2005 Toyota Yaris from North America - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong so far - its brand new.

This is an excellent car for the money. The designer for the 2006 model absolutely despised compacts and designed the Yaris to eliminate all the consistent compact car problems.

The amount of road noise is next to none - my malibu was litterally 60% noisier at least. The steering / handling is great. I recommend the manual tranny - it's a lot more quick and responsive and better on fuel.

The interior isn't as cheap as you think it would be - especially on the RS model. All the models have the same engine so you can save by going with a lesser model without having to seriously sacrifice your experience.

The only issue is the small wheel/tires on any model besides the RS.

I have been getting 48-49 mpg without any effort and with a fairly heavy foot. Its actually pretty fun to drive.

Hi, I am considering buying an '07 Yaris, and wanted some more info. from an owner of a recent model. First off, is yours a hatchback? If so, how do you like it? Are there any unusual maintenance issues that the owner's manual recommends; for instance the timing belt, etc.? Do you do your own oil changes? If so, is the oil filter easily accessible? How about tune-ups and the placement of the spark plugs; are they accessible? If you are so inclined, I would appreciate a response. Also, what kind of terrain do you live in? Is 48-49 miles per gallon typical of this car, or is that the highest you've ever gotten?

"Hi, I am considering buying an '07 Yaris, and wanted some more info. from an owner of a recent model. First off, is yours a hatchback? If so, how do you like it? Are there any unusual maintenance issues that the owner's manual recommends; for instance the timing belt, etc.? Do you do your own oil changes? If so, is the oil filter easily accessible? How about tune-ups and the placement of the spark plugs; are they accessible? If you are so inclined, I would appreciate a response. Also, what kind of terrain do you live in? Is 48-49 miles per gallon typical of this car, or is that the highest you've ever gotten?"

I don't know where the reviewer got his/her hands on a 2005 Yaris, considering it's not going on sale in the States till this month. Perhaps he/she's from overseas? Also, I'm nearly 99.9% certain that 48-49 mpg is not the norm for this car. EPA pegs mileage at 34-40 mpg city/highway. And a recent Car and Driver magazine comparison (Accent, Yaris, Fit, Rio, Reno, Versa, Caliber) saw the Yaris averaging 36 mpg combined over a 1000 mile trip through Ohio (I'd say that's a pretty good indicator of getting great mileage... Car and Driver editors drive these cars faster and harder than your average American, I think). The Yaris placed 4th out of 7, which I didn't necessarily think it deserved. There's no way I'd buy a Hyundai or Kia over the Yaris. First model year or not, it's bound to have less problems than either of the aforementioned cars (although I could be wrong... sometimes first model years are unmitigated disasters... but I don't think that's very feasible with the Yaris). Usually these cars are pretty easy to work on, but don't count on it seeing as how it's Japanese and they have a tendency to make their cars difficult to work on. It may be a small, 1.5L engine (fitting in the engine bay easily), but it's nevertheless a high tech motor. Again, I could be wrong about the mileage if this is a 2005 European model... but he says "from North America" in his review. If it is European, and it has a diesel engine, it could EASILY attain 50 miles per gallon.

As per a few of the issues mentioned on the comment above from April 17th. The Yaris went on sale in the fall of 2005 here in Canada. So this car may have been a 2006 model sold in Canada in 2005. As for the miles per gallon issue. The Yaris was announced by the Office of Energy Efficiency of Natural Resources Canada to win in the subcompact category for best fuel efficient vehicle (2006). They report 41 miles/gal City & 51 miles/gal Hwy. Keep in mind this is in Imperial gallons not US. (In US gallons I think it would be more like 32.8 City and 40.8 Hwy). So the 50 mpg reported by the original posting person could be valid if they were reporting miles/Imperial gallons.

The Yaris went on sale in Canada a little while before the US. Reason for this being, the Echo (which it replaced) sold about 30 000 units in Canada and only 4 000 or so in the US in 2004 (if my memory serves me correctly). And when you consider the population difference, that's substantial. In fact, I think the Echo was in Canada's top sellers list for 2004, obviously not in the US. I guess it was just in response to market demands...

I have a 2005 Yaris sedan (I live in Central America, not the US or Canada). I've been driving it for a year and a half and it consistently gets between 33-35 miles per gallon US (that's based on a conversion from 53-58 Km/gal - we use a mixed system here). I mostly use it for commuting so that's city driving - my guess is that it would do much better on highway driving. Also, mine is an automatic - the manual transmission should do better as well.

It's been a great car - efficient, no mechanical problems, handles great and the small size is a huge asset in the city I live in.

I bought a 2007 Yaris 4 door sedan just last week. For about mid-$15,000 US, I got power locks, ABS, a CD player, and auto transmission. I thought it was a very reasonable price.

After driving it for a week, I am convinced I made the right choice. There is much more room in the Yaris than in my old 98 RAV-4, and the gas mileage is as advertised, about 33 city and between 40 and 45 highway. The engine has all the power the car's weight demands so I have found no difficulty with highway on ramps.

One question: I drive in northern New England and Quebec, lands famous for winter snow storms. I want to put winter tires on the Yaris for the December through March driving season. Any suggestions about which brands to consider and what size tires will be most effective?