Local sales of the small Toyota MPV by Borneo Motors start at $108,888 with COE

Singapore –

You might have seen a bright-coloured, Stormtrooper-esque multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) on our roads lately. The Toyota Sienta is a cheap and cheerful small MPV with unconventional looks that has already struck a chord with buyers – even if the ones currently on the road have been sold by parallel importers (PIs).

It’s not a situation that’s new – back in 2007 the Wish MPV was immensely popular, despite not being an official import. Borneo Motors managed to convince Toyota to sell the car here officially and it went on to be a strong part of the brand’s model line-up.

Buying from a PI  is usually cheaper, but that’s where the benefits end. Better salespeople, superior service and clear-cut warranties are just a few of the advantages of going ‘official’, so if you’ve been tempted by the Sienta but wary of PIs, your time has come.

Toyota’s authorised distributor, Borneo Motors, has announced sales of the new Sienta for Singapore. The Sienta has a number of unique features, which explains its current popularity.

Besides the interesting design, it’s a small MPV (it’s 4.2-metres long and boxy – as wide as it is tall at 1.7-metres wide and high) but packs seven seats and electrically-powered sliding doors which are common in bigger MPVs like the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Alphard, but rare in smaller people carriers. The smallest MPV with sliding doors is probably the Mazda Biante which is a size larger than the Sienta, and more expensive at $134,800 with COE.

The Sienta is powered by a 1.5-litre engine with 105hp and 140Nm of torque mated to a CVT with seven virtual speeds. The 0-100km/h time is a humble 12.8 seconds with maximum speed at 165km/h. Efficiency figures are 6.2L/100km and 143g/km of CO2.

Two trim levels have been announced: Standard and Elegance. Standard comes with projector headlamps and LED DRLs, 15-inch wheels, infotainment system, power sliding doors, two front airbags and reverse sensors plus a camera. It retails at $108,888 with COE.

The Elegance trim adds Toyota’s ‘Telematics’ infotainment system with nav, plus a 4.2-inch information display for the driver, keyless entry and go, VSC with traction control, hill start assist, 16-inch wheels and LED headlamps. It retails at $114,888 with COE.

The hybrid Sienta sold by PIs isn’t on official sale, as Borneo is only carrying the 1.5 for now. With so many grey areas of purchase – anything from service costs to warranty coverage – it’s not something we would personally choose. There’s no doubting the fuel efficiency of a hybrid, and with the extra CEVS discount it looks tempting, but it’s less tempting without the official ten-year battery guarantee like the one Borneo has.

Cheap MPVs aren’t super popular now, with similar models such as the Toyota Avanza and Honda Mobilio (incidentally all the two Toyotas are made in Indonesia, the Honda in Thailand ) not doing super-well in terms of sales, but the Sienta looks to have clear advantages over those cars on paper.