I recently had my Sonata in for some body work as a result of a minor fender-bender a few weeks back. I asked for a Yaris specifically because I wanted to compare it to our 07 Accent. I was sorely disappointed with the Yaris for the most part. Very 'tinny' feeling, and less solid, in side-by-side tests with my wife's Accent which included things like opening and closing doors, trunks, etc. On the road it was adequate, but with an automatic was very slow to get up to speed. Interior noise level was about equal to the Accent, but there was more wind noise. The Yaris was a sedan and the Accent a hatch - and that may be the explanation for heavier wind noise. Gas consumption was the same as the Accent.
The front seats were absolutely outstanding with very substantial bolstered padding on either side of the buckets to hold you in place as you drove. My wife commented specifically on that. The steering was good as well - as it felt quite connected to the road for such a small car. But again - it wasn't any better than the Accent.
Of course the Accent wins hands-down on equipment levels. Admittedly, this was a rental, so we had a bottom-end basic vehicle with manual windows and locks (boy that was weird to get used to).
Oh - BTW - the centre stack felt a bit weird - and we didn't have it long enough to get used to it. My wife liked being able to see how fast I was driving - I prefer not to have that information available for all in the car to see
![Wink ;)](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/wink.gif)
Don't get me wrong - I do not think the Yaris is a bad car - quite the opposite really. All I am saying is that I don't think that it's any better than the Accent either. I know that many may disagree, and there is always the argument of resale value - which may or may not be an issue for some people. Overall, having driven the Accent now for just shy of a year (by about a week or two) I don't regret passing on the less-available and more expensive Yaris at the time we bought the Accent.