Toyota Corolla Verso

Our verdict

If you were being kind you’d see the Toyota Verso as a slightly more compact Ford S-Max. But it doesn’t have the sense of fun.

Comfort

Toyota has done a good job of carving seats for five and two kids out of a compact overall footprint. The ride stays relatively supple, and most engine are subdued.

Performance

The 1.6 petrol is sluggish enough unladen - fill it with people and it's really going to struggle. At the other extreme, the T180 diesel has more than enough poke for the job, and hits 62mph in under 9 seconds.

Cool

Though it's one of the least boxy of the type, there's no point in pretending this is anything but a seven-seat MPV. And the only place you're envied for having one of those is outside a fertility clinic.

Quality

The Verso is nicely furnished, with good fabrics, enough soft-touch materials and nice blue-glow instruments. All the seat-folding mechanisms have a satisfying gliding motion too.

Handling

Pretty ordinary really. Obviously you won't be testing this when all seven seats are full, but you'd hope for a bit more finesse when you're driving alone. Still, it doesn't get bent too far out of shape when you give it the full beans of the punchy diesel, so that says something about the underlying competence.

Practicality

All five seats in rows two and three drop easily into the floor, creating a flexible platform in various sizes.

Running costs

There's always a ready market for MPVs, especially ones as tough and well-regarded as this, so depreciation is nothing to fear. Other costs are competitive with the class.