2013 1.5 VVT-i Hybrid Yaris test drive tomorrow - reliable car?

[corpjones]

Hi All

I've been helping my sister choose a car, she currently has a 2002 Yaris and we're going to test drive 2013 1.5 VVT-i Hybrid Yaris tomorrow in the "T Spirit" trim which I've been advised is the top spec (she wants cruise control and reversing camera as well as bluetooth music streaming).

We will probably end up buying the car if she likes the test drive, my question from fellow owners or experts here, does this model have any known reliability issues or are the engines and hybrid drivetrain (or anything else!) up to the usual Toyota reliability?

We are buying via a Toyota main dealer so will get the years warranty etc however just wanted to check in there are no known faults or niggles with this year/model

Advice would be much appreciated 🙂

[Sampleman]

I have bought a Yaris Hybrid one year ago and searched a lot for reports on failures of this car. There were two things which were mentioned: Rust and worn out wheel bearings.

However, these things seem to happen, but they do not happen very often. All in all, the car seems to be pretty reliable.


Best regards from Bavaria
Frank

[Gerg]

44 minutes ago, Sampleman said:

two things which were mentioned: Rust

Further to what Sampleman says; it is worth looking closely at the area around the boot release, the parking camera, the hatch hinges and where the electrical wiring from the hatch enters some rubber bellows at the top of the door - with rust sometimes beginning actually underneath where the rubber touches the metal.

Whilst difficult to test at this time of the year, some people find the headlight output is disappointing.  This does not vary between cars, they are all like it, so will this bother you? To find this out, can you borrow the car overnight to check?

The later cars from (2016 or 2017, I think?) have more soundproofing than the earlier ones.

If you have a Toyota service every year or 10,000 miles, then currently, the hybrid electrics and high voltage (traction) Battery is warranted for 15 years.

The (fairly small) 12 volt Battery doesn't have much work to do, but, if the car has spent some extended time parked up on a forecourt, these can quite quickly go flat through lack of use, which ages them badly.  The normal Toyota warranty on this part is five years from registration, will your warranty cover the 12v Battery?  They are about £120 from Toyota, and are an unusual specification.

[corpjones]

Thank you both, sounds like that's not too much to worry about compared to other cars 🙂

I'll make sure I check for rust on the areas described, her current car is only a 2002 Yaris so my thinking is the lights should be a upgrade from her current car so that should be fine, unfortunately no opportunity to keep it or try it at night..

She only wants to spend around £8k with cruise control, rear cam and bluetooth (and approved used Toyota) so we are limited to mainly 2013 model.

The batteries are covered for 3 months I believe while rest of car has full year cover, we'll also keep up servicing with Toyota to keep the traction Battery covered.

 

[Gerg]

34 minutes ago, corpjones said:

her current car is only a 2002 Yaris so my thinking is the lights should be a upgrade from her current car

I can see that would be a perfectly logical expectation to have! 

The newer models of Yaris have adopted a different lighting 'system' based around an unusual bulb, known, an HIR2, which is a high output (and quite expensive) bulb, it's just it doesn't seem to get that light on to the road very well!

Other cars that use this set up include some Vauxhall Zafiras and Insignias, all Vauxhall Amperas, later Toyota Aurises and some others too.  Owners sometimes wished they had conventional headlamps like your old Yaris. There's usually someone complaining about the headlamps on the above-mentioned owner's websites.

On a different note, I believe the traction Battery uses the same cells as larger Toyota hybrids, just not so many of them, so a little lower voltage and power, but similar durability.

What you will probably like least on the test drive, is the engine noise on spirited acceleration, which is at odds with the quietness before and after.

Also worth knowing; I have never heard of the catalytic converter being stolen on a hybrid Yaris, this is due to a quirk of the Yaris engine design, rather than extra security designed-in.

 

[Anthony Poli]

We had a 2013 one which was used and was about 3 years old. No complaints with it. Already had a hybrid before and so we knew what to expect. Only traded it in when we needed something a bit bigger to cope with a change in circumstances.


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[Sampleman]

On a different note, I believe the traction battery uses the same cells as larger Toyota hybrids, just not so many of them, so a little lower voltage and power, but similar durability.
What you will probably like least on the test drive, is the engine noise on spirited acceleration, which is at odds with the quietness before and after.

As far as I know the Yaris Hybrid basically uses the power train of the Prius 2, only adapted to current emission standards. The engine noise on spirited acceleration is worse than the noise produced by contemporary Prius or Corolla Hybrids. The reason for that: These cars have the bigger 1.8 liter engine which delivers more torque at low revs.

Actually, my 2016 Yaris is not a particularily quiet car. At 80 mph its cabin noise level is 71 dB, which is okay, but not quiet.

What I love most is this relaxed driving. Below 50 mph, the car feels as if the engine delivers power only for a brief moment and then goes back to idle speed. This feeling is hard to describe - especially when you aren't a native english speaker;-)


Best regards from Bavaria
Frank

[corpjones]

Just test drive today and we've put down a deposit to purchase and pickup the car on Monday.

Thank you for all the advice in this thread is been very useful, are there any photos to show common areas of corrosion? I tried to have a look at the areas described but am concerned I've misinterpreted some of the locations 🙂

[martswain]

Check the rear discs, they are prone to a bit of rust due to the fact they are only lightly loaded, most of the braking being regenerative.

The handbrake actually works on the discs, so a gentle pull on that can "polish" them nicely without much wear, I used to do it on the dual carriageway exit slip road.

There has been a lot of discussion on driving advice, however I found that the best solution is to select "D" and let the system get on with it.

"B" mode should not be used unless descending long and steep hills, nowhere else.

"ECO" mode just makes the accelerator pedal mushy.

"EV" mode is useful for moving short distances, in and out of a driveway or garage, on the road it just forces the traction Battery to discharge more and then the engine runs for longer to charge it again.

Use of air conditioning makes no noticeable difference to economy.

Fuel consumption is worse in winter, the petrol engine is on more to keep itself at the correct temperature and provide cabin heat.

I had my Yaris Hybrid for 4 years (2014-18) and apart from the rusty discs, it was faultless, hope your sister enjoys her new car.

[Gerg]

13 hours ago, corpjones said:

are there any photos to show common areas of corrosion?

Hi,

Here is a selection of some car body rust-related links.  The second and third links are about the same car and owner (Monkeydave), so one is simply a continuation of the other.

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/184323-rusty-tailgate/

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/178373-surface-rust-spots/

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/183597-rust-near-reversing-camera/

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/171037-yaris-corrosion-3-years-old/

HTH.

 

[corpjones]

Thank you so much Gerg, I'll have a look before we pay final balance tomorrow, looking at those previous posts doesn't look like Toyota will assist much after the 3 year warranty 😞

This car is glacial white too.

 

[flash22]

Most of the t-spirt models are fairly loaded (lounge spec in europe) and have the panoramic roof, but lack folding mirrors only seen the rust around the rubber boot in the tailgate this is caused by the 3rd brake light seal or the spoiler mounts, the LEDs in the 3rd brake light can fail with age what requires a new unit (circa £90-100)

12v Battery lives under the back seat it, is an agm type, 7-12 years is the life cycle for an agm Battery, Toyota used to do a fixed price for the 12V batteries but i have not seen them advertised at that price for a while - they can get a bit pricey

Part prices aren't cheap, Toyota 0w20 is around £40-50 for 5 liters (retail is £80)oil filter is £12-15 for a genuine one £5-7 for aftermarket

 

The Cabin filter never get changed Hengst or Blueprint ones are under £10 (carbon one should be E2945LC)

 

[Catlover]

12v AGM batteries seem to be about the same price anywhere, including Mr Toyota. Mine for the wifes Auris Hybrid was £130.

[corpjones]

Just a update for everyone, I did a manual check of the service history and it turns out the dealer had lied (sorry cannot think of a more polite word!) about the service history, I asked a couple of times to 2 different members of staff specifically if it had a full toyota history and I was assured it did, after I checked however the 2nd service of the car was carried out by a third party and was just a minor instead of a major, so the car had its first major service at 4 years instead of the 2 year mark.

I've now found a very similar car at another dealer, spending slightly more but I've checked the service history on this one and its up to scratch, we're picking up this weekend so fingers crossed..

Rust does seem to be starting at the rear camera area so i've asked them to see if they can touch up from their paint person, apart from that the car seems to be in very good condition, it is a main dealer again but not part of Steven Eagell who's service has been terrible so far judging from the 2 dealerships so far,

[snowBALLs]

Your sister will enjoy the reliability of the Yaris hybrid like her petrol one, it will take time to adapt to the hybrid way of driving to get the best of fuel economy. 

As other has mentioned, it does get noisy at higher speed due to the CVT and small non performance engine. The light output is a problem on the projector headlight unit. Need brighter bulbs. 

[Anthony Poli]

Your sister will enjoy the reliability of the Yaris hybrid like her petrol one, it will take time to adapt to the hybrid way of driving to get the best of fuel economy. 
As other has mentioned, it does get noisy at higher speed due to the CVT and small non performance engine. The light output is a problem on the projector headlight unit. Need brighter bulbs. 

It’s the reviving of the engine and not the cvt. a common misconception [emoji3]


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[corpjones]

Hi All

Thank you all for your replies, we ended up going for a 13 plate Hybrid Yaris T-Spirit with just 1 previous owner so the car is in very good condition, unfortunately the camera area does have a bit of rust or discolouration due to rust (see photo below), I did ask salesperson to ask their paint guy to touch up but they said it'll perforate the metal and make it worse, I think its a excuse due to cost, as the rest of the car was spotless we've ended up buying anyway.

Is the above something to worry about or is there anything we can do to treat it? it doesnt sound like the corrosion warranty will cover this based on previous threads i've read here..

Thanks

[YarisHybrid2016]

Mine is 5 years old/60k miles, and I'm very happy with it! To date, no faults or failures!

I've even had the chance to look at the underside recently (Dec last year) and aside from dirt from the road, it was in very good condition. I avoid driving it when they're gritting the roads/using salt!

Would definitely buy another, though I'm going to hold onto mine for a few more years yet!

I saw a new, new Yaris Hybrid in silver a couple of weeks ago on the motorway. Looks very nice! I'm not keen on how it looks with the limited edition paint. The color makes all the difference!