Toyota Yaris - Reliability and safety
Toyota Yaris customers can be reassured by excellent reliability and good safety kit, all backed up by a generous warranty package
Toyota has long been known for producing reliable cars, with solid build quality and good levels of safety. In our 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, the Yaris finished in 3rd out of 50 on the best cars to own list, beating the VW Polo in 41st. Toyota placed 8th out of 32 manufacturers, which was behind Kia, but still well ahead of rivals such as Hyundai, Honda, Skoda, SEAT, VW, and Renault.
Safety experts Euro NCAP awarded the Yaris five stars for safety in 2020, with some impressive individual scores: adult and child occupant protection achieved 86 per cent and 81 per cent, respectively, while the car's onboard safety assist tech was given an 85 per cent rating. The Honda Jazz (tested in the same year) scored better in most areas, except for safety assistance technology.
The Yaris has lots of safety kit as standard, including active systems such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), that’ll put the brakes on at lower speeds to hopefully avoid collisions with not just other cars, but cyclists, motor bikes, and pedestrians. It also has Road Sign Assist to ping up speed limit warnings, Emergency Steering Assist and lane keep assistance system help to carefully nudge you back into your lane, and a Driver Attention Alert if the system thinks you need to stop and rest. Entry-level cars also come with a reversing camera, Automatic High Beam and Toyota’s e-call emergency call system to contact the emergency services if an airbag is deployed.
Used - available now
2025 Toyota
Yaris
63,225 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £11,899
2025 Toyota
Yaris
25,522 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £14,500
2019 Toyota
Yaris
13,717 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £14,300
2020 Toyota
Yaris
33,937 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £12,400High-end Excel trim comes with a blind spot monitoring system to let you know of vehicles alongside you on the motorway, and a rear-cross traffic alert system to warn you of vehicles crossing your path when reversing onto a main road.
Warranty
Toyota provides a standard three-year/60,000-mile warranty for the Yaris, with the opportunity to extend the cover for an extra 12 months/10,000 miles every time you have the car serviced at an authorised Toyota repairer – up to a maximum of ten years/100,000 miles (whichever comes first).
Servicing
Toyota says the fourth-generation Yaris needs servicing once a year or every 10,000 miles, whichever comes first. Yaris customers can take out a Toyota Service Plan from £27 per month, which covers three services and the cost of an MOT – once the car is old enough to qualify for one. It also extends the one-year Toyota Roadside assistance policy every new Toyota car gets by two years.
What do owners think?
Here’s what owners in the 2024 Driver Power survey thought of the Toyota Yaris.
| What they like | What they don't like |
| “It’s smooth and responsive. When you need a little bit of extra power, the car is more than willing to respond.” | “The driver’s seat needs a bit more height adjustment. I’m quite small and I struggle to see where the nose is.” |
| “Our Yaris is excellent in terms of cabin quality. It feels very much like the BMW we previously owned.” | “When the doors are closed with any force at all, they feel and sound as though they’re very cheaply made.” |
| “I have been buying Toyota for 30 years and I think the design and materials get better and better.” | “The infotainment is awful. It should be so much better, or easier to upgrade to an aftermarket system.” |
| “The infotainment sounds great, plus it’s easy and convenient to use, with clearly laid-out controls.” | “The boot is tiny compared with similar models from other brands. The sloping hatch makes things worse.” |
| “Excellent car. Very comfy and lovely to drive, with responsive acceleration and very reassuring brakes.” | “The quality of the interior trim is poor and rather shocking for an almost-£25,000 car.” |
| “My Yaris is the best car that I’ve ever bought. The interior quality and exterior design are both fantastic.” | |
| “I love driving my Yaris because it requires very little effort. It’s responsive, smooth and very comfortable, which makes every journey a breeze, no matter how far.” | |
| “There is plenty of room with the back seats down, and the front seats adjust to suit me perfectly as a taller chap. I do lots of very long journeys into Europe and it never gets tiring.” | |
| “The Yaris is small, so I don’t expect a big boot, but the size is ample for my needs and there’s room for a spare wheel underneath. I have grandchildren and I can just about get a buggy in the boot; it’s the reason why I moved up from my previous Aygo.” |
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