Toyota Verso 2015 Well earned upgrade - tips and advices

[Miguel Angelo]

Hi guys,

I am from Portugal and I have bought in 2015 an imported french Toyota Verso with one year and a half and I wanted to give "her" an upgrade instead of buying a new vehicle, since I love my car...

I have considered the following to do to "her":

- Plate repair (small details since I don't have a garage) and full body painting

- New xenon headlights and it's adaptation (originals are halogen and I think this model doesn't have available in market LED ones)

- Shark antenna

- Chip to program rear mirrors to open/close with system/engine (don't know if is possible)

- Multimedia system upgrade (have touch 2 and go, is it worth the hardware upgrade to touch 2 and go plus or just the software upgrade since I have only the 4.3.1L version?)

 

What do you guys think? More ideas? Some of my ideas are not that great?

Happy to hear some feedback from enthusiastic Toyota Verso owners 🙂

Cheers!

[Miguel Angelo]

@FROSTYBALLS @Steve @TonyHSD @Devon Aygo @Catlover @Heidfirst @flash22 @Konrad C @PeteB @Parts-King any suggestions, thoughts, ideas? 

[Heidfirst]

On 7/19/2021 at 11:32 AM, Miguel Angelo said:

Hi guys,

I am from Portugal and I have bought in 2015 an imported french Toyota Verso with one year and a half and I wanted to give "her" an upgrade instead of buying a new vehicle, since I love my car...

I have considered the following to do to "her":

- Plate repair (small details since I don't have a garage) and full body painting Not sure what you mean by a plate repair. Why would you want/need a full respray?

- New xenon headlights and it's adaptation (originals are halogen and I think this model doesn't have available in market LED ones) I presume that Portuguese regulations will be similar to the UK as they are largely harmonised these days in which case it may not be legal to run these on the road unless you also have self-levelling & wash.

- Shark antenna it's cheap but I wouldn't expect improved radio reception - in fact it may get worse.

- Chip to program rear mirrors to open/close with system/engine (don't know if is possible) it's probably possible but you may have to buy the relay from Alibaba or similar.

- Multimedia system upgrade (have touch 2 and go, is it worth the hardware upgrade to touch 2 and go plus or just the software upgrade since I have only the 4.3.1L version?) Personally I wouldn't bother with the hardware upgrade to Plus. The Toyota map upgrade is easily done but you may prefer to use Google Maps/Waze etc. on a smartphone 

 

 

Cheers!

 

[Miguel Angelo]

Hi @Heidfirst, thanks for the reply

- With plate repair I meant to fix the small "touches and bruises" of the car, not anything too serious. 

- I am thinking about full respray because I hear if you repaint just part of the car, you will notice that is not exactly the same color, as the color is in contact with the weather and has 6 years now.. What do you guys think?

- Regarding xenon headlights, do you guys know if Toyota has a kit to change from halogen to xenon headlights, with all that is needed to fit the regulation?

- I have a shark antenna from AliExpress but I was thinking about changing into one commercialised by Toyota, since I noticed the huge drop in radio reception. Do you guys think the one from Toyota will be better from the one I ordered? (was just 10 euros in AliExpress so I am not confident with the quality of the product) 

- After a quick search, I didn't find anything specific in the internet about the relay for auto folding/opening mirrors but I may have missed

- I understand what you mean about the hardware upgrade not being worth it.. I don't know if the GUI of the Plus is better than the original but my main concern here is:

-  Searching in google maps on my smartphone is more practical to using the GPS from the car.. With Plus, will it show google maps from the phone in the car?

- The look and feel from the hardware upgrade will be noticeable? We are talking about a model from 2013 so that system came in that year or before. 

 

Currently, I have a problem registering in, as you can see from my unanswered post more than a year ago here: 

 It may be that my car is imported from France and there is already an account associated with, idk..

 

[Heidfirst]

On 7/26/2021 at 4:46 PM, Miguel Angelo said:

Hi @Heidfirst, thanks for the reply

- With plate repair I meant to fix the small "touches and bruises" of the car, not anything too serious. 

- I am thinking about full respray because I hear if you repaint just part of the car, you will notice that is not exactly the same color, as the color is in contact with the weather and has 6 years now.. What do you guys think?

If you really want to spend money on it's appearance I would probably give it to a good valeter/detailer than a full respray.

- Regarding xenon headlights, do you guys know if Toyota has a kit to change from halogen to xenon headlights, with all that is needed to fit the regulation?

Doubt it

- I have a shark antenna from AliExpress but I was thinking about changing into one commercialised by Toyota, since I noticed the huge drop in radio reception. Do you guys think the one from Toyota will be better from the one I ordered? (was just 10 euros in AliExpress so I am not confident with the quality of the product) 

I don't know what the one from Toyota is but I doubt that it performs better than the original one that the car came with, probably/possibly the same.

- After a quick search, I didn't find anything specific in the internet about the relay for auto folding/opening mirrors but I may have missed

e.g. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/car-auto-mirror-folding-kit-for_62544905021.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normal_offer.d_image.248c523amgpfgw This assumes that your car has power folding mirrors to start with.

- I understand what you mean about the hardware upgrade not being worth it.. I don't know if the GUI of the Plus is better than the original but my main concern here is:

-  Searching in google maps on my smartphone is more practical to using the GPS from the car.. With Plus, will it show google maps from the phone in the car? No

- The look and feel from the hardware upgrade will be noticeable? We are talking about a model from 2013 so that system came in that year or before. 

Probably not as it's hardware from the same time as what you have just with a few extra features. I had a 2012 Avensis with Plus - rarely used the Plus features.

If you want to spend money then buy a new aftermarket head unit with Android Auto/Car Play.

 

Currently, I have a problem registering in, as you can see from my unanswered post more than a year ago here: 

 It may be that my car is imported from France and there is already an account associated with, idk..

 

 

[zelda89]

If you don't have led interior bulbs then I'd do that as it's fairly cheap to replace all the bulbs.

Replace the gearknob, I bought a couple from AliExpress. One is a chrome one and the other is a momo leather style.

I've also replaced the gaiters to premium leather ones with white stitching to match the car colour. I've posted some pictures somewhere here.

Hope this helps 👍

[Miguel Angelo]

@Heidfirst do you recommend any specific new aftermarket head unit with Android Auto/Car Play?

If it is to replace the original I would like something with quality and improved interface at least

 

Hi @zelda89, already replaced the interior led bulbs but thanks for the advice

Regarding the gearknob and the gaiters, do you have the links of those products that you have purchased for me to take a look?

 

Thanks for the feedback

Any more is welcomed 🙂

[zelda89]

Momo style gear knob
￡8.19  15%OFF | Manual Shift Knob Automatic Car Gear Head Aluminum Car Gear Shift Knobs Black Handle Shifter
https://a.aliexpress.com/_uvs1ad

Metal gear knob
￡13.54  10%OFF | FOR TOYOTA GT86 for Subaru BRZ WRX STI modified shifting gear head wave metal rod file head Gear Shift Knob
https://a.aliexpress.com/_v7LWMz

JF Custom Leather Gaiters

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/jfcustoms

The below is my post here with the gaiters installed and you can also see my gearknob

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/199111-replacement-leather-gear-gaiter-boot/?do=findComment&comment=1569638

[Heidfirst]

10 hours ago, Miguel Angelo said:

@Heidfirst do you recommend any specific new aftermarket head unit with Android Auto/Car Play?

If it is to replace the original I would like something with quality and improved interface at least

Sorry, no but Pioneer are usually a reasonable bet.

This may well fit your car - I am running an Avensis T27 with a genuine Toyota T25 accessory gear knob - they just screw on/off.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350991251883?