I’ve always gone with Toyotas just for the pure reliability factor. I just can’t fault them for that.
Now, my first and biggest warning about the Corolla Verso is about about the back row of seats, the ones that open out in the boot. These really are only child seats. You'd never want to fit even a larger child in them, unless they were being punished! That aside, as long as you never expect to get anyone other than a child or a dwarf into those seats, then it's a really fine car to own and drive. All three of the normal rear seats are a good size.
The first thing that impressed me about our one was that it’s got a full colour video display unit thingy in the dash, which shows two cameras mounted at the front of the car to show what’s coming in either direction. I just don’t know how I’d do without these now; they make it so very much easier to get out of junctions. It’s also dead easy to park, especially for a car with seven seats. Very manoeuvrable indeed. All the controls and things around the wheel and the dash are in sensible places, and although it’s got fancy computer stuff going on, it never feels like it’s getting the better of you, or too smart for its own good. Having said that it’s a bespoke stereo so I’m not sure how I’d replace it.
We’ve got a kid on the way so I was happy to see about the safety rating for this car, very high. That’s becoming a major factor for us now. It’s got NINE airbags! I took my sister and her three for the test drive and they all really liked it, including the two littlest ones who could do up their own seatbelts and get nice and comfy.
You get a great driver position in the Corolla Verso, nice and high up so you can see all around, and the pillars and mirrors aren’t in silly obstructive places like some cars I’ve seen before. One thing I’d say is that the engine gets to be a bit of a racket on the motorway, but the noise sort of peaks at around 60, and if you get above that it calms down a lot. I can’t really explain that, but it’s something to note – not that bad really though.
I’m expecting good reliability as I’ve always known of Toyotas, although the little catches that hold up the parcel shelf do seem to be coming loose. That’s a bit of a pain.
For comfort it’s good, especially on longer trips (but remember what I said about the quite silly third row of seats. I should also mention that the boot pretty much disappears when that third row of seats are up. The car feels plenty powerful enough to pull seven people plus a roof rack though, so it doesn’t seem like much of an issue for holidays and things.
There are some other slightly annoying bits. Like a lot of other cars, the dashboard is pretty much useless for putting anything on, things just fall off it. But there’s just bags and bags of other storage space around the cabin. There are two glove boxes, big old spaces in between the front seats, and the dashboard has an extra top-opening cubby hole box thing, which is a decent feature, if a little bit hard to reach right inside when you’re driving.
Insurance and fuel are very affordable, like most Toyotas. Good runner, good for longer trips, recommended all round.