Suzuki Ertiga vs Honda Mobilio vs Toyota Avanza
If you are looking to buy a mini MPV, there are only 3 top choices on the country and they are Honda Mobilio, Suzuki Ertiga and Toyota Avanza. But among 3, which is the best for your needs? Let’s find out!
Let’s make this comparison with specs offered in the Philippines vs price. They are all run on gas and no diesel version is offered in the Philippines which is a little disappointing. They are all 7-seater except for the low end variant of Avanza which is 5-seater. Ertiga and Avanza are booth offered with 4-speed Automatic Transmission which is a bit dated, while Mobilio is offered with CVT.
TOYOTA AVANZA
| Toyota | ||||
| Avanza 1.3J MT | Avanza 1.3E MT | Avanza 1.3E AT | Avanza 1.5E MT | Avanza 1.5E AT |
| Php707,000 | Php796,000 | Php839,000 | Php915,000 | Php958,000 |
| 1.3L | 1.3L | 1.3L | 1.5L | 1.5L |
| 5-Speed Manual | 4-Speed Automatic | 5-Speed Manual | 4-Speed Automatic | |
| 95hp/6000rpm | 103hp/6000rpm | |||
| 121Nm/4200rpm | 136Nm/4200rpm | |||
Among the 3, Toyota Avanza is the most popular in our country. It is the top choice of most of the Filipino and you can see it in most places here. Toyota has been a top automotive company in the Philippines for quite some time now. Toyota Avanza is offered in 5 Variants with 2 engine type. The most affordable variant is the Avanza 1.3 J which is priced at only Php 707,000 which is cheaper than most sedan but the features is not that good.Because of the price, this variant usually is used for taxi service. This variant only have 5 seats, if you want 7 seats then go for the higher variant E or G.
Suzuki Ertiga
| Suzuki | |||
| Ertiga 1.4 GA MT | Ertiga 1.4 GL MT | Ertiga 1.4 GL AT | Ertiga 1.4 GLX AT |
| Php675,000 | Php778,000 | Php818,000 | Php928,000 |
| 1.4L | 1.4L | 1.4L | 1.4L |
| 5-Speed Manual | 4-Speed Automatic | ||
| 95hp/6000rpm | |||
| 130Nm/4000rpm | |||
Suzuki Ertiga is the cheapest among the 3 and the best value for money. The Mid variant offers touch screen and a GPS Navigation system. For reference the Avanza only offers touch screen and GPS on high end G variants and Mobilio only offers touch screen on its mid variant and the GPS is only offered on high end RS variant.
HONDA MOBILIO
| Honda | ||
| Mobilio E MT | Mobilio V CVT | Mobilio RS CVT |
| Php829,000 | Php909,000 | Php1,029,000 |
| 1.5L | 1.5L | 1.5L |
| 5-Speed Manual | CVT | CVT |
| 118hp/6600rpm | ||
| 145N-m/4600rpm | ||
Mobilio is the longest and offers the bigger boot space but it is also the most expensive. It is the best looking but as they say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” so it may not be same as yours. It is the only one that is equipped with Continuous Variable Transmission or CVT.
FEATURES COMPARISON
Toyota Avanza
Honda Mobilio
Suzuki Ertiga
Full Table Comparison
(Click to view larger size)
ENGINE
Mobilio comes in with 1.5L engine, Avanza comes with 1.5L and 1.3L option, while Ertiga comes with 1.4L engine. Sadly they are not available in diesel motor option in the Philippines.
TRANSMISSION
They are all available with 5-speed manual transmission. While on the automatic variants: Avanza and Ertiga comes with 4-speed Automatic and Mobilio comes with CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). CVT are generally more fuel efficient than manual transmissions but not so good with driving dynamics. There is some “rubber band” effect but still acceptable for most cases.
DIMENSIONS
Mobilio is the largest among the 3, it is the longest and have the biggest boot space. Avanza is the shortest and has the smallest boot space. I can literally bump my head on the rear glass window when I lean back on the 3rd row seat. Ertiga is the tallest and has better 3rd row seat comfort. It is also the widest among the 3.
INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM
LCD touch screen interface are offered on the mid and top end of Ertiga and Mobilio which it is only offered on the top end model of Avanza.
SAFETY
In the safety department, all of them has airbags on front passengers only. Anti lock Brake System(ABS) and Electronic Brake force Distribution(EBD) are standard across all variants of Mobilio and Avanza while it is only offered on the top high end of Ertiga which is a bit dissapointing.
CONCLUSION
None of these 3 MPV are perfect but one of them must be best fits your need. It all depends of 2 major things: budget and preference. They might not agree with each other as you might prefer a model that is higher than your budget. The goal of this article is to give you an idea of each of the 3 choices to help you decide and make the most out of your budget. If you have no problem on the budget then the Mobilio RS is a no brainer choice.
The best value might be the Ertiga because it offers more features than the 2, it offers Navigation/Map on its Mid variant while this feature is only offered on high end variants of Mobilio and Avanza. But the disadvantage of Ertiga is that it lacks EBD and ABS on its lower end to mid variants while this feature is offered on all variants of Avanza and Mobilio.
Take note also that the cheapest variant of Avanza only comes with 5 seats. The cheapest is Ertiga 1.4 GA, this is a good value if you can live with manual windows, manual side mirror, single aircon and no rear window wipers. Mobilio is the most expensive among the 3 but it packs more features on its latest update and it is good looking too!
We are hoping that Suzuki will add the EBD and ABS on Ertiga on its next update on its lower end model just like on Avanza and Mobilio. They also should consider adding the power windows on its “GA” variant to keep up with the competition.
OTHER ALTERNATIVES
They are also some alternatives that you may want to consider, the Avanza, Ertiga and Mobilio are only the most common but if you don’t want to follow the crowd then consider these:
BAIC M20
The best alternative if you want cheaper and best value for money. It only comes with manual transmission though. It comes with 1.5L engine. It has Touch screen monitor, dual air bag, ABS and EBD, reverse sensors, dual air condition to name a few. It comes with 8 seater comfort and 7 seater luxury variant. The best part is that it has an unbelievable price tag of Php 598,00 for the 7 seater luxury variant.
HONDA BRV
a 7-seater crossover SUV from honda. It is basically an upgraded Honda Mobilio, it has same power, engine, and features from mobilio. It is slightly larger and taller than the Mobilio and has higher ground clearance. Price starts at Php 998,000 which is not cheap laternative.
Misubishi Expander (Will be available on 2018)
It is a new vehicle from Mitsubishi that is not yet available on our country as of this writing. It is expected to be available on our country sometime next year. It will replace the very popular Mitsubishi Adventure that will be discontinued next year because it is not compliant with EURO-4. It is set to compete with the 3 common MPV(Avanza, Mobilio and Ertiga). If it will be priced right, it will be a good contender on our MPV segment.
Toyota Innova
this is the king of this segment but we decided not to include this on our list because it is bigger and way more expensive than those 3, it runs on diesel.