2002 Toyota Yaris SR review from UK and Ireland

Rust bubble on boot lid - fixed under paint warranty.

I bought this car because of it's renowned reliability (after owning a very poorly made Seat) and I wasn't disappointed! The car had absolutely no mechanical faults in the year that I owned it.

The Toyota dealership service was also better than average. The car was recalled once and to make up for the inconvenience of me having to take it in for the work doing they cleaned it inside and out, filled it up with petrol and give me a complimentary Toyota car care kit! Now that's what I call good service.

I would describe the car itself as a fun runabout. With this being the SR version it certainly looks the part with really nice alloys, chrome exhaust and spoiler, but that's where the sportiness ends. The car is nippy, but needs to be revved. Unfortunately revving the engine was not an enjoyable experience due to the lack of a sporty exhaust note - it just sounds like an over-revved engine! Also motorway cruising is let down by the engine being far too noticeable at 4000 revs (about 80mph) even though the car would happily cruise at well over the legal limit.

Handling wise the car was very good. The tyres gave good grip and the steering was fairly precise although a little too light to be called sporty. This particular version of the Yaris also lets itself down over uneven surfaces, probably due to the lower profile tyres. This became a little wearing after a while.

The interior of the car is probably it's best feature. The seats are very comfortable and there are lots of cubby holes in which to store things along with a slide out drawer under the passenger seat. The cars best feature is however it's sliding rear seats which allow you to either sacrifice boot space for extra leg room or vice versa. The rear seat can also be folded up in such a way to leave you with completely flat a sizeable load carrying area. The central digital instrument binnacle is also a nice feature which has the added bonus of only allowing the driver to see the current speed - stops the girlfriend from moaning about me driving too fast!

To sum up I'd say that this is a very reliable and fun little runabout which is also surprisingly practical for such a small car. With the rear seat pushed back it will happily accommodate large adults - something which most small cars would struggle to do. But the SR moniker indicates only that it has sporty visual features. If you're happy to drive a sporty looking car with no actual sports car credentials (but cheap insurance) then you'll be really happy. But you would need to look elsewhere for a proper sporty hatchback.