2007-2008 Toyota Yaris CE, LE

This is the next car on the retirement slot, while there are a few sedans in our fleet we lost all of the hatchbacks. Both hatchback and sedans drive pretty much identical so I'll be doing both and occasionally split the scores.



Introduction: Toyota has always been a player in the subcompact segment of cars. At one point they were the only credible name plate with a credible enough vehicle that Honda and Nissan never really directly competed with. Toyota's original car for this slot was the Toyota Tercel, a nameplate known for its reliability and very low MSRP, a very attractive vehicle for budget conscious car buyers. With increasing gas prices, Toyota no longer has the market to itself and now has increased competition from Nissan, Honda, Hyundai and Kia. Ford and Mazda are introducing their vehicles for the 2011 model year. In 2006 Toyota decided to replace the failing Echo with the Yaris which has sold reasonably well in Europe and Japan. In 2007 Toyota of North America had the Yaris replace the Echo completely following Canada's lead. Unlike other Toyota markets, Toyota used both Vitz(hatchback) and Belta(sedan) and named them both Yaris for the different bodystyles. Both vehicles do use very similar components and do not differ all that much overall.

I was actually surprised by the Yaris, it did catch my attention unlike the failed Echo and the uninteresting Corolla. I wanted to see if this vehicle's European success was a result of good engineering or just a very good marketing campaign. So I was pretty eager to try this car.


Performance: The Toyota Yaris has the smallest and lowest powered engine of all North American car entries. A small 1.5L 4-cylinder engine producing 106 hp and 103 lb.ft of torque. This is by far the lowest powered car I've ever driven so it really comes down to the weight of the Yaris to affect its performance. The bad news is this is the same engine powering the Echo which was a lighter vehicle. Both Yaris manage to go from 0-100 km/h in about 10.7 seconds, they get much better numbers with manual transmissions. This is not the slowest vehicle but its not too far from that. For city speeds the Yaris is more than enough, its the highway speeds the small engine begins to struggle moving the vehicle quickly enough along with the louder noise. Where the Yaris does shine is fuel economy numbers, the hatchback particularly has the best fuel economy numbers of any conventional gasoline powered car currently.

My Score(hatch): 7/10 - Its an economical engine, despite its low power numbers its not the slowest vehicle out there and provides excellent fuel economy.

My Score(sedan): 6/10 - The same as the hatch but its fuel economy numbers are worse due to weight.

Handling: As with all smaller cars they should handle better than their larger counterparts. The Yaris is no different here, thanks to its light weight the handling in the Yaris is pretty good. It can take corners with a bit of roll mostly down to its soft suspension although I get the feeling that it could be better. The steering feel is surprisingly accurate for a new Toyota but its also on the light side and again this could have been done better. I'm a bit surprised Toyota didn't make a trim level to take advantage of the Yaris' handling potential but they didn't leaving me to wonder how much better could this be?

My Score(both): 7/10 - Pretty decent handling and steering feel, but gives you the sense you didn't hit the car's true limits.



Interior: The Yaris being Toyota's least expensive vehicle no doubt has the least luxurious interior. When it comes down to function the Yaris has a pretty acceptable interior, while the plastics are kind of cheap it does have a lot of cubbyholes and cup holders. The 3-door Yaris hatch actually made the process of entering the rear seats of a 2/3-door more efficient with the seat sliding forward as you hold the seat lever. What your equipped with however depends on whether you got a CE or LE. The 3-door CE is very poorly equipped you don't get things like adjustable mirrors for instance. Both CE bodystyles don't have roll up windows or power locks. The LEs give you the basic conveniences you'd expect from decently equipped new cars. The hatchbacks don't have much trunk space and you'll need to fold down the seats, the sedan is about the size as a 1998-2002 Corolla and has a decent trunk. One item that grabs the most attention is the center mounted dash...I personally didn't care that it was there and to me it was practically the same as standard dash placements. As for the build quality, the Yaris is actually superbly put together, I've only encountered one Yaris center console with gaps...because someone attempted to break the thing.

My Score(hatchback): 6/10 - The CEs are very badly equipped, cheap materials and trunk space is poor but efficient cabin design and put together very well.

My Score(sedan): 7/10 - Similar to the hatch but better trunk space.

Styling: The Yaris is one of the first few Toyotas to show some sort of a personality. Many previous Toyotas rarely showed any sort of personality. With the Yaris you instantly can tell its supposed to be a more cheerful car especially with the Yaris sedan with its smiling grille. I actually don't mind the styling of either and think they look pretty good unlike many other boring cars.

My Score(both): - 9/10 - Both cars show some form of emotion and the general style of the car reflects this emotion.

Value for money: The Yaris is not one of the most expensive of the subcompacts, that actually goes to the Honda Fit. This is the only subcompact aside from the Fit that is built very well. In terms of size the Yaris sedan unfortunately is stuck between most subcompact hatches and the next level of compact cars. For its price the Yaris sedan is a tad bit more expensive than the hatchback. You lose the fuel economy and are more likely to buy the LE due to how inconvenient it is to lock/unlock 4 doors. The Yaris hatch doesn't quite have those problems, the 3-door is poorly equipped but the 5-door has no CE option and thus is always well equipped. If you prioritize fuel economy, price and build quality the Yaris hatch is the best choice. If you need a decent sized trunk the sedan also fits the bill. Both cars have been pretty reliable and are good choices for budget minded customers.

My Score(hatch): 8/10 - As a hatch its relatively inexpensive but also very efficient.

My Score(sedan): 7/10 - A good choice if you want 90% of the hatch's efficiency but need a trunk.

Overall(hatch): 37/50 - The most efficient vehicle available, clearly the best car out there when your most concerned about costs.

Overall(sedan): 36/50 - A pretty efficient vehicle with a usable trunk.