1.0 VVT-i 68 3dr Hatchback

Feel badly let down

Bought car from new. Paragon of reliability until a few weeks ago when I noticed grinding sound when changing from 2nd to 3rd gear. Took it to Toyota garage who said that the synchromesh had gone. Quoted £2700 to repair. With a bit of "goodwill" reduced to £1300 (but the price is not fixed, so may end up being more)
Bearing in mind the car has done less than 30,000 miles and has been well looked after with a full Toyota service history it is really quite unacceptable for this sort of fault to develop. I have owned a lot of cars in my time some of which have been more reliable than others but this is the worst fault I have had. I still don't think Toyota have done enough. After all their latest advert shows decades old Toyotas which should be "used and abused". Well I've used but never abused my car and basically I have a pile of junk now sitting on my front drive.
Ok, what else? The good:
Averages 50-55 MPG on a daily run. Forget 65 MPG unless you like holding up traffic.
Comfortable and refined for such a small car.
Very easy to park - it is small and the turning circle is amazingly tight.
The bad:
Eco tyres are frankly r****** and under certain circumstances grip is negligible
Gearing is *VERY* tall - presumably to help get under the 100 g/km C02 threshold for free road tax. Perhaps this is why 3rd failed - you use this gear a lot?
Really a three seater, unless the driver is under 5ft, when you might get a small child behind.
Overall, I am extremely disappointed. Will fix the gearbox and sell on. My last Toyota!

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