Corsa vs. Yaris - Why the price gap?
Corsa vs. Yaris - Why the price gap?
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Original Poster:

18,451 posts

223 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
The rise in fuel prices is hitting the wallet hard and I'm looking at a little snotter with good MPG to get me to work and back, which will leave more fuel to run the MX-5 on the weekends. smile

Diesels appear to be holding their prices so I'm looking at small petrol cars. This leads me to the likes of Yaris and Corsa, but while reasonable Corsas are available for well under a £1000, a decent Yaris under £2000 is much harder to come by.

So the question is this: would it be worth spending the extra cash on a Yaris, and is there a reason why they're so much more expensive than a Corsa?


P.S. My sister ran her Yaris from new to well over 120k miles, and it was still as sweet as a nut when she sold it to move overseas. I don't know of such anecdotes about Corsas. scratchchin

EvoBarry

1,903 posts

294 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
Yaris is a better car all round imo, hence the higher demand/prices? Also, how is spending £1/2k on a car saving you money? It'd take a few years/lots of miles to recoup that over what an MX5 is presumably capable of?

Night Runner

12,423 posts

223 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
Personally I'd go for a Yaris.

A mate had a Corsa (2004), there were some recalls as some parts which were made me plastic should have been made out of metal apparently...

sat1983

1,253 posts

213 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
The corsa is a very common car and not particularly good one either.

The yaris is a good car, very reliable, and has a better image than a corsa if you get my gist.

tyranical

927 posts

219 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
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The Toyota Yaris is probably the most reliable car you could buy in that price bracket, corsa's are not, they have quite a few problems 1 of which, the steering rack which is apparantly a "when will it fail" problem on every car rather than an "if it will fail"

I had a Yaris and drove the wheels off it for 2 years, it never ever let me down.

Its definately worth the extra over a corsa imo.

mike9009

10,861 posts

272 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
Dont really understand this mentality.

The running costs of the corsa/yaris in insurance, servicing, tax, repairs will far outweigh the extra fuel cost in the mx5. Therefore you will be better off just keeping and running the mx5.

Yaris is more expensive because it is more desirable and in shorter supply. If something does go wrong though it will be more expensive to fix than the Corsa.

Just my thoughts.......

Mike

marky911

4,433 posts

248 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
It's probably just a numbers game I think. More Corsas = more competition for the sale = cheaper prices.
That and maybe the prices when new had a gap too?
I'd personally just find the nicest little car you can from a list of 4 or 5, forgetting about if one has anymore kudos than the other.
At the end of the day a little snotter is just that, a little snotter.
Use it, maintain it, then throw it away. smile

Eta - as others have said, it's not going to be cost effective really. Fair enough if you were running a big V8 or something.

Edited by marky911 on Sunday 3rd April 11:07

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Original Poster:

18,451 posts

223 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
mike9009 said:
Dont really understand this mentality.

The running costs of the corsa/yaris in insurance, servicing, tax, repairs will far outweigh the extra fuel cost in the mx5. Therefore you will be better off just keeping and running the mx5.

Yaris is more expensive because it is more desirable and in shorter supply. If something does go wrong though it will be more expensive to fix than the Corsa.

Just my thoughts.......

Mike
I see your point, but I really would prefer to not be putting 20,000 miles a year on my MX-5 (only on 40,000 at the moment). I don't see how the much cheaper tax and insurance costs would outweigh the MX-5 costs.

I'd be happier doing the servicing myself on a Corsa/Yaris, whereas I'd want to make sure the MX-5 gets serviced at a dealer.

Even the tyres on the Mazda will cost more. £600 saving on fuel a year plus cheaper tyres, insruance, tax and servicing costs should see me better off.

marky911

4,433 posts

248 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
Yes but, you'll still have all your mx5 bills too, no?

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Original Poster:

18,451 posts

223 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
marky911 said:
Yes but, you'll still have all your mx5 bills too, no?
I can SORN the Mazda for the winter months, almost halve my insurance (less than 5000 miles insured, rather than 20000), and service only once a year rather than twice (based on current mileage).

andy43

13,188 posts

283 months

Sunday 3rd April 2011
quotequote all
Mate of mine just had a 2001 Yaris through his hands - perfect condition, drove like a new car. I suspect they're nearly all like that.
The average 10 year old Corsa would be an absolute turd. IMHO.