Yaris Verso - any good?

[500tops]

Anyone out there in shiteland owned or have any experience of Yaris Versos?

 

Prices seem to vary wildly; anything from 500 quid through to upwards of 3k. Anything I should be particularly looking for, weak points, known problems? Is the Auto box ok or should it be sidestepped?

[Ghosty]

According to my Glass's Car Checkbook, the Verso has a proper 4 speed autobox, unlike the normal Yaris which has an 5 speed autoclutch or sequential box for the auto.

[Stanky]

I have recently acquired a regular Yaris and its a happy, solid-feeling little thing to be honest. I expect the verso to be the same, only roomier. My observations so far are that the headlight lenses go yellow and misty but can be revived with polish and the engine is surprisingly versatile being a VVTi so you get (relatively speaking) low-down torque and top-end revs.

 

Look for rust as with anything Japanese, parts are a bit more than rivals but this is offset by seldom needing them.

 

I spent £499 on a 94k 2004 1.3 5-door which is a lot better than I was expecting. Gives about 46mpg from my rough calculations. Also lots of cubbyholes and the speedo thing is well trippy but really clever as you don't need to adjust your depth of vision between the road ahead and the 'instruments'.

[Braddon81]

Yaris Verso? Brilliant little things, I've been using this one as my runaround for the past 2 years. I wasn't planning on buying one...in fact when they were current you'd have probably had to pay me to drive one i thought they were so hideously ugly, but this came up at the right money and it seemed foolish not to buy it. Not the prettiest thing on four wheels I'll freely admit,but as an amazing Sub Berlingo sized van car they cant be beat as the rear seats fold flat in to the floor and create a truly flat and long load area..longer in fact than my Berlingo..and I can slot my Sinclair C5 and bikes in the back with relative ease. I get an average of 40mpg in everyday use.

What to look for?...cheaper ones tend to be run in to the ground...the usual ' it's a Toyota and it so reliable it won't break routine'. Look for broken coil springs poor running due to duff coil packs and sticky Vvt solenoid.

Although many look in good bodily condition, it's very important to check underneath the car, the main floorpan is very well protected but where the standard Yaris meets the Verso extension there is little or no undersealing at all and most Verso's will be suffering from quite severe surface corrosion around the rear inner sills and suspension mounts and boot floor. Early W X and Y platers are now failing Mot's due to rot around that area. Ive de rusted treated and undersealed my own car to keep the grot at bay. The fuel filler pipe and breather is also steel and is very exposed to crap and can be quite rusty. Autobox is a good old traditional torque converter type and is very reliable and pretty smooth.

Find a tidy Verso, underseal it, keep it serviced and it should be an able and willing companion.

Typical rear floor rust.