The Grand Voyager looks as if it’s built to serve in the president’s cavalcade. Walking up to the tinted windows in anything less than a suite feels imprudent – surely there must be someone important inside?
Assuming you are appropriately attired, tug and release the handle on the large side doors, then stand back to let the electric motor slide them open for you. No effort required. Put one foot up and it sinks gently into a strong-weave carpet. Swivel your hips and you can drop into a soft leather chair with adjustable head rest. And if the leather is too cold for you, turn on the seat heater.
This is all just for the passengers. As is the dual-DVD system with two screens so second-row passengers can play a video game or watch a different film to those in the third row. It’s so comfortable in fact that I can’t help but wonder if it’s not wasted on children. Prima donna celebrities and their respective entourages, however, will love it.
Up front, the secret service agent (or dad) gets a voice-controlled navigation system, rear parking sensors and video screen – if the car is the Limited spec. And in addition to the normal mirrors, there’s a rear-view interior “conversation mirror” – by which they mean it’s the “tell off the correct kid mirror”. If my parents had had one of these I would have got smacked a lot more often than my brother. Today’s kids may get their own DVD, but every silver lining…
If your kids are not at fighting age yet, there are fixings for three Isofix child seats. But whatever age they are, there’s the full safety kit – traction control and ESP, tyre-pressure monitoring, front and all-row side-curtain air bags.
It all sounds impressive doesn’t it? And if you were to sit in the back as it whisked you down the M1, or even in the front as you whisk it down the M1, you would continue to be impressed by the majestic progress it makes.
Which is why it is such a surprise that, around town, the engine labours to get off the line like a number 14 bus. Although whereas the bus sounds more like it’s turbine powered, the Grand Voyager sounds dependent on a lawnmower engine.
That’s all very strange, because it’s not really struggling. When working my way along a dual carriageway through north London, I found myself parallel with Toyota’s competitor, the Toyota Previa, and the Previa didn’t seem to have any performance advantage.
In the centre of pothole-ridden London, the lawnmower engine grumbled as I washed round tight corners and wobbled and bounced over the rough road surfaces, generally feeling a lot less presidential.
If only we could go from stationery to 70mph without that middle bit, I would have no complaints about the Grand Voyager at all. As it is, I feel slightly frustrated because it had the potential to be massively better than the rest of the market but is only marginally better.
What’s the market like?
The Grand Voyager in top-of-the-range Limited spec is £34,000 new. The ex-lease and ex-demo latest shape Grand Voyagers with less than 20,000 miles are yours for £24,000. Which is fantastic value.
If the current shape follows the pattern of the previous shape model, which is what early indications show, then in the MOT year depreciation drops to low single digits – that’s a great time to buy.
What else can this budget buy?
For £24,000 you can nearly buy two Kia Sedonas, though that’s not really comparing apples with apples. Nor is the Hyundai i800, even though it is £15,000 if we compare their top of the range model of a similar age (down from £20,000).
A Mercedes R-Class, which has the gravitas and more guts if not quite the practicality, is £35,000 (down from £43,000), so that’s not really a fair comparison either.
Which brings me inevitably to the Renault Espace or Grand Espace. They don’t quite have the presence, but are as close as I can get, and their top-of-the-range diesels are in the £31,000-£35,000 bracket. But with 10,000-20,000 miles and less than a year old, they are just £19,000. Plus they will lose less over the year ahead than the Chrysler, although it all shakes out to make 2-year-old cars neck-and-neck in value and price terms.
Summary
A significant vehicle in every respect: equipment, presence, price. But there are no totally credible rivals if you want to move seven people and their luggage around in comfort.