertainment and most important of all, a handsome MPV. We went to few Nissan dealers to look and bargain for the best price. Until finally, we managed to find one and give it a test drive. When I drove it, I like it a lot because due to it’s S-hybrid system, the huge car felt lightweight when moving. I drove it decently and was okay with it. However, my wife driving style was a bit different from me. Years of driving Suzuki Swift made her drove the big Serena rather enthusiastically. Only one u-turn in that car forced us to rethink our decision. Should we really go for an MPV?

Now, putting our driving habit into centext as well, we decided to go for an SUV. Of course, living in Malaysia, you cannot separate the word SUV from X70. It is just too synonymous. So, Proton X70 was the first one we tried. Very impressive for us. But it is a 5-seater so I don’t see the needs to get a 5-seater since we already owned one. So we looked and looked and finally, it went down to two SUVs. The Mitsubishi Outlander and the Nissan X-trail. The reason was pretty obvious. They are the only two C-segment SUVs with a third row seating. Okay, I know they are not 7-seater, but more of a 5+2 seater. But still, more seats than the traditional SUV contenders namely Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4, Subaru Forester, Mazda CX5, Peugeot 3008 and of course, Proton X70.

Mitsubishi Outlander was an attractive option but both of us said no. I don’t favour it because it has the same engine and drivetrain as my Proton Inspira (Mitsubishi Lancer, anyone?). My wife meanwhile didn’t like the interior as she felt it’s too ‘old-school’. And we both agree that it requires a rear aircond vents. Thus, that left us walking back to the same showroom that we intended to take the Serena at the first place.

Our choice was, none other than the Nissan X-trail. Not the most perfect car in the world (this is intended to those who started pointing flaws of the car to us) but it fits the criteria we set for ourselves in getting an upgrade on our current mode of transportation.