Motoring Discussion > Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions Buying / Selling
Thread Author: metal Replies: 44

 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
hi all,

Been offered a really good deal on a used Toyota Corolla Verso D4D T spirit 2005/05. It has a 2 litre engine and 5 speed gearbox.

Just after some advice and opinions on this car. I have not owned any Toyotas before....what are they like in day to day life? , what are parts prices like? , is the reliability deserved?

One thing I have found from my google based research is that some D4D engines had engine / headgasket problems. Not sure if it was a certain batch ?

We need a 7 seater for the school run hence the consideration for a Corolla Verso.


Another car I like the look of is the Mitsubishi Grandis. The 2.0 diesel actually has a VW TDI engine. What is the Mitsubishi like?


What would you guys choose and why?


 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - madf
The diesel engine issues are confined to the 2.2 engine -2005-2008. Toyota offered free replacement engines under a 7 year 100k mile replacement.


You did not say the mileage. Cambelts are due to be changed at 100k miles (10 years?).


Read..www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/forum/50-corolla-club/
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Duncan
Welcome back metal!

Been away?
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - MD
Just a bit rusty.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
thanks.

Just been in the background :)>> Welcome back metal!
>>
>> Been away?
>>
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Zero

>> Been offered a really good deal on a used Toyota Corolla Verso D4D T spirit
>> 2005/05. It has a 2 litre engine and 5 speed gearbox.

If you are a little bit patient, someone here had one (think it was will the beast) and got rid because he didn't like it.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Crankcase
Isn't the Corolla the biggest selling car in the world, or was until recently? 40 million units or something since launch?

Not that I've ever sat in one.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Boxsterboy
>> Isn't the Corolla the biggest selling car in the world, or was until recently? 40
>> million units or something since launch?
>>

The biggest selling car BADGE in the world. The only thing a Mk1 has in common with a Mk10 is the badge, unlike say the VW Beetle which is still the best selling CAR in the world, the last being recognisably and effectively very similar to the first.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - WillDeBeest
...think it was will the beast...

It was, although ours was a 2008 2.2. Wrote plenty here about it, which a Forum Search will find.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
Its actually a 2.0 diesel and not a 2.2.

It has a 5 speed manual gearbox.



Any thoughts on the mitsubishi?
What are mitsubishi parts prices like?
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - WillDeBeest
I tested a diesel Grandis before settling on the Verso. It's a nicely made machine but a flawed MPV, with only two full seats in the second row where the Verso (or Picasso, or S-Max) will take three boosters, or two and an adult. I think the seat folding options are limited too.

But none of that matters because you have the choice of an impossibly thirsty 2.4 petrol automatic or the truly awful diesel. When I returned the car and reported that I wouldn't be buying one because of the engine noise, the salesman tried to mollify me by saying, "It's actually a VW engine, sir." It could be a Rolls-Royce engine but if it sounded like that I still wouldn't want it.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
The grandis is a big old bus on the outside....much bigger than the verso. Im surprised it cannot take 3 booster seats in the middle!

So in terms of reliability what would be better - a 2.0 d4d verso or a 2.0 Mitsubishi diesel with a VW TDI engine?
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - WillDeBeest
At nine years old, whichever has been looked after better.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - mikeyb
Friend had a diesel Verso purchased new around 2005. Very happy with it until last year when it chucked a couple of large bills at her so they got shot.

Cant remember what went wrong with it, but I know the aircon compressor had got noisy and she was told £800 to fix it, so decided to get shot. She just had that feeling that it was starting to get tired and there were other big bills looming. It was looked after and always main dealer serviced, so had she spent a few quid it may have kept going.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Zero

>> Any thoughts on the mitsubishi?
>> What are mitsubishi parts prices like?

Outrageous. And suddenly jacked up as well. How does 50 quid for a rear wiper blade grab you? 49 quid for a aircon pollen filter, 39 quid for a engine air filter.

Luckily euro car parts do most of the service items.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
Right guys....
we have bought the Toyota Corolla Verso.
Its a 2005/05 , 132000 miles with full service history.
2.0 D4D with 116bhp.

It drives well and seems good so far.

thanks for the help and advice.

How often should I change the oil ? The car will be used on the school run with very short journeys - less than 1 mile.

Any other maintenance tips?
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - sooty123
>> Any other maintenance tips?
>>

I try not use it on such very short trips, walking that sort of distance would do the car a fair bit of good.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 2 Nov 14 at 21:25
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
Thats not a possibility :)

The car needs to be taken on school run.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Zero
when I were nowt but a nipper, there was no such thing as "the school run"
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - legacylad
Lazy so and so. From the age of ten I used to run the three miles too/from school. Stopping to buy twin packs of Woodbines en route from a vending machine.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Zero
I had a begging letter from the dogs trust, about two dogs who had nothing but a cardboard box to live in.


Of course the instant response to such was "We used to dream.........."



 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - WillDeBeest
No point being surprised, I suppose, but - special physical circumstances apart - I'm still appalled. Our former neighbours opposite used to do the same thing, to the same school to which we used to take the 12-minute walk with the Beestlings. They weren't even impossibly lardy, and the walk would have done them a heap of good. Mother was a teaching assistant at the school, so she wouldn't even have had to walk back afterwards.

Sad thing there is that the girl at 11 was already showing signs of becoming the same egg-shape as her mother. And that's just poor parenting.

You don't have to explain yourself to us, of course, Metal, but in broad terms the 'school run' is a blight on towns and children, and mostly unnecessary.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Duncan
Before we get too smug with metal, they may well be personal circumstances that make the use of the car essential.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - WillDeBeest
As I noted - twice - in what I wrote, Duncan.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - madf
For that sort of use (which our Yaris d4d does), Shell V power to prevent engine/EGR valve fouling, one 20 mile fast run once a month.
Annual oil and filter change with synthetic oil...

Our Yaris has done 60k miles in 11 years with that regime with zero engine issues.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
We are not a lazy family and would like to walk to school.

3 children under the age of 8 - one with a disability .

The use of a car to school is necessary and not luxury.

The short trips are what this car will be doing.

I just want to keep it in good fettle.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - metal
Are 6 monthly oil changes going to be useful or an overkill.

Car probably does 8k a year max (90% very short journeys)
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Gromit
Metal,
In the owner's manual you'll find a recommended service interval for cars used in harsh conditions - this will be described as driving in hot/humid/dusty conditions, towing heavy loads or frequent stop/start driving.

It'll probably suggest more frequent oil changes and checks of the brakes and transmission.

Stick with this and all should be well. Taking the Verso on an occasional longer run where you'd otherwise use another car won't hurt either.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Zero
>> Are 6 monthly oil changes going to be useful or an overkill.
>>
>> Car probably does 8k a year max (90% very short journeys)

Oil and filter change annually will be fine.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Old Navy
Unfortunately a two mile round trip will kill an engine early. Unless of course it is used normally at other times. An engine is designed to operate hot, if not it will at least require the extreme operating conditions service schedule. It seems like a good use for an electric car.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - madf
>> Unfortunately a two mile round trip will kill an engine early. Unless of course it
>> is used normally at other times. An engine is designed to operate hot, if not
>> it will at least require the extreme operating conditions service schedule. It seems like a
>> good use for an electric car.
>>

In my experience it will not, providing the car is regularly serviced by time.. AND it's driven for c 20 miles every month...hard.

Exhausts don't last long tho on petrol ones.

I speak from over 30 years experience of Mrs madf's cars.. since 1978...
Last edited by: madf on Mon 3 Nov 14 at 14:51
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Old Navy

>> In my experience it will not, providing the car is regularly serviced by time.. AND
>> it's driven for c 20 miles every month...hard.
>>

As I said," Unless it is used normally at other times".
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - No FM2R
>>No point being surprised, I suppose, but - special physical circumstances apart - I'm still appalled

Deliberately NOT talking about this individual case.....

However, if I bought a car for my 500 yard journey to school each day, isn't that simply entirely up to me? Perhaps I have no good reason, no disability, but simply prefer to do that?

You may not choose to do so, but why is it appalling?

If not 500 yards, then perhaps 1,000? 2,000? At what distance would you not be appalled by my car usage?

I rather think that its each to their own.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Runfer D'Hills


Quite interesting...

www.sustrans.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/guidelines_16.pdf
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - No FM2R
And seemingly coming from the point of view of encouraging (good) not enforcing (bad).
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Gromit
"...encouraging (good) not enforcing (bad)..."

In that vein, the planning office in these parts had decreed that new-build schools may not have car parking or set down areas for the so-called school run.

All well intentioned, to encourage kids to walk to school - except the new-build school that's opened on my route to work now has a queue of cars parked along a main arterial road into town slowing down passing traffic each morning.

Yes, the school is used by local families, whose kids live within walking distance - but the parents parked along the road don't live within walking distance of work, and have to drop the kids off early if they're to be in work themselves on time.


 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - WillDeBeest
I rather think that its each to their own.

Where it is their own, yes of course. But where 'their' choice impinges on the towns we live in, the air we breathe, the safety of pedestrians, the future health and fitness of over-chauffeured children, it's not so simple.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - No FM2R
So at what distance is it no longer appalling?
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - WillDeBeest
I'd say it varies with the purpose of the journey, but only a little. I wouldn't drive the 1.6km from home to town unless I had heavy stuff to carry or significant time constraints. To drive the 600m to the gym would be absurd; Beestling Minor (11) now walks 800m to his secondary school, but plenty walk from more distant parts of town.

Difficult to define a mathematical threshold for 'appalling' but I suppose a regular journey that takes less than twice as long on foot as by car might be it, and I'd include the time to park the car in the calculation.

But we did start out on the subject of school, and the experts are pretty well unanimous that getting children used to being physically active is vital to their long-term wellbeing. Giving them the message that 500m is too far to walk certainly won't achieve that.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Alastairw
When my youngest's school bus didn't turn up one morning he decided he had missed it and started to walk, rather than calling me or his mum for a lift.
As it is the better part of 6 miles to his school it was a good job he stuck to the bus route, so he caught it when it caught up with him.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - No FM2R
I take your point, but...

No 2 daughter is part of the Cheerleading team, plays hockey, horse rides and is in the swimming team.

No. 1 daughter is in the swimming team, horse riding, fencing team, snow-boarding and is part of a cycling group.

Both of them surf and climb.

Yet I drive both of them to school every day and pick them up every day (they finish at different times). Ok, its more than 500m, but I doubt its a mile.

The point being that, if one is to use children's fitness as justification, one cannot judge the validity or appalling-ness of the school run in isolation.

If one is using other standards to judge, then what standard would that be?
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 3 Nov 14 at 18:30
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Old Navy

>>
>> If one is using other standards to judge, then what standard would that be?
>>

You are beginning to sound like a pedantic pratt.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - No FM2R
>>You are beginning to sound like a pedantic pratt.

What prompted that? I wasn't talking to you, nor addressing anything you had to say, and it was what I thought an interesting point.

Get a life.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - Boxsterboy
When our kids went to Infant school it was 1/4 of a mile, so they walked/scootered. Their 'big' school is a 15 minute bike ride and they would love to ride their bikes there. But they have so much sports clobber, books etc. to take every day, it is just not feasible. Which is a real shame.
 Toyota Corolla and Verso - Toyota Corolla Verso D4D advice and opinions - sooty123
>> Thats not a possibility :)
>>
>> The car needs to be taken on school run.
>>

As others have suggested good quality oil change, changed as often as the book suggests for 'taxi or heavy urban use' or similar. if not I'd think every 6 months would be fine. Can you do them at home? It does save a bit of money. Perhaps a battery charger might be of use? how many other journeys do you plan to do with it? If not many, quite a few on here use them. I'm sure someone will point you in the right direction.
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