Toyota Yaris 1.0 16V GS

I bought my 1.0 GS new, first registered 1/4/01. It was built in Japan, not France as some were. I still use this car on a daily basis, both around town and on the motorway, for my daily commute. the car has covered 100150 miles. It is the most reliable car I have ever owned. It is almost as it came out of the factory; it still has the original battery and clutch. The original rear shoes were only replaced two weeks ago during the annual service. Other replacement parts include the catalytic converter (this was still working but had to be replaced due to the mounting lugs snapping due to eleven years of corrosion (I decided to replace the manifold at this point, it was nearly ready)), a radiator (not leaking but needed a re-core so a new one was fitted) and an auxillary drive belt (original). All these were fitted at eleven and a half years. Three replacement bulbs (all stop lights, not fitted one for three years). Track rod ends replaced two years ago. Apart from three sets of tyres, one set of front discs and two sets of pads and two rear exhaust boxes, that's it! Amazing for 12 years and nearly two months of motoring. My only niggle is the cost of Toyota spares. Servicing is £99 and £189 (main dealer) which is fine. The catalytic converter however, was £1650.00 plus fitting plus VAT! So sadly a non-Toyota cat was fitted for about £260.00, and a non-Toyota radiator. However, Toyota spares are expensive but they do last for a long time. In all, I have spent about £1100.00 on all consumable parts (excluding service costs) in over twelve years. I know I need a new sump, it is very corroded (£180.00 main dealer price, being replaced in three weeks).

This car is serviced every year by Toyota, but is parked outside in all weather. I have never had to top up the oil and it has never failed to start or given me the impression that it may not start. There is one small area of corrosion, on the edge of the bonnet.

A bit boring to drive, but hey!

Hello. I bought my 10 year old Yaris GS 1.0 VVTi 4 months ago. It had 40000 genuine miles which took priority over it's tatty appearance and age. Yes it looks tired due to it's various scratches, dents and dull black paintwork, but it drives like new, without a rattle or bang and the engine at tickover is whisper quiet.

I bought a Yaris as no other small car in my price range could hold a candle to it. It is stupidly cheap to insure, reliabilty is second to none, it is relatively safe (4 star NCAP I believe?), fuel efficiency is amazing (I get 40mpg around town, 45-50mpg Motorway, and country roads 55mpg+), the 16v VVTi engine is superb and loves to be revved, it feels as quick as some 1.4's ive driven.

Some people have complained about a clunky gearbox, yes it does 'clunk', but in a positive manner, like a rifle bolt. There is nothing wrong here, I like its positiveness.

It has a trip computer which some premium cars don't even have, I love it.

Some owners have complained about noise entering the cabin. SO WHAT?! If you want silence buy a Lexus!!!! I personally enjoy hearing the engine whine away, and it's seriously not as bad as people say it is.

Handling is superb. I have owned alot of VW's with inert steering - no feel or communication to the driver. The lil Yaris has lots of feel, its short wheelbase gives you confidence, and I havent had it understeer in the wet yet!

Mine was built in Japan and I'm proud of this fact. Pure JDM!!! Most were built in France to the detriment of quality in some areas according to the Toyota forums.

Soooo easy to maintain, I changed the engine oil, oil filter, air filter and spark plugs when I bought it as a precaution, all of it took me an hour and saved me ££££££££££££'s in labour costs.

I love it, The humble Yaris is all things to all men.

Legendary Toyota reliability in a small car package that's hard to beat.

We moved from an Avensis to a 1 litre Yaris GS in a bid to save some money. We now get over 45mpg for the short journeys we do compared to around 27mpg we were getting from a 2.0l Avensis.

The Yaris feels bigger and wider to drive than my BMW 123d M-Sport which after driving the Yaris feels pretty claustrophobic. This is achieved by toyota using similar principles to those of Alec Issigonis who designed the original Mini.

The Yaris is reasonable nippy round town and once up to speed on motorways drives fine, a lack of torque means you can feel exposed on a motorway after having to slow down because acceleration is far from instantaneous.

Use of a timing chain rather than the cheaper belt that most manufacturers use means lower servicing bills and far less chance of failure if properly serviced and maintained.

Before I bought the Toyota Yaris I test drove the S model and was mesmerised by the telescopic digital speedometer which looked like it was being projected from somewhere in the middle of the engine. As well as being really cool, this is also a safety feature since you don't have to adjust your focus so much from the road to see your speed. In this day and age of speed cameras, a digital speedo is essential.

After test-driving the S I searched hard for a GS since it would be a pain not to have power steering, electric windows and central locking. You might also want to try for one with air con since global warming appears to be getting worse. You'll be helping reduce the global problem by getting this instead of a gas guzzler.

The other brilliant thing about this car is it's incredible reliability. In 4 years of ownership, driving about 10,000 miles a year, nothing has ever gone wrong with this car and it feels to me like it never will.

The Toyota slogan "bigsmall" is really true. I once fitted a dining table and 4 dining chairs in the back, and still managed to shut the back door!

Negative points:

It lacks a bit of power for overtaking and if this is a problem for you, then get the 1.3. I find it cruises nicely on the motorway and it is quite nippy in the 0-30 range around town.

It is a bit noisy on the motorway, but if you only go on the motorway occasionally then it's bearable.

Other plus points: Very comfortable seats. Sliding rear seat means choice of larger boot or more rear leg room. Lots of little cubby holes for storage. Low servicing costs.

Brilliant car, it's my mums actually, but I learned to drive in it, and it's fantastic. Has some cool features, like digital speedo and LOADS of different storage ideas.

My mum has back trouble, and the seats are brilliantly comfortable. It is also easy to get in and out of the car, as its quite high. It feels like you're in a people carrier at first!

The only drawback is that the 1 litre engine, can be very slow to accelerate.

Having bought the Toyota Yaris 1.0 16v GS a couple of years ago and I am very pleased with it.

Despite only having a 1.0 litre engine it pulls surprisingly well. If I drive carefully I can get 56mpg on the trip computer - the best fuel consumption of any car I have ever driven.

The rear seats slide backwards and forewards, you can make them look larger at the expense of rear passenger legroom and vice versa.

And the rear seats also completely tip up - provided no one is sitting in the back. This car can carry as much cargo as an estate!

It isn't quite a drivers car but it is very easy to drive.

My only complaint is the engine noise. It sounds thrashy when revved, and on the motorway (70mph), there is constant booming noise which can be tiresome.

The GS specification has power steering, electric windows, central locking and front passenger airbag in addition to the S specification. Note it does not have air conditioning (the only thing I think the car could do with), but this requires the GLS spec which is around £1000 dearer.

Maintainance has been very cheap. At 10,000 miles it required an oil change costing £67 and at 20,000 miles it had a service costing £125, both at a proper Toyota dealer.

All Yaris's except the T-Sport have a digital speedo, don't be put off, it seems to work well and in our speed camera age it makes it very obvious when you are speeding!