Looking For A Used 5 Door Yaris What To Look Out For

[avensisd4d786]

hello looking to buy a used 5 door yaris mk1 either petrol or diesel have heard good things about 1.4 d4d for a 1st car for a family member.

any common problems /niggles on these or what to watch out for

thank you in advance.

[Madasafish]

Read the review at HJ..http://tinyurl.com/bone2g3

Watch for rusting petrol pipes from to tank.

Ensure all warning lights come on when ignition switched on - and turn off again when engine starts.

In particular ABS (if fitted).And engine Management Light.

(nasty people have been known to remove them to hide faults)

Also check brakes for even braking , no scoring of disks.

[avensisd4d786]

Read the review at HJ..http://tinyurl.com/bone2g3

Watch for rusting petrol pipes from to tank.

Ensure all warning lights come on when ignition switched on - and turn off again when engine starts.

In particular ABS (if fitted).And engine Management Light.

(nasty people have been known to remove them to hide faults)

Also check brakes for even braking , no scoring of disks.

Thank you already seen honest johns review. can see you have two versions, which one do you prefer and what problems have you had.

[Cyker]

Diesel 5 door Mk1's are very rare and still very expensive (I was coveting fishy's one until I got this one; Cost me £4000 for a 54-plate with 30k on the clock!)

Most of them will have 70k+ miles.

Petrol 1.0's are much more common and 1.3's are slightly less common but still quite common. Both can be had for waaaay cheaper than the diesel ones.

.

In addition to honest john and fishy's tells, here's some stuff I noticed when I was hunting 5-door Yaris D4D T-Spirits :D:

Many of them seem to only have one remote key or no remote key at all; They originally come with 2 remote keys and possibly a valet key but a lot of the ones I'd seen were missing keys.

If they don't come with a remote key, be careful - If it only has a valet key, walk away unless you know a *really really* good auto locksmith who has the right hacking tools to make a key from scratch off the ECU. If they have a key that is not remote but not a valet key (e.g. a key cut and cloned from a remote key), you can make a new remote key without resorting to an ECU replacement or ECU hacking. A blank remote key is £140, programming adds another £50-70 depending on the dealer's gouge level but you can probably do it yourself as there are guides on here.

alloys have generally been in pretty bad condition on all the ones I looked at; At best, mild bubbling, at worst whole sections flaking off. Good bargaining point to get costs down.

Boot - Check this; Lift the boot carpet, should have a plastic layer with some tools - Wheel nut wrench and towbar eyelet. Lift the plastic layer and there should be a spare wheel and secured jack. Dealers and garages never clean the under-boot area so have a look in it to make sure it's not full of crap. Two cars had lots of dirt and soil under the boot line, one was full of sand in the spare wheel well and had no space saver.

My first Yaris D4D's spare-wheel was full of sand and had half of a tree sapling in it

Under the car - The curved part under the doors should be body-coloured and smooth, but on some cars there is noticeable bubbling. If the paint is actually popping/flaking off, I'd stay away as the corrosion must be pretty bad.

Wheel nuts - The alloy wheel locking nuts on most Yarisses are very rusty-looking compared to the shiny normal nuts; That's normal. However, make sure that they actually have the corresponding socket; One car I looked at had the original Toyota socket but had non-Toyota locking nuts! (Ironically they actually looked a lot better as they weren't all rusty )

The car itself, at least the D4Ds, are pretty robust; I hadn't come across any interesting engine problems; A few had very dirty intercoolers (Nothing a quick vac wouldn't fix) and one had a slightly twitchy throttle valve during idle, which from prior experience is an indicator that the EGR and throttle body are sooted up.

Of the two, the diesel has higher insurance and initial purchase costs but is cheaper to tax and run.

It's worth noting that the diesel one does *not* like being driven through slow traffic all the time; It really needs to hit a motorway or fast A-road for a good thrash now and then or you'll find its performance starts dropping off.

It is really easy to drive tho' - don't even need to touch the accelerator when doing manoeuvres, which you can't get away with the 1.0!

The 1.0'd be a better choice for town driving, but the extra oomph of the 1.3 or D4D would be better if regular A-road/motorway runs are going to be part of its life.

[avensisd4d786]

haha did your fingers hurt after that one.

Thank you for all that info was really helpful.

any more tips please free to add.

anyone had problems with the actual yaris d4d engine.??

[Madasafish]

My Yaris d4d has been boringly reliable. I have cleaned the EGR valve at 40k miles as a precaution but it is not bad. I do an Italian tuneup once a month. Watch out for timing chain rattles on startup - sign of infrequent oil changes. Check oil is not thick and very vlack .

Basically run away from neglected diesels...refurbishment is not cheap as engine parts are £££££s...

Son's 1.0 Yaris has done nearly 120k miles. Still going strong . Some money spent due to prior neglect - at start of ownership - plus new exhaust but in good condition for a 13 year old car.

[Cyker]

Yeah, the cars have a reputation for being bullet proof for a reason :D

But yes, sorry for the large amount of reading

A lot of that I distilled from notes I was making about the cars when I was running around looking at them.

It seems many dealers just buy them, clean them and sell them on and don't even check them or anything unless there is a majorly noticeable problem with the car. Because I had the exact same car before (Albeit with 3-doors!) I had a baseline to compare the new ones to and was scribbling down lots of notes! (Mainly because I was trying to find faults to get them to knock the price off; The difference in cost between an equivalent 1.0VVTi and 1,4D4D is mad considering how old they are!)

But echoing what the great and wise fishy said, most problems stem from owner neglect; If looked after there is very little that will go wrong with it, so service history is more important (Esp with the diesel) than it is with other, nameless, cars which will usually have some problem no matter how well you take care of it

[avensisd4d786]

Yeah, the cars have a reputation for being bullet proof for a reason :D

But yes, sorry for the large amount of reading

A lot of that I distilled from notes I was making about the cars when I was running around looking at them.

It seems many dealers just buy them, clean them and sell them on and don't even check them or anything unless there is a majorly noticeable problem with the car. Because I had the exact same car before (Albeit with 3-doors!) I had a baseline to compare the new ones to and was scribbling down lots of notes! (Mainly because I was trying to find faults to get them to knock the price off; The difference in cost between an equivalent 1.0VVTi and 1,4D4D is mad considering how old they are!)

But echoing what the great and wise fishy said, most problems stem from owner neglect; If looked after there is very little that will go wrong with it, so service history is more important (Esp with the diesel) than it is with other, nameless, cars which will usually have some problem no matter how well you take care of it

thank you madasafish. thank you again guys.

cyker- no I didnt mind the reading was really useful.

I wont be buying from stealers, will bought privately and maintained privately. I only go to stealers for parts.

any more you can think off. please let me know.

There is not many about at the moment. Probably will have to wait until the new year.

[Madasafish]

Yeah, the cars have a reputation for being bullet proof for a reason :D

But yes, sorry for the large amount of reading

A lot of that I distilled from notes I was making about the cars when I was running around looking at them.

It seems many dealers just buy them, clean them and sell them on and don't even check them or anything unless there is a majorly noticeable problem with the car. Because I had the exact same car before (Albeit with 3-doors!) I had a baseline to compare the new ones to and was scribbling down lots of notes! (Mainly because I was trying to find faults to get them to knock the price off; The difference in cost between an equivalent 1.0VVTi and 1,4D4D is mad considering how old they are!)

But echoing what the great and wise fishy said, most problems stem from owner neglect; If looked after there is very little that will go wrong with it, so service history is more important (Esp with the diesel) than it is with other, nameless, cars which will usually have some problem no matter how well you take care of it

Remember the D4D is attractive due to £30 RFL vs £100+ and 57mpg+vs 45mpgish.

"great and wise fishy said" ..

Flattery gets you everywhere!

Thanks for the compliment but it's more like "age (lots) and experience" :-)

[Starensis]

I have a 1.3L MK1 & find it excellent in all forms of driving. Have had no issues at all with it since 2005.

Look out for damp under carpets & ensure rear seats slide & recline. Only gripe I had was with flasher relay being too quiet. I have now added a buzzer though to make it more audible.

Road tax is £120 with 40 mpg urban & 52 mpg on good run.

[avensisd4d786]

I have a 1.3L MK1 & find it excellent in all forms of driving. Have had no issues at all with it since 2005.

Look out for damp under carpets & ensure rear seats slide & recline. Only gripe I had was with flasher relay being too quiet. I have now added a buzzer though to make it more audible.

Road tax is £120 with 40 mpg urban & 52 mpg on good run.

thank you. damp under carpet- why would that be?

[Starensis]

I have a 1.3L MK1 & find it excellent in all forms of driving. Have had no issues at all with it since 2005.

Look out for damp under carpets & ensure rear seats slide & recline. Only gripe I had was with flasher relay being too quiet. I have now added a buzzer though to make it more audible.

Road tax is £120 with 40 mpg urban & 52 mpg on good run.

thank you. damp under carpet- why would that be?

Found a leak at LH front wheel arch - body seam had not been sealed correctly. Mr T sorted it as car has 12 year anti-perforation warranty.

[avensisd4d786]

I have a 1.3L MK1 & find it excellent in all forms of driving. Have had no issues at all with it since 2005.

Look out for damp under carpets & ensure rear seats slide & recline. Only gripe I had was with flasher relay being too quiet. I have now added a buzzer though to make it more audible.

Road tax is £120 with 40 mpg urban & 52 mpg on good run.

thank you. damp under carpet- why would that be?

Found a leak at LH front wheel arch - body seam had not been sealed correctly. Mr T sorted it as car has 12 year anti-perforation warranty.

ok thank you.

anything else be sure to let me know