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-   -   Toyota Innova vs Toyota Fortuner - For a Family (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-muvs-4x4s/103937-toyota-innova-vs-toyota-fortuner-family.html)

Hi Guys,

Just sold my lovely Corolla yesterday and i am looking for a new vehicle now. I want a 6+ seater and i am confused between going in for Innova Top End or stretch the budget and go for a Fortuner. I also considered the Ford Endeavour, but the bumpy ride and my growing children would not like the last bench.

My family consists of me, my wife, two inventories and my old parents. The car will be used mostly for long trips (Bangalore/Ooty/Kodai/Trichy) and on weekends in the city.

Would like to keep the car for atleast 5 to 7 years before going in for a change.

My heart says Fortuner and my brain says Innova. Guys help me decide please.

MODS: I searched for this specific thread, but could not find one. If a thread already exists, please merge this post

Can't go wrong with both.
The Innova has a relatively decent engine that's not a strong performer but does the job, while the Fortune has a torque monster for the engine, also there is the issue of Innova's lack of image and the excess of image that the T-fort has.
But on the comfort front, the Innova will win the hand down, both dynamically superior as well as having the comfortable ride, also lots of space and comfort, while the T-Fort has lesser interior space and poorer 3rd bench(if there is one), also being a top end heavy SUV not as good as the Innova in the handling aspect as well as having the slightly stiffer ride.
Also there is the aspect of FE and the price tag, both which you haven't specified.

If you are hell bent on going for a Toyota then I will come back to this in a short while.

In the interim, why not put the Captiva also in the blender here. A very capable and much more 'loaded' alternative.

If you insist on Toyota brand loyalty, then it comes down to what you want in the convenience department, apart from it being a weekend / vacation and people mover? When I say this I mean, if you want a lot of features, sadly the Fortuner lacks this, and is not value for money in that department. But it has the looks and the brute.

The Innova on the other hand offers 'a fair amount of' more features. Also, you will be surprised to see the Fortuners insides bear a lot of resemblance to the Innovas interiors. As for the Endeavour, at over 5 meters in lenght, is a great offroader, but its interiors are almost as spartan save for the aftermarket kind of DVD screens and so on.

The choice is between asking for a hitech bus or a brutal truck ;-)

My choice: Consider the Captiva

The last row in the Fortuner is suitable for kids, and may not be a good option for your requirements - ie for long drives and for 5-7 yrs, with your kids growing up by then.

The Innova would be a better option for you. Take a TD with your family and decide.

If budget is not an issue and you Live to Drive, i'd suggest you the Fortuner over Innova any day.

Fortuner over Innova-

• Image.
• Looks. SUV vs MUV here.
• The 3.0 engine, the Innova's engine is WEAK in comparison.
• The bad road ride quality. Yes i know Innova has flatter ride but the extra travel in Fortuner's suspension can soak up worst of the roads.
• The AWD, Go Anywhere capability and the rugged nature.
• Whilst retaining most of the seating flexibility of Innova
• FE not bad. Our Fortuner's MID shows 11kpl for last few thousand kms for just city use, Innova will give you 12 in similar usage.

If your usage is just limited to on road travel, Looks and Image are not important, Performance is on low priority and just ability to transport passengers in comfort is important, Innova might make more sense to you.

I fully agree with you about the Engine. Fortuner is a real torque monster and would eat Innova for breakfast.

The dimension (L x W x H) comparison of the two is given below
Fortuner - 4695 x 1840 x 1850 mm
Innova - 4580 x 1770 x 1755 mm
Wheelbase - 2750 mm for both

The Fortuner looks bigger on the outside and on paper too with a similar wheel base. Is Fortuner so much more cramped when compared to Innova?

I have the interior pictures comparing the Fortuner and the Innova (At the end of the post). IMO the Fortuner seems to have loads of space for front, good for the middle and moderate for the back passengers. Whereas the space in the Innova seems to similar for the front and middle seats while okayish for the back seats. The interiors (and seats) of the Fortuner look much better than the Innova. (Disclaimer: Pics taken from Toyota - Welcome to Toyota)

FE is important but i would not be bothered if the difference is about 10-15%.

Thanks Dreamcatcher for your views. I am kind of keen on the Toyota Brand.

I did look at Captiva and i liked it, but having owned a Toyota and experienced its superb service, it is difficult to move to any other brand. IMO, the Captiva looks more docile, whereas the Fortuner looks Butch and the Innova looks very neutral. The Used Car prices of Captiva are also a discouraging factor.

You are right that Toyota is very stingy in features department for both Fortuner and Innova. I love the Fortuner for its look, engine and butch styling. I am worried if it would be difficult for my parents to "climb" in and out of the Fortuner. The Innova is all round practical car, nothing special and has everything one cant complain about. But its "big" Taxi image is a deterrent. Would appreciate your views on the T brothers.

I rejected the Endeavour as my kids would grow up soon making the back seat a dreaded place. Have planned a TD with the family during one of the weekends. Would get back with the experience.

Thanks anshuman for your inputs. Budget can be stretched to get the Fortuner. If it is a Fortuner, i will have to postpone my purchase by a few months. Yes, my travel is limited to black topped roads most of the time and passenger comfort is important, but so is the Looks, Performance and ofcourse the Snob Value (who doesn't?). This is where i am undecided :Frustrati

Innova would be a better choice for passenger comfort and its intended use.

I find ride quality of Innova to be superior to Fortuner. Further Innova can handle quite bad roads without any complaints. Top end Innova comes equipped with anti-skid brakes and air-bags - and that adds to safety. The third row in any car is cramped and rather unpopular with most passengers. But Innova's third row to me appears to be more comfortable than Fortuner.

If the difference in budget is not a concern, my suggestion will be to go with the Fortuner. You mentioned long highway runs, and I feel the Fortuner is a much safer car in comparison to the Innova.

Ride quality has many aspects, While the Innova is better on good roads with better composure and a flatter ride, Fortuner has it's advantages too, its suspension has more travel which not only helps with situations offroad situations but cushions bad roads much better than Innova. Head to a bad road(The kind of roads we have in Gurgaon) and Fortuner will get slightly bumpy but Innova on the same roads will crash into potholes.

Front row : Both, the Fortuner & Innova have sufficient room & good seats
Middle row : The captain-seats Innova beats the Fortuner hollow. Sorry, there is no competition at all
Last row : Here too, the Innova's seats maintain an edge over that of the Fortuner.

Plus, the Innova's ride quality is nowhere as bumpy as that of the Fortuner. If passenger comfort is your top priority, then get yourself an Innova V.

Of course, the Fortuner will be more pleasurable to own (as you rightly said, it's head versus heart). The T-Fort looks way better, has a more powerful engine and AWD too. But on the utility / price ratio, the Innova is king.

Well to state for a fact one of my relatives had the same dilemma few months before for whom I had to make the same choice (he aint into cars so he told me to make a choice for him). It was the Looks of the fortuner v/s the comfort of the Innova. My heart was pointing towards the fortuner whereas my mind(and my wallet) was shouting to go for the Innova.

As everybody else has mentioned the likes and dislikes of both the cars I dont think I should repeat the same. Only one thing you should keep in mind is what happens after you buy the car. The fortuner can burn a hole in your wallet during service and also insurance cost every year and especially since you said your trips are only meant to be on the road then I dont think it makes sense buying a car which cannot be put to its optimal use.

Also I have traveled very long distances in both the cars and parts of my body still ache when I think of travelling in the rear of the fortuner again.So as comfort is your main concern I feel innova is what you should be getting.Finally the choice is yours.

Care to Elaborate?

Please refer Fortuner ownership threads, you have a surprise waiting for you.:)

It is definately fortuner.
1) It is macho looking while Innova is simply Taxi. There goes the image as well.
2) Performance wise there is no competition.

Other than the Taxi image, Innova is also dated.
Please check out Aria as well in case you choose Innova. Inspite of being a TATA is has a better image.

Innova is my choice.

The T.Fort is an awesome beast to be seen in, has an awe-inspiring 3 litre engine and offroads like it was born to, but those are clearly not your primary requirements. GTO is right about the middle seat of Innova being far superior to that of its expensive sibling. As a highway cruiser the Innova has no equal. The rear seats are also very good, even for adults- the Innova is a true people carrier in that sense.

Fortuner also disappoints royally on the interiors front. When you pay 25 lacs you expect something better than what you get in the Innova at half price.

I was in the same dilemma 2 years ago when I bought my Innova V. I test drove the fortuner at least five times before buying the Innova.

A. On Road capability including Bad Roads : I rarely go where there are no roads (read dirt trails et al or driving in the desert) and for the rest of the roads that I have travelled on (And I have travelled a bit : Hyderabad - Kota, Hyderabad-Bellary, Hyderabad - Kolkata, Hyderabad-Gokarna-Goa-Mumbai, Hyderabad-Kanyakumari-Quillon-Thekkady, Hyderabad-Wayanad-Kozhikode, Hyderabad-Nagpur, Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Machlipatnam, Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam etc etc), the roads are motorable in a regular car like my Baleno and even an Innova will be more than good enough.

B. Long Distance Comfort : I travel really long distances : last December trip was 850 km non stop and the December prior to that - 1230 kms in a go. Poorer vehicle body control means that pasengers body muscles work overtime to keep the person steady and that means a tired feeling at the end of the trip. I found a bit of bobbiness / unsettled ride in the fortuner that was at variance to the smoother feeling of the innova. I am sure that the unsettled ride means a bit of more fatigue at the end of the trip. Finally, the seating space in the innova seems more and the comfort better.

C. Price : It may be unimportant to some but I was saving nearly INR 9 lakhs on the initial price and then nearly INR 1k/month in the Insurance cost - good enough to buy another Innova after 5 years, free of cost.

The areas where fortuner wins hands down is the performance and off road ability.
On performance, the Innova is no sprint queen but you will rarely find the vehicle lacking on power. Even the top speed is a healthy 160+ kmph - speedo indicated.

On the off road capability : The questions are - will you take the INR 25 lakh vehicle off road and risk a broken bumper or dented tailgate?

I for one, if I am an off road enthusiast, will buy the innova and use part of the spare cash to purchase a 4*4 Gypsy that can be maintained rather easily and is no less capable off road.

Some of my ownership experience is captured in the link below - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...innova-vx.html