Anything to be wary of with a 1.3 Yaris vvti?

[W201_190e]

My commuter Peugeot 107 is long in the tooth now, I don’t really want another 107, C1 etc, but a small car is handy for the work commute. These Yaris models come up around £2k for a 2008-2011 ish model. Are they a good car? I do 25 miles a day.

Have a comfy Volvo V60 D5 for weekend and family duties but I am unable to commute in it.

[MrGTI6]

Very reliable cars. My only advice would be to avoid the "MMT" automated manual gearbox.

[Slowboathome]

I've got one.

Rust has been the big (and only) problem.

[W201_190e]

Slowboathome said:

I've got one.

Rust has been the big (and only) problem.

What year is yours?

[JKS1234]

I picked up a very old yaris as stop gap for 2 months.

It was a W reg….. and everything worked and i mean everything

Not a single pixel out on the digital console/speedo

The ride was comfortable…. Such a brilliant motor


The year you are looking at will make a great car.

Look for rust around sills etc

Alot of these Yaris’s are used for takeaway deliveries (although for the year you are looking you will be fine ) just check for missed services.

[Yodafone]

My brother has 2008 1.3 SR special edition with TTE lowering springs, spolier, wheels and TomTom.

He has had it since new and has about 200,000 miles on it, it's been really reliable.

Just wear and tear things wearing out.

There are 2 different 1.3 engines, in 2009 they changed to 1.33.

[Slowboathome]

W201_190e said:

What year is yours?

2009. Only other things that have gone wrong in 5 years are some headlight bulbs and an o2 sensor, plus stone damage to the aircon condensor.

I don't know the ins and outs of the various models and engines, but mine has 6 gears. Would definitely look for one that has the 6th gear unless you've only using the car around town.

It's been a brilliant little car for me - can just about fit my bicycle in without taking a wheel off. Good for tip runs. £30 tax.

Only think I would say is that if comfort is important to you I wouldn't say the seats are great, but mine is 14 years old now.

Edited by Slowboathome on Sunday 18th June 09:05

Edited by Slowboathome on Sunday 18th June 09:05

[ZX10R NIN]

Boredom they're good cars just check for rust.

[W201_190e]

Cheers all, might seek out an SR version then!

ZX10R NIN said:

Boredom they're good cars just check for rust.

Yeah I get it! It just needs to be efficient, reliable and comfortable.

[Roger Irrelevant]

We had a 2008 Yaris from new for 12 years that needed nothing but standard servicing and a few (cheap) exhaust bits to get to 140k miles. It was mercilessly thrashed up and down the A1 (i.e. north of 4000rpm for hours on end) on a regular basis but spent most of its time being clattered around country roads. When it was written off after somebody drove into it we spent the insurance payout on...a 2010 Yaris that if anything gets treated even worse, yet has so far done 40k miles without anything (and I do mean anything), going wrong at all. People talk about rust but I have to wonder if that is just something that they feel duty bound to say when talking about an ageing Japanese car, because ours seems in bloody good nick for a 13 year old car in the north of England that never gets washed.

I do think that if you are after a car, that will work, for a long time, without having to fix it, for as little outlay as possible, then there's not much better. The ones with a bit more power (all of 99bhp - careful now), and the 6th gear are worth spending a little extra for IMO.

[Slowboathome]

Roger Irrelevant said:

People talk about rust but I have to wonder if that is just something that they feel duty bound to say when talking about an ageing Japanese car, because ours seems in bloody good nick for a 13 year old car in the north of England that never gets washed.

Mine's shocking underneath. Having to spend ££s to get it through MOT.

Worth it though.

[Snow and Rocks]

My MIL bought one new in ~2014. In 9 years it's needed nothing but routine servicing - not even a bulb has blown.

Great little car. No sign of any untoward rust underneath despite being in Aberdeenshire with salt on the roads for 7 months of the year.

[LeeM135i]

I bought one new in 2000, it was faultless for the years I ran it. It has recently disappeared off the MOT checker as it failed for rust in the suspension turrets and was presumably too expensive to repair.

One of my mates bought an 08 car new and ran it for 10 years and it was also faultless. I was surprised as it lived in London and had a dent or scratch on every panel only went on short journeys and wasn't loved in any way.