Toyota GR Yaris - Reliability and safety

​With Toyota’s reputation for reliability and the level of engineering that’s gone into producing the GR Yaris, earlier examples of the hot hatchback appear to be holding up very well. 

That seems to be backed up by our latest Driver Power customer satisfaction survey results. The regular Toyota Yaris finished in third place out of 50 cars in our best cars to own rankings, and the C-HR, RAV4 and Corolla all made an appearance, too. The Toyota brand, meanwhile, ranked eighth out of 32 brands on our best manufacturer scoreboard.

The GR Yaris probably won’t be crash tested by Euro NCAP due to its relatively low production volume, and it’s worth noting that the GR does not carry-over the standard model’s full five-star safety rating because it’s been so comprehensively modified. 

Having said that, all versions of GR Yaris come with a fair share of standard safety kit, including adaptive cruise control, Lane Trace Assist, Road Sign Assist and Emergency Steering Assist. If you want parking sensors, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Safe Exit Assist or a Blind Spot Monitor, though, you’ll need to fork £60,000 for one of the special editions.

Warranty

All Toyota models are covered by a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty as standard. However, if you keep to the servicing schedule and have all the work carried out by an approved Toyota workshop, this can be extended up to ten years or 100,000-miles — whichever comes first.

Servicing

All Toyota models have a servicing schedule which alternates between interim and full services. A standard (non GR) car should be serviced every 10,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes soonest, switching between interim and full services every year.

With the GR Yaris the schedule is every 6,000 miles or 12 months. So, the first service will be an interim, and the second, at 12,000 or 24 months from registration, will be a full service, and so on throughout the ownership period.

Toyota also recommends a safety check on brake and clutch fluid every six months. This can be carried out alongside a service, depending on mileage.