Verdict
A spacious city car designed to compete with the Honda Jazz, Vauxhall Meriva and Nissan Note. It's economical and well equipped.

Pros
• Well equipped
• Cheap to run
• Should be reliable

Cons
• Not that versatile
• No diesels
• Manual car unrefined on motorway

1. Exterior: 4/5
The Toyota Verso-S is an MPV, so it's tall and narrow, while the overhangs front and rear are short, giving the car a purposeful look. The Verso-S also looks very modern, with lots of sculpting, sharp angles and tight shutlines.

2. Interior: 4/5
There isn't much flair but the materials are of a high quality, the fit and finish is excellent and everything is very easy to use. What lifts things is the panoramic glass roof - it really opens up the interior.

3. Practicality: 3/5
The rear seats don't slide or remove, but they do fold forward with a 60/40 split. The boot floor can be adjusted to sit flush with the load lip or it can be lowered - but you can't have a split-level boot floor. Rear seat leg room is excellent with the front seats forward, but if you've got tall people in the front there won't be enough leg room in the back for anyone who is tall.

4. Ride and handling: 4/5
Toyota's engineers have made the right call in terms of suspension settings, as it's surprisingly comfortable considering its short length. The Verso-S also doesn't wallow in bends, while the electric power steering offers a reasonable amount of feel.

5. Performance: 3/5
There's only one engine option: a 98bhp 1.33-litre petrol unit with either a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed CVT automatic. The manual gearbox is pleasant enough, but too low-geared - the CVT gives much more relaxed cruising. The manual Verso-S has a 106mph top speed with 0-62mph in 13.3 seconds - the CVT gives 103mph and 13.7 seconds.

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6. Running costs: 4/5
The Verso-S should be one of the cheapest small cars to run, as Toyotas hold their value well. Toyota aims to sell little more than 3,000 examples each year in the UK, so demand should exceed supply. Economy is strong too, with 51.4mpg in manual form (with CO2 emissions of 127g/km) while the CVT edition achieves 54.3mpg and 120g/km.

7. Reliability: 4/5
Toyota has an excellent reputation for reliability, and while that reputation has taken a bit of a knock recently, the quality of its cars is still towards the top end of the market.

8. Safety: 3/5
There's a wide range of safety kit as standard, including driver and passenger airbags, curtain airbags, a knee airbag for the driver and Isofix child seat mountings in the rear. Everyone gets a three-point seat belt, while brake assist, traction control and electronic stability programme (ESP) are fitted to all cars.

9. Equipment: 3/5
There are two trim levels - TR and T Spirit. Even the entry-level model gets electrically adjustable door mirrors, electric front windows, a touch-screen display with reversing camera, air-con, Bluetooth and a multi-function steering wheel. The T Spirit adds a panoramic glass roof, alloy wheels, rear electric windows and privacy glass for the rear side windows.

10. Why buy? 3/5
Although it isn't that versatile, the Verso-S is practical, economical, well built and well equipped too. It should also hold onto its value pretty well, and it's not over-priced in the first place, although rivals such as the Kia Venga and Hyundai ix20 are better value.