Yaris Cross Excel Long Term Review

[Mojo1010]

Mary, when you say toyota, do u mean the dealer or Toyota uk not funding the cost. Write to Toyota uk if you have not done so. 

Most of my driving is under 40mph in the city so it's not necessary to drive higher speed in order to maintain Battery charge, it's more how long is the drive in time wise. 

Once the Battery is on the decline its no good even to go on a 3 hours drive as it cannot hold too much charge. To be fair we don't know your driving pattern so it's somewhat difficult to comment sensibly. Once the car gets a new Battery and you have followed the advice on here, then u should have no problem. 

[SinglePointSafety]

This is a really useful and informative thread - thanks everyone, and indeed it seems sensible to have the capability to do a Battery charge if the car isn't driven for a few weeks, so I intend to ask the dealer to fit a ctek 'comfort connect eyelet' or the Noco equivalent. I note that these items come in various sizes for the Battery terminals ie M6, M8, M10 etc. What's the correct size please for the Yaris Cross? (looked at the manual but couldn't find this info)

Any thoughts on which charger will work OK? - the car will be in a locked garage so can be safely left on charge for several days so I'm assuming a low-power charger will be fine

[Derek.w]

I use a ctek MXS 3.8Amps If you want it quickly use car setting or if just leaving it for a few days use bike setting.

I am charging up a Yaris it uses a Yusas HSB202 45 Ah calcium Battery dont know if the cross uses the same Battery.

[Mary Ellen]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Perhaps the dealer didn’t wanted to warranty exchange or Toyota uk. If the dealer has refused then you can wright an email to Toyota head office explain the situation and ask them to reimburse the invoice. If the dealers really suggest to drive the car at speeds it’s against what Toyota uk suggests to keep the car in ready mode on your drive. Obviously the dealer you had used were not helpful at all. I wish you get well soon as our health is most important then anything else and many trouble free miles Roth your car. 👍

Thanks for replying, however I am not ill! Probably should be with all this hassle

[SinglePointSafety]

21 minutes ago, Derek.w said:

I use a ctek MXS 3.8Amps If you want it quickly use car setting or if just leaving it for a few days use bike setting

Thanks Derek, that's helpful. If anyone else knows the YC Battery terminal size, please let us know - it would likely be useful for a fair few of us (I could ask the dealer, but the service department apparently has a policy of not returning calls or emails, you have to go in and find someone to talk to)

[Derek.w]

My ctek came with 6mm ring terminal I cut the red one off to fit a fuse link in the black terminal I just split it down and opend it up slightly so its then a type of spade, saving on changing to a larger size.

Your garage electrician can fit this for you they may also buy it in for you at trade prices and pass some of the saving over to you as they make it up on fitting it.

[SinglePointSafety]

20 hours ago, Derek.w said:

My ctek came with 6mm ring terminal I cut the red one off to fit a fuse link in the black terminal I just split it down and opend it up slightly so its then a type of spade, saving on changing to a larger size.

Thanks Derek, so from what you say, the YC Battery terminals are > 6 mm. From what I can discern, there's a choice of these leads with different size connectors (according to Halfords web site) either M6 or M8, so... M8 best fit?

As a more general Q, people on this forum claim that you can successfully charge from the engine compartment by connecting to the 'jump start' terminal, which might be more convenient - does that work just fine? Are there any real-life difficulties that the Toyota manual doesn't mention?

[Roy124]

On my Corolla I found the negative Battery clamp was smaller than the positive clamp.  There was a second nut and bolt not directly on the Battery that was smaller. 

As far as charging directly under the bonnet (Battery elsewhere) you have to remove the fuse box cover, expose the positive jump start blade, and clamp the positive lead from the charger.

[anchorman]

1 hour ago, SinglePointSafety said:

Thanks Derek, so from what you say, the YC battery terminals are > 6 mm. From what I can discern, there's a choice of these leads with different size connectors (according to Halfords web site) either M6 or M8, so... M8 best fit?

As a more general Q, people on this forum claim that you can successfully charge from the engine compartment by connecting to the 'jump start' terminal, which might be more convenient - does that work just fine? Are there any real-life difficulties that the Toyota manual doesn't mention?

Mine is on charge right now using the fuse box terminal.  It’s just a wire to the Battery.  

[SinglePointSafety]

Thanks anchorman. The reason I asked about 'real-life' difficulties is that one car I owned, instructions for removing the fuse box cover were "simply push the tongues in to release the cover". Yeah, right.... It needed attention from a screwdriver and The Great Strength, so I'm assuming/hoping the YC one is as easy to remove as the manual implies.

In the near future I might have to leave the car undriven for a couple of weeks, so will be hunting out a decent compatible Battery charger, looks like Halfords own brand, ctek or Noco are the obvious choices. Since the car is garaged and can be safely left to charge quite slowly, I'm guessing the cheaper end of the range would do

[Roy124]

SPS, as in all things, try in the dry and warmth and good light. 

And one tip, make sure you can find the bonnet stay socket in the dark. I am going to paint mine yellow. 

[anchorman]

14 minutes ago, SinglePointSafety said:

Thanks anchorman. The reason I asked about 'real-life' difficulties is that one car I owned, instructions for removing the fuse box cover were "simply push the tongues in to release the cover". Yeah, right.... It needed attention from a screwdriver and The Great Strength, so I'm assuming/hoping the YC one is as easy to remove as the manual implies.

In the near future I might have to leave the car undriven for a couple of weeks, so will be hunting out a decent compatible battery charger, looks like Halfords own brand, ctek or Noco are the obvious choices. Since the car is garaged and can be safely left to charge quite slowly, I'm guessing the cheaper end of the range would do

I know what you mean about the fuse box lid but that is a knack.  If you struggle the first time, have a good look while it’s off and you’ll see where to press the clips.  On the positive side the fuse box is really well made and sealed.  I have a Ctek that is optimised for AGM batteries and is protected against shorts or wrong polarity.   The latter are not necessary for me but they’ve covered all events.  They have recently launched a super duper one which is nice enough to hang on the lounge wall but it’s pricey.  

[anchorman]

16 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

SPS, as in all things, try in the dry and warmth and good light. 

And one tip, make sure you can find the bonnet stay socket in the dark. I am going to paint mine yellow. 

I thought you would have backlit it with LEDs Roy 😉

[Roy124]

There's an idea. Lights under the bonnet and a contact switch - b****'r wouldn't work with a flat battery 

 

[Derek.w]

Its a lot more convinent for me as I leave the charger connected to the Battery unless I need the seat for a passenger, so I only need to connect the 240 volt plug of charger and push the plug and socket under the car.

The wire comes out at the passenger door and door rubber will recover when its removed.

If its under the bonnet then you need to remove the charger and refit the fuse box cover.

I have not personally charged  up from under the bonnet but it will work.

It you peace of mind then fit a Battery monitor at the same time you can then check the Battery voltage when you in the house with a app on your smart phone.

[Roy124]

My charger is wall mounted and I connected with an extension cable. 

[Derek.w]

I also lock the car when its charging.

My nearest wall is to far away and the charger will need tobe a waterproof type.

[Hicardo]

Here's a 1000 mile update on my YC Excel.  Averaging around 58mpg which i'm happy with, given that most trips have been either short cold starts, or long motorway treks.  I'm pretty sure this will go up significantly in warmer weather.  

Comfort is great.  Reliability so far perfect.  Very impressed all round. Even like the 3 cyl engine note that chirps in from time to time. Love the heated steering wheel.  Never thought i'd care, but this feature really has been great.  

I suppose the thing that concerns me a little is there's not much tyre choice in all-season tyres.  And those there are available in the big names are very expensive in 215/50/18 size.  I think I will run the summer tyres up to say Oct this year, then remove and sell, and fit some all seasons for extra peace of mind through the bad weather.  

On the subject of 12v Battery flats, I understand they do happen in certain conditions, as my neighbour had one of these in his Prius a few years ago.  But only once in his 10+ year ownership.  Whether he changed his driving habits as a result I don't know. As for me, i've had various Toyota hybrids on and off since 2009, 4 in total, and have never had a 12v Battery problem.  The closest I came was once at service time a few years back for my AURIS hybrid, and it came up on the hybrid service sheet as lowish charge but still ok.  The technician had recommended I take it for a 30 - 60 min drive at least once a week especially in winter.  This I made sure I did, and there was never anything worse to mention.  I think low annual mileage cars of all types tend to suffer from Battery issues at times, but modern battery tech has improved this, and of course you can always trickle charge if you want.  

Cheers!

[Hicardo]

After 3500 miles, Total average has crept up to 60mpg.  As mentioned before, this is with lots of motorway treks, so I'm confident that this will continue to improve, as our long trips will become less frequent.  In general 'around the local area' driving, I think i'm averaging 65mpg+. 

Rock solid on motorways and the miles drift away impressively.  Totally reliable adaptive cruise, unlike my Golf 8 (no longer on my driveway) which was appalling.  As well as issues noted earlier in this thread, this car due to one of its many software bugs, used to switch intermittently between recognising itself as a RHD and LHD vehicle.  On adaptive cruise, this would mean that it would stop me from overtaking, as it thought I was undertaking.  Bizarre, and really annoying.  This issue was never fixed in 2 years and multiple software updates.  Enough about that car! 😬

The YC is loosening up nicely.  I'm still concerned that tyres are expensive and limited choice.  For long distances id also prefer at least a space saver spare, so may get myself one of these.  

Absolutely no problems have occurred with the car so far, touch wood.  Very happy with it overall. 

😀

[Mojo1010]

Good. Can see tyres prices are high on that profile. Even with the 10% discount on Halfords it's still £600 a set. 

[anchorman]

1 hour ago, Mojo1010 said:

Good. Can see tyres prices are high on that profile. Even with the 10% discount on Halfords it's still £600 a set. 

Anything oil based has gone up.  In the scheme of things £150 a pop isn’t bad.  

[TonyHSD]

16” are way cheaper. 

[Cyker]

I'll stick to me £70 15" ones... (And even that's expensive - They were closer to £50 each not that long ago!!  )

 

[anchorman]

3 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I'll stick to me £70 15" ones... (And even that's expensive - They were closer to £50 each not that long ago!!  )

 

All season?

[Cyker]

Nooo I don't use all seasons down here, but CrossClimates typically £10-20 more IIRC.