For me, P1.2M for the Grand Starex TCi is a best buy even though a CRDi Gold at P1.7+M is also a best buy. But why would you want to pay an extra P500K for speed and power when even Horsepower said that 101HP is fast enough? Unless you live in the province and drive like a race car driver, you'll never really get to appreciate the extra 70HP offered by the CRDi VGT engine in 90% of driving conditions.
And since HARI has practically stopped selling TCi units (they probably get more profit margin on the CRDis), the TCi becomes rarer and still maintains its good value.
Reason we bought a TCi and consider it "Value for Money" is that if we had the P1.7M for a GS CRDi, we'd rather spend it on a Santa Fe. But no regrets, the Grand Starex is a very comfortable and useful van, even for the base model.
