Consumer Reports rates best and worst cars of 2012

[NEexpat]

Consumer reports rates the 2012 Yaris as one of the worst cars of 2012. Here (http://autos.yahoo.com/news/best-and-worst-cars-of-2012.html)

Toyota Yaris

The original Yaris hatchback scored a dismal 52 out of 100 points in our road tests. Still, that looks good compared with the redesigned 2012 model, which dropped to 41. This spartan hatchback subjects you to a noisy cabin, uncomfortable seats, and a cheap-looking interior. It’s also slow to accelerate and has a choppy, uncomfortable ride. One redeeming quality is its excellent fuel economy of 32 mpg overall.

Really can't argue with any of that, of course I didn't buy mine for exceptional comfort or ride. I bought mine, I daresay like many here, for dependability and gas mileage.

On a recent roundtrip to Ohio, 1450 miles, I averaged over 43mpg.

cheers

[nookandcrannycar]

Consumer reports rates the 2012 Yaris as one of the worst cars of 2012. Here (http://autos.yahoo.com/news/best-and-worst-cars-of-2012.html)

Toyota Yaris

The original Yaris hatchback scored a dismal 52 out of 100 points in our road tests. Still, that looks good compared with the redesigned 2012 model, which dropped to 41. This spartan hatchback subjects you to a noisy cabin, uncomfortable seats, and a cheap-looking interior. It’s also slow to accelerate and has a choppy, uncomfortable ride. One redeeming quality is its excellent fuel economy of 32 mpg overall.

Really can't argue with any of that, of course I didn't buy mine for exceptional comfort or ride. I bought mine, I daresay like many here, for dependability and gas mileage.

On a recent roundtrip to Ohio, 1450 miles, I averaged over 43mpg.

cheers

Consumer Reports can opine about the Yaris, but those of us who have a soft spot for our Yari aren't going to change our minds. I actually think the bashing is good. it might help keep the Yaris from becoming popular to the point where Toyota feels they can accelerate an increase in price. As long as it stays just popular enough to remain in production, that would be fine with me.....like a Goldilocks Economy.......or people trying to stay 'under the radar'.

[fnkngrv]

CR has a track record for being tools and stooges for whom lines their pockets. I have been in several 2012 makes/models since I travel a lot for work and have to do the rental thing. I can find plenty of vehicles that they give kudos to that I was left very wanting about. This type of subject is, well, so subjective. Anyone who uses them as a "proper" measuring stick needs to have the following done to them (I am poaching from a post off FB from MI and changing WILL to SHOULD):

YOU SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO BEING TIED TO A STAKE WITH FISHING WIRE, WHILST BEING DOUSED WITH MILK OF MAGNESIA, AND TICKLED WITH A FEATHER FROM A RED BEAKED CRANE AND HAVING YOUR BARE FEET AUTOGRAPHED BY BOB BARKER.

[nookandcrannycar]

CR has a track record for being tools and stooges for whom lines their pockets. I have been in several 2012 makes/models since I travel a lot for work and have to do the rental thing. I can find plenty of vehicles that they give kudos to that I was left very wanting about. This type of subject is, well, so subjective. Anyone who uses them as a "proper" measuring stick needs to have the following done to them (I am poaching from a post off FB from MI and changing WILL to SHOULD):

YOU SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO BEING TIED TO A STAKE WITH FISHING WIRE, WHILST BEING DOUSED WITH MILK OF MAGNESIA, AND TICKLED WITH A FEATHER FROM A RED BEAKED CRANE AND HAVING YOUR BARE FEET AUTOGRAPHED BY BOB BARKER.

:bellyroll:

[junorico24]

I agree with the report. But this car dependable as fark but YOTA needs to make it a funky fun car to drive.That's the bottom line.

[carolinablue]

1) The reporter from Consumer Reports would seem to be one who likes to plant a fat butt in a large bloat boat.
2) ConsumerReports, in its day had the Neon as one of its top rated cars.
3) The gas milage they rate the Yaris at is completely off. Consumer Reports says 32 mpg. I get 36 mpg in heavy traffic with the AC going full blast, 39 mpg town and country and 45 mpg on the open highway.

[Hershey]

C.R. gets fuel economy from the window sticker by adding the 2 and then dividing it by 2 for the average . They'll sometimes add / deduct the overall average by 1 as well . This is very misleading . Was a subscriber to C.R. , but found it to be too repetitive and too critical ( nit-picking ) .

[nookandcrannycar]

1) The reporter from Consumer Reports would seem to be one who likes to plant a fat butt in a large bloat boat.
2) ConsumerReports, in its day had the Neon as one of its top rated cars.
3) The gas milage they rate the Yaris at is completely off. Consumer Reports says 32 mpg. I get 36 mpg in heavy traffic with the AC going full blast, 39 mpg town and country and 45 mpg on the open highway.

#1 = :bellyroll:

[jpmck03]

One redeeming quality is its excellent fuel economy of 32 mpg overall.

Opens a new tab and checks Fuelly.com

Number of times I got around 32 mpg: 2
Number of times I got less than 32 mpg: 1
Number of times I got more than 32 mpg: 49

Yeah, Consumer Reports, you must have done a real good job testing the Yaris...
:bs:

[fnkngrv]

Opens a new tab and checks Fuelly.com

Number of times I got around 32 mpg: 2
Number of times I got less than 32 mpg: 1
Number of times I got more than 32 mpg: 49

Yeah, Consumer Reports, you must have done a real good job testing the Yaris...
:bs:

I concur. Even being boosted and having my AFR set aggressively I avg 33/34mpg. Hell, even when I do my land speed run weekends I still stay at above 30mpg and that is with pushing it over 110mph for a total of 7-15 miles on those weekends.

[jpmck03]

I concur. Even being boosted and having my AFR set aggressively I avg 33/34mpg. Hell, even when I do my land speed run weekends I still stay at above 30mpg and that is with pushing it over 110mph for a total of 7-15 miles on those weekends.

What's worse is those two sub-32 mpg numbers are: 31.67 and 31.92. And that's from 2.5 years of driving without a care in the world and just being amazed that I got such good mileage. Now that I'm paying attention to how I drive, I'm getting close to 40 mpg. :eyebulge: And that's without doing all of that crazy hypermiling stuff!

[nookandcrannycar]

Opens a new tab and checks Fuelly.com

Number of times I got around 32 mpg: 2
Number of times I got less than 32 mpg: 1
Number of times I got more than 32 mpg: 49

Yeah, Consumer Reports, you must have done a real good job testing the Yaris...
:bs:

:bellyroll: . My figures are even more pronounced....I = about 9 times that many tanks and the ones under 35 mpg combined = about one percent.

[fnkngrv]

Oh yeah and another thing. The tires that they sell the car with, unless they have changed from the 07-11, are total garbage. You can get better FE with different tires for sure. Case in point is that I am boosted and with using it several times a tank I am still avg over 38mpg now with my Kuhmo EXTA tires which would mean that if I stayed out of boost I would probably get a couple more mpg if not more out of it. And BTW, that is mixed driving at the 38mpg.

[MadMax]

When I was looking at the Yaris four years ago, after having a sedan as a rental during a business trip, I looked up what owners thought of the car. I could care less what "professional" journalists' opinions were out there, usually those are very biased and based on only a few days if that with the vehicle. Owners opinions are what mattered most to me, people who used their own money to purchase the car and who lived with it day in, day out.

That is what sold me on the Yaris, as there were virtually no negative comments on the car. Those that actually owned them loved them, despite the mainly negative ratings given by the "professionals." Sure, every car has its shortcomings; but for the most part Yaris owners were extremely happy with their cars and praised them.

Yeah, the Yaris has some issues; but for what it was designed to do--be an economical means of transportation--it excels. I love my hatchback and as many of us have learned on here there are a million things you can do to personalize it. Another thing I really like about the Yaris is they are not as common as Civics, Neons, etc. Other Yaris hatchbacks stand out when they go by.

The other day another black hatch that was pretty much stock passed me going in the opposite direction, the driver was straining to get a good look at my car. Hopefully he'll be inspired to do some mods on his to make it a bit more unique. Nothing against stock cars, but I always prefer to "personalize" my vehicles to make them stand out from the others...

Cheers! M2

[baseballfan416]

CR is extremely flawed in its overall "process"...

For starters, lack of traction control(before it was mandatory)/abs take a ton of points off their "scores." Heck, my 07 doesn't even have cruise control. I bet that's a deduction, even though I don't need it for my purpose.

Then you have a lack of segmenting bias. They hold a $15000 car to the same standards as the $65k plus Lexus. Rather than looking at a vehicle, for what it's worth and comparing to its competitors, they test everything to the same "standard" spec. Road noise in an economy car is almost a given, why even mention it?

And I'm sorry but anytime you add arbitrary arguments such as "styling" and "comfort" into the equation, you're creating a flawed comparison. You can't take subjective notions and put them into an objective argument. I'm sure if I were 6ft8 and 300lbs, my 07 sedan would be far less comfortable to drive. But I'm not. And as much as I think it's odd having a dash in the middle of the car, I can't tell you how many compliments it's gotten (often from pretty girls :). So unless they take subjective comments such as noisy cabin and turn it into an argument of objectivity (compare to other cars in the segment with a decibel meter at certain speeds), I can't really view that as appropriate criticism.

And lastly, what's up with the stupid color dotting system? If you think I'm going to purchase a car because some magazine puts all red dots on one car and all black dots on another, take another guess. I want legitimate statistics specs etc... I don't trust some statistician saying "we give this a black dot because it has this much interior room and that gets a black because it has a smaller backseat."

In short, the CR process sucks because it limits your ability to make an informed decision by attempting to color code that process for you.

[junorico24]

Don't get me wrong i love the Yaris.

It is a good honest work horse.But it's rather noisy in the cabin specially at highway speeds, it's fidgety over the bumps, and it's not a bad ride.But it's not fun either, just ok..definitely not boring.Overall it's reliable and gets great mpg.So you forgive it and love it for what it is a good dependable workhorse.

I saw one report where my car the Toyota Yaris 1.5 ltr, 3 dr, 5 speed manual was rated at 4 stars out of 5. Which I agree with.It's a good car no doubt about that.It just misses out on being great on those extras.Like a fun drive and refinement.But it's rated just right, imo.We can't have all the good things and have a cake and eat it at the same time.

[Astroman]

When I was looking at the Yaris four years ago, after having a sedan as a rental during a business trip, I looked up what owners thought of the car. I could care less what "professional" journalists' opinions were out there, usually those are very biased and based on only a few days if that with the vehicle. Owners opinions are what mattered most to me, people who used their own money to purchase the car and who lived with it day in, day out.

That is what sold me on the Yaris, as there were virtually no negative comments on the car. Those that actually owned them loved them, despite the mainly negative ratings given by the "professionals." Sure, every car has its shortcomings; but for the most part Yaris owners were extremely happy with their cars and praised them.

Yeah, the Yaris has some issues; but for what it was designed to do--be an economical means of transportation--it excels. I love my hatchback and as many of us have learned on here there are a million things you can do to personalize it. Another thing I really like about the Yaris is they are not as common as Civics, Neons, etc. Other Yaris hatchbacks stand out when they go by.

The other day another black hatch that was pretty much stock passed me going in the opposite direction, the driver was straining to get a good look at my car. Hopefully he'll be inspired to do some mods on his to make it a bit more unique. Nothing against stock cars, but I always prefer to "personalize" my vehicles to make them stand out from the others...

Cheers! M2

Well put! :clap:

[Hershey]

We test drove a '09 Corolla and then the Yaris . Found the ride to be better and the noise level to be lower on the highway when test driving both . Thus bought the Yaris .

[joshthorsc]

I bought my Yaris for reliability and as a gas saver while still seating four adults comfortably. At $16k, I'm not gonna expect it to be quiet and comfy like a luxury car. So far my Yaris has been great to me and I've no regrets and it's actually quite comfortable.

[Yaris SE Runner]

I took my SE from Niagara Falls NY. To the Outerbanks NC. (660 miles) to go hang gluiding 1 mile up. :thumbup: I got a solid 37 mpg doing 75 mph highway and small town driving, I'm happy with that with it only having 2000 miles on it should even get better.
As far as cabin noise, I found it to be very quiet, even at 75 mph. I did have the car undercoated when I bought it, that may have made a big difference. It didn't have anything to do with the 1000 watts of amps and 12 in sub. LOL.
As far as fun to drive, I found and find it very fun to drive, K&N Typoon, air bags and TRD rear stab. bar helps the fun factor. The air bags worked great 20 psi held it level and the rear was loaded to the max, I couldn't even tell there was a load it.
But that being said it should have come out more like the new Hyundai Elantra GT 148 hp 6 spd mt. I think the same mpg as the Yaris. That would have made it mad fun to drive.

[nookandcrannycar]

I took my SE from Niagara Falls NY. To the Outerbanks NC. (660 miles) to go hang gluiding 1 mile up. :thumbup: I got a solid 37 mpg doing 75 mph highway and small town driving, I'm happy with that with it only having 2000 miles on it should even get better.
As far as cabin noise, I found it to be very quiet, even at 75 mph. I did have the car undercoated when I bought it, that may have made a big difference. It didn't have anything to do with the 1000 watts of amps and 12 in sub. LOL.
As far as fun to drive, I found and find it very fun to drive, K&N Typoon, air bags and TRD rear stab. bar helps the fun factor. The air bags worked great 20 psi held it level and the rear was loaded to the max, I couldn't even tell there was a load it.
But that being said it should have come out more like the new Hyundai Elantra GT 148 hp 6 spd mt. I think the same mpg as the Yaris. That would have made it mad fun to drive.

Wow. The Outer Banks. One of my main 'want to get to' places. My godson and his siblings and parents now live just south of Charlotte, so I'm hoping to make it to Charlotte, the Outer Banks, and other parts of NC in 2013. Is your SE one of the rare 5-speeds or is it an automatic?

[bentjazz]

Reliability and fuel efficiency----that's all I really care about and why I bought the Yaris. Yeah, okay, I care about safety and all that jazz, too. But everything else is really secondary to me. How often will I have to take this sucker into the garage once the warranty expires. That's the ticket, folks. I find the Yaris comfortable and quiet (not that I'd know any different, since I have moderate-to-severe hearing loss). My only regrets is buying a black Yaris and an AT. I was desperate for a car when I bought mine (but I did know I wanted a Yaris or Fit), went to my local Toyota dealership during a Toyotathon event in middle of winter during a brutal snow storm, and thought my Yaris looked cool. The Toyota salesman was clueless to where the other 5 door lb silver Yaris was on the lot, I was freezing to death, my toes were killing me and throbbing with numbness, so I just relented to the black Yaris. Ugh. Someone shoot me, please. At any rate, I'm not complaining and I'm owning my idiocy and despite me hating the color of my car, it's reliability and fuel efficiency more than make up for me being a complete moron.....

[Yaris SE Runner]

5spd MT traveled from Niagara Falls NY to Mass. to get my hands on my white SE 5spd. after waiting 8 weeks at ea. of three different Toyota dealers telling me they could get me a SE 5spd and taking a deposit.:iono: My 5spd is so fun to drive.:thumbsup:
The Outer Banks was a very hot place to go to do things, hang gluiding 1 mile up, kayaking, body board surfing, hiking, had a place right on the beach. The SE was easy on gas, easy to drive small dark unknown roads, easy to park. That was all of the reasons I got it, to travel cheap, sport seat comfort and fun to drive. The SE drivers seat was very very comfortable for 12 hrs of straight driving.
Next trip is to Georgia for the all day rush at the largest, longest zip line and canopy adventure tour course in the world, so they say.

[Hershey]

We've always had small cars . Get numb to the noise over the years . Different tires can make a difference .

[nookandcrannycar]

5spd MT traveled from Niagara Falls NY to Mass. to get my hands on my white SE 5spd. after waiting 8 weeks at ea. of three different Toyota dealers telling me they could get me a SE 5spd and taking a deposit.:iono: My 5spd is so fun to drive.:thumbsup:
The Outer Banks was a very hot place to go to do things, hang gluiding 1 mile up, kayaking, body board surfing, hiking, had a place right on the beach. The SE was easy on gas, easy to drive small dark unknown roads, easy to park. That was all of the reasons I got it, to travel cheap, sport seat comfort and fun to drive. The SE drivers seat was very very comfortable for 12 hrs of straight driving.
Next trip is to Georgia for the all day rush at the largest, longest zip line and canopy adventure tour course in the world, so they say.

Wow, your diligence did pay off though. IMHO, you have the holy grail of US spec Yari -- a white 5-speed SE. Now I know at least one was actually built and is owned by a private party. Another member compared looking for a 5-speed SE to looking for the last Dodo bird. I do wish the power windows on the SE could be 'downgraded' (but not in my mind) to hand crank windows.

[NJ Drive]

I averaged 41mpg to and from Lincoln, Nebraska this past week.
2700+ miles round trip.

What makes this even more impressive is that it was done on 205/50/16 Dunlop Direzza Star Specs.

It was the first time I ever used cruise control for gas-sipping purposes, and it works.

[nookandcrannycar]

We've always had small cars . Get numb to the noise over the years . Different tires can make a difference .

I've never understood why people consider noise a negative/anything to avoid. If you love cars and driving and sports cars why wouldn't you want to feel as at one with the road and the car as possible. Too much isolation from what is going on under the hood, IMHO, keeps one from being aware of clues that might help nip an issue in the bud. All of my friends growing up felt the same way.

[nookandcrannycar]

I averaged 41mpg to and from Lincoln, Nebraska this past week.
2700+ miles round trip.

What makes this even more impressive is that it was done on 205/50/16 Dunlop Direzza Star Specs.

It was the first time I ever used cruise control for gas-sipping purposes, and it works.

I'm going to be driving about 11,000-12,000 miles outside of Texas over the next 7 weeks and I hope I can keep up that same average I have even without cruise control. I do have the stock tire size, which will probably make that goal easier.

[Yaris SE Runner]

41mpg:thumbsup:

[david_827]

I've never understood why people consider noise a negative/anything to avoid. If you love cars and driving and sports cars why wouldn't you want to feel as at one with the road and the car as possible. Too much isolation from what is going on under the hood, IMHO, keeps one from being aware of clues that might help nip an issue in the bud. All of my friends growing up felt the same way.

+1, i feel the same way, being able to the hear what is happening under the hood can prevent a small problem from turning into an expensive one,

[Yaris SE Runner]

do you have any pics of the car with 205-50-16.

[mirapatec]

Consumer Reports is not as respected as it may have once been, in my opinion. I may view what they have to say and consider it, but my own experience is what I go with in the end.

[jpmck03]

^
49637