Virtual Mechanic

Virtualmechanic overall rating 4.0 out of 5.0 
Toyota Yaris 2010
Date or Review
July 2010
PRICE
 $19,788 Drive away (using the online Pricing calculator)
FEATURES
VSC ,ABS, EBD, BA, Safe-T-Cell, EPS
Full Size spare wheel.
Driver and passenger SRS airbags.
Digital speedo.

MODEL
5 Door Hatch

ENGINE OPTIONS
1.3 litre Engine
1.5 litre Engine

IN MY OPINION
The Toyota Yaris ticks most the boxes
The diver seat is height adjustable the rear seats are able to slide forward and backwards, the spare tyre is a full size wheel meaning it is not sacrificed by an emergency wheel to which we will touch on later.
We had the opportunity to road test the 1.3 litre on my opinion if your planning to travel with anymore than 3 people I suggest considering a 1.5 litre engine as the 1.3 was lacking in power with 3 people in the vehicle, let me further explain here. If you are planning to drive the vehicle with one passenger then the 1.3 Yaris is suitable
If you plan to have some weight in the rear and drive around with extra passengers then you may want to consider the 1.5 litre engine.
Digress for one moment whilst shopping for a small vehicle I naturally ask as many questions as I can to be informed about my decision, and yes I’m critical about any level of service, and willing to observe good or poor service with feedback given.
When we were at the Toyota dealership at Frankston it was Joel’s positive and enthusiastic attitude that made it easier the make the decision to buy the Toyota Yarris
In my opinion the reasons why the Toyota Yarris rates 4.0, in the small car value for money are as follows.
Low service interval costs at $130 per fixed priced service every 10,000Kms but only up to 60,000 Kms or 36 months, what ever is first.
Good resale value history
Low engine noise whilst driving from 0 to 60
Adjustable driver seat height
Same size spare wheel, no funny wheel
Appealing exterior design, yes this car you feel ok to park in your driveway when you get home, you don’t need to hide it away as it wont win the ugly car competition
Plenty of room inside the rear if you need to rear passengers
Don’t stop there whilst we were looking at the Yarris the salesmen Joel, used this time extremely well as he added that apart from the fixed price servicing Toyota have a procedure where two mechanics are given the task to perform the service thus reducing the down time of your vehicle at the service center. It gets better it takes just ONE HOUR to service the Yarris this means anyone time poor would almost considering buying a vehicle just because they no longer need to leave their car at the service center all day.
SPECIAL NOTES
Take a close look at the terms and conditions when it comes to servicing.
What lets Toyota down is the BELOW AVERAGE customer service when ringing the head office, I was placed on hold for 28 minutes only to be told someone will return my call…..Oh what a feeling 
Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au