Toyota Vellfire Review: Ultimate Minivan?

Forget everything you thought you knew about the ultimate luxurious and practical car. Because, today, the car that’s rewriting the books of presence, practicality and comfort with a dash of luxury and premiumness isn’t a German Luxo-barge. It’s this – the all-new Toyota Vellfire. And if you happen to be a CXO, a managing director, or a big-shot business tycoon — I think it’s time to ask yourself this question: why are you still riding in an S-Class when you can have this?

Now, admittedly, this updated Vellfire has been around for some time now. This is the fourth generation of this minivan, err… calling it just a minivan might be an understatement, don’t you think? Nonetheless, this Vellfire should be your set of four wheels if you are the most important person in your organisation. And here’s why:

Exterior: Imposing Presence

Let’s start with presence. When this arrives, people don’t look for who is behind the wheel. They simply know that an important person is sitting at the back. It's not just big, it's HUGE. It towers over everything else on the road, and that's a good thing when you want to announce your arrival. It's not something that you could say about a Luxo-barge. Its proportions are large and unlike anything else on the road. And with a new design language, the Vellfire surely grabs attention. There's a lot of chrome upfront with sleek headlamps and a rather short bonnet. The flat roof, sliding doors and upright tailgate are given character with flowing lines of chrome. Its 19-inch alloy wheels almost feel dwarfed by its size, but don't look disproportionate. You can have it in three colours – white, grey and black – all subtle yet elegant, matching the aura of the Vellfire. 

Second Row – Where The Money Is

On to the second row, and the seats here aren’t just comfortable. They’re executive-airline-class comfortable. Not only do you get ventilated, heated, reclining with memory, and massage functions for the seats, but you also get electric folding blinds, individual sunroofs, personal climate control, and screens for each passenger to control the functions. There are also fold-out tables and fold-down screens as part of the absolute authority (and privacy) to continue your business uninterrupted, even while on the move.  

And it's not just the sheer number of features on offer here, instead, it’s the way the second row is made to offer the best comfort and working space for our hot-shot sitting here. You can attend Zoom calls over here, do presentations, catch up on emails, or just relax after a long day at the office. Most of it is possible in an S-Class or a 7 Series, undoubtedly. But over here, it does feel special. 

Rear Seat On The Move:

And when on the move, there are a couple of things that need addressing. Firstly, yes, the space and comfort are still present when on the move. The hybrid powertrain feels silent and refined here as well. But on the downside, this is undeniably a huge car. It's tall, wide, and heavy. So, it does sway a lot when on the move. Toyota isn't rewriting the laws of physics with this one, right? And that's understandable. What you'd need instead is a very good and experienced chauffeur. That would solve most of your problems here.

How’s It To Drive?

And when, occasionally, you have given your chauffeur a day off, and have taken the wheel -  be it for office commutes or a long weekend, how’s the Vellfire to drive? Well, it uses the same strong hybrid that does duty in lakhs and lakhs of Toyota cars across the globe. 

You get the familiar 2.5-litre petrol engine paired with an electric motor and an eCVT. The batteries are charged up on the move, and you can practically spend more time on the road while in EV mode, using little to no fuel. 

And when the battery depletes, the engine kicks in. Sure, the engine can be heard and felt with a slight bit of vibrations felt inside the cabin, especially because you are switching from an EV mode with absolutely no vibrations to a little. Not that the engine is unrefined. 

But apart from that, despite being so heavy, it puts out just under 200 bhp and around 250Nm. So, this is not the car you would be boasting the 0-to-100 kmph time in. This is a car you drive sedately. This car wants to be driven sedately, and you would be doing that with all the seats filled in.

As to the ride and handling, the suspension setup is on the softer side, so it does roll around a lot. Not to the point of being uncomfortable. You just need to know how much to put the steer in so that the roll is as minimal as possible. The steering itself is light, it is comfortable, and it has a good turn-in as well, and especially won’t tire you out if you are planning on spending long hours behind the wheel. 

I particularly like to point out that despite the three-meter wheelbase and 19-inch alloy wheels, and such a large car, the ground clearance was never an issue throughout the time we have spent with it. Never did the underbelly scrape on any of the ill-made speed breakers. I won't recommend going where the roads don’t exist with this one. It’s not that you cannot thread across, but keep in mind that this is no SUV. 

Lastly, it does offer some level of driver aids (ADAS) like adaptive cruise control, lane keep warning, front collision warning, and the like. But it could have done with all the Level 2 ADAS suites because cars that cost a fraction of this offer Level 2. And such a large car as this should have offered a lot of driver aids.

It also needs to be pointed out that once you hit the highway speeds, it does manage to do a proper road trip. You have to clock that triple-digit speed sedately – it won't race towards it – but once it does that, it will easily hold that highway speed, and you can easily do cross-country touring without any trouble. 

Pricing And Conclusion

There are two variants on offer here in India; the more affordable one might miss out on a few features, but it's priced at Rs 1.2 crore (ex-showroom). The one seen in the pictures here retails at Rs 1.3 crore (ex-showroom). To put things in perspective, the S-Class retails at Rs 1.8 crore for the diesel, and Rs 1.9 crore for the (more powerful) petrol derivative. This means this Vellfire costs almost Rs 50 lakh less, and still offers better comfort, reliability and of course value. There's also a Lexus derivative of the Vellfire – called the LM – and that one retails at over Rs 2 crore (Rs 2.6 crore for the more expensive version). That makes this one highly VFM, right?

But there are a couple of downsides. Firstly, it’s the badge value. No matter how good it is, it's still a Toyota, which doesn't have the same snob Value as the German high-end brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Audi. And secondly, there's a rival from Korea - the Kia Carnival. It also offers almost the same level of comfort, size, and luxury and is a bit more modern than this. And it also comes with a diesel. But the Carnival retailing at just Rs 63 lakh carries a price tag that's almost half of this. 

Nonetheless, the all-new Toyota Vellfire is not just a car for the boss. It’s the car that proves you are the boss. No wonder that apart from the big fat cats and politicians, even celebrities and sports personalities also love to own one. For the people, where the car you arrive in says a lot, this Vellfire doesn't shout and say: I’ve arrived. It simply whispers it.

Pictures by Vaibhav Dhanawade