Quick Advice re: Corolla Verso vvt-i engine

tagoona

Hi All,
The family is expanding and we need to be able to get a third child seat into the back of the car. So I'm considering a 2005 Toyota Corolla Verso 1.6 vvt-i.

A little bit of googling shows there can bed some major issues with oil consumption after about 40k. The threads are 3-4 years old though, so I was just wondering was this an issue still in 2005.

I know the corolla's a very popular car on the irish roads, so I presume there'd be something more current if it was still a problem. But it may just be an accepted price to pay.

Anyway, anything to watch out for would be appreciated.

Gophur

There is/was a myth that Toyota are/were reliable cars. I'd buy something else, the Verso will suck your soul dry.

Buy local, a European car, like a Zafira. A company like Toyota dos not deserve to be supported, manufacturing cheap, inefficient, dangerous products.

Vvti engines, by the way, are pathetic. Poorly designed and nothing to be proud of.

Leonard Hofstadter

In what way are the VVTi engines "poorly designed"?

I think they are a grand engine apart from the burning oil issue which doesn't happen till higher mileage. They don't have timing belts to worry about, they are rev happy and sound quite good(for a family car).

Having said all that Toyota's are completely overrated and command quite a premium secondhand(maybe not with the Verso as this never sold well here) because Irish people are brainwashed into buying them, I would buy a Zafira but these are not trouble free either, the 1.6 petrols can give trouble with the Head Gasket(because a 1.6 is far too small an engine for that size of car and is over worked) and they need new timing belts every 40,000 miles as well.

The old model Renault Scenic(can't believe I'm saying this) is actually a decent enough car (by that I mean the one with the standard dials not the one with the digital dashboard which is standard Renault fare for reliability) and is a reliable bus too, much better than you might think. Plus because it's a Renault it goes for next to nothing and even though it's been around since 96 it still has a 4 star safety rating.

Zubeneschamali

Wow, Gophur's a Zafira fan. I've never seen one of those before.

OP, if you can test drive a Verso and stay awake, it will probably suit you fine. I used to have a Multipla, and now drive an S-Max, both of which drive better than a Verso, but the Multipla is not to everyones taste, and the S-Max may be too large/pricey.

CJhaughey

There was an issue with excessive oil consumption on some Vvti engines, this was to do with liner porosity, however most if not all of the affected engines will have been recalled and the block replaced by Toyota.
If there is no problem now there is unlikely to be a problem in the future.
VVti engines are fine, generally troublefree units.
Maybe not exciting, but if your idea of exciting is trying to guess whats going to go wrong next then maybe a Toyota is not for you:D
I have seen lots more of the Renault scenics in for coil packs and other small maladies that would not endear me to them like snapped throttle cables.

Gophur

captainspeed wrote: »

In what way are the VVTi engines "poorly designed"?

I think they are a grand engine apart from the burning oil issue ...................

Yep. Apart from burning oil they are "grand".

You answered the question yourself!

Gophur

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Wow, Gophur's a Zafira fan............

Not at all, just someone who doesn't fall for all the "TOYOTA is God" cr4p.


BTW, Corolla Verso are built in Turkey, not a renowned location for "Quality" products.

tagoona

Thanks for the info all.
I'm looking for a car with 3 car seats for the wife, so an exciting drived for me is not what I''m after.
Cheap reliable 7 seater that the wife doesn't object to is. Any other suggestions welcome

Leonard Hofstadter

Honda has an MPV, I don't remember what it's called but they 3X2 rows so would be nice and wide and better able to deal with 3 child seats.

There's also the Fiat Multipla but the Honda MPV whatever it is called(is it the FR-V?) will be bulletproof(it is a Honda after all).

zilog_jones

captainspeed wrote: »

Honda has an MPV, I don't remember what it's called but they 3X2 rows so would be nice and wide and better able to deal with 3 child seats.

FR-V

Will probably be more expensive than a Corolla Verso but you get what you pay for

Zubeneschamali

tagoona wrote: »

Any other suggestions welcome

Honda FR-V, Fiat Multipla, Peugeot 307 or 308 SW, Citroen Picasso all have 3 separate seats in the back row.

tagoona

Unfortuanately price does come into it, so we're left with the verso. and the picasso
Nice idea with the FR-V, wife doesn't like how it looks though . Multipla I hate the look of and have had bad problems with a peugeot before. I know that doesn't make sense, but we all have our tastes.

Cheers for all the suggestions people.
Another happy customer.

Leonard Hofstadter

What's wrong with the Zafira OP?

They have a diesel engine that is practically bulletproof(if noisy) being old school has it's advantages sometimes:)!

What about the VW Touran?

The Corolla Verso does not have curtain airbags and the poverty spec basic bottom of the range Irish models don't even have a/c, unforgivable on a family car, I know that the Zafira doesn't have these either on the poverty spec Life model but there are plenty of higher spec ones around which have a/c and curtain airbags.

On top of that the 2002-2004 Verso is a compelty different car to the one around since then(which has only just been replaced) that one is fully based on the Corolla whereas the 2004-2009 one is a mixture of Avensis and Corolla and is a much bigger car inside, it also has 7 seats, something the original one doesn't have.

It has a 5 star safety rating as well, sorry the ones with curtain airbags do which are not standard in the Irish models:rolleyes:.

Zubeneschamali

captainspeed wrote: »

What's wrong with the Zafira OP?

It doesn't have individual rear seats, which makes fitting lots of child seats more of a problem.