Should I Swap My Aygo For A Yaris?

[roses100]

Hello all!!

I'm on the hunt for something bigger than my little Aygo at the moment, it's only 2 years old, but I'v had a couple of problems with it since I brought it from new. All the problems were solved under warranty which is all cool, but it was just a little dissapointing for a car that young.

I'm hoping the other Toyota models are more reliable. So I'v decided to ask fellow Yaris owners for their experiences, the good and the bad! Any good points or common problems I should know about, I'm all ears :) I'm looking to probably to get the new 1.33 MMT Yaris. A serious contender is the new 1.4 Polo, which is gorgeous, but from what I'v read the Yaris does much better mpg. It would be nice to get the perspective from those who own or has owned a Yaris so that I can make a more informed decision.

[reece]

Yes!

A 1.33 but in manual with VSC

[aygoal]

We have just changed (about one month ago) from an Aygo to a Yaris 1.33 and there have been no regrets.

I have not driven an MMT 1.33, but unless you have a licence restriction stopping you driving a manual, I would try the manual. The clutch is so light and the gearchange so smooth, I cannot see the point. Also the MMT looses the Stop Start facility.

The Yaris is far more grown up than the Aygo and we find ours very refined (far better than a 58 plate 1.3 we test drove). The ride is good and the long distance refinement is excellent for such a small car. In just under a month we have done 2200 miles including two trips from Kent to the Midlands.

No it is run in the performance is very good if you rev it and we are getting high 40's mpg overall. My 31 mile run TO work (Kent to Essex) can get 50 mpg easily, but town work (and sitting in the queue going back home over the Dartford Bridge) takes our average back to about 47 mpg. I count myself as a brisk driver so with more gentle use a better figure should be achieved.

We did not try a Polo, but we found the visibility far better than a Corsa. Toyota also gave us £700 better trade in for our 57 plate Aygo compared to the Vauxhall and Renault garage I tried.

The interior is very flexible with loads of storage and the adaptable rear seats allowing comfortable seating for adults even. Even with the rear seats pushed right back the boot is not too bad.

I'd go for it!!!!

[reece]

... and it's dryer inside! ;)

£30 a year road tax, average 50+mpg, bigger and safer

[roses100]

Thanks for your replies so far! I'm getting the MMT purely because I drive crap in a manual :P

Fortunately I haven't had those pesky leaky problems which some of the Aygo users are experiencing (phew!)

I won't be able to test drive one till the weekend (if I make up my mind), but I'm hoping that going from a 1.0 to a 1.33 engine, that the speed of responsiveness when you move off from stationary or overtaking will be noticeably different. It takes my Aygo a lot of effort to nip over roundabouts, and overtake tractors! lol Plus the better fuel economy seems to be better than most hatchbacks.

The one thing I loved when I test drove the Polo is that you can move the seats up and down in height, can you do that in a Yaris aswell? And do you get a fancy display that tells you how many miles you have left in the tank?

[reece]

Yes to the seats (TR spec and above) Yes to the trip computer.

Don’t hang around though. Yaris prices go up almost every month and the VAT will be going up in January back to 17½%.

If you can afford it go for the extra safety kit in the form of VSC. You will get rear disc brakes, driver’s knee and curtain air bags – worth every penny for you now and at re-sale time.

[alfiejts]

I think the 1.3 is only available as a TR spec now - so you have no choice on that.

Agree with Reece on ordering the VSC and extra airbags as the safety pack - the car's technically not 5* NCAP safety rated without those extra airbags (that used to be standard until this year...).

But, I suspect (like me) you'll only be able to specify that option for a factory order and that would mean missing out on any current deals and waiting the three months it will take to build it in the factory....

Its your call, but even though I really wanted the VSC (because its soon to become mandatory all over Europe and you now can't get a 5* NCAP rating without it) I gave in in the end and took a car from stock without it......

I assume you're looking to trade in, but do a bit of research from places like "drive the deal" and "broadspeed" on the internet.

They put you in touch with Toyota dealers who are offering the best discounts. You may have to travel but it might be worth it. At the very least, you know the target price to try and get your local dealer to match.

I got mine from a dealer 130 miles away - it meant a day trip to collect it - but I saved £1800 on the list price at the time and the local dealer couldn't give me more than £800 discount.....

[Blue84]

I test drove an Aygo and I just felt it was too small for me, cracking little cars though.

I've had my Yaris since March 2005 & I do love it's size, I've had the odd problem with it but they were sorted under warranty when it was new. The biggest thing was the clutch on the air-con that broke so it made an awful raspy noise. It's now on 53,700 miles and I now have a love/hate relationship with it as I want something different but at the same time can't bare to part with it. I also take it over to Brugge in Belgium and love being able to press a button on the dash and it goes straight into KMPH - makes it so much easier for me.

I use mine for a trip to work and back most days - it's a 16 mile journey each way on dual carriageway and 30 mph roads. It averages 42-43mpg on it's trip display and I always get at least 330 miles out of a tank minimum, no matter what. Road noise isn't too bad, although it did startle me when I first drove it in the rain as you can really hear the water sloshing up in the wheel arches and makes me think there's a hole somewhere. Of course there isn't but it's a weird trait!

It does have large rear big corner panels - ok I'm not sure what they are like on the current shape of Yaris and reversing round the corner and into spaces takes a bit of getting used to. Again, not a major problem but something that I notice and you adjust to it and it doesn't make it impossible. I think the sound system, I have everything standard is more than adequate for my random, varied taste of music. My MR2 sounds awfully tinny and rubbish in comparison. I think it's a good little car and if I had a 5 door one I would keep it forever but with the 3 doors on mine and Parents and their Friends who are getting older it does make it tricky for them getting in the back. Plus the front doors are huge to compensate for people getting in the back. Boot size is average and if you don't have back seat passengers you can pull the seat forward which makes for a massive size boot - especially for christmas or sale shopping. I don't carry passengers all that often or a tonne of shopping so again I don't have any problems.

So, summing everything up I would give the Yaris an 8 out of 10. Mine is a manual though so no comment on the different gearbox options.

Hope that helps in some way.

[roses100]

Yeah the Aygo is probably a rather small car if you're not a girl :P or you're tall and leggy, or both! lol

I'm liking the sound of those positive reviews so far, especially the indication of the more realistic mpg, it's also good to see what the history of the Yaris is like too!

I just can't believe the things in the safety pack has been taken out of the standard if you want the Yaris from new! I think current price of the safety pack is about £715! With the new Polo I was looking at, it comes as standard and price of the car is the same price too. I'm glad a couple of you guys pointed out the safety features, as I did a thorough study for what you get as standard nowadays, and it seems that any car before 09 would be better value, so now I'v changed tactic and am looking at used Yaris models instead.

Thanks guys/gals!

[aygoal]

Roses

From my experience you will struggle to find a used / nearly new Yaris with opt VSC fitted.

Pre 09 1.3 cars had the extra airbags std, but the VSC was still optional.

Some early 09 TR 1.33 models still had the extra airbags, but also had the 6 speed gearbox and the stop start fitted, compared to the current spec, it had no alloys. I had one of these as a service loan car, I found it noisier than ours for some reason.

How many cars are around with this interim spec, who knows, especially if you are after MMT!!!

Re the Polo, when I looked at them, I found the interior on the lower range models cheap looking. Also the 1.4 model (be very wary of the 1.2 models) has only 84 bhp compared to 100 bhp for the 1.33 Yaris and only 47.8 mpg vs 55 mpg for the Yaris (figures for the manuals).

[Blue84]

Yeah the Aygo is probably a rather small car if you're not a girl :P or you're tall and leggy, or both! lol

well I am a girl and I stand by my statement above

[roses100]

Yeah the Aygo is probably a rather small car if you're not a girl :P or you're tall and leggy, or both! lol

well I am a girl and I stand by my statement above

Lol I understand what you mean, as I'm a girl too :) my Aygo has just enough room, for a couple of handbags, several pairs of shoes to choose for work and some random shopping bags. I must admit loading food shopping into my Aygo is not plesant in the rain ;) - too much jigging around needed for organising space lol.

And yup aygoal you're right, there's not even much choice for approved used Yaris's right now.

[aygoal]

Yeah the Aygo is probably a rather small car if you're not a girl :P or you're tall and leggy, or both! lol

well I am a girl and I stand by my statement above

Lol I understand what you mean, as I'm a girl too :) my Aygo has just enough room, for a couple of handbags, several pairs of shoes to choose for work and some random shopping bags. I must admit loading food shopping into my Aygo is not plesant in the rain ;) - too much jigging around needed for organising space lol.

And yup aygoal you're right, there's not even much choice for approved used Yaris's right now.

The Yaris has a bigger bootlid so you get more protection from the rain ;) The sliding seats are accessable from the boot if you have overcooked you shopping slightly too!!!

One thing my wife likes about the Yaris is that it is about 6" shorter than a Corsa / Fiesta et al but (in our opinion) has more rear seat space.