Yaris D-4D: 6,050 miles

No news is good news, goes the saying. And when you consider the current nightly TV bulletins relaying tales of job losses, conflict and financial crises, you can understand exactly why a lack of headlines can be considered such a positive thing. So in my final update after a year of driving the Yaris, I am delighted to report that there is little to report! Rarely have I run such a fuss-free car, which is the biggest compliment I can give the little Toyota.

As a runaround for the city, it ticks just about every box. Its 1.4 diesel engine ensures it is sharp enough to get away from the traffic lights, but it’s very easy to manouevre and park. Unmarked alloys, despite a year of squeezing into the tightest inner-city spaces, are testament to that. Take it further afield, and it continues to excel. A couple of trips to the north of Scotland were dispatched in comfort, with the Yaris coping adequately at motorway speeds.

Only the small boot, which necessitated putting some luggage on the back seat, proved a hindrance on my cross-border marathons. Problems, as you would expect of a Toyota, were few and far between. A scrape on the rear wheelarch, caused by a clumsy Renault Kangoo driver, was expertly treated by the experts at Shine! (www.takethweekendoff.com).

That’s me in the picture below examining the handiwork of Shine!’s Lee Cotterill after using the firm’s ‘at store’ service at Halfords, Brixton, south London. The only other issue was the Yaris’s blipper, which mysteriously twice failed to work over the Christmas holiday. The problem has failed to materialise again. Of course, the key appeal of a car such as this in the present climate is its ability to keep costs down, and on that front the Toyota has come up trumps.

Our review of 2008 (Issue 1,043) confirmed it as the most frugal car our test team assessed last year, delivering 62.8mpg. Having spent so much time in town, I’ve not matched that, but I can hardly complain I’ve been visiting the pumps too regularly. And its 119 g/km output netted me a discounted parking permit of £38 a year with my local borough. Cool it’s not, but as a cheap-to-run, reliable A to B car, the Yaris has few peers.

Second Opinion

As Graham has demonstrated, a diesel-powered Yaris is the perfect supermini if you’re after an urban runabout that can cope with the occasional longer journey. However, don’t expect excitement. If you’re someone who wants some driving thrills thrown into the mix, look elsewhere. As with other models in the Toyota range, the Yaris lacks the ‘fun factor’ that would allow it to rival the class leaders.