Is the Yaris suitable?

[Roy124]

16 minutes ago, Max_Headroom said:

Its not only limiting car buying power there is also a limit on the jobs they can do as many firms don't run auto vehicles.

This is true, but in reality how many jobs demand driving skills? 

Many in London do not have a car or have been priced off the roads. 

We are also seeing EV appearing in business areas.  Our Royal Mail van has been EV for over a year.  Yorkshire CC has EV refuse trucks, OK, they have the trucks but can't charge them. 

My neighbour is a salesman.  His leased car is a Tesla. 

[Mojo1010]

People learning in auto are not really looking for any job which involves driving a manual. There are millions of jobs that doesn't involve driving, this is not a limiting factor. 

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Mojo1010 said:

Those that want to drive auto only are not bother with limited auto available, there are plenty of auto and hybrids around. 

 

I'll disagree with that to some extent, though there are more now than in years past.

My wife only has an auto licence, so it's not a case of "want" - we have to get autos. In some respects it's good because it does reduce the possibilities to a manageable number when looking for a car, but sometimes it's a bit too few.

However, autos are mostly more complex and expensive to repair, so used reliability is a worry. And having been driving autos for about 40 years now i can assure you they are not all equal - there are some truly terrible boxes out there. (I had two Ford's that were dire, and from what I've seen online they haven't improved as their Powershift seems to get a lot of flack.) The best still seem to be old the torque converter types but they can be inefficient.

[Rhymes with Paris]

3 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

This is true, but in reality how many jobs demand driving skills? 

Many in London do not have a car or have been priced off the roads. 

We are also seeing EV appearing in business areas.  Our Royal Mail van has been EV for over a year.  Yorkshire CC has EV refuse trucks, OK, they have the trucks but can't charge them. 

My neighbour is a salesman.  His leased car is a Tesla. 

Aye Roy, I saw that article if it was the one about York council.

£8 million wasn't it ? On EVs and no usable charge points.😃

For 25 transit size cage pickups.

Maybe it was a committee decision, then they can all blame each other.

[Roy124]

2 minutes ago, Yugguy1970 said:

Manuals will be around for decades and most cheap cars are manual and will be for years. 

I am not so sure.  I think twenty years life is probably the mass market limit.  On that basis 2050 might see ICE in the vintage collectors niche. 

That assumes supply of ICE does not diminish before 2030 and emission zones don't expand rapidly. 

It also assumes that manufacturers will continue to supply the popular mass market with obsolescent cars with a sudden stop in 2030. 

I can envisage ICE production stopping by 2028 and even earlier for many models. 

I can also see that the traditional starter car will become EV sooner.  Sooner not because its a starter car but because small and EV best fit the needs of a daily commute. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Hmm, just did the calculation £8m divided by 25 =£320,000 I think.

I can't see a Battery powered tranny costing that much, but maybe just hyperbole from the media.

[Max_Headroom]

34 minutes ago, Yugguy1970 said:

I prefer auto absolutely, however...

I would have an auto and i am sure my next car will be auto.

[TonyHSD]

I can see there are many different opinions and views on that matter and I respect all, however I think that manual cars and ice in general are technology from the last century. The times we live in the things are moving fast forward towards electrified cars and auto transmissions. There is no way back and the switch is gonna be faster than we might think. Yesterday were engines and manual boxes, today and likely tomorrow will be electric motors which in most cases doesn’t need a gearboxes but just a transmission to transmit the torque to the wheels, or perhaps the wheels may become the motor generators themselves. Although car enthusiasts likes manuals including me, there is no reason to ask for one except pure drive for fun experience. And then - What fun can it be when you get stuck for hours on M25 with a manual car while commuting?! 👍

[SouperChris]

22 hours ago, bobcat said:

Hi everyone,

We are looking to replace my wifes car later this year (Honda Civic diesel 2003) and have decided that a Yaris might be a suitable replacement.

I am a big diesel fan but given the complexity of current diesel cars plus the obvious intention to financially penalise diesel car owners it does not seem worthwhile to buy anything other than a petrol or petrol hybrid car these days.

The car will be used daily for the school commute which is a total of 40 miles a day (30% is a 50MPH dual carriageway and the rest is local roads) The advantage of the Honda is that it manages to do 55MPG without any real effort and can easily seat 4 adults so know the Yaris will be a 'downgrade' in some respects.

The Yaris will need to carry 3 'adults' and will also be required to carry 2 adults in the front and 2 in the back from time to time.

We are looking at a something which is around 2/3 years old, and have settled on the 1.5 Manual version.  I did consider the hybrid and whilst it does have a number of good points the upsides of the 1.5 on a 2019/2020 year are that:

It is cheaper than the equivalent hybrid at around £12,000 

Will eventually be used by the kids to learn to drive in so a 'stick shift' is best

Easier maintenance which can be carried out by a local independant mechanic that I use once its outside the 5 year warranty

I know many Yaris owners will probably recommend the hybrid, but from what I can gather the extra cost of the car will take forever to recoup in increased economy plus it has the other downsides of not being able to be used by the kids to learn in and slightly more complex maintenace requirement.

We do intend to keep the car a long time, both our current cars are around 20 + years old so we tend to maintain them well and hope to keep driving them for as long as we can! I don't expect 'newer' cars to last as long as the 'older' ones, but again I am sure many will disagree!

Anyone who has the 1.5 Yaris manual or has had one can you give me your thoughts on whether it will be suitable for the school run, size wise it is clearly a bit smaller than the Civic will it be big enough? and in terms of longevity do you think the 1.5 will last at least 10 years?  based on your experiences with the car.

As a side I have considered the new shape Yaris but it is rather expensive at around £20,000, is Hybrid only so not sure it ticks our boxes but again any views to the contrary will be considered!

I also considered a Corolla 1.8 which would certainly be closer to the Civic in dimensions, again we are looking at around £20,000 and it has the downsides mentioned above.

Thanks

Bob

 

 

Im surprised you didnt consider the Honda Jazz, as that seems to be the direct competitor of the Yaris. Looks like you can get a hybrid a couple of years old that might meet your needs. Dont get me wrong, I have a 2022 Yaris hybrid and would recommend that in a second.

[forkingabout]

Passed my test in a manual.

First car at 17 was a manual, age 19 I ended up driving an auto for a couple of years only because the 2nd hand car I traded up to was an auto version.

After that approximately 23 years of owning & driving multiple manual gearbox vehicles before buying a C-HR hybrid. 

Drove a manual last month, didn't cause any issue after driving a auto since April. 

As I get older, I do prefer an automatic gearbox - but I can still drive a manual if / when required. 

[Roy124]

A thought, look and see what the driving schools are using.  If you have any particular school you might approach, consider getting what they use. 

I learnt with BSM and was 'horrified' when I was allocated an instructor and a Hillman Minx.  He had been an armoured car driver and there must have been similarities.  I now suspect it might have been his own car. A couple of years later my father bought a Minx and I had no trouble driving it. 

[Mojo1010]

1 hour ago, SouperChris said:

Im surprised you didnt consider the Honda Jazz, as that seems to be the direct competitor of the Yaris. Looks like you can get a hybrid a couple of years old that might meet your needs. Dont get me wrong, I have a 2022 Yaris hybrid and would recommend that in a second.

The MK4 Yaris is superior to the jazz in most departments, there really is no great reason to get the jazz. Besides I think jazz gets cat stolen as its not at the manifold. iirc preciously looking at the top spec of the jazz, it doesn't have auto folding mirrors. 

I agree that the transition to automatic will accelerate a lot faster than people think. 

[jbspurs66]

I agree that Auto licence holders should not be able to drive a manual, 90% would probably have an accident in the first week, driving an auto gives the average student much more time to analyse a situation with less multi tasking in difficult situations.. 

The key thing that seperates a good student from a poor one is the ability to check there mirror, trust what they see and then make a decision to slow down, speed up or maintain there course and speed, you would be amazed how many people struggle with this 🙄

[Rhymes with Paris]

1st paid lesson was in a BMC mini with crunchy gears and my knees around my ears to fit in.

A company called quickpass, and it was £1.

Rest of the time learning with friends in their cars and topped it off with the official lesson.

Not done that way now, I know.

But I am pleased that I learned in manual cars first though, and have the choice of buying any kind of car without worrying about the transmission type.

 

 

[Bernard Foy]

Learned to drive in a manual because automatics were almost unheard of for ordinary motorists. Maybe a few of luxury cars had them, but automatic transmissions were generally out of reach and avoided like the plague. For best part of sixty years I was happy enough with the stick shift. But over the last four years I’ve driven Yaris Hybrids automatics. Now I wouldn’t own a car unless it had at a minimum of two things which are automatic gearbox and a/c. I still drive my wife’s manual Yaris occasionally without a hitch. However, I think that automatics are the coming thing and manuals are becoming less and less popular.

[Jimota]

I passed my test in an army Land Rover with the old crash gearbox and continued to drive manual geared cars for the best part of my adult life.  Only after a long holiday in Australia I discovered the relaxed driving mode of an automatic and since then I would not consider going back to a manual car.  Maybe it’s an age thing but there is no doubt the modern automatic gearbox has improved greatly over the years.

[Roy124]

Remember the steering wheel gear lever. At least as a learner driver you didn't have to master the dip switch until later driving in the dark. 

But you did have to  change gear, select the indicator, and make extravagant arm movements out the window while checking the mirrors, one or two of which were some feet away on the wings. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

16 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Remember the steering wheel gear lever. At least as a learner driver you didn't have to master the dip switch until later driving in the dark. 

But you did have to  change gear, select the indicator, and make extravagant arm movements out the window while checking the mirrors, one or two of which were some feet away on the wings. 

Yes, I had a mk1 cortina with the column gear lever.

And can you remember on some of the older Fords and might have been on some others too, the click button on the floor to dip headlights?

 

[Roy124]

RwP, that's what I said. And the lack of rear versing lights. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Oh sorry Roy, I mistakenly thought you meant the stalk dip switches.🥺

[Max_Headroom]

3 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Although car enthusiasts likes manuals including me, there is no reason to ask for one except pure drive for fun experience. And then - What fun can it be when you get stuck for hours on M25 with a manual car while commuting?! 👍

 

The reason i have always had manual is because auto cars have always been more expensive than manual, older autos were rubbish and if they go wrong the repair bills can make your eyes water if you are lucky enough to have a garages close to you that know how to fix them (they are getting as rare as hens teeth) believe me i know as i have said here i used to work for a franchised dealer.

 

As EV's become more popular people will have little option about what box they use and ICE engine cars with manuals will become as rare as rocking horse **** as i have said my next car with be a hybrid probably the Cross so that will be the end to my manual driving unless i have a bump and the repairer only has manual.

[Bernard Foy]

3 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Yes, I had a mk1 cortina with the column gear lever.

And can you remember on some of the older Fords and might have been on some others too, the click button on the floor to dip headlights?

 

Quite a few of the old fords in the 50s and 60s had the column change imitating the “Americans”. I think that the old Hillman Minx had it, and maybe other British models, but I can’t remember too many of them. Yes the dip button on the floor was actually a good thing.

[SouperChris]

4 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

The MK4 Yaris is superior to the jazz in most departments, there really is no great reason to get the jazz. Besides I think jazz gets cat stolen as its not at the manifold. iirc preciously looking at the top spec of the jazz, it doesn't have auto folding mirrors. 

I agree that the transition to automatic will accelerate a lot faster than people think. 

Im not sure about that. The Jazz is faster and more practical, although might be an acquired taste in looks. As far as this thread is concerned, it is also cheaper and the poster seemed to not want to spend too much. The poster is also apparently happy with Honda, and it will be reliable. On the other hand, the Yaris is more economical. At the very least, it would seem like a viable alternative, as you can probably get the latest model, whereas the yaris is too expensive.

[Roy124]

9 hours ago, Bernard Foy said:

Yes the dip button on the floor was actually a good thing.

Until it went through the  floor

[Jimota]

11 hours ago, Bernard Foy said:

Quite a few of the old fords in the 50s and 60s had the column change imitating the “Americans”. I think that the old Hillman Minx had it, and maybe other British models, but I can’t remember too many of them. Yes the dip button on the floor was actually a good thing.

The Vauxhall Victor was another with the 3 geared column change.