2019 Toyota Hiace: Hits and misses

Earlier this week, Toyota Philippines hosted the world premiere of the all-new 2019 Hiace. And we must say, Toyota did a great job with the new model. We can only imagine the amount of effort and hard work Toyota has put to come up with a proper upgrade of an existing vehicle. And not just any vehicle, but one which is extremely popular in many countries. There is no room for error because a single silly mistake puts the reputation of the brand and that of the vehicle’s name at risk.

The first impressions of the new 2019 Toyota Hiace were nothing else but great. And we are glad to report that it has got more features that buyers will certainly appreciate rather than would be let down by. In this story, we are going to cover up the hits and misses of the brand-new 2019 Hiace.

2019 Toyota Hiace Hits

As mentioned earlier, the list of hits of the new Hiace is longer than of the misses. So, we decided to start with the hits first.

Exterior

The new Hiace has got a much better design and looks than its predecessor. It is so good that it seems to have some characteristics borrowed from an MPV or something. The previous model was a van and looked like one. However, the new one doesn’t. We mean is, that it is of course still a van, but doesn’t look like one, at least from the front. Toyota wanted to make the new Hiace a bit different than its predecessor. That’s why it decided to give the new Hiace an extended front end to eliminate the boxy look. This not only helped Toyota to enhance the overall looks of the Hiace but also to relocate the engine from under the driver’s seat to a bit more forward.

The 2019 Hiace features a pair of large and sharp headlamps. They are the ones that give this new model an aggressive front fascia. We also like the new front bumper that accommodates the LED daytime running lights and fog lamps. The rear end of the new Hiace has also been revised a bit by providing larger tail lights. These lights are laid out vertically and look great on a vehicle of this size.

Interior

The interior of the new Hiace looks roomier and nicer than before. The choice of color scheme for the cabin makes being in there for a long duration a hassle-free experience. The dashboard has been given a tweak and now looks more modern and tidy. Most of the controls are ergonomically placed and are well within the driver’s reach.

The steering wheel of the new Hiace is a three-spoke unit that gets silver accents for that added premium feel. Behind it sits a revised instrument cluster. The centre console accommodates a new display and vertical AC vents. Depending on the variant, the 2019 Hiace can carry a max of 14 people at a time. And all of them will be in a state of comfort thanks to the nice seats and rear AC vents.

Engine

It is interesting to note that the 2019 Toyota Hiace specs show the same engine option for all of the five variants but comes in a different state of tune for a few of them. It is a 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel engine. It produces 176 PS of power and 420 Nm of torque in the Commuter Deluxe variant and the same amount of power but 450 Nm of torque in the GL Grandia models. The base model gets a manual gearbox whereas the models above it have got an option of a 6-speed automatic transmission.

2019 Toyota Hiace misses

Nothing in this world is perfect. But to be honest, there aren’t any major misses of the new Hiace that we can tell you about at this point when we haven’t driven it yet. But if we still have to nitpick, then following would be a few concerned areas.

Safety features

The 2019 Hiace is equipped with ABS and dual front airbags that come as standard across all the variants. The Commuter Deluxe variant of the Hiace has an added centre airbag. The Grandia variants come with stability control and hill start assist. And it is the Tourer variant that is the safest of all as it has all the aforementioned features and disc brakes all around. Other variants get disc brakes only at the front. We think Toyota should have included more airbags and made all of them as standard. Also, disc brakes on all four wheels are something that should be standard too.

LED lighting

We would also have loved to see LED lighting all around the new Hiace. This is something that isn’t a dealbreaker, but we are nitpicking here, so.

So, these were some of the hits and misses of the latest 2019 Hiace. It is available in 5 variants - Commuter Deluxe MT, GL Grandia MT, GL Grandia AT, GL Grandia Tourer MT, and GL Grandia Tourer AT. Color card includes Luxury Pearl Toning, Silver Mica Metallic, and a special Light Blue Metallic color along with Black Mica and white color options depending on which variant you pick. The 2019 Toyota Hiace price starts at Php 1.59 million for the base model and goes all the way up to Php 2.22 million for the range-topping model.