Toyota yaris, major flaws?

[1duck]

So, I've been told to buy a runabout for my better half. I was thinking k11 Micra, but alas anything that isn't rotted to death appears to sell before I can get my grubby hands on it. I don't really know much about Toyota yaris's (yarii?, yarises?) So what's the Craic? What should I be looking out for in terms of problems etc

[Cavcraft]

Rust, rust and rust.

[Broadsword]

My first car was a W-reg Yaris. Mechanically they are bomb proof. Mine had no rust but they are old now and I guess can rust like anything else. Check for water (rain) leaks. Water gets in past the tail light seals. Mine had a bad leak from the base of the aeriel which led to an inch of water in the foot wells after being away once. Easy to fix those problems, but not helpful in preventing rust. I had zero mechanical issues with mine.

[jon.k]

My parents ran two of these for 10-15 years each and they were pretty much indestructible. Learner drivers, elderly drivers, carrying tonnes of stuff around. After we’d had one of them for 10 years I commented to my dad what a good car it was , and he answered in all seriousness “well the upper glovebox lid is getting a bit stiff now”.

 

The only thing they both suffered from was a sensor setting off a low idle and the check engine light. Easily fixed though.

[stuboy]

notchey gear changes, revvy but not quick..dull grey inside

[forddeliveryboy]

2002 and earlier were built in Japan, find one which isn't rotting and oil it up.

 

Exhausts and manifolds can be a bit pricey, rear brakes can grab (lethal when there's no abs, not clever even with) and they understeer.

 

Oh yes, they're grand little cars. They'll breeze 200k if the oil's changed every 5000 and are as reliable as it gets.

[Kiltox]

Panhard has recently bought one of these for a loan car - some info in the “cheapest of cheap shite” thread on what he’s been having to sort with it

[panhard65]

I like mine but due to being so reliable they tend to miss out on servicing. Mine had to have a load done to it to get it right but parts are cheap £30 each for headlights. No cambelt to worry about so basically just the rust to worry about but they are far better than a Micra for not rusting.

[Asimo]

My daughter had a go-faster Yaris a few years ago (1.3?). Completely dependable but then it needed an exhaust.

 

Which is a one-piece with the catalyst and was over £1000.

 

Thank goodness for welders

[Datsuncog]

MrsDC has owned her run-out Mk1 Yaris from new. 100k just about to tick over on it; has given us no grief whatsoever in 13 years, despite minimal tlc.

 

Nope, it won't set the world on fire for motoring excitement - and going from my bigger cars into the 1.0 does take a bit of thought as it's kinda gutless on hills and overtaking - but I'd recommend them to anyone.

 

There are A LOT of these still kicking around, far far more than any other car of its size for the era (think Fiesta, Corsa B, 106, Saxo) and there's a reason for that... ours seems pretty rot-free, too.

 

Go for it!

[1duck]

All sounds good, think I'll try get hold of a 1.3, but it's going to be a city car mainly so suppose gutless won't matter too much.

[crapcarcollector]

No flaws. I’ve got a Japanese 2000 built one with no rot. Survived 12 months of the son.

 

Bought for him by me.

 

Good car.

 

Refused to let him PX for a new Yaris on PCP and have squirrelled it away ready for the apocalypse.

 

Had to buy it off him. How’s that work?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[forddeliveryboy]

My daughter had a go-faster Yaris a few years ago (1.3?). Completely dependable but then it needed an exhaust.

 

Which is a one-piece with the catalyst and was over £1000.

 

Thank goodness for welders

 

Female friend has one and when quoted £600 for an exhaust plus another two or three hundred for a manifold, I had a look around. As new manifold for £40 from an online breakers, £160-odd for the rest of the exhaust from Poland, which fitted well and hasn't failed prematurely.

[drewd]

I've never owned one, but as mentioned they can rust. We've been looking for a run around/1st car for my other half and all the cheap ones we found locally had worrying MOT history.

 

We managed to find a K11 Micra for her that according to the MOT history isn't rotten, and although I've not had it in the air yet it seems OK. It has a few issues, including having a low idle and a bit of a flat spot, so I've another throttle body that I've re soldered the MAF board on, as this and rot are common problems. They're cheap to buy and plentiful in the breakers yards so should be cheap to keep on the road.

 

If a decent Yaris came up when we were looking I'd have been all over it, I suspect they would be a better handling, nicer and safer place to be than a K11. I was surprised at just how poverty specced the car was seeing as they're so popular.

[320touring]

Something something "F*£kin Brake pipes"

 

mutters the cog of the dat's firstborn heir as he shuffles towards the shoogle plate with a manic grin on his face..

[Fumbler]

My brother owned a 2001 Yaris Tsport as his learner car and then daily driver for two years. Excellent and robust, nippy, but just a teensy bit too small for his 5 foot 11 so he sold it and bought a Camry V6. Can't blame him.

[artdjones]

A lot of things on the Yaris look cheap,for example the carpets,but are actually almost indestructible.

[Jim Bell]

Get a pre 2004 one. Ive never seen one with any rust.  Where as every k11 is rusty.  They DO die, but you have to try pretty hard to kill them by neglect.  If you just want AN CAR, that does car things, I would recommend one highly.  

[HH-R]

I'm really surprised there are any K11s left. Mine was termanally rotten at 7 years old back in 2006.

[Matty]

2003 1 litre in family. No rot at all (didn't realise they were known for it). I like it, it obviously shite but it's got character in the way a Corsa or owt like that doesn't. As long as you don't want to get anywhere quick do it you won't be disappointed!

[anonymous user]

The Yaris is a car that I always recommend to someone who wants a small car, but has no interest in cars.

Friends bought a 2002 one a few years ago to replace the Smart that their daughter killed, she has been unable to kill the Yaris.

A former colleague has been driving a 2003 one for the last few years, it was his mother's old car, it looks very battered but mechanically few issues other than services. He's doing about 20k miles a year and regularly takes it to London from Swansea.

A very good friend bought his first one years ago on my recommendation. It let him down within a fortnight - the problem was behind the wheel, it had come with a full tank of petrol and he drove it until it ran out. He had a succession of them new every two to three years until recently buying a Skoda Yeti.

[sierraman]

I see loads of these with dented rear valances.

 

A colleague had one, it did something like 150k on the original clutch, I’d just say beware of old crap that’s done the pizza delivery circuit. They seem tough old beasts but I’ll not lie they aren’t very enjoyable to pilot. As above, it’s got nothing to touch it if you want an appliance. Better than a Micra but that’s not much of an accolade.

[jon.k]

The handling is wobbly but as said above, the engine is nice and revvy in a slow way. You get plenty of time to watch the cool digi rev-counter.

[SierraMikeHotel]

I have been meaning to ask this question somewhere but not got round to it yet.

 

Until recently my sister had a Y reg Yaris that she treated with the same utter contempt that she shows to all her belongings.  One day she rang my dad saying that the steering had stopped working.  When he arrived to the car jammed up against the kerb he found that the front suspension had basically collapsed.

 

I've never heard of this happening - in fact I've never heard of major flaws in any old Toyota, they normally seem to just keep going forever, so I was curious to know if this was a Yaris thing or just a typical my-sister-breaks-all-her-stuff thing.

 

I've driven a couple of old ones and a couple of new ones and I really like them, FWIW. 

[Stanky]

My wife has one, its a great little thing - hers is the 1.3 GLS and 5 door. No rot to speak of, though we did have to get a new exhaust from downpipe back though i think the cat got reused, anyway its easy to drive, smoll for fitting in smoll spaces, high up so easy to see out of (and easy to get in and out of for OAPs, incidentally) tyres are cheap, and most things still work.

 

The AC has a leak and isn't worth regassing (M8) and the fuel cap release wire snapped so I just disabled the lock on the filler flap because I'm a tight git, and can't face removing the entire interior to get at the cable, which runs under the fitted carpets.

 

Oh, with the rear seat folded it is suprisingly roomy - I've had 3 lawnmowers in the back at the same time before, while I had to slide the drivers seat further forward than I'd have ideally liked, it wasn't too bad. I can't replicate the trick with a 2004 saab 9-3.

 

Very thrifty, easily tops 45mpg.

 

easy to service too, plenty of room to get at everything. cam chain engine so no belt changes to lose hair over.I see plenty advertised with over 180k on the clocks, they can;t break because a car that cheap that does break will be scrapped, so they must just carry on doing what they do without hassle. Ours has 105k on it and should do a good few more years.

[Braddon81]

In the main they are wonderful things. The Jap built ones are better than the French built cars and the parts and detail differences between the two types are surprising,theres not much interchangeable between the two. Very little does go's wrong with them other than usual wear and tear items. Front Cv joints normally go clicky around the 100k mark. Rear springs can break with age. And on cars with a metal fuel filler and breather pipe, because there was no shield fitted to prevent it getting splattered with crap and crud they can and do rot out.

Appearance does indicate general condition but even tidy cars normally need some form of rust prevention underneath where the rear beam bolts to the back floor adjacent to the rear of the sills.

I've had a 2003 Yaris Verso as a runaround for the past four years and it's been tremendous. Its so easy to look after and service and has rewarded me with total reliability. Get a tidy one, underseal it and enjoy, you won't break any speed records in one, you won't out handle a Lotus either.. the interiors are as grey as grey can be, but as a modern'ish motoring cockroach you can do a lot worse.

[wuvvum]

I wouldn't buy one of these, they're a bloody death trap.  If you do a violent lane change manoeuvre at 80mph and then don't bother to try and correct it and drive sideways onto soft grass still doing 80, they will roll over!!!  Lethal.  Ought to be banned.

[shoddybanger]

I had a 2000 Yaris Verso big block (the 1.5 petrol) for a few years. It was pure bliss after my Scenic adventures had left my poor soul one step short of a nervous breakdown. Despite being so very tiny on the outside, it would comfortably carry our family of five even on long trips.

 

Ours had quite a bit of miles (290k km) under the belt when it let go, most likely because of the cam chain jumping, so I would check the cam chain on high mileage examples. Would recommend otherwise, although wuvvum does have a point... probably not the best in the safety department!

[hpi_matrix]

My partner has had the Yaris T-sport for 3 or 4 years now, despite being a previous cat d it has been pretty faultless. It had some water ingress issues, but these are normally either the rear light seals or grommet near the front wing. A front knocking sound is probably the ARB links which are cheap and easy to replace.

 

Very robust cars and easy to work on, we have been looking to replace it but nothing much compares.

[Sir Snipes]

I have been meaning to ask this question somewhere but not got round to it yet.

 

Until recently my sister had a Y reg Yaris that she treated with the same utter contempt that she shows to all her belongings. One day she rang my dad saying that the steering had stopped working. When he arrived to the car jammed up against the kerb he found that the front suspension had basically collapsed.

 

I've never heard of this happening - in fact I've never heard of major flaws in any old Toyota, they normally seem to just keep going forever, so I was curious to know if this was a Yaris thing or just a typical my-sister-breaks-all-her-stuff thing.

 

I've driven a couple of old ones and a couple of new ones and I really like them, FWIW.

Springs can snap (sometimes piercing the tyre), knackered ball joints can pop open, knackered bearings or CV joints can fall apart - not just a Toyota thing.