Yaris Mk4 - selling

[TonyHSD]

Dacia recent years has improved a lot and they are now pretty much like Skoda stand near vw. Not that I will buy and drive one but for many they are the perfect choice and btw they have positive owners reviews. 

[Bernard Foy]

Interesting posts re different makes of cars. I bought my first car, a two years old Opel Kadette A in 1967 and it was a rust bucket, and mechanically the only thing on that car that didn’t give me trouble or break down were the number plates. Worst car I ever had. I bought a new Opel Astra in 2001, drove it for 10 years never had a better car, 80,000 miles on it never needed anything only normal maintenance. Never even needed brake pads nor discs, or even track rod ends, just normal routine services. It goes to show how some car manufacturers have improved their products. Toyota when they first arrived in Europe were rust buckets, their engineering was well ahead of European manufacturers but the bodywork was rust prone and not suitable for the climate. Once they got to grips with the rust problem they were far and away ahead of the competition.

[Malomaka]

Dacia don't look to rate very high on the NCAP crash test safety ratings

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Malomaka said:

Dacia don't look to rate very high on the NCAP crash test safety ratings

Being cheap they may lack some of the 'driver assistance' features that can be worth a couple of stars.

There have been cases where a cheaper spec version of the same car has got 3 stars when the more equipped version got 5.

[Spiral82]

57 minutes ago, MikeSh said:

Being cheap they may lack some of the 'driver assistance' features that can be worth a couple of stars.

There have been cases where a cheaper spec version of the same car has got 3 stars when the more equipped version got 5.

That's right: some road tests have made the same point - not a flaw with the car as such but lack of safety aids leading to lower NCAP ratings.

I looked into a Dacia Senderos Stepway and was concerned to learn newer stock was being 'down specced': for instance, they came as standard with a six speed gearbox when I was looking but apparently this was being changed to five speed. Also, highly annoying the way they mess around with the price of a spare wheel (gone from about £100 to £300 for no apparent reason).

Quite impressed with quality and kit but too big (SUV version of standard Senderos) and wallowy handling for my tastes.

[Cyker]

You have to be a bit careful with the NCAP rating - The Fiat Panda is a famous example - It went from 4 stars to 0 stars despite the car being unchanged!

The problem was it just missed the threshold of the new tests by a tiny margin in each category, amd because of that got no stars, despite the fact it's no less safe than it was in the previous test, just that it hadn't improved.

The Yaris Mk4 maintained a high rating, but it's a very intrusive and interfering car, is built like a tank which also impedes visibility, and gets filled with balloons in a collision (NCAP really like the balloons - Best way to get a better score is to add more balloons  )

 

[forkingabout]

16 minutes ago, Cyker said:

The Yaris Mk4 maintained a high rating, but it's a very intrusive and interfering car, is built like a tank which also impedes visibility, and gets filled with balloons in a collision (NCAP really like the balloons - Best way to get a better score is to add more balloons  )

 

Yaris mk4 was the first car tested to the new updated Euro NCAP test regime. 

Euro NCAP | Safety Rebooted: New Toyota Yaris Sets the Benchmark for Small Family Car Safety

[Starensis]

30 minutes ago, forkingabout said:

Yaris mk4 was the first car tested to the new updated Euro NCAP test regime. 

Euro NCAP | Safety Rebooted: New Toyota Yaris Sets the Benchmark for Small Family Car Safety

Tbh, it’s what I’d expect of Toyota and a new design. They do take these tests very seriously.

Looks like car will be gone; if not tomorrow, early next week. ☹️. Wife is rubbing her hands together with the extra we’ve been offered for it. 🙄

[TonyHSD]

3 minutes ago, Starensis said:

Tbh, it’s what I’d expect of Toyota and a new design. They do take these tests very seriously.

Looks like car will be gone; if not tomorrow, early next week. ☹️. Wife is rubbing her hands together with the extra we’ve been offered for it. 🙄

Well, get rid of that car and you can buy again the same in the future. Make some extra cash 💰 for now 👌

[Rhymes with Paris]

No matter how many balloons and passive and active safety aids there are, no car maker can defeat the laws of physics I reckon.

I am happy to drive a small old car and drive defensively,all too aware that a large heavy SUV , like I had, would mash my car and me in a collision.

I am no expert, but if crumple zones for example, crumple into your body,it will be a bad day.

Not sure if it would be better to be rattled around in a stronger heavier car that did not crumple,so really can only try to drive on the mantra that "I had the right of way" is no use on the operating table.

If I see any clue that another driver is drunk/drugged up/can't drive/stupid etc, I give them a really wide berth.

 

[Cyker]

The funny thing is I think we've passed the point and I suspect small cars are now safer than bigger cars - The problem is you need a lot more metal to make something big as strong as something small, and with manufacturers trying to bring the weight down for economy reasons that puts big cars at a disadvantage safety-wise.

In the old days an SUV or 4x4 would just plough through a small car, but with all the safety reinforcements to comply with increasingly high NCAP requirements, it's more likely the SUV would be flipped over by the smaller car if it wasn't stopped by the crumple zones, as once you get past the crumple-zone the passenger-cell is like 80's Volvo-levels of tough.

In the NCAP impact tests for the Mk4 the engine bay gets completely destroyed in the front impact test but the A-pillars barely move, and even in the side impact test the door only seems to get pushed in a few inches at the deepest point.

Add to that the high centre of gravity in bigger cars, the likely hood of them being riding over and being flipped by the smaller car, rather than ploughing through it, is very high now.

Even the Mk1 Yaris models are really tough - I think they were one of the first cars to have Toyota's Zero-Intrusion passenger cell design, and I've first-hand experience on how tough that little thing is (I got sandwiched in the 2nd D4D, i.e. punted into a car in front by a rear-ender - Boot area completely undamaged, rear bumper pushed down slightly, but the front of the rear-ender was practically destroyed! The car it punted me into (A BMW Mini; They have tough rear-ends too!!  ) caved in the front engine bay brace, broke the clips on the lights and bent the radiator in but it wasn't leaking and the car was still driveable!  The lights even still worked!  )

I'm not saying go ram bigger cars, but I'd feel a lot safer being in any Yaris than outside one (Esp. the Mk1 and Mk2... High marks for internal survivability, but for anything/one on the outside things... not so much...  )

I think physically the Mk4 isn't that much stronger than the Mk1 and Mk2; It's high NCAP rating is more from the fact it tries to not crash in the first place (Although with me it seems to have the opposite effect...!  ). Also those balloons... so many balloons!!

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Balloons,is it a kid's party or a safety device.

I came upon an accident where the driver who was hit was in a stunned condition with broken specs and blood running out of his nose, banged by the airbag, not much damage to the car.

I'm sure many lives have been saved by airbags, but I do wonder how many injuries have been caused by the explosive nature of the balloons deploying when not necessary, when seatbelts would have been sufficient.

I do find it difficult to get out of the firing line of the airbags at the same time as a comfortable driving position, in many different cars.

Maybe creating a safety bubble around your own car by defensive driving is easier than getting smacked in the face by a very aggressive marshmallow that can break your nose.🤕

 

 

[Cyker]

Yeah, that's why they don't always deploy in a collision - It makes me laugh when people bonk something with their car then think the airbags are faulty because they didn't go off; They don't understand that they only deploy in a serious collision that is actually life threatening, and not just a bumper scratch!

I've yet to experience an airbag going off, but I have heard it's a lot like being punched in the face by a professional boxer, so on balance I'm happy to remain ignorant!!

 

[Big_D]

Years ago I went over a small humpback bridge (a little too fast) and this caused the airbag in the steering wheel to go off. All I really remember about the airbag was that it burnt the ***** out of both my arms.

[Cyker]

Yikes! I bet you must have gotten some serious air time then!  

[Big_D]

I really did !!

[MikeSh]

7 hours ago, forkingabout said:

Yaris mk4 was the first car tested to the new updated Euro NCAP test regime. 

One also has to bear in mind that previous test ratings aren't updated when new regimes are introduced.

So a car that got 5* a few years ago but would only get, say, 3* on the newest tests will still show in the tables as 5*.

It's getting pretty impenetrable these days ...

 

[MikeSh]

6 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

I am no expert, but if crumple zones for example, crumple into your body,it will be a bad day.

I think you are missing the meaning of 'zones'.

[Rhymes with Paris]

I understand crumple zones to be the parts of car bodywork/structure that are designed to deform first in a collision and absorb some of the impact.

Leaving the safety cell structure of the car intact to protect the occupants.

If something heavy enough, moving fast enough has enough kinetic energy however to overcome all that,it renders it academic.

Hence me referring to crumple zones crumpling into the car occupants, such as head on collisions at high closing speed, overcoming all the structure and pushing bodywork into the car cabin.

Happy to be corrected of course,if my understanding of it is wrong,my background is construction of buildings/civil engineering not vehicles.

[Cyker]

Well, vs. e.g. a fully-loaded artic or 16 wheel mobile crane at motorway speeds, no amount of steel beam reinforcement or balloons is going to make a lot of difference!!

[Rhymes with Paris]

Aye Cyker, that is very true.

Although I didn't mean absolute extremes of disparity between different vehicles.

Somehow missed your earlier post which I have now read, very reassuring about the strength of the mk 1 body Shell,as although I do drive defensively on the now rare occasions when I venture out on motorways etc.

Driving such a small car surrounded by the heavies was a bit worrying at times, I know I control what I am driving, I have no control over the other very careful and considerate 😆 drivers.

 

 

 

[Cyker]

I know what you mean! The seating position of the Mk4 is, I think, the lowest it's been in a Yaris and you really do feel it when you're boxed in by artics trying to overtake you!    

Only yesterday on the M25 I found myself looking at the very shiny hubcap of one as it was passing me veeerrry sloooowly and getting uncomfortably close!

Thankfully the Mk4 is still narrow enough I could just fully move over to the barrier line to leave almost a car-width between me and those very large truck wheels!!

[Starensis]

It’s gone! Sold today. 😌

[Cyker]

Hope you got a good price for it!!

So... down to one car or what's on the possibles list now...?

[Mojo1010]

Had Yaris sized cars for the past 7 years, 3 years before this, focus size. 

Been pretty much driving all sorts of roads around England and Wales with it. Hence I want to upgrade for more power, better handling and boot space if possible - corolla Excel 2.0 JBL&Pan roof a bit out of my current price range but only 27L boot space extra over the MK4. 

It's frustrating in the current time for new vehicle purchase, long lead time, options being taken out, 0% finance supposedly not being honoured is pretty bad. Had I put in an order for the mk4 excel JBL tech pack in march 2022, I would be going through what some of you are going through right now. 

Someone ordered the Mazda Yaris and given sept delivery date, 4 months or so I think, let see if that happens. Nothing can be done at the minute, need to wait until things improve. By then the gen 5 corolla will probably be out and I may find the new improved power 1.8 have adequate push for me and overall a better suited car. Well let see what the prices are going to be......🤑