2nd vs 3rd gen ride quality + durability

[chocolab]

Hey guys, been looking for a used Yaris for a long time now. Insisting on a manual transmission eliminates a ton of candidates so it's been hard to locate one!

I'd pretty much decided I would wait and find a 3rd gen because I was so impressed with the one I rented for a few days last year. The 2nd gens I've test driven were fine -- definitely better than the competition -- but the 3rd gen just seemed quieter, smoother, and a little more refined. Is that still the consensus? Because right now there's a 2nd gen within driving distance that's the right color and has the right features, and the price isn't too bad either.

Like most of you, I assume, I mainly want the car for its great MPG and reliability. But I'd mainly be putting highway miles on the car, so a quiet ride that tracks well at highway speed is important. Is the 3rd gen really much better or was that just my impression?

Also, how are you guys with 3rd gens finding the durability of the interior? I've looked at a couple of 2nd gens with around 100k and both times was really impressed with how great the interior still looked. Haven't seen a 3rd gen with higher miles.

Thanks!

[mrpj]

I can only say what I found between the Mk2 and Mk3.
I replaced my Mk2 with a Mk3 7 months ago and the interior is still like new, totally noise/rattle/creak free and does give the impression of well clipped together components of reasonable quality.
In comparison the Mk 2 rattled and creaked from day one! The supplying dealer was unable to eliminate most of them and I just lived with it.
I preferred the ride of the Mk 2, the Mk 3 seems to be a bit harder. The Mk 3 cabin, I think, is quieter. Both very comfortable and excellent for a long drive.
Both French built. I did have a couple bits of warranty work done (nothing mechanical) on the Mk 2. So far the Mk 3 has been problem free.
Achieving just over 50mpg(Imperial gallons) with the 1.33 litre with CVT Multidrive.
I do miss all those storage options though.

[dj92]

My TMMF Mk2 is 5 years old now and doesn't rattle at all :)

[Kalispel]

Most of the documented problems with the 2nd generation were fixed by the 2009-2011 refresh, so I would personally stick with those model years only for a 2nd generation, if the goal is to minimize reliability issues.

[roxy1]

i had a 2nd gen and now a 3rd gen. the 3rd gen is definitely quieter and a little smoother riding. id expect durability/longevity to be equally good on either one.

[jcboy]

My friend has a 2nd gen sedan and a hatch (family owned). The hatch is an 09 model and had a few rattles while his sedan and mine are 2012 models and no rattles at all. He exchanged his sedan to the 3rd gen sedan and although we have a different model than yours, he says the ride is harsher and is heavier. And fuel consumption is very different. We have 13-15km/L in pure city driving for thr 1.3L model Gen 2s while the 3rd gen manages only 9-11km/l (both MT).

I believe Toyota went the "sportier" driving route for the new models in general, plus i feel there were not too many changes in architecture between your 3rd gen hatches from the global 2nd gens. I personally test drove several subcompacts and compacts before i switched to my vios in 2012, and mazda 2 was the sportiest among them new cars then, and with this saying a harsher ride for city driving.

[mrpj]

My TMMF Mk2 is 5 years old now and doesn't rattle at all :)

Lucky you.:smile:
Possibly less influenced by wine and cheese on the day it was put together.

[chocolab]

Thanks for the replies everyone, kind of confirms what I was thinking. :)

[bronsin]

Im afraid you missed out my ECHO was better in every way than my Yaris EXCEPT for the rotary heater knobs.

[nookandcrannycar]

Most of the documented problems with the 2nd generation were fixed by the 2009-2011 refresh, so I would personally stick with those model years only for a 2nd generation, if the goal is to minimize reliability issues.

^^^^^This. If I ever happened to come across one for sale that had the split rear seat with integrated headrests....and was also low mileage, manual transmission, and either silver or white...I'd probably make the purchase.

[nookandcrannycar]

the 3rd gen is definitely quieter and a little smoother riding. id expect durability/longevity to be equally good on either one.

.....and this ^^^^^.


P.S. --- I really like the instant MPG feature that is part of the odometer display.

[coolcolger]

I have extensively driven the Mk 2 Yaris and don't get me wrong it is a great car and holds up incredibly well with miles(200k) but the Mk 3 I just bought(Yes its brand new and I've only had it for a few days) just feels much more refined and is much quieter from engine and road noise from the Mk 2 in my observation. Since the drive line in the Mk 3 as far as I know is very similar to the Mk 2 then I expect the car to last just as many worry free miles.

[chocolab]

Im afraid you missed out my ECHO was better in every way than my Yaris EXCEPT for the rotary heater knobs.I look for those sometimes, but there are so few that aren't super high miles. One time several months ago I saw a great one on Craiglist and called only a couple of days after the ad went up, but it was already gone.

What did you like better about the Echo?

^^^^^This. If I ever happened to come across one for sale that had the split rear seat with integrated headrests....and was also low mileage, manual transmission, and either silver or white...I'd probably make the purchase.

N&C, one I was considering was in your neck of the woods, a silver 2012 MT with 91k miles at Gullo in Conroe. I thought about driving down to get it even though I'm several hours away up in north Texas. Almost wish I had. It looked really clean from the pics and I think they were only asking like $8200.

[roxy1]

sorry,the echo is a fine commuter car, but vs the 2nd and especially 3rd gen yaris, id follow with this:

-road/engine noise- worse, noticeably
-handling-worse, noticeably
-highway manners-worse, noticeably
-interior materials-worse, noticeably

obviously, it was much less safe as well. I would still recommend one to someone looking for cheap reliable transportation who couldn't swing a newer yaris, fit, accent, fiesta, sonic, etc.....

even though the echo was lighter, the truth is that under the revised (post 2008) EPA ratings, the manual echo is rated 30/38/33 city/highway/combined, which is the same city and combined mpg of the current yaris.

[nookandcrannycar]

N&C, one I was considering was in your neck of the woods, a silver 2012 MT with 91k miles at Gullo in Conroe. I thought about driving down to get it even though I'm several hours away up in north Texas. Almost wish I had. It looked really clean from the pics and I think they were only asking like $8200.

:thumbsup: I really like the Silver. TexasDirectAuto.com has a radio show that airs on a local station here on Saturdays, IIRC. The host tells callers what the company will pay (sometimes qualified by actually seeing the vehicle). It appears that the price goes down if the car has a manual transmission.

[428CobraJet]

It appears that the price goes down if the car has a manual transmission.


But the smiles go up!

I just left Gullo Toyota. ..talking to Phillip Sharp about possibly ordering a manual trans 2015.

[mr_miles]

do it! I love my third gen. Best little car I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

[nookandcrannycar]

But the smiles go up!

I just left Gullo Toyota. ..talking to Phillip Sharp about possibly ordering a manual trans 2015.

:thumbsup:

[nookandcrannycar]

Last night at about 10pm, I started my blue Yaris for the first time in 3 weeks. It started up without any hesitation at all, as it did 3 weeks ago after not starting it for 2 weeks. It briefly ran a little rough...smoothed out while the 'cold' light was still on. Chalking it up to temperature (mid 30s, IIRC). I backed it out of the garage, on to the driveway, and let it run for about 15 minutes before pulling it back into the garage. I'll be away for just a few days over 3 weeks, so I decided (given the very easy start) to leave the battetry connected. The brief 'roughness' was a sharp contrast to my silver Yaris. Yes, there is a difference between 3,000 miles and 300,000 miles :smile:.

[bronsin]

What did you like better about the Echo?
.

The ECHO is lighter for one thing. Mine was a MT and so got better mpg than my Yaris which has AT. About 40 mpg vs 35.

The Yaris also lost a wp and the oil pressure switch while the ECHO had zilch go wrong in almost 8 years and 48k miles. Battery went 7 years.

Actually now that I think of it I like the instrument panel of the Yaris better and the design of the auto shifter (gated) And the hatch is better!

[chocolab]

The brief 'roughness' was a sharp contrast to my silver Yaris. Yes, there is a difference between 3,000 miles and 300,000 miles :smile:.

I check here every once in a while but I missed when you got your new one. I guess it's a MT also? How did you find a MT one in Texas? As we know, for some reason the Gulf States region got very few MTs, and it seems from what I saw searching online that they got even fewer in 2014...

[nookandcrannycar]

I check here every once in a while but I missed when you got your new one. I guess it's a MT also? How did you find a MT one in Texas? As we know, for some reason the Gulf States region got very few MTs, and it seems from what I saw searching online that they got even fewer in 2014...

Yeah, it is a manual. I didn't find in in Texas :smile:. There were only 22 manuals in the whole country, and the share of those located in Texas.....zero. Of the 22, 19 were Ls and 3 were SEs. Of the 19 Ls, only 7 of them were either White or Silver (my two preferred colors).... 4 in Florida, 1 in Tennessee, 1 in Ohio, and 1 in Illinois. The cheapest one was in Florida, so I trekked to Florida.

See post #71 on Kal-El's 'Yaris sales hit a new low' thread. for the details. That thread is in the same 'Third Gen General Discussion' section that this thread is, and that thread is currently located at the bottom of page 3 (this thread is at the top of page 1). Post #71 is on page 4 of the 8 pages in that thread.

Right after that post, I added my own (now 2 page) thread - 'I just bought a 2nd (additional) Yaris yesterday (8/12/14) - a new 2014' - in the 'New Yaris Purchase Forum', and my thread is still on page 1 of that purchase forum.

[chocolab]

Cool, nook, I just read through those threads... What's funny is I had done those same nationwide searches and actually had that same car bookmarked, I'm sure... It was the one down south of Tampa/St Pete, right? I remember because it was pretty much the cheapest one in the whole country, or at least in the South. I even checked Southwest for flight prices...

Looked at one online recently in South Carolina that was similar but magnetic gray... Email communication with them was sort of spotty for some reason and I couldn't get a final price from them, but I almost wish I'd done that one.

I also found one in St Jo Missouri (I'm in north Texas so that's not too far) and the guy said he got emails from people down south fairly often and had even sold one to a Texas earlier this year. Wish Texas dealers would order a few more MTs!

[nookandcrannycar]

Cool, nook, I just read through those threads... What's funny is I had done those same nationwide searches and actually had that same car bookmarked, I'm sure... It was the one down south of Tampa/St Pete, right? I remember because it was pretty much the cheapest one in the whole country, or at least in the South. I even checked Southwest for flight prices...


Too funny. What a coincidence. Yeah, that was the location. Bradenton is toward the southern end of the Tampa/St.Pete metro....and it was the cheapest one in the country. The second cheapest one in the country was at the opposite end of the Tampa/St.Pete metro in Holiday, FL. The one in TN, and the one in IL, each had been sitting on their respective lots for a long time in ???? conditions. I knew the ones in Tampa might have been exposed to a fair amount of heat, but that wasn't a concern in my book. I really have to thank roxy1 for posting the link to the cars.com detailed search page on Yarisworld. Without that link, I wouldn't have known how to do such an efficient nationwide search.