Driving to Dobra and back gave me the chance to assess our new Toyota Yaris and compare it against the previous one (written off on the way to Dobra last November).
The engine of the new one is rougher - to be expected given that it's a new three-cylinder unit, and three-cylinder engines will always sound rougher than fours, which will sound rougher than straight-sixes, which will sound rougher than V12s. But given the near-silence in which the old 1-litre unit worked, the harsher engine note was an immediate, if only slight disappointment.
In the UK, we'd often hire 1-litre engined Vauxhall Corsas, and the name 'coarser' seemed highly applicable when compared to our refined old Yaris and Micra. A shame, then, that the new Toyota's engine delivers a rougher sound than the old one.
On the sounds front, the relative racket is more than compensated by a proper sound system that takes MP3s. Instead of being limited to 20-30 track .wav format CDs, I can now create music on the go that contains 150+ tracks on a single CD. Enough music to get from home to Dobra and back without having to listen to any piece of music on it twice.
When specifying the car, my wife insisted on air-con, and I must admit (grudgingly) that she was right. At dual-carriageway speeds when it's +35C outside, having the air-con set to 1 or 2 is enough to stop the car being uncomfortably hot without having to wind down the windows.
The real Achilles' heel of the old Yaris was its ventillation. With a bit of rain outside, two people inside, external temperature below +15C, the windows would mist up terribly, and the only remedy was to blast the (noisy) ventillation at full power, temperature cranked up to max, to clear the condensation. Which was very uncomfortable. The new Yaris, however, isn't prone to condensation quite so easily, but when it does appear, the ventillation system clears it effortlessly, without having to either blast away so noisily or having to heat up the interior so much.
Electric window opening I don't like; it's an unnecessary gadget and lacks the precision of a manual winder.
My biggest gripe with the new Yaris is with the instrument display. Whenever the headlights are switched on, the the brightness of the display is dimmed. Given that in Poland it is obligatory to have your lights on during daylight - even in summer - this means the instrument panel display is dim by default. In the old Yaris, there was a mode setting that allowed you override this and have a bright display even when headlights are on (which is always). Now, in summer, one tends to drive with sunglasses on. This means - you can't read the instruments. Especially the smaller digits (range, fuel consumption, odometer etc).
Best part of the new Yaris was the price. 42,000 zlotys on the road compared to 48,000 złotys for its predecessor. [This comes from shopping around, waiting to buy the last of last year's models]. And overall a better car. Better build quality. Until the old Yaris was shaken down, there'd be a fair amount of minor rattling coming from doors and windows. The new one feels more solid.
The size of the car is fine for four adults on day trips of up to 150km each way. Luggage space I'd say is OK is you want to take three adults on holiday - four plus four suitcases will simply not fit. Two adults and two children - we've done this many times in the similarly-sized Nissan Micra.
If you look at what driving schools use, you'll see it's Toyota Yaris. Never mind the discounts that other 'B' Segment car manufacturers offer - when total reliability is called for, a driving school business counts on the Yaris, which I think means something when it comes to potential longevity. This, for me, as I've explained, is a key factor in chosing a car. I hope (fingers crossed) the Yaris will serve us as long as our wonderful Nissan Micra - 17 years old and still working well.
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6 comments:
Interesting, thank you. We bought an early Yaris - I think the first year of Poland's white driving plates - and found it excellent both for urban driving and for whizzing around the country, although we actually chose it because my wife liked the unusual electronic dashboard. My wife still uses it every day and only a couple of tyre and one battery change have been needed, although its getting a bit too tatty inside.
Congratulations on your new baby :D
My sister has this car. She loves it as far as I can tell. I think she should have sprung for the Honda Fit, but then again, she's not one to do research or ask anyone about this sort of thing.
Just downloaded the catalogue and tech specification. Maybe 1.0 litre engine is enough for you. Fuel consumption - 6 litres in town, 4.5 beyond town is acceptable, but if it reaches 100 kmph within 15.7 seconds it's hard to say it's a dynamic car. But in town it will serve its purpose, but given the its size in long run a compact car would be a better choice.
What's "air-con set to 1 or 2"? In our Megane we set temperature. Your wife was right, saving on air-con is not the best idea.
In my family such small car wouldn't serve us well - a few times a year it'd have to carry five adult which would be a nightmare. For driving around town I'd prefer a smaller car than Megane, but in my case there's no point in selling seven-year-old non-accident, low-mileage, first-owner car and depleting savings by around 25,000 PLN to have a brand new B-segment car...
Driving schools use Toyota Yaris because exam centres use them and driving students have to be familiar with cars. I learnt to drive on Opel Corsa, mileage over 170,000 kilometres and it was still in one piece.
Durability of a car is not only conditioned on the quality of components, production process, technology, etc. Much depends on car's end user. Those who lurch when changing gears and generally batter their cars can wear them out very quickly. Maybe Renault Meganes are crappy, but our one is reliable because we maintain it properly and don't mistreat. Plus very few cars have mileage of 42,300 kilometres after seven years...
Have you run your Yaris in? Did you manage to cover 5,000 kilometres?
Your old Yaris windows were fogged all autumn and winter, because there was no A/C. Air conditioning dires up the air, and should be used all year, regardless of the temperature.
Best regards,
Isn't the whole reason for driving school using the Yaris is because the examination centre is using the Yaris? Any credible school should be using exactly the same car as the examination center is using, after all.
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