Corolla Verso Or Golf Plus

July 23, 2008

Hi there,

I am looking to buy a 'new' secondhand car - something that is 1 - 2 years old - and I have come down to either the Golf Plus or the Corolla Verso.

I find both allow me to feel comfortable in the driver's seat, ( I am 6 foot 2 inches tall with long legs and I simply do not feel comfy in the Auris, Corolla, Focus, Golf, Mazda 3 - you name it and I have tried it :-) ), and initially the Golf Plus was in the lead as, being a single man with no wife and no family, I felt the Verso was a touch of overkill with a hint of 'family & kids' about it.

However, I am now begining to rethink this. I surf so I am coming round to thinking that the Verso would be a good board carrier for myself.

I would be grateful for thoughts and suggestions from Corolla Verso owners, or anyone on this forum, and definitely welcome advice over diesel versus petrol as a choice of vehicle.

I can't justify buying new as I am seeing less than 1 year old Corolla Verso T3s available for between 10K and 12.5K some with as little as 11 thousand miles on the clock.

I would welcome thoughts and advice,

Thank you,

T.

Edit.

Oh, I learnt today that the Verso is only 6 inches longer than a Golf Plus. I had assumed it was much bigger. I like the feel of room arond me in both though when in the driver's seat.

July 23, 2008

It really does depend what you will be using the car for. I bought my Verso as it was one of the narrowest 7 seaters on the market and our house has a narrow driveway and we needed the 7 seat option. The Verso does the job in a very competent way, not the most exciting drive in the World but not the worst.

I went for the diesel option as I like the extra oomph and better MPG you get from a diesel. Had the car for 3 months now and clocked up around 1,500 miles, getting high 40's to low 50's in MPG with mixed driving.

If you want space, low VED, good MPG and gadgets look at a diesel Citroen C4 Picasso (5 and 7 seat versions) probably one of the best VFM cars around at the moment. Maybe also look at a used Mazda 5 probably one of the most overlooked cars in the MPV class.

The reason less than 24 month old T3 spec cars are good prices is because Toyota added items to the T3 spec and called it an SR whilst not increasing the price (the more for less campaign).

I felt the Verso was a touch of overkill with a hint of 'family & kids' about it.

My OH got so depressed in the Verso she went and bought an MX5 for the days we don't have the grandkids :)

Oh, I learnt today that the Verso is only 6 inches longer than a Golf Plus. I had assumed it was much bigger.

Now I am sure there is a joke there somewhere

July 23, 2008

I would say go for the Verso, with the 2.2 Diesel (not the T180 version though) as the 7 seats give you versatility if you need it. The Golf Plus is a normal 5dr but with a little more room, they are also overpriced and are unlikely to hold their money in the future, as the normal Golf achieves the same for less money + the Touran makes more sense with its 7 seats.

The Verso has more power than the VW 1.9 TDi and is likely to give you less trouble than a Golf 2.0 TDi as they suffer from loads of problems with the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) putting the car in limp mode.

I would usually say you need to do 18k to make a Diesel pay but for larger heavier cars the torque of the Diesel makes it a much more pleasant drive :thumbsup: