Consumer Reports not too pleased with Yaris

[KittenRD]

I saw that too and was actually going to post this. I was pissed with their review. My dad says they seem to have a major thing with toyota or something. They rated the prius horrible as well.

[Driver]

I have subscribed to Consumer reports for years and agree with their assessments of many things except this one. I find the pedal cluster to be fine, the car comfortable and as stable as my last car a 2000 Saturn SL2. Other reviewers who deal in nothing but cars gave the Yaris good reviews. If the Yaris is so bad how is it that in 1999 it won car of the year on Europe.

[nsmitchell]

I am going to trade my Yaris in! On a new on in 2 or so years. Hopefully they will have brought the 5 door to the states by then, with Side Airbags, Traction control, stability control and ann that stuff! Like the Friggin Scions already have! I may change colors too, but I will still drive a Yaris, that's for sure... unless I win the lottery and buy an Aston Martin or something.

[tomjasz]

"The manual, two-door hatchback Yaris was the least-expensive car here. It tied the Honda Fit with an excellent 34 mpg overall. Both Yarises have a good ride, but when pushed to their handling limits, their tails tended to slide easily. Our Yaris sedan had many more amenities than the hatchback.

Predicted reliability "much better than average"

HIGHS | Fuel economy, hatchback storage, turning circle, reliability.
LOWS | Braking without ABS, engine and road noise, driving position, sloppy handling at the limits

The Yaris is available as a funky hatchback and a conventional sedan. Both deliver excellent fuel economy and a very good ride. Handling is sloppy and unforgiving at its limits. Acceleration is adequate, but the engine is noisy at high revs. Stopping distances for our non-ABS hatchback were extremely long, and ABS is hard to find. Many drivers found the driving position flawed. Options can quickly drive the price up from the spartan base car. First year reliability has been excellent for this new model, but the Yaris scored too low to be recommended.

For an inexpensive car the ride is compliant and absorbs bumps well, but quick body motions disrupt somewhat. Road noise is pronounced, and the engine note is boomy.


The Yaris feels responsive, but the steering is overly light at low speeds. It firms up appropriately at higher speeds but isn’t linear. Body lean is moderate. At its limits the Yaris is sloppy, with so-so grip. The rear end slid out too easily in our avoidance maneuver and around our track, especially in the hatchback. The Yaris would greatly benefit from stability control, but like on the other cars here it’s not available. The 106-hp, 1.5-liter four-cylinder returned an excellent 34 mpg overall when paired with the five-speed manual transmission. The smooth-shifting four-speed automatic gets 33 mpg overall, but acceleration is blunted.


Braking distances without ABS are extremely long, in both dry and wet conditions. Opt for ABS if you can find it. Low-beam headlights don’t illuminate far enough ahead.

The interior has lots of hard plastic, and there are exposed screws. The tilt-only steering wheel is too far forward, and there isn’t much room to rest your left foot. The pedals are very close together and are close to the driver, making it difficult to drive the manual smoothly. Wide roof pillars, rear head restraints, and the hatchback’s center safety-belt routing hurt rear visibility.


Some drivers wanted more lumbar support from the firm seats. The sedan’s manual height adjustment helps thigh support. The taller hatchback offers better head room. Rear access is better in the sedan.


The gauges, mounted at the dashboard center, are too far away and the sedan’s gauges are smaller and harder to read. The confusing climate fan switch drew complaints. The externally adjusted manual mirrors in the hatchback are a long reach.


The sedan holds more luggage than the hatchback. Oddly, the hatchback’s rear seat is not a 60/40-split, but a one-piece unit."

Best all around and for fuel economy:
Honda Fit
Honda Fit Sport

Mileage is impressive with 34 mpg with the manual and 32 with the automatic.

Most fun to drive:
Ford Focus ZX3

It has a more comfortable ride and handles better than the Fit.


Most cargo space:
Scion xB (automatic)
Scion xB (manual)

The xB has a tall, squared-off cargo area. Standard antilock brakes and electronic stability control are big pluses.

Most spacious:
Honda Fit
Honda Fit Sport
Scion xB (automatic)
Scion xB (manual)

Clever interior packaging maximizes space. The xB is almost like a delivery van.

[foober]

To be honest all comsumer reports cares about is add ons that make cars more expensive and air bags that injure people. Don't have much respect for consumer reports.

[tomjasz]

Originally Posted by foober

To be honest all comsumer reports cares about is add ons that make cars more expensive and air bags that injure people. Don't have much respect for consumer reports.

[Pars]

Originally Posted by tomjasz

"The manual, two-door hatchback Yaris was the least-expensive car here. It tied the Honda Fit with an excellent 34 mpg overall. Both Yarises have a good ride, but when pushed to their handling limits, their tails tended to slide easily. Our Yaris sedan had many more amenities than the hatchback.

Predicted reliability "much better than average"

HIGHS | Fuel economy, hatchback storage, turning circle, reliability.
LOWS | Braking without ABS, engine and road noise, driving position, sloppy handling at the limits

The Yaris is available as a funky hatchback and a conventional sedan. Both deliver excellent fuel economy and a very good ride. Handling is sloppy and unforgiving at its limits. Acceleration is adequate, but the engine is noisy at high revs. Stopping distances for our non-ABS hatchback were extremely long, and ABS is hard to find. Many drivers found the driving position flawed. Options can quickly drive the price up from the spartan base car. First year reliability has been excellent for this new model, but the Yaris scored too low to be recommended.

For an inexpensive car the ride is compliant and absorbs bumps well, but quick body motions disrupt somewhat. Road noise is pronounced, and the engine note is boomy.


The Yaris feels responsive, but the steering is overly light at low speeds. It firms up appropriately at higher speeds but isn’t linear. Body lean is moderate. At its limits the Yaris is sloppy, with so-so grip. The rear end slid out too easily in our avoidance maneuver and around our track, especially in the hatchback. The Yaris would greatly benefit from stability control, but like on the other cars here it’s not available. The 106-hp, 1.5-liter four-cylinder returned an excellent 34 mpg overall when paired with the five-speed manual transmission. The smooth-shifting four-speed automatic gets 33 mpg overall, but acceleration is blunted.


Braking distances without ABS are extremely long, in both dry and wet conditions. Opt for ABS if you can find it. Low-beam headlights don’t illuminate far enough ahead.

The interior has lots of hard plastic, and there are exposed screws. The tilt-only steering wheel is too far forward, and there isn’t much room to rest your left foot. The pedals are very close together and are close to the driver, making it difficult to drive the manual smoothly. Wide roof pillars, rear head restraints, and the hatchback’s center safety-belt routing hurt rear visibility.


Some drivers wanted more lumbar support from the firm seats. The sedan’s manual height adjustment helps thigh support. The taller hatchback offers better head room. Rear access is better in the sedan.


The gauges, mounted at the dashboard center, are too far away and the sedan’s gauges are smaller and harder to read. The confusing climate fan switch drew complaints. The externally adjusted manual mirrors in the hatchback are a long reach.


The sedan holds more luggage than the hatchback. Oddly, the hatchback’s rear seat is not a 60/40-split, but a one-piece unit."

Best all around and for fuel economy:
Honda Fit
Honda Fit Sport

Mileage is impressive with 34 mpg with the manual and 32 with the automatic.

Cool, I finally get to read the consumer reports article. I sort of can see where the guy is coming from, but boy, talk about the glass being half full. I can follow how the rear end can washout on ya, if your charging the turn as fast as the Fit, which is packing 195/55/15 (or better) tires and expect the Yaris dinky 175/65/14 (or 185/60/15) tires to be as controllable at the same speed. The sledge hammer tactics will overload the tires and cause the car to spin out of control. It's not do to bad/sloppy handling, it's do to bad driving and not being able to explore the car's true limits. I've charged the turns many times in my Yaris to the point where the rear is about to rotate on me and I can hold it there forever, it's very controllable. Not to say the car is tail happy, but it has just the right amount of over-steer dialed into it.

What's with the steering being not sensitive and then too sensitive and then not linear? wtf, make up your mind. Personally, I found the Yaris steering spot-on. Steering sensitivity becomes quick at moderate speeds (which is great, unless you're an old man with titanic-like reaction), so slight turn-ins will return immediate response, which is normally a good thing. Like wise, slow and lighter steering response is preferable at low speeds.

One point I did get, is when spinning out of control, ABS with stability control would be a huge asset. My old Civic didn't have any fancy ABS system, but that car had a really good suspension system. In one extreme situation,I was sideways doing 120km/hr on the highway on a straight-away, in the wet and simply easying off on the gas and not panicking, was enough to bring the car back in line (but that particular car had $4500 of suspension/wheel upgrades and a double wishbone front & back). I wouldn't expect any of the short wheel base car in this segment to be as forgiving in the same situation, unless it was packing a good electronic stability control system. Toyota should make their abs system standard on the Yaris to compensate.

[BMGYaris]

Its LOOONG but i think i did a good job, tell me what is wrong and i will edit.

"The manual, two-door hatchback Yaris was the least-expensive car here."

This is one of the keys to the CR report, as will be further discussed.

"Predicted reliability "much better than average""


no problems here, we all agree, though honda is in a constant battle with toyota for reliability rankings. What is the difference right now? .1 problems every three years?


"The Yaris is available as a funky hatchback and a conventional sedan. Both deliver excellent fuel economy and a very good ride. Handling is sloppy and unforgiving at its limits."

Here is the first odd statement, they said both that it delivers a very good ride and that it has sloppy handling and is unforgiving at its limits? which is it?

Now, for twisty racing the stock fit is obviously better, but most of the consumers are buying for their kids or are very young and lets admit it, in general those people really should NOT be pushing it too its limits, maybe sloppy handling at 90-120mph will help cut back on that. And if you ARE going to push it to its limits you are probably going to invest in some sway bars and other mods, which you would do in the fit also, and will really improve performance, so that is really irrelevent. The question here is, what did they test as the "limits"? i dont have CR so i dont know, but I know my Yaris has pretty high limits....

" it delivers a really good ride, Acceleration is adequate, but the engine is noisy at high revs."

Again they said a good ride. I drive one and i can tell you that the yaris is not particularly loud at high revs and is quieter than the fit, too me the fit sounded like a weed wacker, not a very sexy sound at all. Of course, a few bucks with some sound dampening materials can fix a good deal of that in both. Its not a camry, but compared to the fit it is certainly not at a disadvantage--and as they said, it has a good ride, just dont push it to 5,500rpm if you want a nice quite trip.


" Stopping distances for our non-ABS hatchback were extremely long, and ABS is hard to find."

The first thing i want to say is that the ABS yaris are no more difficult to find than a fit.

This is the first point at which i get truly confused. According to NHTSA

"ABS is designed to help the driver maintain control of the vehicle during emergency braking situations, not make the car stop more quickly. ABS may shorten stopping distances on wet or slippery roads and many systems will shorten stopping distances on dry roads. On very soft surfaces, such as loose gravel or unpacked snow, an ABS system may actually lengthen stopping distances." further "When your brakes lock up on wet and slippery roads or during a panic stop, you lose steering control and your vehicle can spin. Rear wheel ABS prevents wheel lockup so that your car stays in a straight line. If your car has ABS control on all four wheels, you also keep steering control. If you have steering control, it is possible to avoid a crash by steering around hazards if a complete stop cannot be accomplished in time."

Thus we see that ABS is not truly about shorter breaking distances, it is about maintaining control. It is possible that the Electronic break force distribution contributed to the shorter distances.
It is also possible that the stock yaris 14 inch tires contributed to longer breaking distances
However, it IS POSSIBLE to get a yaris with ABS and EBD therefore, since the models are available with a reasonable wait or good searching skills, it should NOT be counted heavily against the yaris in points. Further more if you do research on the NHTSA website you will find that ABS has caused as many deaths as it has saved, netting a 0% improved mortality rates.


"Many drivers found the driving position flawed"

Damn true. But if many found it flawed, i'll bet many found it just fine. That is what a test drive is for. So heads up folks, check if you are comfortable before you buy your car, many people will be comfortable, many wont.
(side note: many people find the exact same problem with the scion xb, and i believe the thigh support and length of the base of the seats are the exact same, if anybody wants to measure that woudl be awesome, but nobody makes a big fuss about it.)

"Options can quickly drive the price up from the spartan base car."

Again, a price difference, they tested a BASE MODEL yaris that is 33% less expensive than the cheapest fit they tested. That including rear head restraints that blocked visibilty, no ABS, 14 inch stockers and manual mirrors., all things that can easily be fixed and still be under the base fit price.



"For an inexpensive car the ride is compliant and absorbs bumps well, but quick body motions disrupt somewhat. Road noise is pronounced, and the engine note is boomy."

i dont understand this, what does he mean quick body motions? Either way, somewhat doesnt sound all that terrible. The other issures were discussed above.

"The Yaris feels responsive, but the steering is overly light at low speeds. It firms up appropriately at higher speeds but isn’t linear."

The base yaris has 14 inch tires. The fits couldnt have been less than 15. my understanding is that 15's on the fit would have given more stable control than the 14's right? if not then i made a mistake, and sure, the fit has some strengths.

" Body lean is moderate."

ok, thats pretty neautral, nobody should be scared driving it.


"At its limits the Yaris is sloppy, with so-so grip."

Again, they had stock 14's which would have seriously affected the grip, i believe., being narrower smaller tires. Also here again they talk about "limits" which i dont know what they are. Anyway, Dont drive your vehicle to its limits without mods if you dont want to die, same for the fit. Also, lets not forget about all the comments they had to say about yaris' "very good ride"

" The rear end slid out too easily in our avoidance maneuver and around our track, especially in the hatchback. The Yaris would greatly benefit from stability control, but like on the other cars here it’s not available."

It is not quite as good on the twisties as the fit, but its not much worse either., and of course, none of the others have stability control or traction control and ABS does not kick in under those circumstances. (we are not talking about xb)


"Low-beam headlights don’t illuminate far enough ahead."

Im not sure about this, and im not sure how it stacks up with the fit, but my low beams work just fine with me. I use my fog lights all the time though, so that might create a sense of better lighting. Im betting they are the same as the fit though.

"The interior has lots of hard plastic, and there are exposed screws. The tilt-only steering wheel is too far forward, and there isn’t much room to rest your left foot."

If you do some research on the internet you will find just about ALL the fit drivers complaing about left foot comfort, and none of the yaris drivers complaining about left foot comfort. I wonder if he just came from a fit and his foot was cramped from that ride, because this is the first i heard of left leg problems in the yaris. Anyway, this seems to be a fairly isolated case.

Exposed screws? anybody else seeing this? I'm not seeing it in mine, if i did, i would be saying something about it promise.

hard plastics, damn straight, but better carpets and paint jobs than the Fit, just looking at forums. Of course the only time that plastics really matter is the armrest, planning to fix mine up actually, but yea, the plastics arent as nice to touch....kudos to the Fit for nicer feeling plastics.

"The pedals are very close together and are close to the driver, making it difficult to drive the manual smoothly."

Very true for me, again, do a test drive, some feel that way some dont. But i will tell you one thing, if this guy had a left leg problem he must have been one TALL glass of water with some really long legs.


"Some drivers wanted more lumbar support from the firm seats. The sedan’s manual height adjustment helps thigh support. The taller hatchback offers better head room. Rear access is better in the sedan."

Of course access is better, the hatch is 2 doors. The base fit at 15,500 does not come with a seat height adjuster, i dont think. again if i make mistakes, point it out.


"The gauges, mounted at the dashboard center are too far away and the sedan’s gauges are smaller and harder to read. The confusing climate fan switch drew complaints. "

the question here is visibility, and if you hate the center position dont get the yaris. However, scientifically there is no reason i know of that would make the center placement a major issue in picking a car, just a matter of preference and one i would expect CR to be above.
As to the climate controls they move in a circle. I wont say more or i will get mean about that one.

"The externally adjusted manual mirrors in the hatchback are a long reach."

if you are planning to be the only driver most of the time this shouldnt be a problem. if your going to switch out alot, you can pay the 1300, still be significantly cheaper than the Fit, and get your power mirrors.

"The sedan holds more luggage than the hatchback."

They both have damn small luggage specs. and yes with seats up the hatch is much smaller. If you are planning to pick up a bunch of friends at the airport regularly this is not the car for you. However, with the seats folded down the sedan has 13.7 cubic feet and the Hatch has 25.7 cubic feet.
Niether are monsters, but on seeing those specs i consider the hatch to have almost twice as much luggasge capacity as the sedan. I chose mine for me and my sweety going to the beach camping, works for that. Fit has the advantage here though, thats for sure.
http://www.toyota.com/yaris/specs.html

"Oddly, the hatchback’s rear seat is not a 60/40-split, but a one-piece unit."

first notice that he said "oddly" everyone here knows that the power package fixes this, it seems the CR guys didnt do their homework.
Here again, you cant complain about that and then praise the fit for having it. It is available and plenty are out there with it, you can chose to leave it out and save 1300 dollars, or pay the 1300 and get it with the other features.

Lastly:

"rear head restraints, and the hatchback’s center safety-belt routing hurt rear visibility. "

These problems are fixed with the power package as well. The power package has the rear headrest that press down into the seat and the rear middle seat adjuster locks into the roof, leaving the backwindow visibility completly open and clear. Again, you can get all of this and still be well under the Fit prices. but the CR tester seems not to have actually looked into options and pricing on this one.

Anyway, this is my line by line break down of the Yaris analysis, I dont know much about cars, but it looks to me like CR has nailed all kinds of points against the yaris, and most of those points are because they chose the base model. increase the price 50% and you can get yourself a base fit, sure, but you can increase the price by 25% and fix nearly all of those complaints on the yaris. and save a chunk of money for some aftermarket mods and get even better handling than the stock fit.
And dont compare our base model to the canadians, if we had the canadians it would have fixed everything, even driving comfort, in which case every single point listed here against the Yaris would be removed and youd have nearly a perfect score--way to go in Canada toyota!

[tomjasz]

great review, insightful and well thought out, thanks!

[Bretsuaz]

I didnt like the interior of the Fit. Appeard very cheap. And from the outside, it looke like a Suzuki Aerio. But the main reason I didnt buy a Fit was because of reliability concerns. I liked the styling of the Yaris, and this engine has a proven track record. I have heard the auto trans in the Fit has some problems. So far I love my car, and would recommend this vehicle to anyone. I would have expected them to receive similar scores though.

[tomjasz]

Originally Posted by Bretsuaz

I didnt like the interior of the Fit. Appeard very cheap. And from the outside, it looke like a Suzuki Aerio. But the main reason I didnt buy a Fit was because of reliability concerns. I liked the styling of the Yaris, and this engine has a proven track record. I have heard the auto trans in the Fit has some problems. So far I love my car, and would recommend this vehicle to anyone. I would have expected them to receive similar scores though.

A honda with reliability concerns?

[foober]

tomjasz, I get the feeling that you subscribe to that "fish wrap" consumer reports.

[tomjasz]

Originally Posted by foober

tomjasz, I get the feeling that you subscribe to that "fish wrap" consumer reports.

Care to stay on point and tell us about Honda and their reliability problems...
BTW
Fish wrap is what you call a local newspaper, only "cowsbell" has a "split the sheets" column....

[foober]

Originally Posted by tomjasz

Care to stay on point and tell us about Honda and their reliability problems...
BTW
Fish wrap is what you call a local newspaper, only "cowsbell" has a "split the sheets" column....

I am on point. The point was is consumer reports seems to have an agenda. And I'm sure alot of it has to do with who greases their palms.

My advice to you is read other owners opinions of the product. Having used the product in normal situations and use they are very probably the best at explaining a product.

I myself like to look at reliability of a vehicle or product over the years. The yaris is an offshoot of the echo which is one of the most reliable vehicles ever built. Its why I bought my yaris.

[hasher22]

Well, theres no such thing as a perfect car for the perfect price.

[Katana]

Ηere in Greece, Yaris is the best selling car of the month!!!

[Black Yaris]

anyone notice the 0-60 times on the Yaris compaired to the Fit? Yaris was faster on 0-60 and the 1/4 mile.. funny shit since the Fit is more preformance oriented and the Yaris is more economy oriented

[spkrman]

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

anyone notice the 0-60 times on the Yaris compaired to the Fit? Yaris was faster on 0-60 and the 1/4 mile.. funny shit since the Fit is more preformance oriented and the Yaris is more economy oriented

nah I didn't, care to post the data here?