I've been looking through the accessory catalogue for Toyota's impressive large-scale MPV, and I can't find the one piece of extra equipment I really wanted for the roomy seven-seater machine. You can have mud flaps, a roof rack, a cool box, a navigation system, bike holders, and an "aviation table" to clip aircraft-style over the backs of the seats for the benefit, at picnic time, of guzzling occupants in the ones behind.There's a towbar, a rear parking sensor (had one of those - advisable) plus a set of carpet mats and storage bags to fit behind seats which don't have aviation tables, as well as cargo nets and a boot liner. But there's no sign of a security cover to hide the luggage stacked behind the third row of seats.Definitely a black mark there. Especially as I did about 1000 motorway miles in the Previa, stopping from time to time at service areas with signs warning motorists not to leave anything lying about in full view of the kind of people who are otherwise, as additional signs at some of these places say, engaged in the selling-fake-watches business.A far as biting criticism is concerned, that's about it, really. For a majestically proportioned MPV with two-three-two seating, the GLS is a remarkably fine car both for long motorway hauls and for dashing around on more sporting secondary roads. You don't expect it to be lively and responsive out on the road, but that's just what it is, although the long wheelbase and wide turning circle meant that one of my usual three-point turns needed a couple of extra cuts. Make that quite a shuffle, really.Toyota makes great play of the VVT-i engines fitted to some of its smaller cars, like the ones which make the Yaris so quick off the mark. But the Previa has a VVT-i engine too, 2.4 litres in capacity and the most powerful in its class. A manual transmission version will get to 62mph in 11.1 seconds, which is pretty good going for a vehicle of this bulk, but the test car was an automatic, with the usual duller acceleration.I should have been annoyed by this, but for once I wasn't. Most Previas are automatics; in fact, only the entry-level GS model comes with the manual transmission. It's also available as an automatic, and that's the only kind of GLS or CDX sold here.The automatic selector lever sneaks out from alongside the steering column, exactly where the driver's left hand can grasp it comfortably. Toyota's transmission is semi-manual to the extent that there's an overdrive button which can be flicked very quickly, down from top gear if you want to overtake somebody or get ready for a corner, and up again when you're at full chat once more. Just as good in real life, I reckon, as a sequential.Whoever set up the suspension for the Previa did an excellent job. It handles much more responsively than you might suppose, although there are, of course, limits as to just how energetically you can chuck a big machine like this around. And the ride, helped by that long wheelbase, is reassuringly supple.Inside, there's very generous passenger space, and what makes the Previa different from so many of its MPV rivals is that that applies all the way to the third row of seats. There's no cramping in the back balcony, but plenty of headroom and, more unusually, loads of kneeroom.Getting into and out of the middle and third-row seats is quite simple. There are very wide, sliding rear doors, and when you tilt one of the outer middle-row seats forward, it opens up a much bigger gap than in many of the Toyota's rivals, for access to the full-size seats behind.And right at the very back there's unexpectedly generous luggage space. You could stack three or four cases there, plus some squashy bags. That makes the Previa different from some seven-seaters, which can take that number of people but almost require them, on a holiday trip, to send their main luggage in advance.Of course, this makes the business of there being no security cover even more annoying. How can a company build a "Variable Valve Timing - intelligent" engine and be so unintelligent about luggage? The curious thing is that the Previa scores so well in provision of small stowage areas. Toyota says there are 18 of them scattered around the passenger cabin, and I located . . . well, most of them.The interior is very adaptable, as is usual in this class. Seats can be folded and removed as required, and this is another car which, if not being used by its full complement of passengers, would benefit from a thoughtful leave-some-behind procedure. Removing an outer middle-row seat, for instance, would give somebody at the back real stretch-out room.One design feature of the Previa is that the instrument array, almost like the one in the Yaris though using conventional dials, is not directly in front of the driver, but deep in a sweeping cowl placed far forward in the centre of the fascia top. Some people tend to whine about it, but I thought it was close to ideal. You can take in the information with the briefest of glances. Engine 2362cc, 4 cylinders Power 154bhp Fuel/CO2 26.2mpg / 259g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 12.5 seconds Price £22,950 Details correct at publication date