Toyota Yaris 1.5 Hybrid Design CVT 5d Owner Review

I did a lot of research before deciding to buy the Yaris, and looked at the leading competitors such as the Fiesta Clio, Corsa, etc. My partner has had an e208 since late last year, and driving that reminded me how much fun smaller cars can be to drive. However, I'm not ready to go fully electric due to the miles I drive. I also wanted to have something that was likely to be reliable, and fancied a change from the VW group offerings after having had an A3 and an Octavia as my last two cars. The Yaris came onto my shortlist because of the 5 year warranty, the fact its automatic and the 0% finance deal, so I booked a test drive. I had tested a Fiesta auto at Xmas but hadn't been able to see what all the motoring press fuss was about. However the Yaris was surprisingly good to drive and pretty nippy. I managed to get an amazing deal on a Design model (probably the pick of the normal range) so went for it. The dealer i bought it from was 200 miles from home so I had a long motorway drive as my first journey in it, and was very impressed with the refinement at speed and how good the active cruise control and lane keep assistance were at taking the bulk of effort out of driving. Since I got it only 2 weeks ago, I can't attest to its long term reliability but so far everything works and there hasn't been any glitches (which wasn't the case with my Octavia that I had before). I've used it both on the motorway and for nipping around town and its fantastic. Its really easy to park and get through gaps in traffic but still very refined on the motorway. So far, I'm seeing about 67mpg on average which is more than I expected. Having the Android Auto function in the infotainment system means I've got my maps and music easily accessible, and being able to control it from the steering wheel buttons is very convenient. All in all I'm really pleased with the car. It might not be a prestige badge but with the equipment it has, combined with its economy and performance its brilliant for me.