Toyota Verso The Day To Day Choice

Natalie Motuel and her five children have been living with the highly rated Toyota Verso. Steve Ghosley finds out what they think of it

With five young children, Natalie Motuel was keen to try Toyotas highly rated Verso as a solution to her familys day-to-day transporting needs. Cars of this sort claim to be suited ideally to families like the Motuels. In practice however, it doesnt always work out that way.

For a mini-MPV like the Toyota Verso to be successful, it has to be versatile, practical and above all else child-friendly. Natalies family would certainly seem ideal for putting the Verso through its paces. The car they tried was the top-of-the-range Verso 1.8-litre T Spirit with all the bells and whistles, so there was plenty for Natalie and her family to evaluate.

Build
Comfort
Depreciation
Economy
Equipment
Handling
Insurance
Performance
Styling
Value

The current Verso has been designed specifically with European tastes in mind and is much shaper from all angles than the rather stodgy styling of the previous model. Certainly, first impressions from the Motuels were very favourable. Natalies description of pretty was probably not what the design team in Southern France had in mind when they originally penned the lines of the current car. Nonetheless, our Verso passed the first and sometimes most important test that any car has to do and that is to look right.

The current shape still retains some of the styling cues of the original Corolla Verso but everything seems to have been sharpened up somewhat. The wheel arches are more defined, and the revised front grille and bumper are sharper in appearance. Theres also a definite upper and lower body to the car, helped by those distinctive shoulders that give it a far more progressive look.

"Where this car really scores is the cleverly designed interior..."

On the road, Natalie found the car very easy to drive with good visibility all-round. She likes the high-riding position of the Verso, something she has been use to in the past driving a Ford Galaxy. Her only slight reservation was that she had to be careful reversing the Verso as her diminutive stature made it difficult to easily see out of the back. Maybe the addition of (optional) rear parking sensors would be of assistance here.

Where this car really scores though, is the cleverly designed interior. Unlike its predecessor and many similarly sized competitors, this Verso can seat seven and, uniquely in its class, all five rear seats fold down into the floor to create a totally flat loading surface. Natalie found this system very easy to use as the seats are very light and require only a simple one-touch operation to fold each one flat. Natalie readily admits that the family rarely travel with all five children in tow, so the rear three seats are constantly being lowered or raised to accommodate luggage, kids or shopping.

With all seats in use, however, the load carrying capacity is severely restricted. Another feature of the inside that Natalie found particularly useful was the tonneau cover that folds back neatly into its own housing. Although she has not had cause to use the facility yet, Natalie can see that folding all of the rear seats flat would be very quick and easy, providing a large load carrying area. The interior feels like its been constructed using much more in terms of quality fitments than we remember in the first generation version of this car.

As with all manufacturers, Toyota have worked hard at getting the door slam sound exactly right and the combination of carefully sited hinges and clever air sealing makes the Verso sound more impregnable than Fort Knox when you slam the doors shut. The cabin design majors on geometric shapes and three-dimensional elements to render an arch-like effect. Its quite unlike any other Toyota interior and marks a new design direction thats surprisingly bold for a model that will be marketed to some of the most conservative new car customers. Natalie likes the blue lights emanating from the dashboard dials and switches.

She also feels that the controls have been thoughtfully designed and are very intuitive to use. As we said at the outset, these types of cars have to be child-friendly to succeed and Natalies kids have really taken to the Verso. Its not its great looks or neat road manners that have won them over or the clever foldaway seats and stylish comfortable interior. No, the one thing that the kids are all agreed about is the in-car DVD system that allows them to watch their favourite film or program while mum keeps her eyes on the road.

So, what is Natalies verdict on the Toyota Verso? Would she buy one for her family? The answer is no. This is not because the car had any obvious faults but purely because of its size relative to the size of her family. With five children and the two adults, the Motuels need a larger MPV that can take all seven of them and have room for bags and other equipment. Nevertheless, she would have no hesitation in recommending the Verso to a smaller family.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

CAR: Toyota Verso
PRICES: £14,945-£21,845 on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 5E-8E
CO2 EMISSIONS: 165-184g/km
PERFORMANCE: [1.8] 0-60mph 10.8s / Max Speed 122mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.8] (combined) 36.7mpg / (extra urban) 43.4mpg / (urban) 28.5mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Nine airbags / ABS with EBD
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 4360/1770/1622mm