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The 40 mpg Cars of 2013

2009 Toyota Yaris

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Curious about the newer model? Check out the 2013 Toyota Yaris

Overview

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2009 Toyota Yaris Review

By KBB.com Editors

For 2009, the Yaris continues as Toyota's subcompact value leader, which makes sense since it's also Toyota's only subcompact offering. Having replaced the slow-selling Echo two years back, the Yaris has gained in popularity and, although it remains the smallest and least expensive vehicle in the Toyota brand line-up, it is still packed with value. Set to do battle with the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and lesser rivals like the Chevrolet Aveo and Kia Rio, the Yaris must cover a lot of ground. Of the three distinctly different Yaris models it's the Liftback that make the more expressive design statement and, although the Sedan is nearly 19 inches longer than the Liftback, all three vehicles share the same chassis, engine and drivetrain.

You'll Like This Car If...

If you trust Toyota for reliability and are in the market for a cute subcompact, the 2009 Yaris fits the bill. You might also need to be open to a few curious looks on the street – the Yaris sports a distinctively "Euro" design.

You May Not Like This Car If...

If you like more conventional styling or have a penchant for performance driving, the 2009 Toyota Yaris will not meet your needs. It's a simple, four-cylinder economy model with a whimsical design – not a sporty performer by any stretch.

What's New for 2009

A new five-door Liftback joins the lineup, while cruise control is made available on both the three- and five-door models. New standard equipment includes anti-lock brakes (ABS), front side-impact airbags, side-curtain airbag and satellite capability on the optional radio offerings.

Driving the Yaris

Driving Impressions The four-cylinder engine of the Yaris has Toyota's variable valve-timing system (known as VVT-i) and dual overhead camshafts and is rated at 106 horsepower. There is a light, almost effortless...

feel to the Yaris in steering and during moderate acceleration; however, the engine seems strained when asked to deliver more. With this relatively small engine we found the Yaris a little lacking in performance when traveling at 60 mph-plus speeds on the highways. This is a shortcoming for Toyota since one of the main competitors – the Honda Fit – has a few more horses (109 horsepower to Yaris' 106) and is much more fun to drive. This kind of subtle difference may not impact you but, if you're in any way interested in quickness and responsiveness, the Yaris might fail to impress.

Favorite Features

Flexible Seat Adjustments
The Yaris Sedan provides four-way adjustable front seats and fold-down rear seats that provide nearly 13 cubic feet of cargo space.

Roomy Cabin
The Yaris boasts the largest wheelbase in the subcompact arena. This is most noticeable in the interior leg and head room in both front and back seats.

2009 Toyota Yaris Details

Interior

The 2009 Toyota Yaris Sedan and Liftback share many things, but the instrument panel is where they part ways with their domestic rivals. Both vehicles have the center-stacked "waterfall" type gauges borrowed from the Lexus design philosophy. The disconcerting aspect is that at night there are no gauges or little lights in front of you, causing you to have to turn your head slightly to the right to look at, for example, the speedometer. Another unusual trait of the Yaris interior is that the waterfall gauge panel provides a bit of a "cave" section behind it, allegedly providing storage space. This oddly-sized space might allow for balancing a small map, but anything more sizable would be precariously perched. Overall, however, the interiors of both the Sedan and Liftback seem roomier than you'd expect for the sizes of the vehicles.

Exterior

The most pronounced difference between the Yaris Liftback and the Yaris Sedan is that the Sedan is nearly 19 inches longer .Though the two body styles share a slight family resemblance, their individual personalities are miles apart. The Yaris Liftback has the more unusual exterior styling, with a pronounced short front overhang and an exaggerated "bulldog" stance. As slight as the front end seems, the wide flat-back design of the hatch door appears solid and substantial, providing a low, easy opening to the cargo area. The four-door Yaris Sedan styling seems rather traditional at first glance. It, too, has the short sloping overhang in front but the traditional sedan look is evident by the high arch of the roofline and windows that helps provide decent head room for those in the back seat.

Notable Equipment

Standard Equipment

In this, the least-expensive segment of them all, the idea is to get the advertised price as low as possible, so the standard equipment list is usually short. This is not the case for the Toyota Yaris, however, which offers a tilt wheel, air conditioning, intermittent wipers, six airbags and color-keyed mirrors and door handles. More notably, the Yaris Sedan offers six-way adjustable front seats with driver's seat height adjustment, something not usually found in the subcompact segment. Missing from the standard equipment list is a radio and rear defroster, but both can be had by opting for the Convenience Package.

Optional Equipment

Notable on the Yaris' list of options are keyless entry and a rear window defogger, both of which are standard on some competitors. A simple solution to getting the basic features you probably want (on the Sedan) is to add the Convenience Package, which includes an AM/FM CD player with MP3/WMA playback capability and auxiliary input jack, 60/40 split folding rear seat, 15-inch wheels with full wheel covers and rear defroster; and/or the comprehensive Power Package, which includes an upgraded sound system and interior, alloy wheels, cruise control and power door locks, windows and mirrors. Those two packages are slightly different for the Liftback models, which add a rear wiper/washer to the mix.

Under the Hood

The Yaris Sedan and Liftback share the same 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence (VVT-i), producing 106 horsepower. This is enough power to tool around town, but maybe not enough to take a chance at passing a Mack truck on a two-way highway with an oncoming car in sight.

1.5-liter in-line 4
106 horsepower @ 6000 rpm
103 lb.-ft of torque @ 4200 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 29/36 (manual), 29/35 (automatic)

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2009 Toyota Yaris Consumer Reviews

Overall Rating

9.1

Out of 10

Based on 669 Ratings for the 2007 - 2011 models.

Review this car

Value

9.4/10

Quality

9.2/10
Reliability

9.6/10

Performance

8.9/10
Comfort

8.9/10

Styling

9.1/10

Love this car, would buy another one in a second.

By Lauren (NM) on Monday, July 22, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 130,000

10 10.0

overall rating 10 of 10rating details

Reviewer Ratings

Overall Rating: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Reliability: 10/10
Quality: 9/10
Performance: 10/10
Styling: 7/10
Comfort: 9/10

Pros: "Fun to drive, great gas mileage, cheap to maintain"

Cons: "Not luxury, wish it had four doors"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"Very reliable, great gas mileage, very cheap to maintain. I've had mine for five years and zero things have gone wrong with it. I would buy another one with no hesitation."

1 person out of 1 found this review helpful

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TOTOYA, YARIS

By Miss. Yas (IN) on Tuesday, July 09, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 88,000

10 7.0

overall rating 7 of 10rating details

Reviewer Ratings

Overall Rating: 7/10
Value: 5/10
Reliability: 10/10
Quality: 10/10
Performance: 10/10
Styling: 10/10
Comfort: 10/10

Pros: "Fantastic fuel-efficient, affortable, fun to drive"

Cons: "No electric doors or windows. All manual."

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"Owning my Toyota Yaris has been fantastic! However, I do love my car for many reasons. Its small and compact, yet spacious at the same time. It contains two-door, very nice seating designs and definitely comfortable, hatchback (liftback)spacious enough, basic technology equipment, several storage compartments in convenient areas. Nevertheless, besides its basic features what I love about my car is that is fuel-efficient. I literally gas-up once a week. Since the car is pretty petite it fits almost everywhere to park, very convenient."

3 people out of 3 found this review helpful

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Great car, great gas mileage, surprisingly smooth

By jenn (TN) on Tuesday, May 07, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 81,000

10 10.0

overall rating 10 of 10rating details

Reviewer Ratings

Overall Rating: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Reliability: 10/10
Quality: 9/10
Performance: 9/10
Styling: 8/10
Comfort: 9/10

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"I've owned this car for a year and a half, and I've driven it to and from work daily, as well as from TN to CA and back plus numerous shorter road trips. The Yaris is quite comfortable for the driver and passenger. The back seat is a bit small, but I usually have the seats laid down for my dogs or to haul things around, and for this it's much roomier than you'd expect. I even slept in the back of this thing on several of my road trips. The Yaris handles really well; the turn radius on it is really just amazing. I also don't feel like I'm getting whipped around in the wind on the interstate, like I felt with my old '98 Prizm. The gas mileage is really amazing too - I average about 37 when I'm driving town and interstate, but for interstate road trips I use E85 to get about 40 mpg. I bought this car because I wanted a relatively inexpensive crossover-type vehicle. A hatchback/hauling-type car with good gas mileage were my biggest considerations. I am 100% satisfied with my Yaris and would absolutely recommend it."

3 people out of 3 found this review helpful

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terrific no frills economy car

By Patrick (CO) on Monday, April 22, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 50,000

10 9.0

overall rating 9 of 10rating details

Reviewer Ratings

Overall Rating: 9/10
Value: 9/10
Reliability: 10/10
Quality: 9/10
Performance: 6/10
Styling: 8/10
Comfort: 8/10

Pros: "amazing gas mileage, good fit & finish for $$"

Cons: "not liking plastic hub caps, poor speaker quality"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 9

"fuel efficient(and on regular gas), smooth auto trannie, sensible controls easy to access. highly recommend finding one with cruise control & power options. stock speakers really sub par - require upgrade. not much pick up after 40 mph (well what do you expect for 108 HP?)."

3 people out of 3 found this review helpful

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Reliable zippy car for urban driving

By Yaris' owner since 2007 (IA) on Saturday, April 13, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 58,000

10 9.0

overall rating 9 of 10rating details

Reviewer Ratings

Overall Rating: 9/10
Value: 10/10
Reliability: 10/10
Quality: 10/10
Performance: 7/10
Styling: 5/10
Comfort: 4/10

Pros: "Reliability, fuel efficiency, affordability"

Cons: "Bumpy ride, poor sound insulation"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"My wife and I live in Des Moines. We bought a new Yaris hatchback 5.5 years ago. Our main purchase criteria at the time were affordability, reliability and good fuel economy. We drive the Yaris mostly in the city and take our Camry on longer trips. The Yaris has been amazingly reliable - not a single repair in all these years! The car is relatively light, so even with a 1.5l engine it easily leaves behind bigger cars at the lights. The small size prooved to be a big plus when parking in tight spots downtown. The car performed well in icy and snowy conditions. The interior is pretty basic but sturdy. Still looks good and everything works well. The sound insulation is mediocre. One has to crank up volume on the radio when driving on the interstate. But this is probably true with most subcompact cars. I would recommend this car to anyone who values the practical qualities I mentioned."

1 person out of 1 found this review helpful

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Will never sell!

By Shano (TX) on Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 135,000

10 10.0

overall rating 10 of 10rating details

Reviewer Ratings

Overall Rating: 10/10
Value: 8/10
Reliability: 10/10
Quality: 10/10
Performance: 8/10
Styling: 10/10
Comfort: 10/10

Pros: "Gas mileage is amazing, spacious, lots of storage"

Cons: "Cabin is not very quiet while driving"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"This car is perfect for the highway driver. My car has 135,000 miles and I am just now changing the manufacturer parts i.e...spark plugs,brakes, driver/passenger window weatherstripping. As of right now there is nothing wrong with these parts, they are just starting to show some wear and tear. With continued regular upkeep I'm sure this car will last me another 135,000 miles."

2 people out of 2 found this review helpful

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