BARAZA JM: What are the pros and cons of the Toyota Mark X?

Dear Baraza,

I recently bought my first car, a Toyota Mark X, therefore, as you can imagine, I am really green about its maintenance, convenience, speed and consumption, not to name availability of spare parts. I would also like to know why many people own it while others are selling it.

Kindly use your expertise to advise me before I face what has made others sell off theirs. I intend to drive it from Kampala to Kigali on a monthly basis.

Thank you brother. 

Hello brother,

The Toyota Mark X is not half bad. It looks decent, it runs fine and handles well, fuel economy is not punitive and so on. However, braking can get dramatic, so perhaps you may want to keep the speed freak living inside you in check if it exists.

Being a heavy, low slung, rear-drive platform, the Mark X is also a potential drift machine, unwitting or otherwise, so go easy on the throttle if the terrain underfoot is anything less than bone-dry. Grass in particular will give you trials and tribulations by taking away traction.

I am not exactly sure why they have a high rate of turnover among owners, but it may have something to do with what I have just written. It may have issues putting its power down on surfaces that are not arid tarmac, and this gets tiresome very quickly if it is not deliberate.

The low ground clearance also restricts the car’s access pass. I think the fact that they don’t age well may also be contributory to the short ownership patterns.

Maintenance is not bad for a car of that size on the one hand, but on the other, it is sub-par for a Toyota. Injector failures are common, and you have to buy a set of six to go with the number of cylinders under the bonnet. Those nozzles are not cheap. Braking is poor, as I mentioned earlier.

Then the V6 fills out the engine bay completely, meaning mundane tasks such as accessing the starter motor have to be done from under the car. I once drove Mark X from Western Kenya to Nairobi and I had to leave the engine running at every stopover (including meal times) due to starter motor problems, and crawling underneath the vehicle every time I wanted to start it lost its novelty after the third or fourth time.

Despite the aforementioned foibles, the Mark X really is a good car. Fast and comfortable. It is essentially a Lexus-lite with a Toyota badge. Get one and take good care of it, the disappointments will be few and far between.

Why does my Toyota Caldina keep misbehaving in spite of the TLC it receives?

I drive a Toyota Caldina AT211 2001 model. When driving, and mostly when I hit 100km/h speed, the speedometer suddenly goes to zero, the engine sign comes on and O/D OFF sign also comes on, it then starts jerking if I continue driving.

However, if I stop and put off the engine and restart it, it goes back to normal and I can drive for some time before it re-occurs, say another 50 to 100km. I once changed the ABS or speedometer sensors (not sure which with ex-Japanese ones) and I managed to get rid of the problem.

However, last year the problem persisted despite replacing the sensors to the point that forward gears would not engage until I had to replace the entire gearbox in August this year. I fear I may be headed the same way. Where can this problem be sorted out once and for all?
JT

Hello JT,

I would have bet that the problem lies with the VSS - the vehicle speed sensor - but you say you already changed it and that the vehicle behaved itself for a bit then started ailing again... or did you? Perhaps what you changed was the ABS sensor. Check the VSS again and see if this helps.

I want the Ford Escape, but worry about cost of spare parts

Dear Baraza,
I enjoy your views and knowledge on a wide variety of vehicles. I’m looking to buy my first new vehicle and would like a second hand. My focus is on the Ford Escape but I worry about spare parts - their availability and affordability. Advise me on this and also give your general overview of the vehicle.
Warm Regards,
Edmund.

Hi Edmund,

You will allow me to do something I haven't done before in this column, which is ask a question instead of answering one: why do you want a Ford Escape?

I know there are things called personal preferences and taste, but even these are guided by certain factors. What factors are these? Do you like the looks? Are you a person that is influenced by image? Is there a Ford Escape on sale somewhere at a throwaway price? Why do you want a Ford Escape?

You mention concern about availability and affordability of spares, which means you are not exactly passionate about this car otherwise you'd have bitten the bullet and gone for it anyway. Those of us who bought twin-turbo Subarus and 26-year old BMWs understand this all too well. That said, there are options you could go for.

Try a RAV4, the instigator and definitive unit of the segment the Escape is pretending to disrupt. There are parts for this car everywhere, even under my bed, I think, and you won't need these parts that often anyway. Or you could try a Subaru Forester for a more interesting look and driving experience, again, the parts are aplenty and all over the place.

I have a set of shock absorbers and two brake discs from an SG5 on my kitchen balcony and yet I have never even owned a Forester (all this is true, by the way, unlike the RAV4-under-the-bed hyperbole-for-the-sake-of-humour claim earlier). Just like the RAV4, the Forester won't break that much, so shopping for parts will be an occasional affair.

If availability and affordability of spares really is a priority over the need for these spares in the first place, even more options abound, such as my favourite pair of boogeymen, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Get the X-Trail for the “I-tried-and-almost-made-it” feel that seems to define the brand nowadays, or you could get an Outlander if your thing is more along the lines of “I-like-to-look-pretty-and-damn-the-consequences”.

You want spares and have money? Try German. BMW awaits with its X3, which is neither handsome nor reliable, it is not even that capable but hey, parts exist. So do parts for the Audi Q3, or Q5, but these will cost you.

Anyway, if spares are your biggest bone of contention, shop among common brands. Ubiquity breeds cheapness, Toyota owners can attest to this. I have never driven a Ford Escape and it carries no specific appeal that I can immediately discern unless I want a Ford for the sake of having a Ford (they say image is everything).

The few I've seen somehow all have gloomy owners and the vehicles themselves look sad and unloved. There is a black one near where I live, perhaps I should befriend the owner and find out what life with it is like. In the meantime, get a RAV4. Or a Forester.

I’m a farmer, should I get the Toyota G Touring or the Probox?

Dear Baraza,

I am an avid reader of your column and I look forward to reading your article every Wednesday since it is very educative. Keep up on the good job you are doing. I don’t know whether in this space you have ever reviewed the Toyota G-touring. Here are my questions:

1. What is the difference between the that has a 5A engine and the other that runs on 4A engine model both being manual transmission? What are their pro and cons?

2. Between the Probox and G-touring, which one would you advise me to acquire? I am a small-scale farmer who makes frequent visits to the market. I would also appreciate a review of the latest model of the Suzuki five-seater.

Regards,
Geoffrey Kanampiu

Hi Geoffrey,

Thanks for the good word, kind sir. I have mentioned G Tourings once or twice before, but given their age, it may not have its time here, unless the theme of the day is a throwback. That said:

1. The pros of the G Touring (irrespective of engine) are that it is a hardy Toyota wagon that has somehow managed not to lose any value at all over the past 20 years. These cars are still selling for around of Sh400,000, somehow. The cons? You are looking at a vehicle that has been in existence for 20 years. It is likely to have changed hands many times and may not be in very good shape. Clean ones are hard to find and will cost even more money.

5A versus 4A: I’ll stick with the engines because model trims and spec levels are a boring topic that involve plenty of wiggle room depending on source market and just thinking about it is exhausting. The 4A engine is more performance-oriented if you think about the cars it has served in. Packing 1.6 liters of capacity, it comes with various compression ratios and valve counts to give a horsepower range between 70 and 170 in the venerable and much-loved 4A-GE, which is sporty. Some used carburetors.

The 5A engine is smaller at 1.5 liters, and maxes out at 120hp, and I think I’m falling asleep here... (yawn). The short version is: the 4A car is more powerul.

2. Get a Probox, no contest, for one simple reason: boot space. Age matters too. The Probox is fairly new when compared to the long-defunct G Touring/Corolla DX, but the key splitter here is cargo space. The Probox is unbeatable.

I would review the Suzuki five-seater latest model if I knew which specific one you are asking about. Suzuki has a few five-seaters in its lineup, in fact, I think all their models except the bikes are five-seaters, even the Jimny if all five occupants are children or very small adults.

I would also review the Suzuki five-seater latest model if Toyota Kenya provides one for testing, they’ve been promising to deliver one for many months now, but I am yet to see the vehicle in my driveway.