Excel vs Premiere Edition

[hind]

1 hour ago, ninanina said:

couple of weeks

2 weeks after regular use should be ok.

Anything more = almost guaranteed need to jump start.

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, ninanina said:

Should I worry about the 12v battery ‘issue’ in the Yaris?

My car is used regularly but what about when you leave it at the airport for a couple of weeks would that be long enough to flatten the battery?

This will depend mostly on the condition of the Battery at the time of leaving the car at the air port. If your battery is weak you definitely gonna need a jump start even after a week of inactivity, if your Battery is in good shape should be able to start the car after 3 weeks or more. 

[ninanina]

So maybe just replace the Battery after a couple of years or so to make sure it’s always in good condition 

It’s a shame they didn’t fit a slightly bigger Battery in the Yaris as I’ve never had a problem with the Prius… apart from having a Battery die on me after 7 1/2 years 

 

[dash]

@ninanina Carry a jump start Battery (beneath your seat rather than in the boot because, if you do need to use it, you wouldn't be able to get into the boot due to the flat battery). Make sure you charge the jump Battery every 4 - 6 months to ensure it's ready to use should you need it. There's a special terminal under the bonnet in the fuse box for attaching the positive outlet of the jump battery; attach the negative to a nearby bolt head attached to the bodywork. Saves calling out breakdown services and shouldn't cost more than £70 for a decent jump Battery.

I know we shouldn't have to do this in a modern car, but assuming Toyota won't be doing anything soon to resolve the issue, then for the sake of a small outlay you do get peace of mind.

[ninanina]

43 minutes ago, dash said:

@ninanina Carry a jump start battery (beneath your seat rather than in the boot because, if you do need to use it, you wouldn't be able to get into the boot due to the flat battery). Make sure you charge the jump battery every 4 - 6 months to ensure it's ready to use should you need it. There's a special terminal under the bonnet in the fuse box for attaching the positive outlet of the jump battery; attach the negative to a nearby bolt head attached to the bodywork. Saves calling out breakdown services and shouldn't cost more than £70 for a decent jump battery.

I know we shouldn't have to do this in a modern car, but assuming Toyota won't be doing anything soon to resolve the issue, then for the sake of a small outlay you do get peace of mind.

I already have a Noco GB40 jump starter which seems to keep its charge for months on end.  I’d actually forgotten I had it until you said dash

I have no idea what the terminal on the Yaris looks like but I’m pretty practical so I’m sure I’d find it. Has it got an orange cover over it?  I’ll take a look at it when I have my test drive 

[dash]

Yes. Squeeze each of the clips on the fuse box cover to remove and the terminal is in there with orange cover.

[ninanina]

3 minutes ago, dash said:

Yes. Squeeze each of the clips on the fuse box cover to remove and the terminal is in there with orange cover.

Perfect thanks dash 

That’s one less thing to worry about 

[152bobby]

 

[ninanina]

5 minutes ago, 152bobby said:

 

Thanks 152bobby

Looks a piece of cake 

I’ve pencilled in a visit to my Toyota dealer for next Tuesday to view the Yaris and Yaris Cross

[ninanina]

I actually saw a Yaris Cross yesterday for the first time…..very interesting 🤔 

By the looks of it there is slightly more room inside than the standard Yaris but is the ride much the same as the Yaris or is it slightly softer as it seems to have more suspension travel?

 

[MardyMarvin]

4 minutes ago, ninanina said:

I actually saw a Yaris Cross yesterday for the first time…..very interesting 🤔 

By the looks of it there is slightly more room inside than the standard Yaris but is the ride much the same as the Yaris or is it slightly softer as it seems to have more suspension travel?

 

its going to sound daft but the cross drives like an SUV so a little more lean if you hit the corners hard. Yaris drives like a little sporty car hardly any lean into the corners. I cant say I have noticed any real difference in softness of the suspension in general day driving between the two.

I believe they are based on exactly the same floor pan so wheels are the same distance on both models which is why I said about the lean in corners as that is main difference I notice because of the centre of gravity being higher in the Cross.

If you want fun little car that feels sporty get the Yaris if you want a fun car with more leg room in the back and easier to get in and out of get the Cross. I am basing my experience on my wife's Y23 cross and my yaris excel Y24

[ninanina]

Thank you for your detailed response MardyMarvin really appreciate it 

Yes I expected that the Cross would lean more into corners as it’s centre of gravity is higher 

From what I can make out the standard Yaris sounds great fun to drive 

I am wondering if everyone with a Yaris is ‘young’ 🤔    I’m not so young 🤣

 

[MardyMarvin]

57 minutes ago, ninanina said:

Thank you for your detailed response MardyMarvin really appreciate it 

Yes I expected that the Cross would lean more into corners as it’s centre of gravity is higher 

From what I can make out the standard Yaris sounds great fun to drive 

I am wondering if everyone with a Yaris is ‘young’ 🤔    I’m not so young 🤣

 

erm depends on your definition of young, well lets say I am between 50 and 60 years young 😉

[Mojo1010]

The standard gen4 Yaris is an excellent little car, am very happy with it. I had the gen3 Yaris hybrid and wasn't so happy with that apart from it being a hybrid. When I need a bigger car, will likely skip the YC and go for a used Chr 2.0 excel. 

[ninanina]

1 hour ago, MardyMarvin said:

erm depends on your definition of young, well lets say I am between 50 and 60 years young 😉

I’m 61 years young ☺️

[CPN]

I am 75 years young and, having driven some exotic Rally Machinery and Race cars in another life long ago, I think that the standard Yaris is a great drive and handles better than most people might first think! 

[ninanina]

From what I’ve read the larger wheel size on the Excel and Premiere Edition suffer from a harder ride compared to the smaller wheels on the Icon and Design 

This is apparently made even worse by the yet larger wheels on the GR spec car

I am pretty confident that when I visit my dealer it’s going to be impossible to test drive the different spec cars to find out what the ride is like; they probably only have one Yaris demonstrator 

Does anyone have any experience of this?

 

[Primus1]

I’m not saying how old I am, but next month I’ll be able to sing the lyrics to the song the Beatles wrote…

[ColinB]

2 minutes ago, ninanina said:

From what I’ve read the larger wheel size on the Excel and Premiere Edition suffer from a harder ride compared to the smaller wheels on the Icon and Design 

This is apparently made even worse by the yet larger wheels on the GR spec car

I am pretty confident that when I visit my dealer it’s going to be impossible to test drive the different spec cars to find out what the ride is like; they probably only have one Yaris demonstrator 

Does anyone have any experience of this?

 

I was given a Design spec Cross to test drive, there was also an Excel on the forecourt that I could have driven but as it only had a few hundred miles on the clock they didn't want to add too many miles to it, but the offer was there. In the end I went for the Premiere Edition for the extra power (and toys), I know that it won't be as good a ride as a lower spec but going from a RAV4 Excel with 19" wheels it shouldn't be too much worse. Note that both the Design and Excel were the previous model year without the latest NVH reducing mods, the dealers didn't have any 24MY card available to test. 

[Cyker]

Yeah it's something I wish Toyota would copy from Mazda and offer different rim sizes - You can option even the top-spec Mazda 2 Yaris hybrids ( ) with 15" alloys!

I thought it was a compliance thing that Toyota UK had such limited options, but if Mazda, who are a tiny company by comparison, can do it with what is effectively the same car, they have no excuse other than laziness.

As I drive in the pothole-ridden hellscape that is London, one of the first things I did with my Excel is swap the 17" alloys to 15" steel rims and I'm forever grateful to my past self for making that seemingly stupid decision. It's made driving it a lot more relaxing as it's basically immune to pothole damage or kerbing (On the 17"s it took me ages to park as I was terrified of kerbing the rims - On the 15" steels I have not a care!  ), and it's given a significant mpg uplift as well as made the ride absorb impacts and general road roughness significantly better. It does look a bit comical according to my friends though, esp. when parked near another Mk4 which all have 16-18" rims, although personally I like the big sidewall look   

I estimate it's saved me about £800 on tyre replacements so far ( I was galvanised into the change as my colleague has had an Auris on 17" rims for years and he has to replace a tyre almost every time he hits a new surprise pothole because it pinch-punctures; So far only 2 of them in the past few years he's managed to get the council or Highways to reimburse him for too ) 

The reason i went for steel rims and not alloys is steel rims are much cheaper, practically disposable, and it's harder for insurance companies to stiff you for extra charges, as they all have settings for bigger rims or alloy rims, but none for smaller and/or steel rims  

You still have to declare them though, and after trying to make you let them list them as aftermarket alloys, they'll eventually give up and just note it down as a non-chargeable modification. (So far the only insurer that's given me grief was MoreThan - They actually refused to give me insurance with the 15" steel rims because I refused to let them list them as alloys - if they'd been 15" alloys they would have slapped IIRC £75 on it - but because they couldn't charge me extra just withdrew their quote! So it's been a good canary for weeding out bad insurance companies too...!  )

 

[TonyHSD]

I have my favourite Yaris cross trim level and it’s the GR sport. 
The seats are the best of all trims, best materials. It has all necessary extras that I am after, with the very important ones auto dim rear view mirror, push start button and keyless entry, it has slightly lower suspension 2cm lower but remains cushy and dampen road imperfections as well as any other trims,  it comes with the best tyres Goodyear efficient grip performance mounted on best looking wheels, the different colour options only cost extra £310 , it’s a fwd ( better choice for these cars imo).  There are currently some ex demos or one year old examples at good prices and likely available immediately. 
Here is the video of the latest Premiere edition, which will be my choice if I need a brand new car. This guy has more new videos about, you can check it out. 👌

 

[Sharnie70]

17 hours ago, ninanina said:

I’m 61 years young ☺️

I’ve just bought my first Yaris and I’m 71 this month. 

[Countryside]

Ladies you are both spring chickens 👍

[ninanina]

9 minutes ago, Countryside said:

Ladies you are both spring chickens 👍

Indeed 🤣

[ninanina]

Does anyone find the ride in the higher spec Yaris to be on the ‘firm’ side or is it just a good trade off for the agile handling?