The Toyota Granvia eight-seater people mover is the replacement for the long-running Toyota Tarago, promising to be a great family car. Let's see how it weighs up as a BabyDrive…
The Toyota Granvia has the definite feel of a white van to drive, it's very boxy and slow but with a surprisingly good turning circle which made it quite nimble around town and relatively easy to park.
Being so big and an eight-seater I was keen to find out how practical the back would be and how many child seats would fit but I was quite disappointed. There are ISOFix and top tether anchorages in the two seats in both the second-row and third-row, so I could install four child seats.
However, legroom was really quite tight. With the front seats in my seating position (I'm 162cm) there was room for a rear-facing seat in the second-row, forward-facing seats in the third-row and only just enough room for someone my height in the fourth row.
I also found the aisle down the centre of the Granvia to get between seats is really narrow and I could only just squeeze myself through it (and I am not a very big person).
I also found that when I went to use the boot, the boot door is enormous and heavy and opens with momentum so you have to move out of the way so you don't get hit by it and to my surprise, there is no boot to speak of in this eight-seater version?! It's quite a contrast to the VW Multivan I tested, which could accommodate a stroller behind the rear seats without even having to fold it! The Kia Carnival has a much better layout too, where the rear row disappears into the floor or leaves behind a deep well for storage when in use.
You can slide the rear row of seats forward slightly and fold the seat base up but as legroom is minimal in the back anyway it would render the whole fourth row unusable and I'm sure anyone who buys a people mover for their family needs all the seats.
There are some, I'm sure, unintentional comedy elements we discovered to the Granvia seating which resulted in endless japes on a journey with big kids in the back. There are pedals on the back of the second and third-row seats to enable you to put the seat back up and down. This is, of course, a very comical thing to do to your siblings and fellow passengers while driving along! It's a little like reclining a dentists chair! The passenger can of course retaliate, having removed the simple spacers that are in the runners in the floor (that look like an afterthought to me), allowing their seat to slide backwards and forwards.
So if they time it well for when Mum drives up a hill and release the lever on the side of their chair it will slide all the way back, crushing the legs of the passenger behind them and seeking revenge! This may sound childish (not to mention potentially dangerous) but the inner child in me laughed for at least thirty minutes at the fun I would have had with my siblings if we'd had this car as kids!!
There are some fantastic features in the Granvia, starting with the ventilation that runs along the sides of the ceiling to all rows of seats which is fantastic for keeping rear passengers cool.
There are also lights all the way along with the air vents too and they have three strengths of brightness which is good for little ones at night. They are not reachable by the driver but you could turn one on before you start your trip.
The storage is fantastic in the Toyota Granvia too. The dashboard is littered with my favourite cup holders and the central console storage box is enormous.
There is a lot of oddly shaped plastic in the front dash and central console which I found jarring but the size and quantity of storage are definitely there.
In the rear rows of seats, there are cup and bottles holders for all rows that would easily hold a large refillable water bottle and a fold-out tray in the second row with plenty of cup and bottle storage too.
There are some hidden storage boxes in the side panels of the Granvia too.
The media system in the Toyota Granvia is quite simple and basic but it does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too which was great over the week I drove it.
The reversing camera image is quite good, it fills the whole screen and you can turn the sensors beeping off with a button on the dashboard.
The Toyota Granvia scored a five-star ANCAP Safety Rating. It has a large and clear seatbelt removal visual on the central dash which is great for warning you if anyone in the rear three rows takes of their seatbelt.
Seven airbags come as standard in the Toyota Granvia and this includes head protection airbags that extend to all four rows of seats.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the 2020 Toyota Granvia eight-seater?
Behind its enormous and heavily sprung boot door, the eight-seater Toyota Granvia doesn't really have a boot. It's quite a contrast to the VW Multivan I tested, which could accommodate a stroller behind the rear seats without even having to fold it! The Kia Carnival has a much better layout too, where the rear row disappears into the floor or leaves behind a deep well for storage when in use.
I was really surprised that there is no boot space in such a large vehicle. You can fold the seat bases of the rear row of seats up and slide the rear seats forward however that renders that row useless for legroom and I'm sure anyone who buys an eight-seater people mover does so because they need all eight seats AND a boot.
I found instead I had to put my grocery shopping on the floor around the base of the rear seats which isn't ideal because it an accident the tins would be missiles!
How good is storage inside the Toyota Granvia?
Storage inside the Toyota Granvia is very good throughout. In the front, there is my favourite: three dashboard cupholders littered across the dash that will hold reusable and disposable coffee cups and large refillable water bottles too.
The central console storage box is enormous!
The lid doubles as a storage tray and has two cup holders at the back too.
In front, between the footwells, are a selection of plastic trays and oddments that felt a little like plastic for plastic's sake, but at least I found it good for popping my handbag in.
Above this is a panel with USB and 12V sockets. But check out the cheap look and feel of it!
The glove box feels small for the size of the dashboard but it does hold my iPad and wallet with the manuals.
In the ceiling, there is a glasses case and both visors have lit vanity mirrors.
The door bins in the front are nice and large. They will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad easily too.
Storage in the second row is good too. There are map pockets on the back of both front seats, they will hold but not conceal an iPad. There are two USB sockets in the back of the central console box for second-row passengers.
There are door bins in the doors that will hold a large refillable water bottle and there is a fold-out tray between the second-row seats that has four cup holders in it. They are well-sized to hold reusable or disposable coffee cups and a large refillable water bottle fits in them too.
Alongside the third and fourth row seats, there are two cup holders. They will hold a large refillable water bottle or reusable or disposable coffee cup and there is a hidden storage box in them too.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the Toyota Granvia?
The Toyota Granvia is not a particularly noisy car. I was pleasantly surprised at how adaptable the volume for most of the sounds is.
The media system does seem quite basic in the Toyota Granvia…
…but I do like the three-way split home screen that makes selecting different features easy while driving.
The Granvia does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which I was glad I had for the week I had the car.
The reversing camera image is a little pixellated and although it fills the whole screen, it feels a little small for such a big vehicle! You can turn the parking sensors off with a button to the right of the screen.
The lane departure warning is a vibration rather than an alarm which is great but the lane keep assist is really frustrating. When it senses you are near the line it brakes instantly and slows the car right down. This would obviously be a good safety feature on the rare occasion you'd need it but for everyday driving, I found it frustrating.
The cruise control in the Toyota Granvia is not very accurate and I found it easy got carried away from the set speed when the was a slight incline or decline in the road surface.
The buttons are on the right side on the steering wheel and they are easy to use.
I love driving big white vans which was helpful for this week as the Granvia is pretty much a van to drive when people are the things you're transporting and delivering at their various locations!! Â I found it rather boxy and its engine a little noisy but the turning circle in the Granvia is fantastic, which made parking and maneuvering surprisingly easy. The windows are large in the Granvia too so visibility is quite good and being so boxy it is easy to judge the front and back of the vehicle there are not big bumpers to have to consider.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The indicator volume wasn't baby-waking in the Toyota Granvia it was very quiet.
The sat-nav guidance volume can be muted on the left side of the media screen, which is excellent for not disturbing other passengers.
I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!
The sliding rear doors of the Toyota Granvia are fantastic for car parks so they don't open out onto other cars. They are however quite noisy and heavy and I found when parked on a hill or incline you have to be VERY careful of fingers because they come sliding closed very fast without warning. The front doors were fine and didn't close with a baby-waking thump!
With baby asleep you can get in and out of the front cab without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.
With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!Â
There is a loud beeping alarm if you open the driver's door with the engine still running.
There is a seatbelt removal alarm and a fantastic visual for all three rows of rear seats on the central dash. This is great because you wouldn't be able to see who has removed rear belts otherwise.
The screen in front of the driver tells you your distance to empty in km too which is really handy.
The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a mum because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!
For this reason the distance to empty display can let you know if you have enough fuel to make it home with bub and then go out and get fuel another time when you will not have to take bub with you.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the Toyota Granvia eight-seater?
The Toyota Granvia is an eight-seater that fits four child seats.
There are three rows of seats in the back of the Toyota Granvia, with pairs of individual seats in the second and third-rows…
…and a 60:40 split fourth-row bench with only two usable seats.
The four, second and third-row seats all have ISOFix points in the seat bases…
…and top tether anchorages right at the bottom of the back of the seatbacks.
They are all not in plastic guides but well labelled. They are easy to connect to but I definitely needed extension straps for the top tethers when using rear-facing child seats.
I found that despite the Granvia being such a big vehicle, space in the back was tight. The legroom between the rows of seats was just enough for me to sit in the front (I'm 162cm), rear-facing child seat in the second row, a forward-facing child seat in the third row and me to just sit in the fourth row. All with no boot space!
The fourth row was also really hard to get to because of the narrow aisle between them.
Not only is the central aisle very narrow, but the ceiling is also low so it was very difficult to squeeze between the seats for someone my size. Rugby players need not apply!
Getting children in and out of the second and third-row seats is okay from the outside of the Granvia as you can reach through to do up their harnesses but accessing the fourth row is quite hard.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is plenty of room to feed bub in the front seats or either of the back rows.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the Toyota Granvia eight-seater? And how good is the Toyota Granvia to drive?
The front seats of the Toyota Granvia are quite comfortable and easy to adjust with manual adjustments on the side.
The headrests are not adjustable and I could definitely not wear a ponytail while driving.
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
My husband and I took turns to travel in the back next to our daughter and we found I could sit with enough legroom (I'm 162cm) but my husband's knees were touching on the seat in front and he's 182cm. That's with the seats having space evenly distributed between the rows. The rear seats were quite comfortable too.
For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
There are spacers for between the rear rows of seats, you slot these metal bars into the tracks that the seats move on and it limits the movement of the rear seats.
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
Across the front dashboard, there are four air conditioning vents, they can be easily controlled using the buttons on the central dash.
In the back, there are air-conditioning vents in the ceiling for all three rows of rear seats.
There are controls in the ceiling above the second-row seats but they are not reachable or adjustable from the front while driving.
When maneuvering or parking, the Granvia has a tight turning circle and has a flat front and back panel which made it easy to know where the ends of the car are and the big windows and camera image really helped.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Toyota Granvia, although it is very big was surprisingly easy to park.
It has a great seat belt removal visual for all rear rows of seats.
Seven airbags come as standard in the Toyota Granvia; for driver and front passenger, head airbags for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th seat rows, side airbags for driver's and passenger side and drivers knee airbags in the front.
In testing it scored 88% for child occupancy protection (43.28 points out of 49), 94% for adult occupancy protection (35.79Â out of 38), 79% for safety assist technology (10.3out of 13) and 84% for vulnerable road user protection (40.6Â out of 48). In child occupancy testing the Toyota Granvia scored 15.48/16 for the dynamic front test, 8/8 for the dynamic side test, 11.80/12 for restraint installation and 8/13 for onboard features.
ANCAP said of the child occupancy testing:
In the frontal offset test, protection of the 6 year and 10 year dummies was GOOD or ADEQUATE for all critical body regions.
In the side impact test, protection was GOOD and maximum points were scored.
The Toyota Granvia is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages and top tether anchorages on the second and third row outboard seating positions. Installation of child restraints in the fourth row, where fitted, is not recommended as there are no top tether anchorages.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed that most of the selected child restraints could be accommodated in the second and third row seating positions though one of the selected Type A convertible seats could not be correctly installed in rearward facing mode using theISOfix anchorages in the power-adjustable seats.
As standard, the Toyota Granvia comes with anti-lock braking system (ABS), active cruise control with stop and go (ACC), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for city, interurban and VRU, automatic headlights, automatic high beam, blind-spot monitoring (BSM), daytime running lights (DRL), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic data recorder (EDR), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue detection, forward collision warning (FCW), hill launch assist, lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), pre-crash systems, rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), secondary multi-collision brake, speed assistance and railer stability control as standard.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
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About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
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