Topic: 2010 Toyota Yaris RS Hatch; Day 1

[bikenut]

your air conditioner breather tube will (plug )fill up with debree , which can cause a moldy smell in your car , keep gloves out of the glove compartment -  water can actually get into the car floor because of it -- so i would watch your air conditioning
don't live back east where there is lots of snow and salt
the 2 harnesses an 2 sensors that contol your anti lock brakes corrode $ 450 per side to replace
causing your abs not to work , the light will come on your dash letting you know  -- this happens more than once and you don't need high kms for it to happen 2 or 3 times
i guess your aware consumer reports didn't recommend the yaris in 08 because of its poor accident avoidance -- you see the car is too tail happy , so if you have to avoid an accident , you have to avoid another one right after it because of its tail happyness in emergency maneuvers
j.d. power only gave the yaris a reliability rating of 7
on yarisworld website , they love their yaris's despite it flaws , even they say the yaris is the least reliable car toyota makes - don't think i'm a toyota hater either , i own a 92 camry with 240, 000 on it
all i ever do is change the oil -- it is extremely reliable , but it was made back then , greed and big-itis has affected toyota causing them to cheap out in alot of areas to maximize profits on the race to be no.1
 see how easy your paint chips and how thin it is  and how thin the metal is , how easily it dents on your yaris
 toyota has lost its way abit on turning out very reliable cars , they overcharge for their cars and offer  the least features on there base model , did you know the base yaris when it came out doesn't even have a back wiper included , just so you are forced to a higher trim level to get it , the fit and accent have a wiper on their base models , its pathetic the yaris 3 door doesn't  , hopefully toyota will get back on track , even their car that established their reputation for reliability , the corolla - still gets 5 stars by j.d. power - the corrolla but that drops to 4 stars after 3 years ! nothing should go wrong with a car for at least 5 years , in my opinion  except wear and tear items , and it looks like they can't even do that anymore
so because of this ,(hondas has reliability issues too , autotrans  among other things ,  hyundai has auto trans failures too
 i'll probably end up trying american which i thought i would never do this time  ( owned 2 hondas , 3 toyotas and mostly japanese bikes ) the feista most likely will be my next car

[johngenx]

Your shift key is broken.

[Dante]

Your shift key is broken.

 

[sacrat]

 Everyday I am thankful my parents didn't bubble wrap me.

My parents were very firm, but fair.

Or, as Monty Python put it:

Interviewer:"I understand he also nailed your wife's head to a coffee table. Isn't that right Mrs O' Tracey?"
Camera pans to show woman with coffee table nailed to head.
Mrs O' Tracey   "Oh, no. No. No."
Stig:   "Yeah, well, he did do that. Yeah, yeah. He was a cruel man, but fair"

[whaddaiknow]

That is true. I suppose you could get out of the Smart easier after a crash versus requiring the jaws of life with the Yaris, however, whether you're in any better shape is debatable.

I suppose one could get CARRIED out of the Smart in one very dead piece after a crash versus requiring the jaws of life with the Yaris where one would have to scraped off the interior plastic.

Owned a brand new 2005 Echo for about a year (wife insisted) and hated it with a passion, every bit of it. Good riddance. It wuld have made an excellent A-B city appliance if it was $12K instead of $20K.

[aknutson]

As for people bubble-wrapping their kids, well, I see the results everyday...

This is an older topic and not necessarily related to the Yaris, but I couldn't agree with you more. On my way to work, I see so many monstrous SUV's and pickups driven by 25-year-old moms with kids in the passenger seat it just makes me wonder where we've gone so wrong, but posts like yours give me hope that not everybody thinks they need a diesel dually to move a couple of kids around. But this mentality goes far beyond the road and vehicle purchases, as you said.

Anyways, glad to hear it...

And on the safety issue, heavy isn't always better. The safest car is the one with a good driver.

[dutch]

The centre speedo is a really bad idea - it makes it way too easy for my wife to see how fast i'm driving. Granted, in a Yaris i couldn't go too fast.......

[drederick]

AS for a loaded Yaris, it's a free market place ppl.  The vehicle NEVER breaks vis-a-vis the simplicity of the unit.  Keep the rust out of it and it will turn 400k km/20 years and the AC will still work!

Oddly, that appeals to some ppl. 

That's proving to be the case with my Echo, that's for sure.  Though I DO have rust cause I didn't bother with it.  I think the body panels on the Echo are about as thick as tinfoil....

Agreed - Toyota just can't build a complicated vehicle that is free of safety defects as has been witnessed in the rash of safety recalls.

As an artic I want MORE Yaris' created - like a full size version, one with a pick up bed and one with a convertible, one with 6 doors - and any other style people could want. This way all of the poorly designed cars Toyota sells can be 'removed' from sale and once again Toyota can be thought of as a 'reliable, safe' car maker!

[67 Piston Slap]

Just saying...

2010 Toyota Yaris RS Hatch
MSRP as tested (excluding delivery and destination): $20,555

2011 ELANTRA TOURING GLS (including Delivery and Destination): $19,794.00
Performance Features
2.0L DOHC Engine
Keyless Entry/Security Alarm System
Dual Front/Side and Side Curtain Airbags
Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD)
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) with Traction Control System (TCS)
Heated Front Seats
Trip Computer
AM/FM/CD/AUX/USB/MP3 Player with 6 speakers
Steering Wheel Mounted Cruise Control
Tinted Glass
Power Heated Mirrors
Fog Lights
Roof Mounted Micro Antenna

[MMMB89]

That is true. I suppose you could get out of the Smart easier after a crash versus requiring the jaws of life with the Yaris, however, whether you're in any better shape is debatable.

I suppose one could get CARRIED out of the Smart in one very dead piece after a crash versus requiring the jaws of life with the Yaris where one would have to scraped off the interior plastic.

Owned a brand new 2005 Echo for about a year (wife insisted) and hated it with a passion, every bit of it. Good riddance. It wuld have made an excellent A-B city appliance if it was $12K instead of $20K.

Gruesome either way!  That is why I would drive the C-Class.

[Winterpeg]

Wing has it dead on .......similiar to MC's Inside Story on the Camry today. Toyota is into making auto "appliances" these days. You don't give them a second look, rarely wash ie "clean" them but they work on day after day......after day......after day.......after da ......aft........Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!       

[Winterpeg]

Race car drivers don't look at gauges just big flashing red lights they are looking at the road.

Aknutson buddy, are you listening (sorry....reading)?   

[Winterpeg]

As much as fellow blogger Aknutson explains (complains?.... ), yes the Yaris is far from perfect and a new version is badly needed but it is still a solid vehicle for going from A to B, anywhere.....scuttlebutt aside.   

Of course it'll get you from point A to point B.  Any new car that costs $20,500 will.  But is the Yaris RS 4AT nicer, or even as nice, as any other car at that price point?

Yes I will agree with your point there Mitlov.....Always hated Toyota's pricing and for those $$$$$ 's Honda Fit is still the champ.....well....until the Feista/Mazda 2 show up.

PS   The Yaris would make for a better USED car me-thinks...     

[Winterpeg]

As much as fellow blogger Aknutson explains (complains?.... ), yes the Yaris is far from perfect and a new version is badly needed but it is still a solid vehicle for going from A to B, anywhere.....scuttlebutt aside.   

Indeed, it is a fair A-to-B'er, as most of my (complaints) are related to high-speed or highway driving. 

Ah then we agree on this.....would not want to take a Yaris/Echo up to near those speeds. If a semi pass either vehicle the driver would suddenly become a "sailboat" operator"......and I still don't own a sailboat/powerboat certificate yet.     

[Winterpeg]

Meanwhile back at the Yaris debate. 

THANK YOU !!!!!!    Lets all get along children.   

[Vanster]

I think what most posters here are missing when considering the price of the Yaris is the dollar-yen exchange rate. The yen has gained like 40% since 2005, raising the price of anything imported from Japan. This is why the locally produced Corolla is a better buy.

As for reliability, the Yaris is bulletproof.

[jpd]

We are renting the Yaris RS 2010, and when all combined, Red Tag rebate + elimination of the last 6 months of payments of the previous Yaris LE (= a total of about $4000), the car become a great deal!  $20/month more than the previous LE model, it was good enough for us.

[Black Hatch]

Which is worse?
The digital speedometer or the centre-mounted speedo/instrument cluster?

Did anyone even answer my question?
All the answers so far was either the like or hate of the centre-mounted speedo.

Let me rephrase if you have a choice which would you take:
a) centre-mounted speedometer (yaris-style) ? or
b) large digital-type (civic-style) ?

I suppose you could have a centre-mounted digital speedometer...

[John Meyer]

I own an '05 Echo hatch and spend a lot of time in the gf's '09 Fit.  The Fit is a nicer car but not by a huge amount.  Technically, it is brilliant with the 5 speed auto and things like the engine oil analyzer.  The Fit is sportier to drive but the Echo washes around less in the heavy cross winds we've had a lot of this year.

They both have a lot of neat features as does the Yaris.

There is lots of room in the Echo/Yaris and I can't see room being a complaint unless you are very tall or just too damn fat.

One point needs clearing up.
 aknudson wrote: "Anything over that and it sucks gas like a C-segment car, or more. With the archaic 4-speed auto revving at about 3700 RPM at highway traffic speed.."

My ex had this same issue with her Yaris.  She complained it simply screamed going down the highway.  ~3400RPM at 100k.  I couldn't believe it.  The solution was simple.  When we went out for a drive, I looked down at the shift lever and moved it 1cm to the side (forget which).  This dropped the revs down to 2500RPM because we were now in 4th (D) and she had been driving it in 3rd (3) for 2 years.

Stupid?  Not really.  It is not well marked and if you do it wrong the first time, you will probably keep doing it wrong.  D and 3 are beside each other.  When you drop down from P to R to N to D, you have to watch where the shift lever ends up.

The 5 speed Fit auto settles in at 2100/2200 at 100k.  We get 5.3 to 5.5 on the highway.  I get about the same in the Echo.

Pity we can't get the Citroen C2 or C3 here.  The interiors are killers.  For $18k in Germany you can have a beautifully done up 3cyl diesel.  Oh, that French interior!

Right now the Fiesta is probably state of the art but let's all recognize this changes every 6 months.

Bottom line:  if you can't live with any of these great small cars, get therapy.

Cheers,
John Meyer

[Ex-airbalancer]

Which is worse?
The digital speedometer or the centre-mounted speedo/instrument cluster?

Did anyone even answer my question?
All the answers so far was either the like or hate of the centre-mounted speedo.

Let me rephrase if you have a choice which would you take:
a) centre-mounted speedometer (yaris-style) ? or
b) large digital-type (civic-style) ?

I suppose you could have a centre-mounted digital speedometer...

I guess you never been in 2010 prius