2014 Toyota Yaris

The 2014 Toyota Yaris is the a lot of affordable of Toyota's U.S. models, not counting the analogously sized Scion xD model; and it overlaps somewhat with the Prius C amalgam auto that's about its admeasurement but aimed at altered bazaar segments Japanese used cars dealer. It's a competent auto hatchback, yet actual little causes it to angle out aloft added subcompacts in this added competitive--and growing--segment of the car market.

The Yaris was endure redesigned for 2012, and it offers the abnormal advantage of a three-door archetypal as able-bodied as the added accepted five-door hatchback. The Yaris auto that was allotment of the calendar in antecedent years, however, has been aloof from the U.S. market. And if one of your motivations for affairs a baby car is ammunition economy, it's not decidedly competitive--it is rated at 32 or 33 mpg combined, depending on trim akin and equipment. While it's a few thousand dollars cheaper than the Prius C amalgam that sits next to it on the exhibit floor, that car's 50-mpg appraisement is appealing abundant the analogue of ammunition economy--and at a starting amount beneath $20,000.

Part of the arrears in ammunition abridgement can be chalked up to its 106-horsepower, 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine. It'll move about boondocks accomplished with the five-speed chiral gearbox if you accumulate the engine speeds up, but its slow, noisy, and anachronistic four-speed automated strains at artery speeds--reminiscent of annihilation so abundant as the old "econobox" cars of 10 or 20 years ago. Added avant-garde technologies--direct injection, turbocharging, six-speed or continuously-variable transmissions--are boilerplate to be found. This is a technologically Plain Jane car.

From the outside, the Yaris appears able-bodied after getting a burlesque (as some Scion models assume to be). The ample foreground airdam, edgeless nose, and audible caster openings accord it a solid appearance, with the autogenous getting aboveboard but unremarkable. Storage amplitude central is good, and the foreground seats are adequate and supportive, with affluence of room. Rear seats are a altered story; they're abate than those in abounding competitors, decidedly the Nissan Versa Note, and the Yaris is added accessible for two adults than for four. Neither burden amplitude nor adaptability are as acceptable as the abiding chic leader, the Honda Fit.

The hardly abate admeasurement of the Yaris makes it active in city-limits use and simple to park. Its electric ability council is accurately weighted--which can't be said about all Toyota models--and the stiffer abeyance of the SE action archetypal improves cornering after affecting ride comfort. Ride superior is acceptable in general, but the Yaris gets blatant at college speeds, with the engine demography on a coarse, acrid agenda if pushed hard.

Since the latest bearing of Yaris was launched for 2012, its stiffer anatomy and nine airbags attending assertive for bigger protection; although in absoluteness its IIHS and federal assurance ratings accept been a alloyed bag.

The 2014 Yaris is abundantly banausic from antecedent years. Even the abject Yaris L archetypal now includes a six-speaker audio system, SiriusXM digital radio compatibility, HD Radio, an abetting input, a USB port, iPod connectivity, automated complete leveling, Bluetooth hands-free calling, and Bluetooth audio alive capability. With a starting amount about $15,000, it's not the individual cheapest advantage in the segment, but it's abundantly equipped. The SE archetypal adds admixture auto and stiffer suspension, but several options on added subcompacts aren't accessible at any price. The Yaris doesn't action a aeronautics system, covering upholstery, or acrimonious seats, for example.