Micra and Yaris

[Advantage]

Anyone got any views or ownership experiences of either of these two from the 2002/03 era? Daughter has begged, pleaded and become a pita about a car. She's decided it's the perfect combined birthday and Christmas gift and who am I to argue, I agree a car is the gift for all occasions! Other types of small car have been discussed at length and consequently crossed off the list for varying reasons, some of which would only make sense to a teenager.

Both the Yaris and frogeyed Micra seem to fall into budget for a first car and shouldn't cost more than a few million to insure, so they're on the shortlist. I know the Yaris eats arb bushes for breakfast and the Micra can stretch its timing chain on a leggy example but are there any other known issues to look out for on either car?

We're not of a mindset to spend loads on her first foray into motoring, mainly because she's a teenager with little experience of driving and will be parking it in a college car park full of cars driven by teenagers with little experience of driving. Therefore the we'll be purchasing something which will have been previously enjoyed somewhat and perishables may be near the end of their servicable life. Question is, what goes wrong them?

[Bibs]

Can't help you but...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2297195.htm

£2,700, job's a peach!

Oh, and I've friends who've been through many Ford Ka's. Easy to work on, GP 2 insurance and parts are very plentiful. If you head to the dealership at the right time of year they can be had for under £4k new so 2nd hand should be cheap as chips

[Dave Eds]

We gave our daughter the wife's old Yaris, but as she is at Uni I still use it when I need to stay dry!

We bought it new in 2002, it now has 90k on the clock and we've had no issues with it. It's a 1.0 CDX so has no acceleration to speak of, but cruises comfortably.

Averages 40mpg,

Bought the wife a 1.4 diesel Yaris about 4 years ago and it's a pile of shit!

[MPx]

Apart from the brilliant but uninsurable M100 idea, you're being way too sensible Bibs. The Ka is no longer fit to be seen in by those youngster types. My niece has just got shot of her low milage reliable and cheap Ka for a knackered Pug 206 because she wanted something with a bit of cred. It does have blue anodised effect floor mats, but apart from that I cant really see the appeal - but what do I know.

Have no direct experience of the Yaris but another niece and her boyfriend have both had bug eyed Micras. Karl's has now morph'd to a very nice Mk5 GTi which I enjoyed looking for. Katie's is about to become a her step Dad's knackered old Puma. Karl's was a 51 reg - about 60000 miles, nice enough unmolsted car in silver. The only issue I heard about in his 3 years of ownership was it started to cut out as the revs dropped on one trip. The RAC couldn't see what was wrong, but got it going and it seemed to clear itself as the subsequent investigations by the dealer suspecting coils etc found nothing wrong. The car was sold a couple of months later for £1300 but it was running well again by then. Katie's is a '95M reg that's been around the clock. She would say that its been troublesome but I'd disagree. The issue is that it goes through periods where it wont start and she has to leave it and is late for work. The thing is its never let her down when its been running. She's had the car 4 years and despite nagging she's never gotten around to having it serviced. When it went through one of its no-start periods early last year, the battery was replaced (cos it kept going flat - I wonder why?) and eventually I went up to Reading to have a look at it. I did a basic plug clean and reset (by torchlight in the street) - but apart from the black treacle oil I didn't really see anything wrong, and of course it started straight away once I'd done my bit. Despite this evidence no service has since been undertaken and its proved problematic to start again this winter. Hence the decision to replace it with the Puma - which is of course proven to work faultlessly under a regime of no servicing. If you want a very cheap unserviced car Graham this could be the one!

So, IME the Micra is likely to prove ultra reliable despite abuse.........

[mangel]

Depends on your budget, new mini can be had for not a lot these days 3K plus!!!

the Datsun would be my choice, pretty bullet proof and a bit funkier than the Yaris. Had a Yaris as a loaner when my Impreza was in for some work and I actually thought the lack of acceleration bordered on dangerous!!

[fitz]

I have experience of two girls cars, one i own, one i've had several times as a hire car,

I've driven the micra you're talking about for a bit as a hire car, and the ex had one, it has super light steering (seriously i was driving along like i was in one of those 60s movies where the wheel goes from side to side and you carry on in a straight line). Its nice and revvy and perky about town but will quickly run out of steam at motorway speeds (you would need the whole of the M1 and the patience of a saint to loose your license) - that is the smaller engines petrols. I have heard of a couple of issues with the Diesels. the ex loved hers yet still couldn't park the thing straight :S

I own a corsa diesel as my car for work :- they are cheap to buy, fix, insure etc, i think the petrols are a bit more forgiving i believe but it would be worth getting the timing chain replaced if there is no record of it being done (there is a design fault...) the new kits have a redesigned tensioner. My experience of my diesel which was cheap and badly looked after, and had been sitting on a forecourt for a while, they don't like not being looked after, i've spent 10 times what i've spent keeping the lotus going keeping it going (EGR valve failure and subsequent blocked maniold!!!, and high pressure fuel pump failed, and a shot flexi pipe), now these have been resolved and i've given it good fuel, correct use, and some tlc, its a peach.... driving the corsa the 'c' model i have has plenty of pep in anything but the 1.0 3 cylinder, the 1.2 being an ideal first car - they are also pretty much designed for learners, huge mirrors, great visibility, and you can reverse park it perfectly each time by matching the white line with the interior door handle , the steering has more feel than the micra which has NO feel, but the electric pump kicks in at low speed / when parking and making it a doddle (you could park it with your finger)

but release as you said you've ruled the corsa out.....so out of the two, i'd go for the micra, its a little more fun and chique than a yaris

[Advantage]

Well, I've taken onboard all you lovely people's advice - and completely ignored it all.

This magnificent example of Toyota engineering now resides on the driveway (although, at the moment it's in the garage as I've just washed it and have had to put it away so I can dry it. But I'm going to have to wait for the ice to melt off the bodywork before I can get the chamois out. Brrr) and will be presented to her on Christmas morning as her, er, present.

It's 998cc of pure thrust, finished in eyecatching metallic green which has got a bit of a blue flip. Nice. I drove it back home from Rugby the other day and didn't find it too bad on the motorway. Sure, it's no rocketship and has zero torque, but once you wind it up it zooms along quite happily. I came off the M1 to head for the A34 via the Silverstone bypass. It was then that I discovered that maintaining momentum around roundabouts is key, however it can understeer when provoked so rewards a smooth technique to keep the TDi Golfs at bay. Upon closer inspection this morning, it dawned on me that the four Tigar tyres probably aren't helping grip levels. A trip to the local tyre guys is in order after Christmas - ho hum.

However, for a 17 yeat old girlie who has her first driving lesson on Monday it will make a fine First Car. She can whizz around in this for a while, gaining experience and after some time we can always chop it in for something else. I'll be content knowing that it will start in the morning, the brakes and heater work and that things probably won't fall off, also the 4 star NCAP rating is reassuring.

Now, where can I buy lots of wrapping paper and a couple of miles of selotape?

[Dave Eds]

Nice one Graham!

[Bibs]

Beautiful!

[mangel]

She's honey!!!

don't bother wrapping all of it, make a big bow out of wall paper and slap that on top of it!!

[Advantage]

GLOL!

Santa has dropped by early this year.

[arbell9]

Brilliant choice of colour

[Bibs]

Do you think she'll still think it's a pair of socks!

[Sparky]

Hmmmm. Bit of orange peel here and there...

[ads_green]

Just saw this - I would have gone for the yaris too.

We've had two over the years and good little cars.

[rogerch]

Now if you were serious, and really loved your daughter, you would have decorated a crane to look like a Christmas tree and hung the car in a red sack from it on christmas morning. Your poor daughter is going to be emotionally scared for life due to your lack of thoughtfulness. (there's still time redeem yourself)

[FrogsterPL]

Great choice IMO We also have 1.0 Yaris and we have no problems at all with it. And believe me - engine is WAY better than some 1.2 engines on the market (even if we're talking about torque).

The interesting thing is, that after facelifting (2003) those cars have 3 BHP less power (and over 1 sec. longer acceleration to 60 mph), due to environmental considerations... But it's still way better than actual model - over 15 seconds in 0-60 mph acceleration

Merry Christmas!

Edited December 24, 2010 by FrogsterPL

[Dave Eds]

We gave our daughter the wife's old Yaris, but as she is at Uni I still use it when I need to stay dry!

We bought it new in 2002, it now has 90k on the clock and we've had no issues with it. It's a 1.0 CDX so has no acceleration to speak of, but cruises comfortably.

Averages 40mpg,

Bought the wife a 1.4 diesel Yaris about 4 years ago and it's a pile of shit!

So in April Lauren got herself a black Punto (it's in some of the Castle Combe pictures),

and on Monday little Tash passed her test and is now the proud owner of a one previous (whole family) owner 9 year old Yaris with 99k on the clock.

Oh and that means Dad is getting wet again using a 21 year old leaky Elan with 146k under it's belt.