Mazda 5 vs Toyota Corolla Verso, reliability & running costs

sgoode

I am looking at buying either a Mazda 5 or Corolla Verso. I want to spend a maximum of £8k and am looking at either the 1.8 petrols or the diesels of both.

The Mazda 1.8 petrol appears to be higher tax group than the Corolla, but I think the diesels are the same.

I particularly like the look of the Mazda 5 in Sport trim, which they do with the diesel engine. Although I haven't seen many in my price range. But I have read several reports of terrible tyre wear and suspension problems on the Mazda.

I currently have a 1.4 petrol A2 which has been cheap to tax/run but recently has started being unreliable. Every day there seems to be a different array of warning lights on the dashboard and it drinks oil like no tomorrow. I bought the A2 as it looked cool, especially compared to alternatives, and I thought an Audi would be reliable. I should have known better as my previous car was a Seat Leon (also VW/Audi group) which also drank oil, leaked like a sieve and had numerous problems. It is now more important for me to have reliability over anything else so should I go for the more boring looking Toyota?

I still want to have as low running costs as possible and my wife has only been driving for little over a year so insurance is a consideration.

We currently do about 12k miles a year, mainly round town.

I'm interested to hear opinions from owners of either. I am asking for trouble if I go for a Mazda?

I know similar threads have been posted before but I couldn't find anything specifically about reliability.

vikingaero

The Mazda 5 is more fragile than the Toyota Verso. Common problems include shock absorbers, suspension, tyre wear as you've highlighted, and a less than hard wearing interior trim.

I have a Mazda 5 Diesel and I've had the rear shocks (dampers for the pedants on MSE) replaced under warranty.

The Mazda 5 Diesels biggest shock is main dealer servicing costs - I paid £470 for the first service :eek: and subsequent services are nearly as bad at around £370. :eek: Of course once it's out of warranty I'm going to go to my friendly independent garage.

The other possible problems on a diesel are the Dual Mass Flywheel and the Diesel Particulate Filter which on failed regeneration pumps the excess diesel back into the engine oil. If the engine oil level gets too high then you have to change the oil. This is one of the most stupid DPF systems on the market.

Of course the petrol is cheaper to service, and doesn't have the DMF or DPF. In hindsight I.....

Brilliant car but slightly flawed with these niggles.

sgoode

Thanks for that. I might avoid the diesel Mazda at least then. As most of my driving is around town I don't know if it would really be worth the benefit of the diesel anyway. I was only looking at them as I particularly like the sport model, which they don't do with a 1.8 petrol, and I thought the 2.0 petrol might be a bit too thirsty.

Today I have looked at a 57 plate 1.8 TS2 with 30k miles which seems to be quite a reasonable price. They also offered me a not too horrendous part ex on my A2. I think I will hold out and look at some Versos though, if I can find some as there aren't any for sale locally.

frothey

Verso's are fairly sought after things - they also sold far more diesels than petrols so you might struggle to find a petrol one. My missus loved hers (2.2 T-Spirit) and is nagging me to get one again.

Ranger8

sgoode wrote: »

It is now more important for me to have reliability over anything else so should I go for the more boring looking Toyota?

Yes afraid so !

frothey

Funnily enough, if you can dig out the review that Quentin Wilson did (with the 5, Verso, Touran, C-Max, Grand Picasso) in the real world the Verso (2.2 Diesel) was the quickest, safest, most economical, cheapest to run, easiest to use the interior and better specced.

Remember that the middle seat in the 5 is more of an armrest than a seat....

no_debts_no_more

We have a 2006 1.8 petrol, which we've owned for over 3 years.

Reliability exemplary, but did require one fairly major issue sorting under warranty. Service intervals are on the short side (1 year/10K miles), but main dealer costs aren't bad at all. Got change out of £100 one time - I'd say main-dealer service costs have been similar to Ford but you get a better level of attention in the dealership.

Interior is intelligently put together, and seems hard-wearing - useful in this sort of vehicle. Seats fold into the floor. Rearmost seats are for occasional use only - there's little legroom and the boot is almost all taken. Second row of seats slide back&forth so you can have more legrrom or a bigger boot. Get a mid-spec T3 or TR as base T2 spec misses lots of stuff. Mid-spec well equipped with allround electric windows, e/h mirrors, climate, cruise & alloys.

It drives surprisingly well for this sort of thing, but it is a people carrier at the end of the day. Economy is high-30's to 40mpg on a run. Low 30's with short trips.

One thing I have noticed is that build quality seems high, and consumables seem to last well. We'd have another if something happened to this one.

sgoode

Thanks for all your comments. I'm glad to have heard that owners of Versos are/have been happy with them, and I am now pretty sure that they are the car for me. I just need to find one now. Most of the ones that aren't a million miles away from me seem to be 1.8 petrols, and diesels seem a bit more expensive.

My parents have an Avensis Verso which is nearly 10 years old now and since new the only thing that has ever gone wrong with it was a emissions sensor.

sgoode

no_debts_no_more wrote: »

We have a 2006 1.8 petrol, which we've owned for over 3 years.

What mileage has yours done? Most of the ones I've found have done 60k plus. I'd rather start off with a lower mileage than that.