Bonding with my Yaris Excel

[BlueMike1972]

I recently part-exed a 2017 Fiesta (before it went 'boom') so in the spirit of the similar YC thread, here's my random 'bonding' thoughts after a fortnight with my new Yaris Excel...

Pros

Love the looks

Great MPG figures so far and yet it will still rocket past most things if necessary

Love the Excel seats (design, comfort)

Hybrid/auto driving (both a first for me) are absolutely superb

Nice handling, so far

The 3 pot ICE is waaay smoother than the Fiesta's EcoBoom

Feels like great quality overall

Blind spot feature on mirrors is good

Reversing camera is a novelty to me, but have found it partly useful so far

Glad I can still carry a spare (I'd rather the weight penalty than a tin of goo)

Interior feels premium (test drove a Design, that wasn't so impressive inside)

Audio system is good

Built-in sat nav is decent enough so far

Cons

Front view feels a tiny bit narrow between the rear view mirror and the large infotainment screen

The whole 12v thing will always be a concern. Flattened it on Day 1 before I knew what was what re 'READY' mode, etc!

Sat nav keyboard is very poor to type on

Would prefer to control my own intermittent wipers, rather than them being 'auto' only. Early days though.

Some of the safety tech is just annoying- I now switch the RSA alerts off for each trip

Not as much storage up front as the Fiesta (Boot is smaller too but that isn't such a concern)

The 'MyToyota' app is pretty flaky (works when it wants to, though I'm not sure I actually WANT my every move tracked anyway)

Turning circle larger than my Fiesta, which was a surprise

Not really sold on the point of the boot 'deckboard' yet

 

It's only been a fortnight/400 miles so early days, but so far, so overall excellent (as was the dealership).

[ToyotaFanDriver]

Its solid car, my wife has one and I drive it often. Reliable, economical and comfortable. Its a great choice. Your mpg will improve as the mileage adds up and as you get used to the hybrid driving style.

The Toyota App though is absolutely terrible and I only use it for remote starting my car in the winter (even then its temperamental). I would not bother using it for anything else.

Happy motoring! 

[coreye9090]

I love mine so much! Seriously, it's the best car I ever had! Had a few issues at the beginning with rattling steering wheel and a creaky passenger seat which was swiftly rectified and fixed. I'm almost on 4k miles with it (had the car since mid May) need to slow down as it's on PCP and by this rate I will go over my limit😅

[Dick_Dastardly]

Mine's a Premiere but hopefully the stalk is the same as yours. If so there is a manual intermittent option for the wipers.

If the symbols on your stalk are...

up arrow

O

AUTO 

Down arrow

Double down arrow

... then selecting the first down arrow position allows you to set the wiper delay by twisting the dial on the stalk

 

Explained better here 

 

[Cyker]

Yeah it's such a good car - Had mine over 3 years and I still love driving it  

They did a great job with it - Whether crawling through traffic or hooning through a twisty country road it just works  

Most cars are good for one or the other but few are so capable for all types of roads and environments!

 

1 hour ago, coreye9090 said:

I love mine so much! Seriously, it's the best car I ever had! Had a few issues at the beginning with rattling steering wheel and a creaky passenger seat which was swiftly rectified and fixed. I'm almost on 4k miles with it (had the car since mid May) need to slow down as it's on PCP and by this rate I will go over my limit😅

If you're going to pay it off at the end then the mileage limit doesn't matter (My dealer was giving me grief over how much mileage I'd put on it, I guess they were expecting me to give it back for another one   But no, IT'S MINE! ALL MINE! BWAHAHA! Ahem.)

 

 

[jthspace]

Appalling what a Goggle search will find 😢

 

[Jules88]

Driving view is absolutely my number one (and only really) con. I'm quite tall, seat in lowest position it can go, and I still have to lean down to get a better view at times. But I guess that's the price to pay for having the infotainment screen and the rear view mirror with the unit behind it.

[Cyker]

Yeah it ain't great - Forward view is okay, albeit the windscreen is very prone to reflections. Everywhere else, massive blind spots from the A, B and C pillars, plus the rear head rests and the rear view mirror. I imagine it's a bit like driving a tank!  

 

[BlueMike1972]

5 hours ago, Dick_Dastardly said:

Mine's a Premiere but hopefully the stalk is the same as yours. If so there is a manual intermittent option for the wipers.

If the symbols on your stalk are...

up arrow

O

AUTO 

Down arrow

Double down arrow

... then selecting the first down arrow position allows you to set the wiper delay by twisting the dial on the stalk

 

 

Interesting- I thought the delay dial was only for the 'AUTO' setting, and that the subsequent two were just the standard two set speeds. It's also annoying that I have to click through the '0' position to access either side of it- but clearly, I'm just not getting to grips with what's what there yet.

[CPN]

5 hours ago, Dick_Dastardly said:

Mine's a Premiere but hopefully the stalk is the same as yours. If so there is a manual intermittent option for the wipers.

If the symbols on your stalk are...

up arrow

O

AUTO 

Down arrow

Double down arrow

... then selecting the first down arrow position allows you to set the wiper delay by twisting the dial on the stalk

That's a great find! 

I never knew that and you're right! 😁

[Dick_Dastardly]

1 minute ago, CPN said:

That's a great find! 

I never knew that and you're right! 😁

I can only be partially smug as I only figured it out tonight 😅

[coreye9090]

17 hours ago, Cyker said:

Yeah it's such a good car - Had mine over 3 years and I still love driving it  

They did a great job with it - Whether crawling through traffic or hooning through a twisty country road it just works  

Most cars are good for one or the other but few are so capable for all types of roads and environments!

 

If you're going to pay it off at the end then the mileage limit doesn't matter (My dealer was giving me grief over how much mileage I'd put on it, I guess they were expecting me to give it back for another one   But no, IT'S MINE! ALL MINE! BWAHAHA! Ahem.)

 

 

Haha, exactly! That’s the plan—definitely paying off the balloon at the end. I’m completely in love with the car too; it’s been a total game-changer! I used to dread driving, but now I actually look forward to it every time. This car is just something else! 🚗💨

[MardyMarvin]

 

20 hours ago, BlueMike1972 said:

Interesting- I thought the delay dial was only for the 'AUTO' setting, and that the subsequent two were just the standard two set speeds. It's also annoying that I have to click through the '0' position to access either side of it- but clearly, I'm just not getting to grips with what's what there yet.

You are correct the excel does not have manual variable intermittent wipers it only adjust the sensitivity of the auto wipers. The variable option is on the lower spec models that don't have auto wipers. You can tell the difference as on the stalk the excel has AUTO written on it where as the lower spec ones have don't have AUTO written on the stalk and just have the little picture. 

The only way to do it if you don't like the auto option is to push the stalk up manually to swish the blades.

[BlueMike1972]

Thanks Marvin- I had a quick play with it today and thought that was the case.

[CPN]

4 hours ago, BlueMike1972 said:

Thanks Marvin- I had a quick play with it today and thought that was the case.

If your Excel has auto wipers like our Premier Edition then I'm surprised that they don't work in exactly the same way?

Did you actually try setting the arm to the first down arrow position and after the wipers started moving at the slow speed, turn the ring toward you to the lowest setting? I think you'll find that it will start wiping intermittently (at the longest delay setting)...

[Graham47]

I’m pretty sure in my Excel “O” is intermittent AUTO position. i.e. wipers only start wiping intermittently IF something is detected on the screen.  No ‘manual’ intermittent wiping.

[Graham47]

[BlueMike1972]

Yes, I seem to be the same as you Graham.

Another one for the 'pro' column- my rear crossing alert (or whatever it is called) went off just now in a car park and although I'd seen the vehicle in question, I thought the system was very good. Balanced with another entry for 'con'- the occasional five beeps when you lock the thing are ridiculous.

[jthspace]

2 hours ago, BlueMike1972 said:

Balanced with another entry for 'con'- the occasional five beeps when you lock the thing are ridiculous.

Is that the "you may have left your dog/takeaway/child or other object on the back seat" warning?

[BlueMike1972]

Yeah, because up until now I was always locking people in my car..! 🙄

[Jules88]

Thank the Lord you can permanently disable that.

[BlueMike1972]

You can? Pray tell!

[dash]

You’ll need to use Carista or Techstream via OBD port

[CPN]

2 hours ago, BlueMike1972 said:

You can? Pray tell!

Unfortunately, Carista won't cut it but Techstream can...

See here...

[BlueMike1972]

1 hour ago, dash said:

You’ll need to use Carista or Techstream via OBD port

Ah, not just a setting in a menu somewhere then. Oh well! (I have a simple OBD reader and an app to go with, but I'm not messing about with a brand new car)