Yaris Mk4 Ownership - Niggles or Normal?

[Grompix]

 

I remember being quite surprised when first taking ownership my old Yaris M3 Hybrid in discovering that it was quite a ‘talkative’ machine. It would whirr and click to itself quite often - even with everything turned off - ostensibly.

I got used to it though, and found it quite  amusing in a way.

My current Mk4 however has rather a different set of noises - which don’t amuse quite so much.

I’m just wondering if these noises are ‘normal’ in a Mk4 Yaris or indicative of the kind of ‘niggles’ I seem to be experiencing in mine.

I often hear a ‘clunk’ when braking - not every time but often enough to be a bit concerning. I can’t be sure at this stage of ownership but It seems to occur more often when the vehicle comes to a complete stop, rather than just slowing down. Is this ‘normal’?

Today I had the windows open while I reversed out of a parking space. A loud whine and clunk occurred when I put the shift into reverse. Something I couldn’t hear very much with the windows closed (shows how good the sound-proofing is I suppose).

Again - is this normal or a niggle? (might turn out to be both!)

Does any other Mk4 Yaris owner experience strange noises (when driving their car that is!).

Another niggle - but nothing to do with noises. I have the ‘Lane Centering Function’ turned off but the ‘Sway’ function keeps switching itself back on.

Does anyone else have the same prob and is there any way of making it do as it’s told!

Cheers

Chris 😉

[Mikw]

I'm pretty sure i get all those noises to be honest.

I used to post on here saying about various noises, but then kept hearing new ones, so don't do it so much now.

The Lane centreing is a bit odd, i'm used to it now, and it's great in collaboration with the cruise control on the motorway.  However it can be a bit alarming when it steers for you in other situations,

[Cyker]

If you want to disable all lane keeping assists you have to hold the button down until it says it's disabled, but it resets when you turn the car off and on again and AFAIK there's no way to make it 'stick'. Apparently the GR has the same 'issue'!

I must admit I'm abusing the heck out of the system as a pseudo auto-pilot atm - It's great for boring bits of the motorway and traffic jams! 

[Grompix]

This niggle (or normal characteristic!) relates to the climate controls of the car.
They look good and work well (or at least do the job - sort of).
My irritation lies in the size and visibility of the climate-control icons. Mine are not lit (at least not in day-time driving - not sure for night) so are hard to see.
No doubt I will eventually get used to the positioning and purpose of each button on the CC console but at the moment it's a bit like learning a kind of braille!
Some pictures on the internet seem to have these symbols above the buttons lit (or at least easier to see).
I found my old Yaris Mk3 CC controls much better to use. 
How do other Mk4 owners on this forum fare with this (if at all)?
😉 Chris
          

[mrpj]

Looking at the pictures I would fully agree re the Mk 3 being much better, more user friendly and far more visually appealing (that's subjective). The location of that panel hasn't changed either. It looks like a single DIN radio!

The usual philosophy hasn't been applied, if it isn't broken, do not fix it.

A bit like the use of these things that give the impression that a tablet p.c. has been Blutaked(sp?) in position as an afterthought, rather than built in to the dash facia.

[Cyker]

Yeah, while I appreciate the HVAC controls still being actually physical buttons in the Mk4 (Touchscreen HVAC controls can go throw themselves down an abyss!), I agree they kinda suck - I'm glad they made the important ones big and easy to reach for, but the other ones are really hard to get at while driving.

They are normally unlit, unless you have your sidelights/beams on, then they are backlit in blue.

For me it hasn't been too much of a problem as the only ones I use regularly are the knobs, the Off button, and the Auto button - If the other controls were easier to press without taking my eyes of the road to search and reach for them, I'd probably use the recirculate, vent selector and fan speed buttons more but they are a million times more awkward to use than the massive controls my Mk1 and Mk2 had, and the auto does a good enough job that I'm not too bothered, so they just sit there unused!

They do feel a bit form over function.

[flash22]

You should be able to see if it is back lit with the headlights on, it may also display the Hvac settings on the touch2 just like the gen 3 does

I wonder if there is another setting hidden in the menus............................

[Grompix]

6 hours ago, flash22 said:

You should be able to see if it is back lit with the headlights on, it may also display the Hvac settings on the touch2 just like the gen 3 does

I wonder if there is another setting hidden in the menus............................

No sign of back-lighting on my HVAC with headlights (or sidelights) on.  I was maybe wondering if there was some thingumy gubbins that detected it was dark before doing anything 😏 
I'll try when it gets dark tonight.
Now, a hidden menu would be something... 😊 

[Cyker]

There is a little bump under the left-side of the windscreen - I think that is the light sensor. You can try covering it up to see if you get that blue glow! :)

(Or just test it in the dark as you say  )

[FROSTYBALLS]

Topics merged.

[Grompix]

12 hours ago, Cyker said:

There is a little bump under the left-side of the windscreen - I think that is the light sensor. You can try covering it up to see if you get that blue glow! 🙂

(Or just test it in the dark as you say  )

Thanks Cyker, that 'bump' / 'button' is indeed a light sensor. 
The symbols on my HVAC control unit light up (hurrah!) when the lights are on and it is dark outside. 
It would be really useful to have them lit during normal driving though - sigh!
 

[Grompix]

Just curious - anyone know what this is / does?
 

[flash22]

I haven't a clue, just a piece of trim - is that a place for a switch ?

[Cyker]

It's interesting that your backlights don't turn on when you turn the sidelights/beams on - I turned mine on today when it started chucking it down with rain and everything got the blue backlight and it wasn't all that dark outside...

That piece of trim is the magic trim! It's the first piece of trim you need to remove to remove the all the rest of the trim on the dash area! It's held in by two plastic pop clips and you can just pull it out. That is the first step, then you can yank out the big piece that holds the twin trays and Start button, then after that the bit that's around the gear lever.

It is crazy how you can just yank out the dash so easily without needing a single screwdriver once you know the order to do it in!

I did this when running the 5v power supply for my Dashcam to the lighter socket because the piggy back fuse wouldn't let me put the fuse cover back on.

 

[CPN]

2 hours ago, flash22 said:

I haven't a clue, just a piece of trim - is that a place for a switch ?

Yes, it is just a piece of trim hiding a rather untidy join between the upper and lower dash units...

[Grompix]

13 hours ago, Cyker said:

It's interesting that your backlights don't turn on when you turn the sidelights/beams on - I turned mine on today when it started chucking it down with rain and everything got the blue backlight and it wasn't all that dark outside...

That piece of trim is the magic trim! It's the first piece of trim you need to remove to remove the all the rest of the trim on the dash area! It's held in by two plastic pop clips and you can just pull it out. That is the first step, then you can yank out the big piece that holds the twin trays and Start button, then after that the bit that's around the gear lever.

It is crazy how you can just yank out the dash so easily without needing a single screwdriver once you know the order to do it in!

I did this when running the 5v power supply for my dashcam to the lighter socket because the piggy back fuse wouldn't let me put the fuse cover back on.

 

Ah Ha - mystery solved then.
It just looked more functional than a piece if trim (like a light or a sensor of some description). Although being the 'magic' piece of trim that allows the dismantling of the dash does make it rather important functionally I suppose! Thanks Cyker / CPN.
Talking about re-routing power supplies, I wonder how practical it would be to dismantle the HVAC unit and re-wire the backlight LEDs to be on when the ignition is on? Or put in an auxiliary strip of LEDs...
...or just not even go there!!!
Thanks chaps
Chris 😉

     

[flash22]

1 wire is all that supplies the back lighting - there is little info on the gen 4 about at the mo without paying for access

[Cyker]

It's probably not too bad - You could do what I did and tap the lighter socket for power, then just run that to the LEDs powering the backlights maybe?

I didn't go as far as to remove the HVAC stuff tho' so not sure how much more work that is.

Removing the trim is quite simple tho - Just a bit scary at first as it mostly involves yanking on plastic parts that your brain is telling you will break them! They seem surprisingly robust tho'.

The only tricky bit is getting the gear surround out - When I did it I had to jam a key into the override to unlock the stick, and move it back out the way, but in hindsight I wonder if I could have just unscrewed the top of the gear selector...?

 

But yeah, esp. on mine with the light interior, that little trim piece looks really out of place!  

[Grompix]

9 hours ago, flash22 said:

1 wire is all that supplies the back lighting - there is little info on the gen 4 about at the mo without paying for access

 

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

It's probably not too bad - You could do what I did and tap the lighter socket for power, then just run that to the LEDs powering the backlights maybe?

Don't tempt me chaps!  ☺️

[Grompix]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

But yeah, esp. on mine with the light interior, that little trim piece looks really out of place!  

So you have the light interior too!
How practical do you find it?
I like the lighter upholstery a lot but was initially concerned (like some on this forum) about it's possible tendency to show up marks and dirt.
I belatedly noticed there were dirt patches and marks around the driver and passenger door when I took delivery from the dealer and some faint marks on the front seats. But a quick rub down with Halfords upholstery foam shampoo soon put paid to those.
No marks have shown up since (and I've clambered in and out the car quite a lot with not-so-spotlessly-clean clothes / gloves etc) and the ease with which the dealers grubby handling marks were dispensed with using car upholstery products, I'm not so bothered now.       

[Cyker]

I didn't want it but it's mandatory with the Excel spec - Didn't like it at first, but I've gotten used to it and I must admit it does lighten the cabin, and a benefit I did not consider but seems obvious now - When it's blazing hot sunny day, the seats don't feel like Lava when you sit down on them  

They do show up dirt more tho' - The (fake?) leather on the arm rest in particular looks quite bad now - It's full of black marks when I've clipped it with the bottom of my work bag when slinging it and retrieving it from the passenger seat (I've taken to putting said bag on the back seat now, but that has revealed a new problem, i.e. the blasted seatbelt warnings! I have to clip 2 of them in to stop it going off! Must buy some of those fake seatbelt clip things one day) and I haven't quite managed to clean them all out; don't want to scrub too hard as I know fake leather is basically plastic and isn't as robust as real leather but not sure how else to clean them safely!

But for the most part yeah, it's not too bad and the seats themselves seem to be much easier to clean, but I've been fortunate to have not gotten it too dirty yet! Even survived the fields of Goodwood and our muddy boots (So glad I got the protection pack with the mud guards and rubber mats!) with nothing but a gentle wipedown and vacuuming!

[flash22]

i needed to use the Toyota portal yesterday, so did look it up - it's not easy

The heater controls run over Lin bus (serial data line) Inc the illumination what is run off the AC amplifier, the whole car is a lot more complex

[Grompix]

7 hours ago, flash22 said:

i needed to use the Toyota portal yesterday, so did look it up - it's not easy

The heater controls run over Lin bus (serial data line) Inc the illumination what is run off the AC amplifier, the whole car is a lot more complex

Many thanks for that Bob. Perhaps I'll leave the rewiring of the HVAC after all!
...although - hooking up an extra strip of LEDs inside the HVAC case powered by the lighter socket as Cyker suggests - hmmmm...
🤔  

[Grompix]

19 hours ago, Cyker said:

I don't want to scrub too hard as I know fake leather is basically plastic and isn't as robust as real leather but not sure how else to clean them safely!

But for the most part yeah, it's not too bad and the seats themselves seem to be much easier to clean, but I've been fortunate to have not gotten it too dirty yet! Even survived the fields of Goodwood and our muddy boots (So glad I got the protection pack with the mud guards and rubber mats!) with nothing but a gentle wipedown and vacuuming!

Yeah, I wasn't too sure how the interior would stand up to a bit of scrubbing.
I was concerned about the 'fluffy' hard plastic door panels. Didn't want the velvet-like texture to scrub off, but that's where the stains and marks were mostly in my car.
I needn't have worried though, they've proved quite robust (see pics). There's just the faintest outline of the original stains / marks on the panels and seats although you can hardly see them on the pics. I'm sure that another go with the interior car shampoo spray will finish the job.
Maybe these (or something like) will work on your armrest too.       

I wish I had taken some 'before' pics of the stains to show the difference - but I never thought...  

[Cyker]

Thanks for being the guinea pig!  

That's good to know; I guess it makes sense that these things are designed to be used on car interiors!