Faults:

Ignition switch relay failure on very cold weather, causing steering and airbag light to go off, and complete steering failure (steering would not turn no matter how hard I pulled). Not a safe situation when driving down the road, fortunately this occurred only right after the engine started up, so the car wasn't moving at that time.

General Comments:

Bought this car for two reasons : mileage and reliability. While reliability is on the low side, mileage is disappointing. Good highway mileage on long trips (average 40 US mpg) yet city driving with some highway gets consistently 27 mpg (US), with gear shifting between 2000 and 3000 rpm. At this point the engine should have been broken in. Surprisingly, wife's automatic Echo (same engine) gets the same mileage in the same driving conditions. Her car has 15000 miles on the clock. No doubt, this car is economical on highway, but the engine it's not optimized (in terms of fuel economy) for stop and go driving.

Second weakness of this car is it's manual transmission. Unless you swear only by stick shifting, go with the automatic. The car is much easier and dare I say funny to drive with the automatic transmission. When saying this I compare my 5 speed Yaris with wife's automatic Echo. Clutch and shifting action are difficult on this car. It is also very hard to use the clutch when trying to get off the snow, despite using winter tires.

Another point to mention for all those young drivers looking for some spirited driving. Don't get mislead by the car's (especially hatchback's) appearance. It has nothing to do with the way this car drives. Especially because of the clutch/shifting action, soft rear suspension and short wheelbase (the car has a poor "turning" stability). Not talking here about sporty driving, just about that "funny" driving feel some other cars use to have.

In response to other reviews, I found the car to be surprisingly stable and to have a "solid" feel on the highway. The steering feels somehow weird in crosswinds, yet the car is very stable and keeps going in a straight line. The Echo is everything, but stable in the same conditions. It is also very easy to park, not only because of it's length, but because it is able to turn in very tight spaces. BTW, the 2 doors hatchback has a very important blind spot on the driver's side.

All in all, a reasonable car with poor fuel economy for it's size. One year ago I believed that Honda and Toyota were the leaders in economical engines. I'm asking myself today if Toyota still deserves the title?

Faults:

Absolutely nothing.

General Comments:

This car has been a dream to own.

The dealership has been a big help the entire way.

It is very punchy (for its minuscule stature) around town. Surprising even.

Amazing gas mileage. Everyone thinks I have a hybrid...

High quality feel.. doesn't feel like the economy car that it really is.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

It's pretty clear Toyota designers spent most of the money on the engine, handling, and suspension. Whatever was left, which wasn't much, was spent on the interior materials. But for a $13,000 car, that is OK. Handling on this car is very capable and fairly fun. The steering feel is very natural. Even a Lexus IS350 doesn't feel this good. The ride is good and quiet for this class. Highway cruising is simply serene. From the inside, the Yaris doesn't feel small like a Honda Fit. The instruments are located in the center of the dash, ala Scion. You get used to it very quickly. Toyota probably did this to make right hand to left hand drive conversions easier. The materials are cheap. Make no bones about it. The shift nob looks like it came from Auto Zone next to the Christmas tree air freshener. What is good is the huge number of storage spaces thanks to the center mounted instrument cluster. A big gripe is base models do not have seat height adjustment. Oh well. A $5.00 cushion from Walmart solves that. It shines from 40 mph where it's most important for safe highway merging with insane, cell phone attached soccer moms in Chevy Suburbans going way over the posted speed limit. Increase the throttle, VVTi takes a couple of milliseconds to figure out what you're doing, then Zoom, off you go. The acceleration is brisk enough to put a slight smile on your face.