Yaris no longer a Which? Best Buy

[Andrew56]

The February 2023 Which? (Magazine) Car Guide, states it has removed the Yaris Best Buy rating

"due to issues owners have had (moderately serious engnine electirical issues accounting for more than one in 10 faults reported)"

It does also say "in all other respects it remains as excellent as ever"

Judging by comments on this forum I would guess this is the 12V Battery issue.

[flash22]

ABS, RSA, 12v, DCM issues, and Hybrid Malfunctions, just the usual new platform teething issues tbh

[Max_Headroom]

13 minutes ago, Andrew56 said:

moderately serious engnine electirical issues 

Shame they didn't go into more detail that is way to random.

[Roy124]

Flash, to all those I think the Corolla was no different.  Probably just down to greater awareness and interest by owners. 

Still have no regrets. 

[Primus1]

Well it can’t be any worse than the puma , lots of Battery issues, deep sleep, remote features disabled messages, not to mention plenty of mechanical/build quality faults..

[Cyker]

It sucks they didn't go into more detail; If it really is the 12v thing, hopefully that'd give Toyota the encouragement they need to actually do something about it instead of ignoring it like they have for the past decade!

I'd be happy for them to just licence the thing Kia do where it just cuts off below a certain level, and there's a reset button so owners aren't stranded. It's so simple!

Hopefully it's not the other problem (The hybrid system malfunction!) that a few of us had in the other thread! (Mine still hasn't done it again since it was reset. While they had my car in for the windscreen, there were two recalls they checked on the car: One was for XGG78 DCM Reprogramming which was done, and the other was for the drive plate Devon Aygo mentioned, which they decided wasn't needed (I mentioned I'd experienced the problem but they said they couldn't do anything unless it happened again as it tested okay)

 

[Max_Headroom]

1 minute ago, Cyker said:

It sucks they didn't go into more detail; If it really is the 12v thing, hopefully that'd give Toyota the encouragement they need to actually do something about it instead of ignoring it like they have for the past decade!

That would be a very good outcome.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The 2023 Which? car survey had 49,576 respondents.

Here is the detail:

"While many Toyota cars are blessed with excellent reliability, the current generation Yaris isn’t one of them. In the latest Which? car survey, it only scores a mediocre three stars out of five for reliability in cars aged 0-4 years.

Just over a quarter of owners encountered a fault with their car in the year covered by the survey – nearly twice the average of other hybrid cars in the same age group – and around 5% of cars broke down.

The most common faults were due to engine electrics, affecting more than one in 10 cars, while non-engine electrics and safety equipment affected around 9%.

However, with the computer software, braking aids and cruise control, a number of issues were brought to light as part of an official recall, and many drivers didn’t actually experience any problems. Such recall-prompted repairs don’t count as harshly against a car as faults that require the driver to pay to get them fixed.

On a brighter note, faulty cars spent just over one day, on average, off the road being repaired. Hybrid cars in this age group typically spend around two to three days in the garage."

[Cyker]

I'm still curious what 'engine electrics' means in this case. If it is the 12v thing, I feel it's a bit misrepresentitive of the true reliability of the car, as they imply it's the least reliable of all the models of Yaris and I'm pretty sure that isn't the case!

If I didn't have more insider knowledge (i.e. being on this forum and actually owning one) that report would have been quite off-putting.

 

[Graham47]

There is more in the full report.

e.g. The Yaris “pipped the Jazz very slightly for overall owner satisfaction “ …..

The Yaris had better fuel economy…

”If” it is 12v Battery ‘problems’ then goes against posters who maintain “all hybrids have 12v Battery problems….” !

[Hibird]

22 hours ago, Graham47 said:

There is more in the full report.

e.g. The Yaris “pipped the Jazz very slightly for overall owner satisfaction “ …..

The Yaris had better fuel economy…

”If” it is 12v battery ‘problems’ then goes against posters who maintain “all hybrids have 12v battery problems….” !

I am not aware of any posters that maintain “all hybrids have 12v Battery problems….” ! or for that matter that  “all hybrids do not have 12v Battery problems….” !

[Hibird]

I have no knowledge of who was included in the survey or how they were selected or what the questions were.

However I would guess anyone taking part who had experienced Battery issues would answer accordingly. This may or may not be reflected  in the best buy ratings who knows.

I would agree with others that more detail in the report would be helpful but do not hold my breathe that it will happen.

 

[Hibird]

On 1/21/2023 at 12:23 PM, Primus1 said:

Well it can’t be any worse than the puma , lots of battery issues, deep sleep, remote features disabled messages, not to mention plenty of mechanical/build quality faults..

Agreed, but being better than the worse has not cut it in the Which best buy ratings

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, Hibird said:

I have no knowledge of who was included in the survey or how they were selected or what the questions were.

For the last few years, the Which? car survey has been open to anyone who wants to take part - not just Which? members. For example, in the past I've included the link to the survey on these forums. Although members are e-mailed to say the survey is open, participation is voluntary.

[Cyker]

Well on the bright side, if it puts less well informed people off buying them, maybe the wait times will come down!