2002 Toyota Yaris GS
Summary:
Fine as a shopping trolley, or school runs!
Faults:
Nothing.
General Comments:
In March I made a bad mistake by replacing my faithful "F Reg." 1300 Astra Estate with a brand new Yaris Verso.
Mechanically it has been fine and has proved exceptionally economical with up to 45 mpg readily obtainable here in the Chiltern Hills! On motor ways it struggles to hold, (ahem), seventy five with 38 mpg at best, whereas the Astra regularly achieved 42-45.
I've now held a licence for over forty years and in all that time I've never come across such a wilful vehicle! The low speed torque us virtually non existent and we've to slip the clutch to stop it stalling. On the move you can forget economy and race the engine if you want to keep up with the traffic flow.
The map pockets over the sun visors are simply brilliant. Pity the visors themselves are too shallow to be of any use on such a deep windscreen!
The reversing lights illuminate the trees, but not the road behind!
But worst of all is its abysmal ground clearance. I now have to use the Wife's car if I want to exercise the dogs, as there is not a single picnic area within miles I can drive onto without hearing it scrubbing the ground!
In any case whenever I've used it for the dogs I've felt guilty as the ride in the back is atrocious.
I could go on and on about its foibles. But to summarise it's proved a bitter disappointment.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 8th September, 2002
20th Apr 2006, 03:56
The yaris is a great car and as the other comment said, reversing light are for warning other drivers. The yaris is a very nippy car and I can't see how it would stall starting off, I can often start off in 2nd gear. Road tests and other reviews nearly all rate this car very highly so either the person producing this review has never drive a yaris or got a lemon.
1st Aug 2006, 09:22
I think we've got the difference between the country and the city here - I've lived in both, and good ground clearance and reversing lights that illuminate where you are going are essential in rural areas; the 2 who have commented clearly have no experience of life beyond the burbs, and manage to sound quite defensive about it. For the record, the only lemon I ever had was a Toyota Camry, bought brand new in 2002, it needed a new engine after 5 weeks, none of the panels fitted properly, the steering was misaligned from new and it was excessively noisy.
And the last time I drove a Yaris platform Toyota across London, it scraped every speedbump.
4th Nov 2008, 15:02
I'm sorry but am I missing the point? You buy a small car, the Yaris, then complain that there isn't enough room for the dogs! It's a Yaris!!!
As several people here have said, the Yaris is a fine car (although a bit overpriced in my opinion) and I bought one second hand for my mum, who had a very poor quality Fiat Cinquecento (try getting your dogs in one of those mate).
I love the Yaris, the roominess, the safety, the a/c, sunroof etc etc I could go on!
27th Apr 2014, 04:13
The guy obviously loves to complain. Buy Yaris and expect minivan space and Ferrari performance? The Astra is a crap car. The Yaris is obviously a huge step up.
10th Sep 2005, 18:05
I wasn't aware that reversing lights were supposed to illuminate the rear area, they are for alerting other road users to the fact you are reversing! Plus, do you really care what your dogs think of the ride?