In 2018, I was looking at changing my car. I owned a Honda City ivtec then.It had clocked nearly 2 Lakh Kms. I love sedans and hence was looking for one. Though the entire market was throwing MUVs & SUVs. I also didnt want to upgrade to a more expensive car as I was planning to buy a automatic hatchback for wifey.
Hence I was left with the following options.
Maruti Ciaz
Skoda Rapid
Honda City
Hyundai Verna
Toyota Yaris
My brother had just bought a CIAZ and I had driven the car enough to understand that the car wasn’t safe. The only good thing about it was the Mileage.
Skoda was rejected as there was no showroom in ernakulam.
Hyundai Verna was rejected due to lack of leg room in the backseat & high Service cost.
I straight away went to the closest Honda showroom to test drive the new City. However after driving the Ivtec for nearly 8 years the new Honda City felt Fragile, Weak etc. I couldnt believe that like everyone I would also have to look at a SUV/MUV.
Then I went to check out my last option(Toyota Yaris). I went to the Nippon Toyota Showroom in Kochi. The showroom looks like a fancy 5 star hotel. Infact it would put a lot of 5 star hotels to shame. I haven’t seen such a showroom anywhere in India. The staff their are very friendly.
However the only options I had in my budget was either the Toyota Etios or Toyota Yaris. Etios is a widely used Taxi car. hence I went ahead with Yaris. Did the test run of both automatic & manual versions. I love manual since it gives you more control over the car.
Talking about Yaris. Honestly it is a beautiful machine. 7 airbags makes you feel very safe. 1499 cc engine give around 15-17 KMPL. I have done around 31000 Kms so far. No complains.
You know the best part - Service cost. This is my first Toyota and I had no clue that the Service costs are so low.The costliest service was INR 3950.
I have gone on a lot of long trips and the car has always been very comfortable. The roof mounted AC is a nice essential addition for the backseat passengers. The interiors are beautiful.
Yaris has good ground clearance.
All in all it is the best Machine in its class. Sad that Toyota is discontinuing the model due to low sales.