Hi

looking at a 2000 yaris... any obvious gotcha's to look for (its an auto 1.3 vvti)

I got a Yaris for 3 years and the only problem I had with it was a gearbox bearing went off. But with 145000 miles it's quite normal...

As you have an auto I can't see something go wrong. Toyota are the most reliable car for me.

Don't know much about it except also heard of gearbox problems.

Oh - and they suddenly accelerate when you aren't looking but fortunately their performance is bad enough that you have time to dial 911 for help before getting into serious trouble.

Sorry - ignore the above - like all Toyota's you can't go much wrong.

Look out for 2 of them, One for each foot.



Steve.

My wife has a Yaris as her company car.
D4D. So no idea on the autos
Now on her 3rd one, No complains at all.

She reckons the old ones are far better than the new ones.
Bit of a shopping trolley, but can kick up its heals when pushed. She also drives a MX5 so she should know

Check that the service history is up to date - Toyotas are extremely reliable as long as they get their regular once-over. Most parts are quite cheap.

I've just replaced mine after 9 years of motoring. Only significant fault was the front brake discs corroding on the inside face - the one you can't see. I suspect that the caliper wasn't floating properly. Very easy to fix myself - new discs and pads came to just over £100.

Minor issues were:
The rear wiper spindle corroding and making grinding noises - stripped it, polished the spindle with fine emery cloth and re-assembled it with lots of grease.
Front wiper mechanism started to squeak - sprayed some lube over it and that was OK (apart from it trying to chew my thumb when I wasn't looking ).

Not bad for 85,000 miles of motoring over 9 years!

Im a toyota tech and can highly recommend a yaris! Great cars. I have been working on them since they came out and have never had any issues with them. Only a couple of weeks ago i replaced a timing chain on an 04. But this is the only one i had ever come across. The car in question had not been serviced for a long time. Autos are bombproof and especially if its a 2000 it will be a JAP built car which is even better. later ones were built in france and japan. the new models are all french built
Buy it you wont be dissapointed. I also can get good price service kits if your interested

Rob

I can also add that they're not bad to drive either! Mine was a 1300 SR, which basically means: same engine, slightly lowered suspension, wider alloys and boy racer trim.

Can't speak for the automatic, but mine handled well (very predictable with no vices) and returned 33-35mpg in traffic and well over 40mpg on the motorway.

A bit noisy at 70mph, but mine did have the boy racer silencer!

Had one for a while when my car was being un-bended. No complaints really was big enough for me, went faster when you pressed the right pedal. Did quite like the digital dash hidden under a big lens though, that was pretty funky.

Overall great considering my first thought was "Oh no, a grannymobile tinbox!"