Yaris T-Sport (Insurance and other q's from first-timer)

[YTS-Will]

Hi!

I've been lurking around here for a while, it's great to finally be joining in!

I'm 22, haven't even passed my test yet (embarrasing i know), but plan to do so early next year.

Naturally I want to get some Toyota goodness on my driveway and am seriously contemplating getting a 9k loan to get a T-sport Yaris. As I'm completely new to the car buying/driving experience I'm looking to you wise people for some guidance.

Insurance

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I got a quote from Tesco online for £850 comp, this is with around £200 excess. Is this a realistic quote, it seems quite good to me, but i'm sceptical as they didn't ask how long i'd had my license. When I get the insurance, I will of only had the full license for around 2 weeks... :D

Performance

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I'm pretty sure i'm not going to take the pi** on the roads, but is the T-sport going to be a mistake as a first car? Sensible answers please ;)

Servicing

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Paying off the loan for this car is pretty much going to wipe out all my monthly disposable income. Is the T-sport going to cost much more to run/service than the 1.0 S for example. Though I will probably get the car from a dealer and take advantage of the 1-year auto-assured warranty.

Depreciation/Future

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Another reason I'm considering the T-sport is I don't want to get the 1.0S then in 6 months want to upgrade to the SR, then to the t-sport. I figure i'll save a lot of effort going straight for the one I want now. I am also assuming the T-Sport is likely to hold its value than the other more common models?

Lastly....

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Any other cars you could recommend? I thought about getting a 1998ish corrolla, as it'd have a few nice extras like air con, cent locking. As I've said, i'm a completely newbie, so any thoughts thoroughly appreciated!

Thanks and apologies for the long post!

[YTS-Will]

I just rang Toyota to get their insurance quote.....About £1900!!!

[Steve72]

Get an SR there are better than the t-sport and much cheaper, to run and insure. And in a year if you really 'must' have a faster car then get a supercharger fitted and add an extra 30-40bhp nice.

[YTS-Will]

Well I started thinking of getting an SR. Then I noticed the T-Sport was 'only' a grand more and you get better performance, a few extras, and kudos for having the best of the range.

Insurance only seems to be about £100 more according to tesco (who i'm not sure are reliably quoting to me).

[mark vodden]

Mmmm Interesting!!! The SR is better than the Tsport?????

And why is that exactly?? Better performance, er not in a million years. Cheaper to run and insure, er yeah maybe but by how much!!?? Not a lot. Looks better, er no. Handles better, er no. Nicer inside, er no way. Add a supercharger, er yeah if you wanna spend 2 grand plus, and then 2 grand plus on your insurance. And by that time only have 5 brake more than a Tsport with £500 worth of mods, which costs a lot less to insure.

Love to know the reasoning behind that......!!!! ;)

T Sport is an excellent choice, I bought mine when I was 20, it has proved cheaper to run than my old (2000 model) Fiesta 1.25, and a lot better. It's just if you start at a Tsport you'll want something very quick in 2/3 years!!!! Plus, be careful, it's a little quicker than your BSM Corsa's. ;)

[Steve72]

Lets look at the facts,

T-sport £1500 more expensive

T-sport £200 per year more to insure

T-sport 10mpg less

T-sport does 9mph more yes a whole 9mph!!!!

And Yes the SR looks much better, nicer alloys, more understated. But if you are 22 and want to look like a 'wild boy racer' or something else begingn with 'w' then thats fine.

As for handeling, have you ever put the SR and T-sport together for a handling test!!!! No i didn't think so.

The T-sport does have much better seats and a bit of fake carbon fiber trim. Plus front fogs but not much else.

Lets face it if you really want performance then buy a Clio 172 sport of save a bit for a Leon Cupra R.

As for insurance £360 fully comp and if supercharge fitted it will be another £200 thats per year not per month!!

Cheerie......

[Peter D]

Well, it's an interesting opinion!

I owned an SR before my T sport and I must say the SR was markedly inferior in most departments.

My insurance is about £30 a year more and yes I get 3 mpg less, but that is a very small price to pay for a far superior car.

I must admit I did like the alloys slightly better on the SR!

Peter

[YTS-Will]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm still not sure. Part of me is saying go for the cheapest - a Yaris 1.0 GLS. Then part of me wants the sporty looks of the SR but then I think, hmmm bit more money and i get the dogs bits...

Anymore comments from people very welcome!

This is my first car remember (i'm nearly 23, shocking i know).

[jerry phipps]

Well if i was you i would go for the SR. One because of your age. I own a T sport. And i think that it would be wise for you to go for the more slower model. As you would pay a lot cheaper on the insurance.

As for looks yes the T sport does look a bit sporter. But hey the SR looks dam cool to. Hey at the end of the day i would be Glad to just own one of these fine motors. The choose is yours mate they are both great cars :D

[YTS-Will]

I choose the T-Sport!

I've been saving hard and will hopefully only need a 5k loan or so to buy it. The insurance is only about 100 or so different which over the year is peanuts.

Thanks for all your advice guys. Hope i'll be adding some pictures of my new motor in a couple of months :D

[TheNissanMan]

What an amusing thread IMO...

YTS-Will, personally I think the decision is on how sensible the owner is rather than "is the car to fast", think the "boy race and W@nker" comments are totally uncalled for and disagree for reasons given later in reply.

My first car was a rather nippy Mk1 MR2 SuperCharger, !Removed! quick car with a driver who got to confident too quickly, hence it ended up have a permanent relationship with a steel fence. If your sensible on how you drive it and refrain from getting over confident too quickly you are making a great choice of car. Would be great if you could take it on an Airfield or Track day once your confidence is built up so you could see what the car can really do without running the risk of writing it/somone off.

As you mentioned earlier in the thread if you want to take into consideration & future upgrades into consideration buy the 'T' first, you'll be wasting a load of £££ if you work your way up through the range.

Have fun :)

[Steve Ratcliffe]

Hi,

Rhaines you speak wisely, I appreciate that. You are too right about the confidence, I started off driving at 18, in my GS, I have now ordered a TS two years later, the GS was a good car for confidence building at a good pace.

If you want slightly better looks from the GS, drop a set of 7 spoke 15 x 6.5 rims on it and some nice square wall tyres (mine are Avon ZV1's) - makes all the difference, both road hold and appearence.

Steve.

[YTS-Will]

Hmm been over half a year since I last started this topic.

During that time I've been taking driving lessons and will be doing my test in about a week (Any tips welcome ;)).

I've also been spending lots of time looking at cars and sadly haven't been able to find any car to better the Yaris TS in terms of performance/value/looks/safety.

Other cars I've considered include Lupo 16V, Megane coupe, Seat arosa. None of them seem to match up to the Yaris TS.

Why do I say 'sadly', well I was hoping to spend less money and get an equally great car but I don't think it's going to happen!

My next question is, should I get one new for about 10k from motorpoint or buy a used one for about 7-8k? I've heard on this forum i think, that sometimes it's hardly worth buying used over new. But I am not a rich chap so the cheaper the better right?

[Jen]

First of all, good luck on your test just try to stay relaxed and be confident, not cocky and you'll walk it

Next New or used, well i went for new from a Toyota dealer for the security of the warranty but i can see why you'd consider used as my cars lost £2k in just over a year, if you buy used go to a dealer, it'll cost more but at least you know you have some come back and auto assurance.

Just a sensible girls opinion! :)

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

[TheNissanMan]

Jen's covered the test, just don't forget to keep using the mirrors, take it easy and take your time. Your not going to get marked down for taking your time to do something (unless it's avoid the dodgy cyclist :P)...

You'll be fine let us know how you get on... I'm sure I can safely say the forum wishes you the best of luck....

As for new or used, Jen's spot on if you can't afford new buy a used one from a dealer, your more likely to get history with the car, you may get lucky and find one with some warranty left and you have better come back from buying from a Toyota Main Dealer....

Best of luck...

[Shenava]

I think this thread is quite funny. At the end of the day we are talking about the Yaris! Fair enough it's a nice wee car, I have just bought one too but lets see things in perspective here. Even the T-Sport is nothing special. My 1.5i LS Civic matches it for performance and it's by no means a sporty car! ;)

If you want to buy a T sport then get one. It may have "sport" in it's title but thats more image than ability. It's quite low insurance (7 or 8 I think).

The 1.0 is underpowered. OK for around town but thats about it. Minimum I would go for is a 1.3 far more usuable.

Oh and Get a licence!

John B)

[YTS-Will]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

A couple have people have found this topic funny but I find it deadly serious! :D Because it's my first car and it's such a lot of money I want to get it just right first time!

I think I'll go for the used option then (pats wallet).

On my quest for the 'perfect (for me) car' I did look at Civics. What puts me off is cost of insurance, servicing cost and lack of any NCAP safety ratings (Default yaris has 4/5 stars and the T-Sport adds all-round disc brakes and side air-bags).

[Oli]

I must say that an SR is nothing like a TS i've drove both for over 10,000miles and the TS is loads faster.

Ok on the top speed it's true in the SR i got 122Mph & the TS 130Mph (4 up) but getting there is a hell of alot quicker in the TS. I think it just depends how much you want to pay..

[Ken]

Just to let you know,i once bought a car that i had wanted for a bit but let my common sense rule my heart so went for an inferior version not the gti.

End result 2 weeks after i got it from the factory i'd part ex'ed it for the model i wanted in the first place,so if you really want it go for the ts,if not you will regret it in the end.

Can't quite remember but i think i lost a couple of grand in them 2 weeks just through been stupid :(

[Shenava]

wether you buy 2nd hand or not just get the car you want! You will anyway at much greater cost long term.

anyway. Yes civics only had 3 star NCAP and that is one of the reasons I am now getting the yaris but service cost wise it's not bad. my services cost me £99 and thats at my Honda dealership. Performance and cost wise. You can get a decent 3dr VTI for £4-5K that yes higher insurance but then it's less car payements and it's 0-60 ~7.5s top speed 133mph. Now compare that to a T-Sport! Not such a bad deal after all. Plus I can put you onto a special insurance scheme for them that will give you free track day insurance too and no extra charge for mods (within reason).

[johny lucas]

well thank your lucky stars you dont live in ireland

yaris t sport 22000 euro 15,291 gbp

road tax 300 euro 208.544 gbp

Insurance 4600 euro 3,197.68 gbp

the look on my face when i got that quote :( priceless

on the other when i asked toyota how many yaris tsports they sold they

told me that to there records the only 7 have been sold in ireland

[YTS-Will]

Hi again everyone! I passed my test this morning (got 11 minors though ).

Been looking at cars again of course. Still really want the Yaris TS, but can't find any for less than 8k at the moment. Anyone seen any cheaper ones floating around? I guess they're so nice, no-one wants to sell theirs.

Though there's someone selling one private for under 6k, but it was once stolen then returned, so not sure if that would be a good bet...?

[iainTSport]

Hi again everyone! I passed my test this morning (got 11 minors though  ).

Been looking at cars again of course. Still really want the Yaris TS, but can't find any for less than 8k at the moment.  Anyone seen any cheaper ones floating around? I guess they're so nice, no-one wants to sell theirs.

Though there's someone selling one private for under 6k, but it was once stolen then returned, so not sure if that would be a good bet...?

Congrats on passing your test!!! Wouldn't worry about the minors!

Found this T Sport on the whatcar website (Whatcar website)

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Toyota Yaris T Sport, 1.5, 3-door, Hatchback, 5 Speed £7995

Year/plate 2002/02

Mileage 2377 miles

Description Star silver Petrol Hatchback Manual 1 Owner CD Player, ABS Brakes, Sunroof, Air Conditioning, Alloy Wheels, Central Locking, Alarm, Driver's Airbag, Multiple Airbags, Power Steering, Immobiliser, Electric Windows

Phone -daytime 0151 733 9999

Phone -evenings 0151 734 0637

Type Trade

Email davidbrownwcc@btconnect.com

Website http://www.wavertreecarcentre.co.uk

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Would def go for T sport over any of the other Yaris' although I am very bias! :D

[charlie]

hey, i hear your looking for a yaris t sport.

i see one go for under 5k in fastcar mag(aug) silver 51reg

give them a call 07719 519653

[Yarisboy]

www.motorpoint.co.uk

Yaris Tsports going for £10k new

they're not dealership cars though, but this is where i'd get my car from, and before anyone tells me that i won't get the same money back when i sell it as i would for a dealer car... rubbish :P

I got my 1.0 from there, no problems, the dealer has no quarels servicing it etc, it's going in for the work on the rear brake drum tomorrow actually :D

if you want the TS model, get the TS model.. the economy isn't much worse than the 1.0, or the 1.3

1.0 does me fine because it stops me getting too over confident but at same time i can still beat corsa's, novas etc :) it looks nice with aftermarket alloys and SR/Tsport suspension... i'm happy with my car for now