Our Yaris Verso

[eiriksmil]

Finally I have got to make a thread about our Verso. I still wonder if there was a point, as the car is extremely close to stock. The car is though pretty clean.

The Verso was bought back in 2000, in April. We ticked of for the Sol version and added metallic paint and, mudflaps and bumper protector mouldings to the options list. The choice was down to Summer Red, Polar Silver, Spectral Blue and Sparkling Beige and after much decisions and thinking we chose the latter, Sparkling Beige.

So, we had colour, options and grade, now it was ready to go. Our Yaris Verso has been the daily driver and the only car in the family, but it has rarely been driven in the winter and not much on a day to day basis in the summer either, as we live close to everything with city transport, the car is in limited use. However, the Verso has excelled on the longer trips. It has been standing in Madrid, Spain, driving in Loire, France, floating in Venice, Italy and tested several times on Die Autobahn, Germany. Not to mention the two trips to the British Isles, one in 2003 driving from Newcastle, to John 'O' Groats and back to N'Castle, and one this summer, from London-ish (I cannot remember the port's name right now, came in from the Netherlands) to Wales, over to Ireland, around the whole island, up to Belfast and over to Scotland and back to the port via Cumbria and Oxford. Great memories.

To illustrate how little the "box" has been in daily use, it has racked up 41.000 miles over the past six and a half years and probably 15.000 of those has been done abroad with highway driving.

The only modification today is a gearknob from a Volkswagen Golf Mk I Cabriolet (from Austria). Have you ever used a gearknob from a Yaris Verso? Hopeless thing, as it's thick, big and heavy. No. then it's better with a light and round knob from the early 90's, when this thing called plastic just was invented.

I have to find a new gearknob, as the 'knob from the Cabby isn't fastened like it should be. I want something small and round, and perhaps with 3 or 4 gears with reverse in the top left corner, not with 5 speeds and reverse in down right corner.

Allright, some pictures would may be appropriate.

I have thought of some future mods. Simple yet effective touches, like facelift front. However, will dashboard from Yaris T-Sport and front seats from Yaris T-Sport fit the Verso? The interior of the late T-Sport is much hotter than the early Yaris Verso, obviously. Oh, yeah and if the engine blows for some weird reason (in a couple of years, hopefully not now) a 1.5 1NZ is finding it's way into the bay. Has the Verso 1.5 got disc brakes in the rear? Also, anybody making coilovers for the Yaris dropping it more than the standard 40mm? Will these fit the Verso?

More immediate plans is to rattle can paint the hubcaps matte black, as they are ugly already.

Thanks for looking

Best regards,

Eirik

[Yaris SR Kid]

Nicest verso i have seen!

Cracking shot of the engine btw!

[Blue84]

Not to mention the two trips to the British Isles, one in 2003 driving from Newcastle, to John 'O' Groats and back to N'Castle, and one this summer, from London-ish (I cannot remember the port's name right now, came in from the Netherlands) to Wales, over to Ireland, around the whole island, up to Belfast and over to Scotland and back to the port via Cumbria and Oxford. Great memories.

Sounds like that could be a place called Harwich, as ferries go from there to the "hook of Holland" :)

Don't see a lot of Verso's on here, so it makes a pleasant change!

[eiriksmil]

Sounds like that could be a place called Harwich, as ferries go from there to the "hook of Holland" :)

Don't see a lot of Verso's on here, so it makes a pleasant change!

Yep, Harwich it was, the boat went from Hoek Van Holland to Harwich, thanks for reminding.

You're right, the Verso is often just tagged as ugly and therefore overlooked, so why not do something about it?

Yaris SR Kid, I was really happy with the bay shot myself.

Thank you for that very nice comment!

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

Update: 19.11.06

I removed the gear knob now and had some toilette paper inside the gearknob, before I pressed it down on the pole again. The result is that the VW Cabriolet gearknob now fits like it's original and it looks much better than the Yaris knob. In addition, I am still surprised over how light and agile it is compared to the bigger knob.

Eirik

[LEXUS]

The gearknob from golf is terrible.

[eiriksmil]

The gearknob from golf is terrible.

Nah, I think the original knob is worse, and as I have said before at least this one is light and round, meaning gearchanges goes better.

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

Allright, it was time for the annual cleaning of the inside, and you obviously want to remove the lot, spare wheel, jack and the rest. I usually do this, for three reasons. To get it properly washed up, to ensure that there are no loose parts down there and to check that no water has leaked in. The Verso ticked all the boxes, it was clean as new.

For 2007 I want a FunCargo Badge for the rear hatch door, and I will probably buy it some new hubcaps (alloys are for !Removed!), some velour carpets (as the rubbers will be dismissed for the summer and downgraded to winter equipment), a new antenna and perhaps some other goodies too.

Does anyone know how to remove the front spoilers? Three bolts, that was no problem, but there is a clip or something, I just didn't want to pull too hard, figured it may split if I used to many of my muscles at the same time (yeah right, those muscles..).

Just a picture of how the compartment looked. I was nearly finished when the picture was taken, but as you see near the tailgate it wasn't perfect.

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

A new accessory for the car.

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

I didn't say a word, blame the car..

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

Hello my fellow enthusiasts. I removed the grill the other day for washing and waxing, when I found out the grill was not mounted in the lower mounts. The chaps at Toyota must have removed the grill at the last service, and I don't really lift my grill to check if it's mounted correctly, I have other things to do.

Anyway, when I was unclipsing the grill, one of the clips bounced out and slipped off my hands, resulting in the simple outcome of me needing a new clip. Does anyone have the part number for the type of clips that fastens the grill? I need to drop by Toyota to check out their wheel offers, and also checking out their velour mats and Roof Rack, so I thought I could buy the clip tomorrow. If anyone know the part number of the type that fasten the grill and share it with me, thank you in advance.

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

I have now used the better part of two weeks on detailing the car, I did the engine bay before Easter and the rest today. More pictures are coming tomorrow, as I'm going to one of Norways biggest drifting events, Drift Battle, and I'll meet up with some friends. One of them are my bro Espen, a nutter when it comes to cameras. We'll see, perhaps he'll take some photos of my car, I don't know. I will, for sure.

Anyway, the Badge came in:

Eirik

[Yaris Verso]

How much was the Badge? Would you help me to get one? Maybe you want to be the only one with the Fun Cargo Badge...Please..

Have you found any good antenna? I bought a beesting but that did not fit good so that one is now on a VW Polo...

[eiriksmil]

No problem, we can be the only Scandinavians with this Badge :P

At least I doubt there are other badges in Norway, but it was easier to acquire than I thought. The dealer will get you one, at least my dealer could, but they needed the parts number, which is 75442-52050, with the descreption being "Plate, Luggage Compt", according to the bag I got it in.

I don't know what it will cost exactly, as I got it free of charge, out of nowhere. I was going to phone my dealer the day before easter with the parts number I got from RossP, and it was in the mail the same day. However, my dealer told me it would cost around 250 NOK, which is £21 or 286 SEK.

How does the Polo unit work? My mother managed to break the antenna in the garage, so I bought a new antenna the same day I asked about the FunCargo Badge, cost £25 or something, which I felt I could afford, even though it was the crappy, original unit.

Anyway, good luck with the Badge. Where in Sweden are you located, by the way?

Eirik

[Yaris Verso]

I´m located in Stockholm and today we had +22 and it was great. I will call my garage on monday to see if they can order the Badge for me. Your car looks so clean, I try to keep my as clean as yours but...two kids...a wife...I have still not find a good antenna for the Verso, the ones that fits on the Yaris (non verso) goes not fit on the Verso. My futher plans for the verso is right now...Bodykit, lowering, sportsseats, backbox, painting mirrors and front lights...We wife will hate me...All my cars ends up the same...

[eiriksmil]

I´m located in Stockholm and today we had +22 and it was great. I will call my garage on monday to see if they can order the badge for me. Your car looks so clean, I try to keep my as clean as yours but...two kids...a wife...I have still not find a good antenna for the Verso, the ones that fits on the Yaris (non verso) goes not fit on the Verso. My futher plans for the verso is right now...Bodykit, lowering, sportsseats, backbox, painting mirrors and front lights...We wife will hate me...All my cars ends up the same...

Well, I have some of the same problems. In the summer, the car is clean enough, but in the vinter it's just a random Verso, full of mud. The salt and Oslo roads to it no favour, and leaving the car in Oslo outside the garage can be a PITA, with small marks of paint appearing on bumpers and fender flares, with the occasional scratches and stone chips on doors and bonnet, the latter is becoming a real bother with rust developing in the chips.

Anyway, it's a daily. I don't really have any plans for it, it's pretty much what I desire. I'll see if I can come up with some other JDM goodies, apart from that nothing really tickles my fancy. Lowering and wheels could have been fun, but it compromises the car so much. If I get a stone chip now, I get irritated of course, but I remind myself it's a beater. If I use alot of cash and time and the same happens, I would not react the same way.

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

Removed the front splitter and mud flaps today, gave them a hot bath followed by a refreshment of a back to black sort of thing. I then cleaned the bolts in CRC 5-56, cleaned the bumper and fender and assembled the bits and pieces again. Just another, uninteresting update from me.

Eirik

[Yaris SR Kid]

Wow looks very clean!

Keep up good work!

[eiriksmil]

Wow looks very clean!

Keep up good work!

Thanks, bro! Today I removed the plastic engine cover and cleaned the head cover, wires and heat shield, plus I cleaned behind the front bumper. Any time I can play with my car is a good time!

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

This is soon a 100% cleaning thread. Anyway, I don't care what you may or may not think, I just want to show the effort I've got to keeping the Yaris as clean as possible.

Thanks to the guys here at TOC, I got my Battery removed today and cleaned the bracket for the Battery, the Battery itself and most importantly the body underneath. Man, that didn't look good. I haven't showed any other engine pictures apart from the first in the thread, because of the battery.

Anyway, an engine shot I took before I left today.

I started in the engine bay around 18:30 and was finished an hour later or so. Then I moved on to the back of the car, as I unbolted the false floor to wash it and the car. Looked like Christmas (I told you the car's a daily) there, not anymore.

How it looked when I finished for the day at 22:30. I'll finish it up tomorrow and photograph the car outside so you can get a better look at both engine bay and interior, plus the FunCargo Badge.

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

Got the interior finished up today, and I managed to get the pictures I promised.

Looks good or bad or perhaps worse? Atleast I believe it looks better than your standard Verso, but I could be wrong.

Also got the engine bay finished today, I have now cleaned the whole bay and waxed it. Yep, I have waxed the engine bay, so the road dust will go off more easily.

I also snapped a better picture of the FunCargo Badge than earlier, so you can see how it looks. I get some views from Yaris owners, I had a guy staring at me on the motorway doing 70 mph. What was he thinking, he could have crashed

I also snapped a picture of the front. The plate is a visitor plate (duty free cars got these before they were running ordinary plates) from Cyprus, registered in 1993. The first three numbers are actually the same number as Ford 7L engines, but that's a coincidence. This is no replica plate, but rather a geniune plate.

Eirik

[Yaris Verso]

Your car is so clean...Nice. I just ordered the foglights my did not come with any...

[johnp]

Hi Eirik and others.

I have a Verso auto in champaign which I use for disability driving instruction.

It is a most superbly practical car.

As soon as I saw one I thought- that is "a must have car"

The amount of things you can do with such a small and comfortable car is amazing.

I carry a full size spare.

A 3 inch square drain pipe Velcroed to the floor gives ample room for the spare. Why such a practical car has a space saver is beyond me.

It is a bit underpowered, but early switch off of the OD makes it quite adequate.

We took ours to Ireland for Christmas carrying everything including the Christmas Tree and still had room for 5 passengers when we got there.

I remove the floor and fold the rear seats down.

Bikes, baths, everything fits. The only 1 small car I know.

I like the design because it works and you never get frustrated with it.

It is a car you can love and as it is Japanese, it is much better than the build of the French ones.

[eiriksmil]

Your car is so clean...Nice. I just ordered the foglights my did not come with any...

I try, not easy though. I rarely use the foglights, but they look very good.

Hi Eirik and others.

I have a Verso auto in champaign which I use for disability driving instruction.

It is a most superbly practical car.

As soon as I saw one I thought- that is "a must have car"

The amount of things you can do with such a small and comfortable car is amazing.

I carry a full size spare.

A 3 inch square drain pipe Velcroed to the floor gives ample room for the spare. Why such a practical car has a space saver is beyond me.

It is a bit underpowered, but early switch off of the OD makes it quite adequate.

We took ours to Ireland for Christmas carrying everything including the Christmas Tree and still had room for 5 passengers when we got there.

I remove the floor and fold the rear seats down.

Bikes, baths, everything fits. The only 1 small car I know.

I like the design because it works and you never get frustrated with it.

It is a car you can love and as it is Japanese, it is much better than the build of the French ones.

My thoughts exactly. Although I was sceptical when my dad first traded in our '93 Corolla for the Verso, but it has grown on me. You have to remember, this car was registered in April 2000, it was very different from the rest that time. However, nothing could beat the space in it. I looked at a Avensis, the Verso has got more boot space with the seats folded down, it's amazing.

A friend of mine drives a Audi A3 1.6 and a A6 2.7 TDi, and he cannot understand how I can drive "anything so slow as a 1.3". I keep telling him it has got to do with driving style, and engines itself. Yes, the 1.6 does probably have a bit more torque, and it's got 15 BHP more. But let's put it this way, I can easily break any speed limit in the Yaris.

I like the space saver, it's got stretch :P

Oh, and Ireland you said? Been there, done that :P

These two photos are from the Dingle peninsula, the first shot is shot right outside Dingle. The second was taken around Fahamore, past Killiney and Castlegregory for those of you who know where that is.

Speaking of road trips, I blasted out of Oslo this weekend, and road trips means pictures. The first four is from a place called Dalen in Norway, which directly trancelates to The Valley :D

Here I drove from Rysstad, Aust-Agder, up in the mountains through a local road. Look, I found some snow :P

Eirik

[eiriksmil]

Eirik