NOW CLOSED Toyota Verso tester review thread. Non-testers, tell us how you'd like your car to be more versatile - £200 Love2shop voucher to be won

[KatieBMumsnet]

This thread is for the 8 Mumsnetters who are taking part in the extended test drive of the Toyota 7 Seat Verso over the next few weeks. Five testers and their families will also be making a video of their test drive - so look out for these on Toyota's page on Mumsnet soon.

Below are some questions for you to answer over the course of the test drive - please don't worry about answering all of them straight away, some may be more relevant after you've had the car for a week or so.

We'd like you to post updates on this thread at least twice a week - more if you'd like!

Questions
What were your/your partner's first impressions of the car?
What do the children think of it?
Do the children fit comfortably in it?
How easy is it to fit car seats/ adjust seats etc?
What's it like to drive?
Is it a comfortable ride?
What's the boot space like?
How easy or difficult was it to change the layout of the seats?
Does it have any useful extras - cup holders etc?
Has testing this car made you more or less likely to buy a Toyota in future?
Has testing this car changed your perception of Toyota cars at all? If so, how?
What one thing do you like best about it?
What one thing would you change about it?

For those of you not taking part in the extended test drive, the Toyota Verso is all about versatility, so we'd like to hear your thoughts on this - please share on this thread how you'd like your car to be more versatile.
What do you wish your car could do to help make your life easier? If there was one feature or gadget your car could be fitted with what would it be?
Share your comments and you'll be entered into a prize draw to win a £200 Love2Shop voucher

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

[dahville]

Not a tester - I would like an integrated ISO fix (as an option), e.g. remove the seating and there is an ISO fix, all ready for the car seat.

The other thing, especially with people carriers, is that though it's great to have option of folding down seats and making more space in the boot, it would be safer when kids are in the car if there were some sort of rigid barrier between the reconfigured boot and the remaining seating.

[Wolfcub]

I'm not a tester but two (related things) that would make my car more versatile would be - a rear bumper that folds under the car slightly in order to create a flat loading platform for the boot so that items can just be lifted or slid straight in rather than having to be lifted over the lip of the boot (I have a large estate car and I'm thinking of recent purchases like a new oven and washing machine, trips to the tip and ikea flatpack furniture rather than weekly shopping). I'd also like rear passenger seats which could be removed from the car to extend the flat loading space - folding them down creates another lip which makes sliding larger heavy items into the boot harder than it needs to be.

[TotallyEggFlipped]

Non-tester.

I'd love both front and rear parking sensors for my car.

I'd also like a better way of keeping an eye on children in the back of the car. I found the mirror we had fitted to the back seat to keep an eye on DD in the rear facing car seat very difficult to line up with the rear view mirror and it kept shifting. Front facing children aren't even that much easier to see.

I hate putting the car seat in and out if the car or moving it yo different seats, so it would be great if car seats could be moved to different seats in the back to accomodate different passenger groups without having to undo all the straps, but I have no idea how you'd make that work!

[ClaraOswinOswald]

My car isn't very versatile at all, but it is very economical to run. It is a small car, low tax, uses less fuel than a bigger car. But it is too small for large shopping items, more than a couple of overnight bags etc.

I would like a car that had all of the features of a large family car with the running costs of my Fiat Pop. Not too much to ask for is it?
:)

[ShatnersBassoon]

I'd love my car to be fitted with a compact emergency kit, everything in one place and accessible without having to get out of the car. At the moment, I have hi-vis jackets under the driver's seat, a torch rolling around in a side pocket, first aid kit stuffed in the glove box, some tools in the boot...

[lagoonhaze]

Id just love my car to accomadate 3 rear facing car seats and still have the back seats accessible. Yes Im asking for the moon on a stick I know.

[Suzieismyname]

I've got the Verso already, it's great.

Would love to be able to easily take out the centre middle row seat. We got the verso to make it easier to transport us for most of the time but also 2 grandparents on holidays. We'd have more legroom in the back and more space for bags if we could completely remove it.
Btw, we put a group 1 seat in the very back seats and it was fine. Britax Eclipse.

[MissRee]

Not an official tester but I wish the boot were bigger on my car so I could fit more shopping in as well as DD's buggy etc!

[poorbuthappy]

Right I'm bring a grumpy monkey here and am obviously very peed off with not being picked, but seriously?
8 testers in the whole of the uk and 2 of them are picking up from same dealership??
I'm blowing a grown up raspberry as I type this.

More useful storage in the boot area please!! As someone else said up thread, removable storage thingies for the boot to keep things separate.

[mindingalongtime]

A non tester who was hoping to as my Mercedes is about to blow up and I'm not picking the new one up till next week!

It sounds as though it takes three seats across the middle really easily, that is a huge plus for a lot of childminders.

[CointreauVersial]

Non-tester here (but another Verso driver, so I'm glad Toyota will be reading this!)

There are two features that I wish my Verso had - both boringly practical.

Firstly, a decent-sized bin/rubbish receptacle. It's a family car, and generates family-sized piles of crisp bags, tissues, tickets and other rubbish, but the bin/ashtray is a size of a tin of peas. Too small! Maybe put something in the door.

Secondly - I would love a car that gave me somewhere to put my handbag.

And one I wish it didn't have - a cigarette lighter! Right in the middle of the centre console, where inquisitive fingers can find it, so it had to be taken out, leaving an unsightly hole. A cigarette lighter in a 7-seat family car, in 2013? Really, Toyota?? (no, it's not needed for charging things, because there is a charger point a mere six inches away). Maybe it's there to justify the tin-of-peas-sized ashtray?

Other than that, fab, fab car.

[PiHigh]

Non tester

I'd like the seats in our car to be more versatile so that we could adjust the storage space when going camping. The thing I would really like to see is something that allowed your seat & mirror positions to be set for each driver. Dh & I are very different sizes and it's a pain having to adjust things for each of us every time we get in the car.

[CheeryCherry]

Non tester here.... I would love my car to have a more adjustable seat belt. I am not very tall, so I always put it on the shortest setting, but could do with more flexibility. I would also like to make my seat higher too. I'd like a heated steering wheel for winter and a quick clear windscreen.
Finally I would like it to be self cleaning! :)

[ThePortlyPinUp]

We have a 51 plate Kia Carens, the one thing I'd really like to have in this car is a proper boot!! It's tiny, we can't go food shopping withher dc's as we need to fold a row of seats to get the shopping in. We're going away to a weekender on Thursday and I'm not entirely sure how we're going to fit everything in

[missorinoco]

Non tester.
I would like better storage behind the driver seats. Possibly mesh style bags so when the DC are older they can put their magazines etc in.

Slightly more space (I have a C Max) betweencar seats, so I can do up the seatbelt next to the forward facing car seat without contorting myself.

And an adjustable mirror to see the children behind. I am also short, and can squint at them only.

[hermancakedestroyer]

Not a tester. Would love to have enough drinks holders in the car as we do a fair bit of travelling and are always struggling to know where to rest them. Also, I would appreciate a beeping noise to let me know if someone hadn't fastened their seatbelt correctly.

[BellaVida]

Non-tester with 4 kids. Really for versatility it would have to be the seat configurations being variable, so split individual seats and easy mechanism to fold away or remove completely. Plus storage compartments around the car and in the boot and maybe a removable secure safety divider or barrier, for example to protect any child sat next to loose items in the split seats.
This would make it easier to transport large items, luggage, pushchairs, or their friends on playdates. Plus it would make it easier to clean. I get fed performing advanced yoga moves and scraping the skin off my knuckles trying to wedge the hoover nozzle in odd spaces!

[frenchfancy]

non-tester. I love my verso. The one thing I miss from my previous car -a galaxy- is built in booster seats.

[thepatioislumpy]

I can't wait - picking up on the 18th! I thought we had it for a holiday with me and 4dcs, massive boot, no worries with packing etc. However, the older two have now invited friends.

So we'll be giving it a real run for its money - 6 kids plus a dog for a week away...

[thepatioislumpy]

Oh and now I'm off to check the britax website...

Different dealership here too!

[firawla]

non tester, I would like my car to have more options for separating the child which is why I want to change from our 5 seater into 7 to give them all bit of extra space and stop them fighting!
drinks holder as someone mentioned would also be good, and i wish our car had dab radio we have the old fashioned one and when we go out of london we lose reception on the good channels

[thepatioislumpy]

I'm a pro at packing light