2008 Toyota Yaris 1.3 SR - 11k miles at purchase

This car was an error and I have sold it prematurely, at considerable financial loss, as I found it very unpleasant to own.

Reading all the good reviews I put the Yaris almost at the top of my list to replace a faithful but tired Fiat Punto as I wanted reliability and practicality. I should've read some other reviews (which I later found on the web) and carried out a longer road test before going for it. On the plus side I liked the styling and the colour was stunning - chilli red, very nice. But all the minus points added up to a miserable driving experience, viz:

Brakes - snatchy and unprogressive, dealer said that they were normal for the model (and like the Aygo's), he seemed to agree they weren't good. Felt like they were either on or off, nothing in between.

Performance - poor acceleration and very poor performance for the size of engine, no better than my old 70k Punto which had a smaller engine and was clapped out, very disappointing. When I complained, dealer said it was well within specification. Wouldn't have been so bad if the economy was good, which it wasn't.

Ride - okay I shouldn't have bought a SR with low profile tyres, even so the ride was bone jarring, if you must buy a Yaris get one without smart alloys and thin tyres! Road humps were a nighmare! I'm a TVR owner too, so I know the meaning of a hard ride!

Noise and refinement - engine was noisy, thrashy and seemed to be working very hard all the time, was much noisier than the clapped out Punto it replaced.

Satnav and Radio - over complex and difficult/fiddly to operate. Memo to self - never buy a Tom Tom! There were a few tricky moments on the road when we were trying to get the thing to do what it was meant to!

Comfort - seats hard and uncomfortable for longer journeys, interior trim materials hard and of fairly poor quality - looked good though, lots of cubby holes too.

Details - rear parcel shelf flimsy and poorly thought out, boot floor very insubstantial. looks like it would collapse under a full shopping bag.

All in all I began to hate all the poor things associated with the car and felt I couldn't live with it any longer, especially as the brand reliability (despite the recalls - well dealt with by the main dealer) meant I might have to live with it for a long time. Traded it in for a Citroen C3 Picasso, at considerable cost.


This car looks like it was rushed into production without sufficient development, hanging on the reputation of its predecessor and Toyota's reputed reliability. They won't be getting my custom again.