Overview of the Toyota Yaris
The Yaris replaced the popularEchoas Toyota's city-car offering in 2005, and has since remained one of the segment's highest sellers. There had regularly been a choice of sedan or hatchback body styles - as well as choice between 1.3L and 1.5L petrol engines - though the three-door Yaris hatch was dropped in 2014, while the axe fell on the sedan version in late 2016 due to poor sales. A 2017 update aimed to keep the Yaris fresh as it neared the average lifecycle of a car - seven years - with styling tweaks and a range of safety features either optional or standard depending on the trim grade.
TOYOTA YARIS GENERATIONS (SINCE 2005)
2005-2011
2011 onwards
RUNNING COSTS
Fuel Consumption
1.3L 4-cylinder: 5.8 to 6.4 litres per 100km
1.5L 4-cylinder: 5.9 to 6.4 litres per 100km
= Highly economical.
= Good economy.
= Average fuel use.
= Heavy consumption.
Servicing
Every 10,000km or six months, whichever is sooner. Each service currently costs $140. Toyota Yaris parts and accessoriescan be found on Gumtree.
SIMILAR MODELS TO T OYOTA YARIS
Ford Fiesta
Kia Rio
Mazda 2
Volkswagen Polo
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: TOYOTA YARIS (2011-2016)
The Yaris is a great second-hand car thanks to its mighty reputation for reliability. In fact, some owners get years and years and hundreds of thousands of trouble-free kilometres from Yarises and, provided basic maintenance schedules are adhered to, there's no reason you won't either.
Engines are robust and use a timing chain rather than a timing belt, so that should last the life of the car without costly replacement. The catch is that the little Yaris engine only carries about 2.5 litres of oil, so it gets worked hard.
Toyota recommends 10,000km oil-change intervals and we wouldn't stretch these. Dirty oil will gunk up an engine and if there's a ticking noise when you first start the car that goes away, this process has probably already occurred.
Check for oil leaks from the transmission and engine, although a little smear of oil from the rocker-cover is nothing to worry about. While you're underneath, take a look at the rubber boots that cover the CV joints on each driveshaft. If these are already split, the joints are also probably already damaged from dirt and grime getting into the delicate workings.
Also, check the body condition for signs of poor repairs. These cars were popular with younger, possibly accident-prone drivers who sometimes skimped on insurance, leading to cheap repairs when the inevitable happened.
