Toyota Verso 2.0 Diesel 2014 Performance Issues

[GCH]

I purchased the above vehicle just over 1 year ago from a dealership here in the Isle of Man and use it as a taxi, therefore the main journeys on this small island are short town runs with the occasional long run, which, here, equates to about 20 miles.

Upon purchase when it had done 14k miles the performance was brilliant, had never driven a diesel car so smooth or quiet, however, after a few months this started to disappear quite quickly. I get the car service every 10k miles as per the 5 year warranty and have had the Toyota garage look at the car in numerous occasions regarding the performance issues which I have been encountering constantly for the last 12 months, and they are still evident.

The problems I am encountering are as follows:

* Vibrations throughout the car, in the steering wheel, the pedals, the seats, especially between 1500 & 2000 rpm but also outside this to a lesser extent

* Lack of power, especially from idle and in lower gears. I have to put my foot on the clutch and rev the car to about 3000 revs to get any meaningful power to accelerate. For any meaningful acceleration I find I have to drive at apx 2500 to 3000 revs.

* Decrease in fuel economy

* Gear stick vibrates resulting in a harsh vibration noise

* Steering becomes heavy and after driving for 8 to 10 hours at a time becomes hard work

* Suspension is very hard and rigid and every bump or undulation can be felt throughout the car and creates knocking noises despite the dealer and an independent garage both confirming that all the suspension is ok

* Engine is louder than it was, especially from the area of the auxiliary belt although the belt has just been replaced along with the pulley but the problems have become more evident and constant since this has been done

These problems are evident most of the time, however, there are occasions when they disappear and the performance is how it was when I first purchased the vehicle, but this only last about a hour or so very occasionally. The dealer keeps telling me that it is the car tying to regenerate but I don't agree with this as even after driving constantly for an hour or so the problems are still there. They have previously cleaned out the EGR & inlet manifold which cured the problems but only for a day or so before reverting back to the poor performance as mentioned. The garage also claim that when the car is in and they take it for a test run they cant see anything wrong with it so I am at a loss at to what the problem is.

I am not mechanically minded whatsoever, so any ideas suggestions on what the cause of these issues are would be very very welcome. Its driving me mad now, its like driving a tank when at its worst and I need to get the problem solved. Thanks

[Perfection]

At one time I came across a website and it mentioned that Diesel cars with DPF are not marketed to Ise of Man due  to distance of roads and will be difficult to blast out any soot. 

The dealership should have you to sign a form and explained to you about the car you about to buy and how the DPF might nit be suitable for your short distance roads .