Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car)

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Fri 2 Jun 2017 22:10
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - Linda Spencer

Another question about used Toyotas - sorry!

Out of the blue I've been offered a 2001 Yaris for £600.00 on a private sale.

It has about 29,000 only on the clock as it was owned by a lady who literally took it to sainsburys and back and looked after it well. She has sadly passed away and the family want to sell it. I've checked online and all MOTs are there, the last one said "nearside front tie bar/rod rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement". Same for offside.

I've not driven for a few years but need a runaround to take my elderly mum to appointments etc etc but will be doing some distances now and again for me.

What do you think? I thought the low usage thing was great until I read here it might be the opposite.

I haven't got anyone to come with me to look at it and unfortunately I'm no expert!

Thanks very much for any advice/thoughts you may have.

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Fri 2 Jun 2017 22:26
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - gordonbennet

If it starts and runs and sounds all right, drives alright, looks alright and has a decent ticket get it bought, cracking little cars these.

I urge you to find someone a bit car handy, give him or her a drink to give the car the once over for you, can't help you on price but if the car is as good as it sounds then it's probably not overpriced.

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Fri 2 Jun 2017 22:38
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - Linda Spencer

Thank you!

I might see if my local garage (who have a great reputation) would come if I paid for their time. The car is literally round the corner from me and the garage.

To be honest it sounded perfect to me but I thought I was getting over excited as I'm really looking forward to having a car again :-)

I think I need one this old having lost all my no claims through not driving I've just nearly fainted at the change in insurance prices in a few years!!

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Fri 2 Jun 2017 22:31
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - SLO76
Rust is your biggest enemy here. It's an old car and although these are very robust little motors it could be absolutely rotten underneath just like the 66,000 mile 52 plate Yaris I viewed the other night for a friend. It was located on the coast which is likely why it was so bad despite generally having been well maintained.

Get underneath it and take a look, it's not going to be picture perfect under there but look for holes and severe rot on sills, subframes and the front crossmember. It might be ok but it could be a mess but at £600 it's hardly dear and probably worth a punt if it drives ok and has a decent Mot left. The Mot advisories you've mentioned are minor and cheap to fix if required.

Also ask to hear it start from cold. When you arrive first thing you do is pop the bonnet and put your hand on top of the engine to feel if there's any heat before starting it. If there is then they've clearly started it and ran it beforehand because there's an issue with starting (possibly just a battery but it'll still cost £60-£100) or possibly a rattling timing chain. Listen for any unusual noises particularly a rattling timing chain which should go quiet immediately. Pop the oil filler cap and take a look in the header tank for signs of oil and water mixing but head gasket failure isn't common on these. Look under at the road/drive it's been sitting on for major oil or coolant leaks too.

A Yaris is a good option for a cheap runabout, one I frequently recommend and often buy to sell on myself but as with any cheap car it's a risk even if you do know what you're doing so don't expect it to be fault free or to remain so. Don't leave yourself plotless as old cars need ongoing maintenance and repairs. A Yaris is certainly one of the lowest risks though.
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Fri 2 Jun 2017 22:45
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - Linda Spencer

Thank you that's great advice.

I really appreciate you both taking time to reply.

And it's good to know because the couple selling the car are also elderly like the previous owner and I got the impression they dont know anything technical either (like me lol!)

The blind leading the blind here ...

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Fri 2 Jun 2017 22:47
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - gordonbennet

Garage round the corner, wonder if they have trade plates, if so one of the lads could whip it back to the workshops, up on the lift and a full checkover, if all good do the deal and the garage could sort any issues and give a quick service while its there, job done.

Be warned, assuming this car turns out to be a good un, buying good basic old cars like this can be addictive, in three months it will have cost you as much as typical lease/pcp payments, from that day you're in pocket, if you scrape a wheel on a kerb or some clot bashes it for you in the car park it won't be the worry that a new car would....these normal older cars tend to be fitted with sensible sized tyres too, less than half the price of the elastic bands fitted to the latest offerings.

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Fri 2 Jun 2017 23:27
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - Falkirk Bairn

The problem of buying " an old car" has always been a problem.

On average Toyota make good cars.

On average the Yaris is a good car to look at.

However this is where the idea fails.

You are NOT BUYING "A GOOD CAR" because it is a Yaris.

You are buying what was a "good car" made by Toyota (on average)

BUT you are buying 1 car -not the average of all Yarises from15 years ago.

how well looked after / driven by the owner(s)?

Was it serviced regularly?

Were the correct oil / fluids use?

Has the car had a poor repair after a road acccident?

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Sat 3 Jun 2017 07:03
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - madf

At thie age:

Radiators corrode: look for sepage at teh bottom..

Water pumps fail... check for overheating.

Timing chains and tensioners fail to to infrequent oil changes- rattle on start up.

Rust - as above.

Rear exhausts rust at rear in wheelarch. pattern parts cheap..

Disks at front corrode: cheap..Front ARB bushes are notorious for failing - the rubbers perish. £50 for Toyota parts...

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Sat 3 Jun 2017 10:20
Toyota Yaris - Advice on used Toyota Yaris (old car) - Steveieb
I helped a relative to buy her first car, an auto Yaris MK 1 and was lucky to find an early model built in Japan.

Am I right in thinking that these early models prior to being built in France were galvanised?

Remember seeing in Which that the Yaris MK 1 Verso, which was also built in Japan was given the highest ever customer satisfaction rating of any car in Motoring Which
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