To Yaris or Not to Yaris?

[Black Sunshine]

I came to Toyota Nation to find info for my Wife's Sienna. I drive a Subaru Legacy wagon. It's starting to get tired and I'm starting to get tired of it. So I've been looking high and low to see what I can see. I've decided that smaller is better. I get 22mpg in my wagon and I want a lot more for my next ride. I also want something that handles crazy well like my wagon. Before I got my AWD I swore by FWD so that aspect will be like coming home. It only rains five days a year here anyway. I'm looking to here some of your opinions about what you would do if weren't already paying for your Yaris. How long do you plan to own your Yaris? Does the blue interior light look as cool in real life as it does on the Toyota website?

Here are the pros that are swaying me towards the Yaris:

• Tiny little car looks fun and I want a five seater two door.
• Lots of aftermarket goodies available, which is a problem I've always had with my Legacy.
• Sweet mpg's and sweet Toyota goodness.
• Can hide behind shrubbery.

Here are the cons that make me paranoid:

• I'm afraid that in spite of the mpg's the 1.5 liter might leave me wanting more.
• My Yakima rack won't fit a 2dr liftback?
• How hard is it to find a slightly used Yaris with ABS?
• Fifteen clowns may steal it from me if their little car breaks down.

Give me some input.

[CanadaGTS]

The yaris is a good little car, but to get it like your Subaru Legacy wagon, you'll have to do some work to it like a sway bar, some floor braces, and if you want some lowering springs. It does have alot of body roll & gets tossed around alot. I plan to keep it as long as possible, cars aren't getting any cheaper, i'm at 74xxx miles and counting. There so much parts out there for this car, mostly overseas but can be obtained. The 1.5 is good, not like your subaru but good for the city and the freeway. There small stuff you can do to get some more hp. like lite weight pulleys, afe filter, new exhuast. but it will be minimal. If you got deep pockets there always engine swap to a 1.8 from the scion xb or corolla like in europe. There turbo, superchargers etc. I know toyota & thule make racks for the car, haven't go one yet. Hopefully some time, maybe with the Yakima rack you'll just need new arms to fit in on the roof. If your looking for a site with lots of into try yarisworld.com to see what to expect from this car. From the opinions of the members you can decide if this is the car for you.

[Toybilt]

mine is an 08 yaris sedan s 5sp 18000 mi now and overall average is 43.2. great pep,great ride,,great car. I plan on keeping my yaris a long time, and would recommend the yaris or any other toyota to any one. my other car is a 08 toyota matrix xr. it is an awesome car also. note the 1.5 engine with vvt-i will surprise you.

[Black Sunshine]

My Subaru isn't all that quick. It's only equipped with the 2.2l. It handles well but I miss FWD. Most later model cars are quicker. I drove a '91 Ford Festiva with a fuel injected 1.5l and it was faster. I would just get one of those, but I've sworn off pre-OBDII vehicles and there's no aftermarket for them. So it wouldn't suprise me a bit if the Yaris is quicker right out of the box.

[ryank]

I have an '08 Yaris LB and my brother has a '91 Subaru Legacy AWD Turbo sedan.

His car handles 10 times better than my Yaris, and we both just have springs and aftermarket wheels as far as suspension/handling mods.

Not saying the Yaris isn't a good handling car, as I am overall impressed. Just saying I know in our case, his Subaru eats my Yaris's handling up.

The Yaris is a decently quick car for how small the engine is. All I have done engine-wise is a TRD intake, Nitto axle-back exhaust, and a TRD quickshifter/short shifter kit.

And I'd like to point out, mod-wise. There is a decent amount of aftermarket support, but most of it is pretty expensive in my opinion.

Overall, I love my Yaris and plan to own it for at least 5-10 more years.

[Black Sunshine]

I wish Subaru would get in the sub-compact game, but their universal drivetrain wouldn't work for that. I wish they'd come back out with a two door. The AWD sucks up mpg's and power. Two wheel drive cars always dyno better.

[jambo101]

If you want something crazy fast and handles like its on rails the Yaris is going to be a big disappointment as its forte is reliable economical commuting,with a whole lot of suspension and motor mods you might be able to get it to keep up with mom's minivan. Have you looked at a used MINI Cooper S?,expensive but sounds like it would fit your driving style better than a Yaris,Too small? i hear the MazdaSpeed 3 and 6GT models are a real hoot to drive.

[Black Sunshine]

I'm not really looking for crazy fast just an improvement from what I have. The Mini's cost way too much. They are probably the sweetest thing in the subcompact class. I haven't really looked at the Mazda 3.

[linksysnetgear]

The matrix is powerful. I felt like i was driving V6 Camry in that car.

[jeepwranglerg]

FWD sucks and the fact your in AZ is even stranger how you like FWD. FWD is better in snow and rain. RWD is funner to drive,better track handling a real drivers car comes rwd like bmw. There's a reason BMWs are rwd only or awd. Now money is issue,mpg,snow ability yotas fit the bill. Im really really not impresed with toyota suspensions so if handling is most important im not sure what to look at. I think mazda 3 will outhandle a toyota. Toyota is higher class car though. Yaris motor is well poor in my review gas mileage should be better for the low power at least my dads XB scion is.

[Black Sunshine]

I still haven't made a move on this yet. I have generally moved away from the Yaris idea. I decided that I don't want to take a loan. I have also decided to go with a RWD vehicle. I am considering a SC300 or IS300. I almost have enough saved up to buy one of them and still have plenty of savings left over. I am definitely staying with the Toyota idea because they are the most durable vehicles you can buy.