Toyota Tarago Reviews

The four-cylinder was praised last year for leg room and rear storage space but criticised for the lack of a centre console, the placement of the instrument display in the middle of the dashboard rather than in front of the driver and, importantly, for a lack of fully-laden pulling power up serious highway hills.In comparison the new six-cylinder earns the same praise for storage, gains praise for a neat centre console compartment and deserves even more criticism for the instrument display location, which I find downright annoying, but more of that later.But the most important improvement is the power. As someone who has driven people movers for years, there is now a clear rule to follow. Anything below six cylinders, or a four that can come near the 202kW of power on offer from the 3.5-litre engine in the Tarago, should be ignored if you can afford to do so. On that score, this year's Tarago met the benchmark. It was not hunting gears or surging revs up hills like last year's car.In fact, it felt more like the power you experience in a large 4WD than just about every people mover I have driven before.The V6 Tarago engine comes from the new Aurion sedan and the Lexus RX350, and boasts 60 per cent more power and 50 per cent more torque than the 2.4-litre four. The claimed combined fuel economy for the car is 10.3 litres per 100km. Our usage was a little higher, but was still acceptable considering the size and weight of the car.We tested the middle of the three Taragos in the range, the GLX, which is priced at $56,990. The equivalent model in the four-cylinder is $52,490. The gap represents a $4500 expense that we would heartily recommended you spend. And there's no mistaking the Tarago is a big car: at 4.8m long, it has three rows of seats in a 2-2-3 formation. The base model has an extra seat in the second row. Up front, there's plenty of room for driver and passenger and a clever closing compartment between. Leather seats are reserved for the $69,990 top-of-the-range Ultima model, but the cloth material is fine here. The seats, too, are easily adjustable.The six-speed auto shifts smoothly and there was no sign of it hunting gears under load. But the big bugbear is the centre placement of the instrument panel. It means the driver is looking side-on at the speedo — and in fact, the angle of vision also indicates a different reading from the passenger seat.I found it a distraction to have to look away from the road to check my speed. The second row of seats provides two captain's chairs that offer a pile of leg room and luxury.The back reclines almost flat and in a nifty move, a front leg rest can be flipped out just like a Jason recliner lounge chair.There were complaints that the two seats were too close together and the space available between the chairs and the doors meant the windows could not be used as a headrest. However, their positioning does allow the occupants a view ahead of the road less obstructed by the front seats.The third row has plenty of room but the real gain, particularly when compared with all large 4WDs and some of the smaller people movers, is the abundance of storage space behind the third row. Once the false floor is removed the space is cavernous. It easily soaked up luggage for six people.The rear seats fold down into the well to provide even more space. It's fiddly, but you can master it with practice. And for only the second time with a people mover (the previous being a Chrysler Grand Voyager) we were able to fold down the rear seats, push the second row forward and create enough space to put two full-size bicycles in the back.Verdict: Adding a six-cylinder engine has redefined the Tarago as a truly versatile and capable vehicle, particularly for large families. It's not cheap, but it is comfortable. The central instrument display is still annoying, however. 

It is, after all, a conveyance that all too clearly shows you've done all too much of that sort of thing at an earlier stage of life.Why else would you be steering what is essentially a warning for contraception?It's sobering to think that when Toyota started the whole MPV thing almost 24 years ago, John Howard was merely a failed treasurer, our cricketers were lucky to get a result against England — and you were much the same age as those little replications of yourself that now necessitate the purchase of a Tarago.This expanding clan has already put paid to any sport sedan ambitions, two-door notions having long drifted into the realms of fantasy.Yet one of the best things about the luxury models in the newly beefed up Tarago range is that it allows you todream.Simply flatten one of the rear seats, move the one in front to allow deployment of the ottoman, and you're off to nod in a comfort that rivals Qantas business class, with as smooth a ride, though considerably less engine roar.And without the endless sitting on the tarmac and the useless in-flight entertainment system.You can have a seven-seater with four of them in arm-resting captain-style and you can have them in leather if you like. Or, in the cooking model, have an eight-seater of which six of them are on benches.All fold flat to allow almost as many alternative configurations as there are drink holders and compartments in which food wrappings, rotting apple cores and snotty tissues can be deposited.This is all offspring-friendly, no doubt, but what's rather more interesting — what could, indeed, almost redeem your life as designated driver of the family bus — is in front of you.The previously anodyne four-cylinder Tarago range has been invigorated by the Aurion's excellent 3.5 bent six married to the same sedan's near-seamless six-speed automatic transmission.It's a combination that elevates the Tarago — a synonym for people mover in the same sense that Hoover is for another household device — beyond the blandly adequate.Starting at $54,690 for the GLi — an entirely reasonable $3700 premium over the exxiest four-potter — and rising to just shy of $70K for the legitimately luxurious Ultima, the V6 Tarago's a bit more than just a depressingly practical means of getting a bunch of people across the landscape.The VVVT-i six is good for a class-devouring 202kW at 6200rpm and 340Nm at 4700rpm if it's on 95 RON juice. The base GLi consumes this at 10.2 litres per 100km, the fruitier GLX and Ultima using a mere 200ml more — claimed figures that, on the basis of our introductory drive, appeared easily achievable.All three V6s get ABS stoppers with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist, Vehicle Stability Control and Traction Control. Passive safety runs to seven airbags and Toyota's Pre-Crash Seat-belt system, which tenses when it feels skidding or hard braking.Spend more and the wheels grow by an inch to 17, the seats become comfier, sixCDs are swallowed, air passes through the cabin more readily, side doors slide electronically, the dash and steering wheel turns to wood and the roof sprouts rails.And the driving (yes, we can speak of driving) is about perfect to the prescribed purpose.While the six-speed auto is worked to its best advantage in quasi-manual mode, it will seldom put a cog wrong when left in drive. Weighing in from 1800-1930kg (depending on the model and spec level), it reaches freeway speed without fuss and cruises there so effortlessly and quietly that miscreants in the rear row of seats will clearly hear your voice without it being raised.Inevitably, the claim of "car-like dynamics" is made and it's true to the extent that placing "dynamics" in the same sentence as "Tarago" isn't cause for laughter. In this respect, a V6 Tarago might surprise, if not delight, you.It's difficult to find a serious relevant criticism of Toyota's enhanced MPV — which is gratifying from this end given that we expected to fill this page with stuff like "seldom have we been so captivated by an instrument cluster".Not that this, too, is not very good. Housed in a sort of alcove atop the dash, it's easy to read though almost novelly designed, and cloistered from harsh summer glare.And cloistered is what you and yours are in a Tarago V6. Indeed, it's easy to imagine the clan lulled to sleep as you drive it down life's highway, leaving you to watch wistfully the sort of cars that could have been.It's just that now they won't leave you behind so easily.

Tarago might not have been the first people mover. The Volkswagen Kombi started it all before things like the (Isuzu) Holden Shuttle joined the fray. Toyota Tarago appeared here in 1983 as a 1.8-litre. As Toyota usually does, once it's in there it does it well and it does it for a long time.Ten years ago, one in two people movers sold in Australia was a Tarago. Lower-priced (Korean) models have provided competition, and although Tarago sales numbers remain steady its relative slice of the cake is thinner as total sales have grown.Despite prices being above those of volume selling rivals, this latest Tarago deserves to make that cake slice a bit thicker for Toyota.People movers started out as vans – one-tonne commercial vehicles with a few rows of extra seats bolted in. No amount of velour interior could disguise their teetering cornering, dodgy brakes, iffy steering, wheezy performance and fingers-crossed safety.Now, a decent people mover is designed to be so from the start, with up to eight people, not cargo, the main concern.This new Tarago is a fine example of that.It has a new body, yet most will easily pick it as a Tarago. It has 20mm more width inside where it feels very spacious and open, particularly in the second row of seats: slide that row back and those passengers get more leg-stretch room than in a Holden Caprice. That second-row seat can slide over 65cm of rails.The base of that seat can fold up to provide a cavernous space amidships, accessed by big sliding doors each side of the vehicle.The second row of seats can split-fold 60/40 – as does the third row, which has limited leg room but can squeeze in three smaller people. All occupants get height-adjustable head restraints. The third row can be somersaulted forwards to create more boot room.That luggage space is accessed by a single, lift-up tailgate. Storage and security are aided by handy bins under the rear floor. All three rows have fold-down central armrests.The new Tarago roof is 30mm lower, at 1750mm, meaning there shouldn't be many underground car parks that will catch it.Although the Tarago feels big inside and needs some familiarisation to get used to where the left of the vehicle is when driving past parked cars, its exterior dimensions are less than those of a Commodore sedan. Tarago is 4795mm long and 1800mm wide while Commodore is 4876mm long and 1842mm wide; so parking is not an issue.Yet the Tarago wheelbase is even greater than that of the long-wheelbase Caprice – noticed when doing left-hand turns on to narrow lanes when the nose swings out wide.Although a powerful V6 engine is mooted in six to nine months, the new Tarago makes do with a revised version of the 2.4-litre four-cylinder. It has variable valve timing and a higher compression ratio to give 10kW more power – now at 125kW while torque at 224Nm is only tested when a load is on and there's a hill to climb.The only transmission is a four-speed automatic. The selector comes from the lower dashboard and now allows for sequential shift. Otherwise it's an intelligent box that holds a lower gear for climbing or descending.The instrument panel is a talking point – central and well forward under the sloping, big windscreen. The only minor grizzle is that the gear readout for the sequential shift is positioned way left. Tarago settles at 2500rpm at 110km/h and noise is well suppressed for a four-cylinder.Plenty of glove boxes, cup holders and other stowage areas have been built in.Tarago starts with GLi on 16in steel rims. It is well equipped, including dual-zone climate control, tilt and telescopic adjustable steering, power windows (including those in the sliding doors), cruise control, fog lights and ABS brakes. It's $48,990.The recommended option is the $1500 safety pack which has extra airbags (side, curtain and driver's knee) to make a total of seven, plus vehicle stability control.The GLX gets that safety pack equipment as standard and adds roof rails, front and rear parking sensors, six-stack CD, 17in alloy wheels and rear-seat climate control airconditioner. GLX is $51,990.

Kia's Grand Carnival is an excellent example: an eight seater V6 with 184kW of power, air conditioning, air bags and ABS among its inventory for about $37,000.But some people don't want to drive Korean preferring to drive Japanese.It's understandable especially when you are talking Toyota - Tarago specifically.This is a quality people mover with an enviable reputation for reliability and resale value as well as economical running.But it has gotten away a bit on price moving out of reach of some who would have one.A new model Tarago surfaced recently and its price has been trimmed to a starting point of $48,990. Add the safety pack you'd want and on-roads and that would escalate to around $55,000.A big ask in anyone's measure but take a drive and you might feel differently.The newcomer looks a little like its predecessor but more handsome especially at the front and rear. And the quality is evident everywhere you look - paint, interior fit and finish, materials.Less van-like than the previous model, the new Tarago actually looks a bit sexy, and is definitely funky inside particularly the dash with its cyber style console and instrument panel.An eight seater with eight three point seat belts, Tarago is offered in two grades, GLI and GLX.Both share the same powertrain and running gear with the latter having 17in alloys and more goodies to justify a three grand premium.The interior is extremely space efficient offering numerous storage options and sliding side doors both sides with power windows.Access to the third row of seats is by sliding/ folding centre seats.The rear seat only just qualifies as a three seater and they'd have to be children.There's a decent size boot and a full size spare as well as additional storage adjacent to the spare.The test GLX had dual aircon that helped keep it pleasant with a full passenger load.We were able to drive the Tarago with eight aboard and the vehicle made a pretty good fist of it, even with the air on.The 2.4-litre petrol four cylinder with variable valve timing has been uprated to 125kW/224Nm and is a good engine for the vehicle considering escalating fuel prices. Having a powerful V6 under the bonnet does have its advantages but you pay for the privilege.Performance is not bad but would be better had Toyota fitted a five speed auto instead of the four speeder that is standard. No manual is offered.It does have a sequential change mode but if it was my choice, I'd lose that for an extra cog.Its a big vehicle but fits in the average suburban garage and is fairly easy to park. This was aided by front and rear parking sonar on the test vehicle.This system is adequate to warn of potential reversing danger with small children.It's family friendly offering easy access and comfortable seats. The driving position is in a command position - high like a 4WD.What really impresses is the Tarago's almost silent operation and smooth engine. It comfortably wafts along like a well mannered luxury limo and is a vehicle you could easily drive a long distance with minimal fatigue, even with a tribe on board.

As one person put it, the test was: how would a Tarago car go, packed with cargo, well past Bargo ... The bikes required a box trailer and bike rack, and one of Toyota's combined tow bar and rear bull bar assemblies attached.It's about now you start to realise there is going to be a fair bit of weight on board and therefore some strain on a car better known for ferrying hotel customers around Sydney.And the pluses and minuses of this car fulfilling this new role as a family holiday escape machine start to become obvious.The first is a plus. Unlike most large seven-and eight-seat 4WDs sold in Australia, the range of people movers actually have some reasonable storage space behind the third row of seats. In the new Tarago's case it is helped immensely by having a separate storage area down with the spare wheel and tools below the floor level. Virtually all the luggage fits behind the seats - the rest joins the trailer behind. And once the trip starts, more pluses and minuses appear.The key plus is leg room. Two adults up front, two lanky teenagers in the middle row and two primary schoolers in the back for a long haul — and not one complaint about lack of space. As various adults filled rows of seats during the trip, the position stayed the same.In fact, the only complaint about seating came from adults sitting in the last row who were concerned about sideways body movement — probably accentuated by the rear seats sitting behind the back wheels. But storage space was not sensational.Each passenger has cupholders in the doors, and there are two reasonable glove compartments up front, but there is no centre console.Designed as such to allow people to move between the rows of seats without having to get out of the car, it still meant there was nowhere in the middle of the front row, apart from on the floor, to place drinks, CDs etc.The next minus was a bit further down the highway. Down where the car had to climb serious hills in cruise-control mode.As the car climbed the hill it fought to maintain speed until with a giant surge the automatic shifter shot back a gear and the rev needle roared into the 5500-6000rpm range.This wasn't such a problem when the car was out of cruise control mode, but you certainly felt the surge when it was.Otherwise it was a comfortable speed-limit cruise. Overtaking was handled a bit more conservatively than normal, given the extra weight and strain. And side visibility for the driver looking for traffic out of the left-hand side second row of the vehicle is also a problem.The 2006-model eight-seat Tarago GLi we drove is the fourth-generation of the people mover Toyota has sold in Australia since 1990. The 2.4-litre engine has 10kW more power than the previous model, now delivering 125kW at 6000rpm (which we felt at the tops of hills) and a respectable 224Nm of torque at 4000rpm.Dual-zone climate control airconditioning, easy fold-down seats and an MP3 compatible CD-tuner with steering-wheel controls were particularly useful features in the car.However, I was not a fan of the centrally located instrument display as I prefer the gauges to be directly in front of the driver.The claimed combined-cycle fuel figures of 9.5 litres/100km proved fairly accurate on the trip, allowing for the extra load.The GLi model tested costs $48,990 while the higher-specced GLX costs $50,490.While that is more than demanded by the star of the people mover market, the Honda Odyssey ($38,7790-$45,290), the Tarago is a bigger car. In fact, it is considerably cheaper than a car more its own size — such as the larger-engined Chrysler Grand Voyager, which starts at $55,990.

The system draws on information from the electronic brake assist system and/or vehicle stability control system to prepare the front seatbelts if a collision is imminent.It uses electric motors to pretension the driver and front passengers seatbelts.New Tarago also has up to seven airbags, including two front, two side and two curtain bags, as well as a driver's knee bag to prevent leg injuries.But the key words here are "up to" because the base model GLi gets only two airbags and misses out on the pre-crash system.That's part of an optional $1500 enhanced safety pack.But ABS, electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist are standard.We took the new model for a brief spin around Sydney this week.It's as good and as functional as we remember, with rounder, more stylish lines and sits 30mm lower than the model it replaces. But it still falls short of the benchmark set by Honda's sleek Odyssey, the only people mover yet that could be described as really stylish.The front sports the same visor-like headlight assembly first seen on Renaults, the Nissan Murano and overeas Civic hatch. The rear features the same joined tail light design of the previous model but the lights sit higher on the rear, just under the back window. The overall affect is a similar but evolutionary look to the old car.New Tarago is still powered by the same 2.4-litre VVTi equipped double overhead cam fourcylinder engine found in Camry.But improvements see the engine deliver 10kW more power and electronic throttle control has been added for smoother, more reponsive operation. It delivers 125kW of power at 6000rpm and 224Nm of torque at 4000rpm.The greatest step forward as far as we're concerned is the relocation of the gear change lever from heartland America on the steering column. The unusual trigger change has been replaced with a conventional, stubby shifter that sits in a much more convenient location on the dash.You change gears manually with the four-speed sequential auto.Tarago has the ability to seat eight people and that is the reason, of course, for buying these cars. The middle seat slides on tracks to provide more leg room for centre passengers when the rear set is not in use.There's no V6 but the fourcylinder engine pays dividends in terms of fuel consumption. It is rated at 9.5L/100km. The previous model was not what you could call cheap and as such sold mainly to rental firms and hotel shuttle services. Toyota is hoping to regain sales with this model, but at a starting price of $48,990 it is $3500 more

Before Toyota released the space-age Tarago in 1990, people movers were fairly crude devices based on commercial vans. For the first time there was a purpose-built van for families with the attributes of a regular family sedan.Model watchThe smooth bubble-shaped Tarago had widely spaced wheels, one at each corner, and passengers sat low down and inside the track so they had a much lower centre of gravity. All that meant greater safety and stability, better dynamics, and much more comfort.To help get the centre of gravity down Toyota laid the fuel-injected 2.4-litre double overhead camshaft four cylinder engine flat under the floor. Access for checking the engine's vitals was through the bonnet.Peak power was 102kW at 5000 revs, torque is tops at 208Nm. Toyota offered a choice of five-speed manual gearbox or electronically-controlled four-speed auto transmission, with a column shift and drive was through the rear wheels. There was also the choice of a four-wheel drive model.Inside there was comfortable seating for eight. Access to the rear seats was through a kerbside sliding door, or the rear lift-up hatch. At launch there was a choice of base GLi, four-wheel drive RV or luxury GLX models. GLi came with power steering, AM/FM cassette, tachometer, and central locking.The GLX also had four-wheel discs, alloy wheels, a roof spoiler, front driving lamps, power windows and velour trim. An upgrade in 1994 added cruise control, remote central locking and ABS to GLX standard features.In the shopThe Tarago's body generally remains tight and taut in the long term, but look for bumps and scrapes that suggest neglect. Rear hatch struts can lose their lift after a while.To keep maintenance to a minimum the 2.4 litre engine has a timing chain instead of a belt that would need changing on a regular basis. It does, however, have long-life spark plugs which cost plenty when you do need to have them changed. Unfortunately it is such an awkward time consuming job that many mechanics simply don't do it.Check the engine's vital fluids to make sure they're fresh and clean, a sign they've been regularly checked and changed as necessary.Crunch timeThe Tarago led the way with a reasonable crumple zone ahead of the cabin. The GLX got a standard driver's side airbag in 1993.Owner's viewAnne Dwyer and her family bought a 1992 Tarago eight years ago. It had done 90,000km when bought and now has done 260,0000km with no sign of trouble. Anne says she it has made moving her family of five much easier.John Eliezer brought a 1990 Tarago GLX for his wife, and rates it as one of his best ever buys. It is used mostly as a driver-only vehicle but is fantastic when the family moves about together and is very popular for school car pool runs. It has had two starter motors and three sets of rear door struts.Craig Power has owned a few Taragos. His 1991 car did 100,000km on LPG without hassle.Rating15/20 Safe, solid and reliable for the large or extended family with plenty of room left for whatever they need to take with them.

Yet there is a $72,600 Toyota. The top-of-the-range Toyota Tarago tops the Toyota price list in Australia.Six, seven and sometimes eight-seat people movers – van-style vehicles with three rows of seats and all the comforts of a passenger car – have had a steady niche market in Australia.They're used by large families, families who frequently travel with friends or relatives, and by businesses which need to transport more than four or five people at a time.People movers start at under $30,000 but Toyota stretches all the way up to the luxury-vehicle segment with its last word in Tarago, the Ultima model. Competing against it is the Chrysler Grand Voyager Limited, a highly equipped, long-wheelbase version of the Voyager. Tarago uses the 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, giving 115kW of power similar to that in the Camry and RAV-4 all-wheel-drive.It has a four-speed automatic transmission with column shift.The Ultima version has twin airbags, side-impact airbags at the front, ABS anti-skid brakes, dual-zone airconditioning, alloy wheels, six-stack CD, leather upholstery, gearshift and steering wheel cover, a power sunroof and satellite navigation.And the Ultima has parking distance control. Two sonar sensors on the rear bumper detect obstacles up to 1.5m away while others warn of obstacles up to 50cm from the four corners.Tarago Ultima has heated front seats, and flags it's a luxury model by having woodgrain trim on the dashboard, doors and console.The Tarago Ultima may be the peak of how the Japanese do people movers. But the American view is something a bit bigger.The Chrysler Grand Voyager's extra size and weight is helped by a 3.3-litre V6 engine of 128kW. It, too, has a four-speed automatic and the vehicle is listed at $73,950.Grand Voyager Limited comes with ABS, dual-zone airconditioning, alloy wheels, heated front seats, leather trim, power-adjustable front seats, power sliding doors, power windows, roof rack and 10-speaker sound system.Its longer wheelbase means reasonable luggage room which otherwise is often a problem in carrying seven people and their luggage.An all-wheel-drive version of the Chrysler Grand Voyager Limited can be ordered for $78,590.Toyota Tarago and Chrysler Voyager are both available in less-expensive models, with the same mechanical engine-transmission package as the luxury versions.

During the week, he'd pile his van full of stuff related to the liquid art of plumbing and on weekends, replace the work gear with soft, pudgy offspring.It may have needed the addition of another row of seats, and the ride and handling may petrify other road users, but all agreed it was a workable compromise.This multi-purposing concept remains in the Toyota Tarago for it has the flexibility but in the case of the workhorse role, not the desire to cart up to eight occupants with surprising cabin versatility.Because of its 4750mm length and boxed perimeter, it will accept anything long, tall, squat or awkward that the wife may find in someone's garage on Sunday morning.The Tarago is no small fry, sitting on a long 2900mm wheelbase and standing 1770mm high  almost as high as wide and with as much onroad affront as a doberman with a truck licence.There are three rows of seats and, critically important for school holidays, sufficient luggage room to meet the demands of the occupants.The versatility comes from the Tarago's sliding second and third- row seats. The middle row  in the GLi model tested its 60/40 split folding seat  moves fore and aft over 485mm, while the rearmost bench seat travels over 825mm courtesy of runners on the floor.The Tarago GLi is the least expensive of the three-model lineup at $51,300. That's not cheap in monetary terms and unfortunately, you have some difficulty in justifying that high-jump figure.There's no CD player; the rear seat row doesn't split and fold; the upholstery and trim is sensible yet uninspiring; and despite the Tarago's obvious market in travelling away for holidays, there's no cruise control.Sweeping right-hand bends will make the driver shuffle in the seat because the thick A-pillars (the post that holds up the roof alongside the windscreen) block a lot of visibility. But that's part of the roll-over protection.At first I hated the foot-operated park brake, yet over time found it workable and even respected that it kept the Tarago's flat floor clean.But that said, the Tarago rewards by being adept at squirming its way through the weeny bitumen threads that trace WA's south-west coast. The engine is a mere 2.4 litres, yet is a leisurely touring mill that was pushed hard over 2200km and never put one cylinder wrong.Even the economy was a pleasant 9.3-litres per 100km/h, made all the better by $1.03 a litre fuel prices around Denmark.The high seating position reaps rewards by towering over other vehicles, yet it's not high enough to make entry and egress a problem for less agile drivers.I enjoyed the centrally mounted instrument panel for its clarity and ease of use; found heaps of personal rubbish to store in the many cubby holes and pockets within the dash and found the umbrella-lever shape of the dash-mounted auto gearlever a snap to use.Dual airconditioning, central locking, armrests for the two front occupants, AM/FM radio/cassette, electric front windows and mirrors, and very sensible and cleanly styled ergonomics made this a very good drive. Bit expensive, though.