Toyota Yaris Trend 1.33vvti

[Mark1986]

Hi there, 

I own a 2013 Yaris Trend, and I wondered if any of you Yaris owners out there have had any problems with yours? 

To sum it up, within the last year or so, it has become notoriosuly unreliable, and has been into the garage for more warranty repairs, than its been on the road!

The list of problems I've had are listed below

-Problems with selecting 1st and 2nd gear:
The gears were incredibly notchy and stiff and several times I had to ‘double clutch’ to select 1st gear. Initially the dealership lubricated the gear selector, which was fine for a while, but eventually the car went back in and they found that the gear cables were worn and were replaced under warranty.

The car was fine for quite a while and then the gear problems began again.
The car went back into the garage and it was found that the ‘clutch master cylinder’ was faulty and needed replacing. I asked the dealership why this was on a car that was 3 years old, and was told the part in it was ‘no good’.
The master cylinder was replaced with a modified part which would be more efficient and last longer. Again the work was carried out under warranty.


-Problems with starting the car:
Towards the end of 2015 the car would frequently start as normal first time, but sometimes the engine would cut out. It would turn over but wouldn’t fire after several attempts to re-start it. The only way it would fire is if I put the accelerator to the floor.

I became extremely concerned about this and took my car to the Toyota Garage in Altrincham on Friday 6th January of this year where diagnostics was carried out. As a result I have been informed that my car needs ‘a lot of work’. I am very shocked to discover this as I thought the starting problems were due to the cold weather.
However upon explanation, it has transpired that there is a huge fault with the pistons in the engine, which all have to be replaced.
I was also told that there are more jobs to carry out apart from this, but the dealership were very reluctant to divulge this information. I was a bit confused about this I believed it is my right to know what is wrong with my car.

The car is going into the garage on Thursday 19th to have this work carried out under warranty, and they have agreed to lend me a courtesy car( which took me forever to get!) 
 

I have since sent a strongly worded email to the CEO of Toyota UK, and have had an email sent back, to say that they are dealing with my complaint and will be in touch. Fingers crossed it gets sorted. 

I just cannot believe that all these problems have occured on a car that is going to be 4 years old in February, I spoke to the service manager at Toyota who has said that the piston problem is a 'recognised fault' and that they have had 5 repaired so far. 

Thing is, the car is running fine at the moment, surely driving it would cause more bother but who knows? 

 

What do you guys think? Do you think I pursue this further, or wait till the work has been carried out and see what happens from there?

[CPN]

Mark, 

If it were me, I would wait until the main dealer has completed all the warranty work before taking it further. 

However, a question pops into my mind at this point. Since the car was purchased new, has all the work that has ever been carried out during servicing only ever been done at the main Toyota dealer?

Colin

 

 

[Mark1986]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your reply,

Yes since the car was purchased new, all the work it has had and all the servicing has been carried out by the dealership. They told me that when I purchased the car, it had to be serviced by them for warranty purposes, but if I take it elsewhere, they have to use genuine Toyota parts.  I have always taken it to the Toyota dealership, as I trust them to carry out whatever is needed.

 I have been told by a friend that when it has the work done next Thursday that I should ask for a full written breakdown of what warranty work has been carried out, who carried out the work and what date and time. Then I've got proof it has been done. I have heard people ask for the old parts in the past as well.

Mark

[FROSTYBALLS]

As regards the replaced parts, if it is things like pistons, etc, Toyota will probably be sending these for recycling of the metals, or similar. When one pays for repairs, one can ask for and have the old parts, but warranty work is different.

[Mark1986]

Ah right Frostyballs, I wasn't aware of that, I will make sure I ask them what work has been done.  

Thanks for all your comments, I will keep you posted

 

 

[Justhandguns]

It sounds a bit dodgy, but still, it is under warranty.  But Colin is right, wait until the works are done. If it is an inherited problem even when the car was new, it is a matter of a replacement, as of any other goods.

[Heidfirst]

The Yaris is generally reckoned to be one of the most reliable cars of all so it sounds that you have been unlucky.

However, look on the positive side - Toyota are also often considered to be the best of the volume manufacturers in terms of standing behind their product/warranty (as seems to be being borne out) - if this was a nearly 4 year old Ford, Vauxhall, VW etc. I think that you would have an entirely different & more unpleasant experience ...

[CPN]

I would fully endorse all that Scott is alluding to but one thing I have learnt from these august forums since being a member is that individual experiences, even with Toyota main dealers, across the country vary wildly. In my own case, for example, I cannot speak highly enough about our main dealer here in Doncaster but even in that instance, it is very much a two way process that requires good communication in both directions and not least a large dose of assertiveness and continued attentiveness by the customer until resolution. Or, in other words, develop a good working relationship with them. It would seem that sometimes, there is some difficulty with this latter point in other areas; which is a shame as no-one remembers the good stuff. Only the bad.

Colin

 

 

[Mooly]

How is all this progressing ?

[Mark1986]

Hi Mooly, 

Sorry for the late reply, 

I have had the car back, and it's much better, the fuel economy has gone up, so I'm presuming the problem with the pistons would've had an effect on that big time. 

They also asked me what I wanted for my goodwill gesture, so I asked for an extended warranty and also a possible free service, which they were onto top happy to oblige to, so I'm happy and all is good. The work comes with 12 months part and labour guarantee and because I have the warranty, it has given me piece of mind. So alls good 

Thanks everyone for your comments 

[Mooly]

Thanks for the update, and I'm really pleased to hear you have a satisfactory outcome from it all.

I can't imagine what the actual issues were with the engine... what sort of mileage had it done by the way ? I was interested because I have the 1.33 in the Auris.

[Mark1986]

Hi Mooly,

The problem with the engine was that there was a huge issue with the pistons causing carbon buildups. Consequently, the engine had to be removed, which was a three day job, and the pistons removed and replaced with modified ones, they had to clean all the cylinder head, and then the engine was sublet to an engineering company for a rebuild. After much faffing about, the dealer supplied a courtesy car for the three days so it wasn't too bad. 

The engine had done approx 38,800 when it went in for repair. It is a French built engine as the car starts with VNK as the chassis number, don't know if the Japanese built yaris is any better, but I would presume it is, I would be interested to hear if anyone else has had problems with the French engines. 

As for your Auris, I'm not sure if it uses the same 1.33vvti engine as mine, but I do know that the Auris is built in Britain, not too sure where. Probably one of the last british built car we'll see. Have you had any issues with your car? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, Mark1986 said:

I do know that the Auris is built in Britain, not too sure where. Probably one of the last british built car we'll see.

The 1.33 engine fitted to the European Auris and Yaris is built in Deeside, Wales.

The Auris is built in Burnaston, Derbyshire.

Vehicles currently built in Britain that I know of are:

Toyota - Auris and Avensis; Nissan - Qashqai, Juke, Note, Leaf and Infiniti Q30; Vauxhall - Astra;  Mini - Mini, Clubman and Countryman; Jaguar - XE, XF, XJ, F- Pace, F-Type; Aston Martin - DB11, Vanquish, Vantage, Rapide; Land Rover - Evoque, Discovery Sport, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport; Bentley - Mulsanne, Continental, Flying Spur, Bentayga; Honda - Civic; Lotus - Exige, Evora, Elise; Morgan - Aero Plus 8, Plus 4, Plus 8, Roadster, 4/4, 3 wheeler; Caterham - Seven, CSR, Aeroseven; McLaren - 540, 570, 650, 675; Westfield - Sport and Mega; Noble - M600; GM Manufacturing Luton - Nissan Primastar, Renault Trafic and Vauxhall Vivaro vans; Rolls Royce - Dawn, Wraith, Ghost and Phantom.

[Mooly]

8 hours ago, Mark1986 said:

Hi Mooly,

The problem with the engine was that there was a huge issue with the pistons causing carbon buildups. Consequently, the engine had to be removed, which was a three day job, and the pistons removed and replaced with modified ones, they had to clean all the cylinder head, and then the engine was sublet to an engineering company for a rebuild. After much faffing about, the dealer supplied a courtesy car for the three days so it wasn't too bad. 

The engine had done approx 38,800 when it went in for repair. It is a French built engine as the car starts with VNK as the chassis number, don't know if the Japanese built yaris is any better, but I would presume it is, I would be interested to hear if anyone else has had problems with the French engines. 

As for your Auris, I'm not sure if it uses the same 1.33vvti engine as mine, but I do know that the Auris is built in Britain, not too sure where. Probably one of the last british built car we'll see. Have you had any issues with your car? 

That was quite a major job then. I've mentioned this before, something the service manager at Toyota said with regard to running a new engine in (this was back in 2002 when I had a Corolla Tsport) and what he said was that the first few dozen miles were the most important for driving it super carefully as this was when 90% of the initial polishing and rough edges getting smoothed occurred. The problem was that pistons and bores needed to be exercised and so it was a compromise to not thrash the new engine and yet to push it hard enough to condition the cylinder walls. Driven too carefully and they would glaze and he reckoned these were the engines that would have issues in the future. By a couple of hundred miles the full rev range should have been used (gently of course) to break any glaze.

I don't know how true or otherwise that is today.

My Auris has been essentially trouble free. 7 yrs old now and 50k.

The only physical issue I have is with the washer jets part blocking (I suspect due to limescale) and needing an occasional clean. They are not like the nozzles of old that you could poke with a pin and it took quite a while to figure a way to clean them.

 

Only other odd issue is sudden change in performance. This is something that can recur every 12 months or so but is fixed in moments. I have to put it down to my unusual driving style of driving mainly for economy (very light throttle openings and feather the throttle) and yet occasional use of the full rev range when needed. Modern ECU's learn and adapt to driving style over thousands of mile... this one doesn't get it right. I 'm sure there is no fault as such. 

The last 18 months have seen me have to add oil between services. I wonder if this is a legacy of Toyota specifying the super thin 0W20 grade and my usage which consists of longer runs rather than short hops around town.

[Madasafish]

" That was quite a major job then. I've mentioned this before, something the service manager at Toyota said with regard to running a new engine in (this was back in 2002 when I had a Corolla Tsport) and what he said was that the first few dozen miles were the most important for driving it super carefully as this was when 90% of the initial polishing and rough edges getting smoothed occurred.  "

Many (?all) modern engines are assembled with a molybdenum compound on the pistons/rings to make bedding in easier and to improve fuel consumption. At the same time, modern machine tools working in temperature controlled environments can machine to very high tolerances..

As most early driving is done by driving onto/off ferries/transporter lorries then whatever an owner does is irrelevant after it's been delivered to the dealer as a new car!

[sophie1992]

Hi Mark 1986

I feel your pain! I have the same and have had the same engine issues, these started less than 2 months after buying it.

its been rebuilt TWICE! in the garage 6 times in two years and 3 of them times they had the car for about 8 weeks!!

if you think it is over once the pistons have been replaced think again.... I've had to send it back in due to further carbon build up now on the valves... and possible overfueling causing the carbon build up.

I've put a huge complaint into Vantage and Toyota directly as their resolution for the carbon build up is 'use supermarket fuel' which is an absolute joke

They had my car from end of November 2017 to mid January 2018 as they couldn't work out what was the issue, I now unfortunately have the car back and I am seeking further advice

Be warned that this will happen again, my pistons were changed at 16000 miles 2 months after buying the car and the carbon build up happened again another 15000 miles later... lost all faith in this vehicle as they have said its not guaranteed to not happen again. all I got is 2 years extended warranty???

 

[monkeydave]

hi mark

glad your car is fixed and better now, i have the same engine as you a 1.33 icon 2016 and my garage is the altrincham toyota one, mine is going in for suspected timing chain tensioner causing chain noise when cold

can you tell me did they do a good job on your car or did they have a couldnt care attitude ?

they just seem not to be very bothered with my problem on my car and that is why it is going back in again

thanks in advance

[monkeydave]

5 hours ago, sophie1992 said:

Hi Mark 1986

I feel your pain! I have the same and have had the same engine issues, these started less than 2 months after buying it.

its been rebuilt TWICE! in the garage 6 times in two years and 3 of them times they had the car for about 8 weeks!!

if you think it is over once the pistons have been replaced think again.... I've had to send it back in due to further carbon build up now on the valves... and possible overfueling causing the carbon build up.

I've put a huge complaint into Vantage and Toyota directly as their resolution for the carbon build up is 'use supermarket fuel' which is an absolute joke

They had my car from end of November 2017 to mid January 2018 as they couldn't work out what was the issue, I now unfortunately have the car back and I am seeking further advice

Be warned that this will happen again, my pistons were changed at 16000 miles 2 months after buying the car and the carbon build up happened again another 15000 miles later... lost all faith in this vehicle as they have said its not guaranteed to not happen again. all I got is 2 years extended warranty???

 

that is horrible, sorry your having so much trouble, did you take your car on the motorway or just round town short trips ?

[sophie1992]

It does a full tank of fuel a week. Which is 270 Miles. 

Combination of motorway and normal journeys 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Usually where engines have had issues such as carbon build up, etc, the response often is not to use supermarket fuels or to use alternate tanks of branded and supermarket fuels, as the additive packages in fuels such as BP, Shell, etc are said too be better than those in supermarket fuels. My neighbour who had the cylinder head in his VW Polo replaced under warranty was advised to alternate tanks of supermarket and branded fuels.

[Mark1986]

Hi everyone, 

Sorry for the late reply to the topic, I haven't been on here for a while as you can see.

Well an update...since the work was carried out, the car has done another 10,000miles, and so far so good, so will keep my fingers crossed that it stays like that.

I do think in this instance I have been very unlucky, as it is a nice car, it's five years old now and still looks mint, went in for it's MOT  yesterday and was described as 'excellent condition' 😊

Sophie 1992- I hope you manage to get it sorted  

monkeydave-My experience of RRG  Altrincham has been really good to be fair, they are very accommodating and have done everything in their power to keep me happy. Hope they sort your rattle out with the timing chain, let me know how you get on. 

 

 

[Ant182]

Hi Mark, good write up, but also glad you got your problem sorted now though 👍 I have a 2013 1.33 SR it a VNK too I'm up to 23tho I just hope this problems not on mine. I regularly use esso/shell petrol and redex to clean the engine I hope this well help as the engine gets older. 

Hope you have no more problems Mark👍