The color? Blazing Blue Pearl. The inside? Standard Gray. Size of the car? Sub-compact. Good gas mileage? 29 to 41 mpg average. Low-priced or expensive? $15,625.
This was the new Toyota Yaris that was delivered to my office for a one week’s test drive. It was small, yes, but it was quite roomy on the inside. This is not the vehicle to be used in hauling the neighborhood children to the park by a soccer mom. It probably would not be very good for carrying two or three friends with their clubs over to the golf course. It definitely is great for local community and distance-driving by someone who has to have a vehicle for their transportation needs.
The Yaris is not the most popular car in the Toyota line-up and it certainly does not perform as well as the Camry in sales leadership. However, Toyota believes, as do most other manufacturers, that the small car segments will mushroom over the next couple of years. It is possible that by 2013, the sub-compact segment alone will be selling over a half-million vehicles. This includes the Yaris, Honda Fit, Chevy Sonic, Nissan Versa, Ford Fiesta, and some other names not yet announced. This is becoming, more and more, a highly competitive segment that offers low prices on the cars and high figures on the mileage.
Each year, the manufacturers try and do something new and different to make their vehicle stand out from the competition. Sometimes it is a visible change and sometimes it is all under the hood or about un-seen safety features. For the 2012 Yaris, it presents itself as “new”, but basically it is the same as before, except for a few more inches in length and a small change in the exterior. Overall, the increases in styling and stretching have helped the appearance go from looking like a little car wanna-be into a “real” car that is small.
The engine is the same 1.5 liter four cylinder that has been around for a few years. It works well and performs as it is supposed to perform. Maybe next year, a newer, updated engine will be introduced. The transmission is a choice of a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. The test model was the automatic transmission. It worked well.
It was raining when I first got behind the wheel of the test model Yaris, so after starting the car, I turned on the windshield wiper. Notice that is singular instead of plural. There is one giant wiper that swoops back and forth across the windshield. At first I was apprehensive, but it worked really well and I had no problems over the next few days of rain, mist, and thick fog.
Inside, the Yaris looks nice. The overall appearance is pleasing to the eye. To their credit, Toyota’s design engineers got it right when they moved the gauge cluster from the middle of the dashboard over directly in front of the driver. The back seats are a little difficult to get in and out of, but so are all small cars that have no rear doors. The test model did not have them although they are available on some versions. The front seats did fold and move easily forward.
In the back, those extra two inches of a stretched chassis have allowed this 2012 Yaris to almost double the amount of cargo room. With the easy folding-forward rear seats, a person can easily accommodate a lot of baggage, boxes, and other cargo. The specs say it has increased from 9.6 cubic feet last year to 15.6 cubic feet for this year. That is a lot of extra space.
The test model was the LE liftback version, so for a sportier ride, some consumers might opt for the SE model which offers a bit more excitement in driving. The SE has a larger spoiler, stiffened suspension, and larger wheels, brakes, and tires. All this allows the car and driver to better “feel” the road. The SE models also get smoked-lens headlights and a chrome tailpipe.
About the only thing that stood out as a “dis-like” during the week-long test drive was an annoying squeak on the highway. After pushing, holding, and other common driver actions short of banging a hammer on the dashboard, I found a space between two panels near the steering column that were rubbing. A thick paper wad pressed into the space solved the problem on a temporary basis. Generally, the fit and finish on the interior needs some improvement.
Bottom line – the 2012 Toyota Yaris is a fun little car to drive. It is fairly peppy, provides a good amount of cargo room, looks better than before, gets really good gas mileage, and has a low purchase price. It is not a “be-all-you-can-be” vehicle with all the bells and whistles imaginable, although I do like them and prefer a larger car with all the add-ons and options. Simply stated, this is a car that does what it was designed to do – provide really good transportation at a good price and good fuel economy. Check it out yourself at a Toyota dealership and see if the Yaris might be what you had in mind.
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