Any known issues the the Yaris?

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My daughter and I stumbled across an '09 5 door hatchback at a dealership she just fell in love with. We test drove it and everything seemed kosher. Planning on going back to pick it up and take it to my mechanic to see if it clears his inspection. Are there any issues with these that would make a person not want to buy them? I've read they're very reliable and very good on gas, which is exactly what my daughter needs.
 
The Yaris is in the top 10 most reliable cars in the world!

I had a 2007 Yaris hatchback, and I put 165,000+ miles on it with ZERO problems. The day I sold it, it ran like it was new. All I did was maintenance by the book, used 0w-20 synthetic that's it. It never burned any oil between 6,000 mike oil changes.

The Yaris is a great reliable car with bullet proof engine and 4speed auto.
 
Quote:

Didn't they have head gasket problems ?


I think you asked about that a year ago or so; One BITOG's (odie perhaps) seemed to blow a gasket at 20K or so.

Perhaps Toyota changed the design of the HG for the yaris. This is not confirmed, but I haven't seen any mention of this as a recurring issue.
 
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Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Didn't they have head gasket problems ?



No, before engine and transmission could develop problems (maybe at 400,000 miles), the body would die.
 
Very reliable. Plenty of echo's with over 300,000 miles on them. Some had probs with water pumps and control arm bushings. I don't know if they redesigned for the yaris. I would not hesitate.
 
The Yaris is pretty reliable and a bare bones vehicle. But, it truly is like driving a soda can with wheels. I would be concerned with impact resistance of the vehicle, a full size sedan or pick up hitting a Yaris at 45+ is not a pretty sight. Here are the IIHS results. Here's a video against a Camry.
 
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I recently bought 07 for my kid. I was a bit concerned as there was incomplete history of oil changes at the toyota owner site and some varnish at the oil hole. However, the oil was likely changed regularly as there is no oil consumption. I changed ATF and AT filter at 66000 miles and was shocked how clean it looked. It was not changed before.

The only issue I know is rusting front suspension bolts. Remove them and inspect/grease at minimum or replace with new ones. $4 a piece.

Then, there are 2-3 (depends on your model) recent recalls that Toyota is in process of rolling in.

As for safety, It's safe for city driving for sure. I would not recommend it for heavy hwy use though.

Not sure why someone mentioned HG? I've been studying yarisworld.com before and after the purchase and never saw anything about HG problems. Same with Prius 2nd gen (same engine).
 
You aren't thinking of ARCO Graphite are you? I think he nuked one... Of course, by the sounds of it, he is the automotive equivalent of that guy who could bend a crowbar in a sandbox.

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Quote:

Didn't they have head gasket problems ?


I think you asked about that a year ago or so; One BITOG's (odie perhaps) seemed to blow a gasket at 20K or so.

Perhaps Toyota changed the design of the HG for the yaris. This is not confirmed, but I haven't seen any mention of this as a recurring issue.
 
I have a 09 Yaris automatic 3 door with 110,000 miles. Not a problem yet. My 2000 echo has the same engine with 246,000, no problems either. There a couple recalls on the Yaris for spiral cable, seat tracks, but that's about it.
 
I had a 2008 3 door hatchback. I owned the car for a year and traded it for a larger car. The car was very reliable and would get an honest 39-40 mpg on the highway (with an automatic)but had vague steering (needed constant corrections on the highway...very distracting), uncomfortable seats for more than an hour or two and the heater was marginal in subzero temperatures (which we have a lot up here in the winter). Did I mention it was reliable?...
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
My daughter and I stumbled across an '09 5 door hatchback at a dealership she just fell in love with. We test drove it and everything seemed kosher. Planning on going back to pick it up and take it to my mechanic to see if it clears his inspection. Are there any issues with these that would make a person not want to buy them? I've read they're very reliable and very good on gas, which is exactly what my daughter needs.


man that is one UGLY car, i can understand the reliability aspect but to fall in love with a car that looks like that? jeez man, but hey it is just my opnion...to each their own.
 
Drive belts can sometimes be annoying, but the updated belt from the dealer and a proper tensioning (per the TSB) will make the problem go away for a long time.
 
Originally Posted By: RamFan
The Yaris is pretty reliable and a bare bones vehicle. But, it truly is like driving a soda can with wheels. I would be concerned with impact resistance of the vehicle, a full size sedan or pick up hitting a Yaris at 45+ is not a pretty sight. Here are the IIHS results. Here's a video against a Camry.



Pretty gnarly video dude. That would scare me off. At my age, I break too easily.
 
I have an 07 Yaris. We put close to 40k miles on it the past year.

It only has 110k on it but almost all of that has come from me and my wife.

I would not hesitate to get another one. This one has already saved me a fortune on gas. I plan on keeping it until it rusts apart.

The only work I've had to do is a drive belt, plugs, and water pump. The car still has the original brakes, and I'm stunned as to how much material is still on the pads. It's like they don't wear at all.
 
Originally Posted By: 01_celica_gt
Originally Posted By: grampi
My daughter and I stumbled across an '09 5 door hatchback at a dealership she just fell in love with. We test drove it and everything seemed kosher. Planning on going back to pick it up and take it to my mechanic to see if it clears his inspection. Are there any issues with these that would make a person not want to buy them? I've read they're very reliable and very good on gas, which is exactly what my daughter needs.


man that is one UGLY car, i can understand the reliability aspect but to fall in love with a car that looks like that? jeez man, but hey it is just my opnion...to each their own.


Sometimes opinions are like bung holes; everybody's got one, but not everybody else wants to hear it...believe me, I've found that out myself a few times in this forum...
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Originally Posted By: RamFan
The Yaris is pretty reliable and a bare bones vehicle. But, it truly is like driving a soda can with wheels. I would be concerned with impact resistance of the vehicle, a full size sedan or pick up hitting a Yaris at 45+ is not a pretty sight. Here are the IIHS results. Here's a video against a Camry.



Pretty gnarly video dude. That would scare me off. At my age, I break too easily.


You're gonna see pretty much the same thing with all sub-compacts...
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Quote:

Didn't they have head gasket problems ?


I think you asked about that a year ago or so; One BITOG's (odie perhaps) seemed to blow a gasket at 20K or so.

Perhaps Toyota changed the design of the HG for the yaris. This is not confirmed, but I haven't seen any mention of this as a recurring issue.


http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/2011891/1

It was odie.

It appears he had 2 yaris with the same issue; he should play the lottery.
 
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