Treat it with respect, Yaris 1.3 5 door. (Toyota Yaris in general)

Name: paulhanton

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Product:	Toyota Yaris in general
Date:	13.04.08 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Economical, fun, safe, good specification, low depreciation.

Disadvantages: Very small boot, high initial cost.

I have had my 1.3 Toyota Yaris for 18 months now, Yazzer (my son named the car) had it's first service, a couple of miles short of 10,000. The Toyota dealer (Pentagon, Barnsley) was helpful and the full service price was £96, which included oil and filter change, screenwash fluid, and they washed the car and vacumed it, all in three hours.

18,000 miles driven now, brakes only 50% worn, back tyres similar, though I have just had new fronts put on. I am saying all this before reviewing as it illustrates how inexpensive the car is to run. I have not had a single problem with this car and it has grown on me immenesly, I just love it.

No issues with the paintwork, no gremlins at all. The longest drive I have made so far is about 400 miles in a day (London and back) and it was plenty comfortable 'enough', though in fairness it is not the smoothest of rides as one would expect from a small car.

I bought this car as a replacement to a gas guzzling 2.5 litre car that I owned. Mainly for envioronmental reasons, but also economical reasons, a Mondeo ghia x, which incidentally has not been reviewed by anyone on Dooyoo yet, so I may review that at some point.

The Yaris is great around town, very nippy ,and on distance drives, comfortable enough, good seating position and plenty of gadgets that most smaller cars dont have, nine airbags, air con, six speaker music system, ABS, EBA, leather gearknob and steering wheel, which is also adjustable. The 'spec' in fact is very impressive all round.

On A roads, I can easily get 50 miles per gallon, and even on motorways I can average around 43 miles per gallon at a steady 70-75mph. In fact, sadly, I have been playing a game of how many MPG I can get, on a 40 mile round trip to Doncaster (A roads) I managed 53 mpg, keeping to all speed limits. This,by the way is a sign of getting older, when one is more interested in MPG than MPH. That being said, with a top speed of around 110 (not that I do that) it is plenty fast enough.

Great for parking, fantastic turning circle, I can turn completely in an average size road, no three point turns needed.

Good music system, takes MP3 compatible CD's, steering wheel mounted controls. Good overall spec, great NCAP safety rating (best in it's class), great little car. I have always had big cars, never again. I worked out that over three years, given the lower car tax, insurance and fuel costs, the car will pay for itself. I have been surprised at how little it is costing me, I love that.

It has a very small boot, but that is made up for by the rear passenger space, and the easy fold down seats if needed. Also, the back footwell has no central 'bump' which is generally caused by the drive shaft, it is flat throughout which makes the seating position for a middle passenger much better, though in fairness 3 adults in the back is a bit of a squeeze.

The folks at the dealers were really helpful and not pushy.
The adverts for 'big small' seem pretty accurate, and it is a little head turner to boot. My 'Yazzer' is Venetian Silver.

Interesting fact, every Yaris (in fact every Toyota) has an individual who is 'named' as responsible for that particular vehicle for quality control purposes. Interesting fact 2: The Yaris is one of the most recylable vehicles in the industry.

Total cost when I bought it, with metallic paint was about £10,300 which is not cheap compared with other small hatchbacks, though the base model is a couple of thousand cheaper. My model is the T3 which has the air con etc, I would not buy the base model personally. As I said, not cheap, but not basic either, and finally, here is the most interesting thing. Resale values are extremely high, to get my car now, used, with a similar mileage would cost about £7,000, so a depreciation value of around 20% per year, compared to say my old Mondeo which depreciated 50% in first year.

In summary:
Good value for spec', low depreciation, low running costs, good to the environment, fun and agile.

Summary: My Yaris reviewed.

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