Faults:

Considering the car was one of the very first Yaris's produced in April 1999 (made in Japan, not France), it has been extremely reliable, and has only needed regular service items such as tyres, oil changes etc until just in the last year (2010) when its original exhaust started to blow - after 10 years on the car.

Needed a couple of front roll bar drop links last year, and a new fuel filler pipe, which had corroded through on the breather pipe due to its position behind the rear wheel with no protection from water spray. This allowed water into the fuel tank. If you have an old Yaris, have a look at your filler pipe where the breather joins it at the top, it will probably be rotten by now, and a problem in store if water contaminates the fuel - Be warned! The part was £80 (dealer only) and easy to fit. Other than this, excellent, and better than any other previous car.

General Comments:

Great little car that has been the ultimate in reliability! It's easy to park, is uber frugal on fuel, and has the advantage of the rear seats being on a slider so that the boot can be made bigger if no one is sitting in the back seats.

It's got all the toys (A/C, electric windows, CD player, trip computer, and nice comfy plush seats, with lots of headroom too).

The only little niggles are that it is a bit rattly from the rear suspension now, and the gear change mechanism is a bit clunky, but it is nearly 12 years old now, and it's weathered really well.

Acceleration is slow though, especially with passengers in the back seats - so don't buy the 1.0 if you want a fast car! It's best as a town car for doing the shopping and ferrying the kids to school LOL.

The Yaris holds its value very well too, and this one still commands a high price over most other cars its age - because everyone wants one, and most women love the "Cute" looks.

The verdict - Excellent car!

Faults:

Gearbox oil leak made the clutch slip at 50k. Had the clutch replaced at the same time for only £250.

Water pump went at 100k,; cost me £25 to replace in under 1/2 hour.

Replaced anti roll bar link bushes; cost me £12 and took an hour.

The radio was replaced as it was very poor.

The lack of power steering means the tyres have to be 1 or 2 psi over the recommended pressure.

General Comments:

This car replaced a 1995 BMW 3 Series that just cost me too much to run to work every day.

The Yaris has passed all five M.O.T's since I have bought it, and never failed to start or break down.

Faults:

This car has been almost faultless as far as reliability is concerned, the only problem I've had with it was an electric window failure, though this was repaired very quickly for about £80 (parts and labour).

General Comments:

Overall, this is a wonderful car which is typically reliable for a Toyota.

It is also cheap to insure (considering I am a 19 year-old male!) and incredibly cheap on fuel (easily does 55mpg on the motorway, possibly more).

The car is very nippy off the mark, but once out of 2nd gear lacks any real poke and is awful on hills, but you can't expect miracles from such a tiny engine.

The only problem I tend to have with the car is that it gets a bit uncomfortable on long journeys, and every single bump is noticed. The clutch is also very light, something which is annoying at first, but you get used to it with time.