A Yaris or Polo

spree

Hi

I am planning on getting a used car, small engine 1 1.3litre between 2002-2003.
Only small cars I like out there at the moment would be the Yaris or Polo.
Have a 17 year old Micra at the moment still running bit is getting on in years.

Thanks

Nightwish

I've no experience with VW's but I own a Yaris, and its a fantastic, reliable little car. They hold their value too, but I dont know how important that is, if its a car you want to drive til it dies.

crosstownk

Nightwish wrote: »

I've no experience with VW's but I own a Yaris, and its a fantastic, reliable little car. They hold their value too, but I dont know how important that is, if its a car you want to drive til it dies.

Nightwish is 100% correct about the Yaris.

But I think the Polo is a better looking car if somewhat less reliable.

E92

A Skoda Fabia would give you VW quality but Toyota reliability, and at a lower price than either.

The Yaris is small, noisy at speed and not good over bumps. The interior feels very cheap and tacky too.

I don't know what they're like to drive, but I presume it's standard Toyota fare of being very easy to drive but doing everything possible to remove any sort of driving pleasure there might possibly be.

The Skoda has baby pedals(in the sense that they're so light), which I think most superminis have anyway, but it feels like something bigger on the open road and is by far the most spacious of the lot. The Skoda's 1.2 engine is very buzzy at speed and is not exactly a shining example of refinement and smoothness(which is unsurprising as it has only 3 rather than 4 cylinders), but that's the only real weak point of the car. I'm sure it'll be considerably better than a 17 year old Micra though. It has a very good safety rating too, though to be fair so does the Toyota.

2qk4u

Yaris wins by miles....

spree

I intend on keeping what ever I get for good number of years, I would imagine any of these cars would be alot better that the a 17 year car, 17 year old technology. The dash in the Yaris is a bit different from alot of other cars, but reliability would sway me more than looks.
I've not looked at the Skodas at all but will check them out as well. Whats the boot space like in the Yaris.

colm_mcm

Boot space in the Yaris isn't huge, but you can slide the rear seat backwards and forwards to make either more boot or rear leg room.
Yaris doesn't have a timing belt, so one less expense to worry about. The 1.0 which is €165 to tax is 65bhp (more than most of the 1.4 and 1.2 engines in the Fabia) and they are super reliable. All 1999-2006 Yaris's have a 4 star safety rating. When you take resale value, annual road tax, servicing etc into account, the Yaris has to be the cheapest car on sale to own (with the exception of free cars and bangers!)

Redpunto

Yaris's are granny cars:D

colm_mcm

Redpunto is right. get a 350Z.

Cosmo K

Get a Yaris, probably the most reliable small car. The Skoda Fabia is actually not that reliable at all, most Fabias sold in Ireland have that horrible 1.4 pushrod engine, which dates back to the 1970's. No thanks.

towel401

Cosmo K wrote: »

Get a Yaris, probably the most reliable small car. The Skoda Fabia is actually not that reliable at all, most Fabias sold in Ireland have that horrible 1.4 pushrod engine, which dates back to the 1970's. No thanks.

hey what's wrong with the 1970's?

E92

Cosmo K wrote: »

most Fabias sold in Ireland have that horrible 1.4 pushrod engine, which dates back to the 1970's. No thanks.

The much more reliable 1.2 came in 2003, so only 01 and 02 versions are likely to have that old thing.

03-07 models would be mostly be 1.2s though, but there is also the 1.4 which has been on sale since 2000 with 100 bhp and that has the considerably more modern VAG engine too.

Cosmo K

Well, the 1.2 is definitely a huge improvement compared to the old pushrod engine, but its not a great engine either. Like all 3 cyl engines its fairly loud and vibrates a lot.

I'd still buy the Yaris, they are so reliable, its scary:)

E92

Cosmo K wrote: »

Well, the 1.2 is definitely a huge improvement compared to the old pushrod engine, but its not a great engine either. Like all 3 cyl engines its fairly loud and vibrates a lot.

I'd still buy the Yaris, they are so reliable, its scary:)

I think the Yaris is completely overrated, for all the reasons I mentioned above. The Fabia feels like a quiality car, and it has proven itself to be reliable once you avoid the aforementioned pushrod engine. Skodas are considerably better built than the VWs that they are related to as well, so they should be fine for reliability. Maybe not Toyota good(though Toyota have been slipping recently, the Auris is giving plenty of trouble and its not even 2 years old yet), but not far off either:)!

The 1.2 isn't great because of the fact it does only have 3, rather than 4 cylinders(though 4 pots wouldn't rate besides a 6 pot), but it's reliable, economical and given how much of a compromise 3 cylinders are over 4, in the same way diesel is so much of a compromise over petrol, I don't think they've done a bad job at all. Certainly it's a nicer engine than the 3 cylinder Opel engine which is one of my least favourite engines along with VAG's 1.9 TDI.

bazz26

Both cars are overpriced second hand imo, my choice would be the Ford Fiesta. Cheaper to buy, drives better, just as reliable and feels less small and cuddly than the other two.

S.I.R

spree wrote: »

Hi

I am planning on getting a used car, small engine 1 1.3litre between 2002-2003.
Only small cars I like out there at the moment would be the Yaris or Polo.
Have a 17 year old Micra at the moment still running bit is getting on in years.

Thanks

buy neither, get a colt.


i know a fella that will buy that mirca off ya, he has a 1.8 nissan turbo lump begging to be in a micra...

colm_mcm

The Colt, (1996-2003 presumably) while an admirably well built car has a good few drawbacks:
Minimum 1.3 engine
3 door only
poor safety
poorly equipped (usually windey windows, no central locking etc)
it's a reskin of a model that was launched in 1991
really low driving position
It comes from a period when Mitsubishi was really in the red and couldn't afford to develop some models properly

S.I.R

colm_mcm wrote: »

The Colt, (1996-2003 presumably) while an admirably well built car has a good few drawbacks:
Minimum 1.3 engine
3 door only
poor safety
poorly equipped (usually windey windows, no central locking etc)
it's a reskin of a model that was launched in 1991
really low driving position
It comes from a period when Mitsubishi was really in the red and couldn't afford to develop some models properly

there not a bad car actually.... reminds me off the nissan primera... older models...


with rock solid reliability ( without a shadow of a doubt ) and good build quiality... Grantted they are dull and gray inside... id buy one... not worry's at all... once a women didn't own it...

colm_mcm

would you seriously buy a 2003 Colt if you could get an identical 1996 model for a few hundred euro?

snowman707

yaris get my vote


just topped up my daughter's tank after the week's driving

382 miles on 34 litres of fuel

snickerpuss

Definately the Yaris. It's easy to drive, very economical with petrol, and reliable. I love mine! I don't find it to be noisy or bad over bumps either. Cheap tax and insurance also good.

spree

Hi all

Thanks for all the advise and comments.
I went for the Yaris in the end, got 1 about a week ago, still getting used to it, driving position way different from my old Micra. Its a hell of a lot smoother and much nippier. When I test drove the first one felt a bit van like, I find the seats higher than any other cars I've driven. Loads of run up front, elbow room, leg room and overall, was really surprised. The boot is alot smaller than the 91 Micra you can slide the entire back seat forward but you loose a good bit of leg room from the back.
I like the dash, its an 04 which is younger than I was going to get, but I think its a little differnet to the olders models ?.
Overall I am happy with it, do miss my CD MP3 player, the Yaris has an intagrated stereo and thers no way I am going to mess around with wiring and try install it.

javaboy

Redpunto wrote: »

Yaris's are granny cars:D

Boo hiss you young whippersnapper. /shakes cane

snowman707 wrote: »

yaris get my vote


just topped up my daughter's tank after the week's driving

382 miles on 34 litres of fuel

How much did the fill cost? 40 euro and 6 shillings?

javaboy

spree wrote: »

Hi all

Thanks for all the advise and comments.
I went for the Yaris in the end, got 1 about a week ago, still getting used to it, driving position way different from my old Micra. Its a hell of a lot smoother and much nippier. When I test drove the first one felt a bit van like, I find the seats higher than any other cars I've driven. Loads of run up front, elbow room, leg room and overall, was really surprised. The boot is alot smaller than the 91 Micra you can slide the entire back seat forward but you loose a good bit of leg room from the back.
I like the dash, its an 04 which is younger than I was going to get, but I think its a little differnet to the olders models ?.
Overall I am happy with it, do miss my CD MP3 player, the Yaris has an intagrated stereo and thers no way I am going to mess around with wiring and try install it.

I just sold my Yaris and the buyer said it felt very "van like" too. There's plenty of FAQs about how to fit a standard DIN adaptor to the old Yaris. If you're planning on selling the car I wouldn't bother but if you're going to keep it for a long time it may be worth it.

Picking up my new one in about half an hour. :)

spank_inferno

Of the Polo vs Yaris, I'd definetly go with the Yaris.

If it was my own money I'd go with the Skoda fabia.
... which is exactly what I did
I know they are very similar to the polo, though cheaper.
but 95,000 miles later with just a water pump & a wheel bearing replaced I feel pretty happy with Skoda's reliability.

regedit

My money would definitiviely go for Yaris.

snowman707

javaboy wrote: »

Boo hiss you young whippersnapper. /shakes cane



How much did the fill cost? 40 euro and 6 shillings?

GEEEEE you really contribute worthwhile info on this board, why don't you take your head outa your arse & live in the real world for a while.


OP: Happy & Safe Motoring.

javaboy

snowman707 wrote: »

GEEEEE you really contribute worthwhile info on this board

It was just a joke about the way you were mixing imperial and metric measurements. Usually people say litres per 100km or miles per gallon. Not a great joke I'll admit but you might want to relax a bit. No offense was meant and I'm sorry if any was caused.

why don't you take your head outa your arse & live in the real world for a while.

peanuthead

spree wrote: »

Hi

I am planning on getting a used car, small engine 1 1.3litre between 2002-2003.
Only small cars I like out there at the moment would be the Yaris or Polo.
Have a 17 year old Micra at the moment still running bit is getting on in years.

Thanks

I would definitely go for a yaris, or even a golf. though golfs can be pricey

peanuthead

S.I.R wrote: »

buy neither, get a colt.

+1

Ive a colt and theyre nice, small and very reliable!! Ive an older one now, 1.3, but the newer ones are 1l