Yaris Hybrid?

[sproutdreamer]

Had a 67 Yaris Hybrid 6 months now and not convinced about the benefits of the hybrid. Fuel consumption is about 57 mpg (according to the dash) seems nothing special for a 1.5, performance nothing to get excited about and the steering seems pretty vague on less than perfect road surfaces. The suspension also seems agrigultural.

All in all I regret buying the car apart from that my wife likes it to drive around town.

My feeling is that the range on the EV mode is minute, the fuel consumption benefit is small over a conventional ICE car and the potential for costly Battery and other repairs is high in the longer term, apart from the difficulty of self maintaining hybrids.

So the environmental benefits are small as are the overall financial benefits to me  so what is the point or am I missing something?

[ToyotaFanDriver]

Lets break down your post....

1) I would be interested to know what smaller 1.5 car gets real world mpg that high, especially 30-50mph driving? The efficiency is also driving style, do you coast to a stop planning ahead or is it harsh braking etc?

2) The car is not meant as a EV or extended EV driving. The Battery is there to reduce engine load. In many cases you'll move off on the Battery and transition to the engine after a certain speed (this is upto 70mph in newer hybrids)

3) The suspension isnt great but it is the previous generation Yaris (7 years old in your case)

3) As a family we have had many Toyota hybrids and never had any cost or issue with the Battery. If serviced annually by Toyota its got a 10 year warranty. Toyota Hybrids are used the world over as Taxi's and regularly along with Lexus (another Toyota brand) are at the top of reliability surveys.

There are probably other cars that "feel" good but if they're German/British brands I suspect they will have many issues and repairs down the road.

 

[flash22]

It's a completely different driving style, you don't drive it like a normal auto you get it up to speed and back off the throttle, coast up to junctions let the car slow down on its own, coast down hills use the brakes to maintain speed with little throttle input

use the throttle lightly, you shouldn't need more than 1/4 throttle

Steering is can feel a bit numb, decent matching tyres and play with the tyre pressures 2-4 psi makes a real difference cheap mismatched tyres will make the car feel loose, and awful in the damp/wet

ride can be a bit choppy on 16 and 17" rims, again tyre pressures are key

[BlueMike1972]

You're driving a 7 year old car which is even older than that, design-wise. There's your first clue!

[MikeSh]

59 minutes ago, sproutdreamer said:

Fuel consumption is about 57 mpg (according to the dash) seems nothing special for a 1.5,

That's pretty much what I get. Wife's 16 plate 900cc SmartForTwo gets about 45 mpg. I can't imagine anything 1.5 getting near 60 except diesels.

[Yaris_Cross]

1 hour ago, sproutdreamer said:

Had a 67 Yaris Hybrid 6 months now and not convinced about the benefits of the hybrid. Fuel consumption is about 57 mpg

You are getting a lot more MPG than i am getting in my MK3 on short journeys round town and short B road journies to the next town that we make often  i am lucky to get 45.

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, sproutdreamer said:

Had a 67 Yaris Hybrid 6 months now and not convinced about the benefits of the hybrid. Fuel consumption is about 57 mpg (according to the dash) seems nothing special for a 1.5, performance nothing to get excited about and the steering seems pretty vague on less than perfect road surfaces. The suspension also seems agrigultural.

All in all I regret buying the car apart from that my wife likes it to drive around town.

My feeling is that the range on the EV mode is minute, the fuel consumption benefit is small over a conventional ICE car and the potential for costly battery and other repairs is high in the longer term, apart from the difficulty of self maintaining hybrids.

So the environmental benefits are small as are the overall financial benefits to me  so what is the point or am I missing something?

You are missing one thing only,.  
It seems you haven’t understand yet how a Toyota hybrid works and what are the real benefits of having one, owning, driving. 
If not happy with the car , just sell and move on.
There is a high demand for these cars so you will get your money back. 
Good luck 

[TonyHSD]

56 minutes ago, BlueMike1972 said:

You're driving a 7 year old car which is even older than that, design-wise. There's your first clue!

I don’t think the year of the car has anything to do with like or dislike. 
Older cars well maintained can drive as good as latest models or even better. Deliver same or very similar mpg and be as reliable, or perhaps more reliable. 
 

[Mojo1010]

I get some of your points, though what automatic can get that mpg? I know others who has an older polo, Corsa auto 1.2-1.4 only gets around 35-40mpg. My mpg when I had the MK3 in summer was upto 65mpg, that could be due to the condition of roads where I am.

I agreed driving the MK3 hybrid is quite bland apart from when it's quiet in ev, really didn't like it out of town. Have the mk4 now, it's few levels above, like a different car to the previous generation. Improvements are huge. If you can afford to upgrade to the mk4 then you will be much happier, my fuel economy for past 2months is near 75mpg on dash. 

[Bernard Foy]

Since May I am getting mid 70s MPG, mostly driving on B roads and in most mountainous county in Ireland. And mostly long trips. 

[Cyker]

There aren't many similar-displacement petrols that will get that kind of mpg, maybe if you drop to the 1.0Ls, but lots of diesels will.

It's the first small hybrid and it was made when Toyota were in that period where they were still oblivious to things like aesthetics and driving dynamics, so very much the 'just a car' they had a reputation for making back then. If nothing else it'll be solid, reliable and reasonably comfortable though.

The new version would probably be more suited - Has vastly improved driving dynamics, looks excessively aggressive, and somehow has even better mpg despite being significantly faster, but I suspect the complaint about that will be it's too expensive...  

 

[MardyMarvin]

5 hours ago, sproutdreamer said:

Had a 67 Yaris Hybrid 6 months now and not convinced about the benefits of the hybrid. Fuel consumption is about 57 mpg (according to the dash) seems nothing special for a 1.5, performance nothing to get excited about and the steering seems pretty vague on less than perfect road surfaces. The suspension also seems agrigultural.

All in all I regret buying the car apart from that my wife likes it to drive around town.

My feeling is that the range on the EV mode is minute, the fuel consumption benefit is small over a conventional ICE car and the potential for costly battery and other repairs is high in the longer term, apart from the difficulty of self maintaining hybrids.

So the environmental benefits are small as are the overall financial benefits to me  so what is the point or am I missing something?

well I am pleased with mine I moved from a Jazz that at best got about 45mpg and now in the Yaris I am getting monthly average of about 64mpg. The best I have got so far was a 15.5mile trip mainly up the motorway (in road works at 50mph) and it was 91.9mpg 57% electric

[flash22]

mid 50s to mid 60s is about right with the right conditions 70-80 mpg is possible even with the mk3, im getting mid 70s in the Mk4

old pic from the mk3

 

Edit. bland and boring is the Japanese way

[Cyker]

2 hours ago, flash22 said:

mid 50s to mid 60s is about right with the right conditions 70-80 mpg is possible even with the mk3, im getting mid 70s in the Mk4

old pic from the mk3

 

Edit. bland and boring is the Japanese way

Wow that's very impressive for the Mk3! Were you slipstreaming a HGV down a hill???   

[sproutdreamer]

22 hours ago, BlueMike1972 said:

You're driving a 7 year old car which is even older than that, design-wise. There's your first clue!

 

21 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

You are missing one thing only,.  
It seems you haven’t understand yet how a Toyota hybrid works and what are the real benefits of having one, owning, driving. 
If not happy with the car , just sell and move on.
There is a high demand for these cars so you will get your money back. 
Good luck 

It seems a bit patronizing to assume I do not know how to drive a hybrid.

I have had several Toyotas and liked all of them but the Hybrid Yaris much less so. I do rate Toyota reliabilty but for me the benefits of a small annual saving on fuel (£150 a year on 5K mileage) which is only about the insurance difference to the ICE model for me do not seem to be good trade off for the possible high cost of Battery replacement. I do have the extended warranty/service plan but at a cost as I would otherwise self service.

I do take the point that I would probably be happier with a newer car with better mpg, suspension and roadholding but at an additional cost that is not of interest to me.

Now reconciled to just using the Yaris as a town car and my Avensis old as it is for longer trips.

[hind]

If you want us to convince you that the hybrid is perfect for you - we won't do that as apparently it isn't. That's ok 🙂 It's not always about the cost. As you've noticed, your wife likes it. How much is that worth? 🙂 

[MardyMarvin]

1 hour ago, hind said:

If you want us to convince you that the hybrid is perfect for you - we won't do that as apparently it isn't. That's ok 🙂 It's not always about the cost. As you've noticed, your wife likes it. How much is that worth? 🙂 

as the classic master card advert would say "Priceless"

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, sproutdreamer said:

the benefits of a small annual saving on fuel

It's similar with EVs. Few people do enough mileage to make them a justifiable buy on price alone (or even on lifetime CO2).

But on price alone many people's car purchases make no sense anyway. I think that some people's consideration of price is purely how much they can get it below the list price - the absolute value is just a vague number somewhere. Sadly cars still have huge ego value.

[flash22]

from driving 1.4-1.6 petrol auto's going to hybrid, MPG has nearly doubled - driving style is a major factor

[PortlandBill]

My wife's previous car was a 2022 Peugeot 2008, 1.2l petrol turbo, 130bhp. Roughly same size, power, etc as her 2024 yaris cross.

The 2008 averaged about 40mpg, all types of driving but mostly short trips. The Yaris Cross does 65mpg and because of that I drive it for all my short trips too so it rarely sees any out of town driving now. 

 

[Eddie G]

On 8/25/2024 at 10:27 AM, sproutdreamer said:

Had a 67 Yaris Hybrid 6 months now and not convinced about the benefits of the hybrid. Fuel consumption is about 57 mpg (according to the dash) seems nothing special for a 1.5, performance nothing to get excited about and the steering seems pretty vague on less than perfect road surfaces. The suspension also seems agrigultural.

All in all I regret buying the car apart from that my wife likes it to drive around town.

My feeling is that the range on the EV mode is minute, the fuel consumption benefit is small over a conventional ICE car and the potential for costly battery and other repairs is high in the longer term, apart from the difficulty of self maintaining hybrids.

So the environmental benefits are small as are the overall financial benefits to me  so what is the point or am I missing something?

The MK4 is better but if you don't do a lot of miles a year it's hello ready mode or a charger incase of 12v Battery problems or driving more adding more miles onto the engine just to keep it charged, plus a £50 hybrid health check with every service. I ended up back in a MK 3 1.5 ICE with doing low miles a year and for a jump in and just go Toyota with zero Battery worries or faff on.

[TonyHSD]

For doing exceptionally low miles like 2000 or less per year then I agreed , the hybrid vs a standard Yaris make not much sense or there are no any potential savings from fuel. 
Doing 6000 miles and more things will change. 

We should not entirely compare hybrid vs petrol auto based on Battery replacement was my point originally, and I never wanted to patronise by any mean. We all have Toyota cars and experience with, that’s why we are here to share and learn from one another. 👍

The truth is that the Toyota hybrids has the best automatic transmission from all cars that gives owners no trouble at all in comparison to other types of automatic cars ( dsg, mmt, dst, cvt ) They drives similar to bev , however the hybrids has a small traction Battery and not so expensive plus easy to replace as diy if ever needed outside warranty.
Driving dynamics - from that generation Yaris no matter what engine is in the car is simply not a sporty one and handling will not be anything much better or much worse than other similar cars. 
Either way, 57mpg if real world average is impressive, and other petrol or diesel cars will only get close to these numbers if driven carefully on long journeys, any other driving patterns will result a lower, much lower real average mpg than Toyota hybrid. 

[ColinB]

I've had my Yaris Cross Premiere for a month now and have driven 470 miles in that time, almost all for relatively short distances. According to the app it has averaged just over 60mpg,which I'm very pleased with. I tend to only do 4-5k miles per annum, so petrol costs weren't the main reason for choosing a hybrid, but it does help a bit. I wanted a smaller car than my RAV4, auto and with a reputation for reliability as the plan is to keep it longer than my normal 3 years. I must admit that I like the pure geekiness of Toyota's hybrids, rather than some other's mild hybrids, which limited my choice, and am happy with my choice so far. I do keep a NOCO Battery pack handy though, just in case 😉

[Cyker]

I only got my Mk4 because of KHAAAAAAN! and his ULEZ expansion expansion, otherwise I'd probably still have my 64mpg Mk1 D4D. I did like that the Mk1 didn't try to randomly kill me like the ADAS on the Mk4 does, but it is nice being able to go round tighter corners without it feeling like the car is about to roll over as it was in the Mk1  

The easy 70-80mpg helps keep the running costs down, esp. with the lower price of petrol to diesel, and auto-steering and radar cruise is nice too for those long motorway runs...!

 

[Mojo1010]

So my MK3 icon had 175mm tyres, a few years ago drove to Dorset for a 3 day break with 2 other cars. I was once leading the way in Dorset. Later the others said I drove slow especially on bends! Told them it had no cornering ability and I was working hard to stay safe! 

Anyway got rid of the those tyres about a year earlier than it needed replacement, put 185mm on, it was better though still not good for fast bends. Don't know what size tyres your car has got, basically the car really needed 195mm to improve grip on corners. The chassis can't be changed so tyre size was the easiest option. I have taken it to North Wales for a week with 5 people and a full boot, it was hard, hard work even with the new 185mm.

Recently took the mk4 to Cornwall for a week (not so far from you) with 4 people and full boot. Covered 980 miles, it was a joy to drive, handled fast bends with confidence, very adequate power and less engine noise when pushed. If in future you had enough of the MK3 (which I did), then maybe its time to upgrade to mk4, you and your wife will love it. No need avensis for out of town and costly fuel on that car 🙂