2000+ estima 2.4 or 3.0 litre, Which is better!

looking at a few of these for the wife, nothing too serious yet just doing a bit of homework at this stage,
which is the better engine out of the two! Id imagine economy wouldnt be too far different between them but what about reliability! I realise the older 2.4s had issues but it sounds to me like its more due to the positioning of the engine than the engine itself,
I like the idea of the 3 litre but the wife has concerns on fuel usage around town, realistically she does alot of open road driving as well, your thoughts!

MULTIPLA.It runs rings around anything Japanese (in fact it should have single handedly bankrupted them years ago), parts are cheap as chips (in fact they are that easy to get the local FnC shop will have them), the interior is a delight to be in, fuel economy is an accountants dream and they are in such hot demand in the second hand market that you should be able to get a 2005 model for about $5K.Don't even consider a Toyota which is inferior at twice the price, everybody else is wrong.

townace noha are good and plenty seat and room. petrol versions 4 cilinder only . I would not buy a enema my self multipla are only 6 seater but otherwisea good euro-diesel

lmao franc what exactly is it you are smoking! I reckon I could do with some after this past week, Id end up looking like Beth Heke if I suggested such a thing to the mrs.

looking at that id agree the presage is worth a look, the wife is gutted after recent dramas with our current estima (yup blew the head gasket) we have had many different 7 seaters but found the estima is the only one she hasnt run out of room in, had seen presages advertised but they do look small from the exterior, inside though that could be a different story.
If it were entirely up to me shed be driving a BA falcon wagon with a third row seat.

It's a pisstake, don't worry about it!

Presage is significantly smaller.Elgrand is a good size, drove a 3.5 one the other day, and it was surprisingly speedy. However. it drove like a van, and was much noisier than the Estima, both engine/exhaust and inside the cabin in general.Also only had one sliding door for the rear (can't remember the exact age).
If you are seriously considering it, go and drive at least one of each.We found the 2.4 is 'adequate' and was actually better than I expected.The 3.0 was quite speedy for a people mover.There are a few things that put me off the 3.0 - I expect it will use a quite a bit more gas areound town, as the 2.4 isn't working very hard to move the vehicle, so you don't have to thrash it.Servicing costs I would expect to be a bit more (probably stuff all, but 2 extra cylinders etc).Also the 2.4 is chain driven, the 3.0 cambelt - I have no idea as to the cost of doing a belt in a 3.0 however.
Nearly all of our driving is local (within a 15-20k radius), would be rare to go on a trip in it so I feel the 2.4 is fine.If I was doing a lot of road trips / long distance, I think the extra power of the 3.0 would be good for hills etc, and economy on a trip would probably be pretty similar.

Having experience with the 2.4, the Hybrid and the V6 I do like the V6 more than the others, beautiful motor and transmission, smooth with plenty of pickup. Just don't run it on 91. The motor is the varible timing one so better than the local Camry at the time with 165Kw. I found myself always flooring the 2.4 to get anywhere.