Monday, January 29, 2018

The 2018 Toyota Vios Gets Some Upgrades and is Now On Sale - Buy Now to Get Festive Promo Prices and More


UMW Toyota is adding more stuff into the 2018 Toyota Vios as well as tweaking the styling of the car a little. The official distributors of Toyota in Malaysia have announced that the Vios compact sedan now offers better value for your money with a better drive experience. 



There will be six variants available to choose with prices starting at RM74,980 (without insurance). But in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations, UMW Toyota is offering extra if you buy the 2018 Vios now and until the end of February 2018. During this promotional period,  purchasers of the new Vios can save up to RM2,512 and get an ang-pow worth RM988, plus free accessories. All offers are for the selected variants and subject to the usual terms and conditions, while stocks last - so read the fine print, folks!


The one with the most equipment thrown into it is the Toyota Vios TRD (shown above). This gets a tweaked bodykit which UMW Toyota claims to have now enhanced its sporty looks with its new colour-coordinated stripes. The Vios TRD bodykit, designed by TRD Asia, gives a sportier look that boy-racers...or ricers would love, but also offers functional benefits in the form of improved aerodynamics. Aside from the more glitz on the car created by the bodykit, the side mirror covers are now finished in black for that contrasting look. Other variants get body coloured side mirrors.  Now for the remaining variants, there is a newly designed bodykit with a honeycomb grille (below) slghtly different from the more aggressive TRD one.


One more exterior bit that all variants of the Vios get is a compact and trendy Shark Fin antenna on the roof. The Shark Fin antenna for the TRD variant is black in colour (like its side mirrors) while the other variants get the body coloured ones. According to UMW Toyota, this type of aerodynamic antenna has lower wind noise compared to the conventional pole type and is actually better even if you send it to an automated car wash as it does not need to be retracted. The chances of this antenna to get vandalised is also lower.

The interior of the Malaysian spec 2018 Vios has also been freshened up. The interior gets new seat cover designs for GX, E and J grades. The leather seats for the GX variant is now perforated instead of just plain leather. It actually adds some ventilation to the behinds of people sitting on the seats and would make it a little more comfy inside.

UMW Toyota have added Parking sensors to the Vios 1.5 TRD, GX and G variants to make life a little more easier and safer. Aside fro the super useful and actually super necessary rear sensors especially when you reverse.  there are now front parking sensors that will also help out in getting in and out of tight spots. Life is good with parking sensors and everyone loves them.

Stylish cuff plates are also installed on the door sills of all variants to provide protection for the paintwork. The stainless steel scuff plates on all the other variants also illuminate when the doors are opened on all variants except the base model Vios J. You have to use your smartphone's torchlight if you can't see in the dark if you buy the J. The foot lamp illumination has been given a new look with amber colour for the TRD variant and white for other variants.


Other equipment include a Panoramic View Monitor, Digital Video Recorder and the option of a more advanced DVD-AVN infotainment system with a 7-inch touchscreen and smartphone and internet connectivity are still available for all Vios variants. You just have to allocated some budget for this of course. 

For Vios 1.5 J owners who wish to upgrade their infotainment system, there is an optional DVD-AVX system with a 6.2-inch touchscreen that comes with Bluetooth connectivity, HDMI, Voice Dial as well as the
Reverse Camera.

What's actually good for you folks interested in the 2018 Vios is that the cost of these accessories can be included in the hire purchase (H-P) loan amount if specified at the time the car is purchased. These accessories are fitted at UMW Toyota Motor’s own Accessories Centre by trained installers and come with a warranty against manufacturing defects. So you do get peace of mind as it is installed by the manufacturer and not by some accessory shop in Balakong.

All Toyota models come with a 5-years warranty and unlimited mileage for peace of mind ownership. The warranty is available for the next owner within the first 5 years coverage which further enhances the value of the car.

So yes, the Toyota Vios has been upgraded. More car for your money obviously and let's see if all of this is good enough to challenge the other competitors in the highly contested B segment sedan market.