Decision time! (1 Viewer)

[rozymisty]

Ok so today I got the novated lease approved. NOw i just got to decide on the fricking car to get.

I had originally planned to get the Yaris 5 door auto, then i saw teh YRS model that has the VSC and traction control which the YR doesnt. Plus its a 1.5 and got audio controls in wheel.

Remserv said they are a 3-4 month wait and about the same price as a new base line Corolla Ascent.

However I rang a few car yards and they said they have a few YRS in stock but yeah if your paying that price you may as well go Corolla

Now I test drove the Corolla, and i found the back feels bigger ie the outside and the dash is really long, as in big distance between you and the bottom of the windscreen. They do have side airbags, but no audio controls. It has a heck of a lot more boot space, but then again i wont be taking many road trips when i will have a lot of big items.

My only concern wtih getting the Corolla is that i find the smaller side window in front of the mirrors a little anoying, and its hard to see the bonnet even with the seat really high up. I am 1.63m in height so yeah. Plus my friend has a new corolla and says they are hard to park coz they are a bit wider and bulkier at the back.

the Yaris feels more zippy and stuff and Im more used to driving in a Yaris since thats what I learnt in.

The Yaris, one dealer with rear park sensors, white, mats and driveaway can sell it for about 22k, maybe down to 21.5.

The Corolla can be maybe around $23.5-24.

Obviously not a big difference, I did like the drive of the corolla but still bit nervous about parking and manouvering. Felt i couldnt see properly in the Corolla.

What would you get.

 

[sandz_2]

I can give you advice on the Yaris as my sister got one second hand last year. She got it from the car auctions for government cars - the Mainheim fowles one.. and there's also pickles auctions. Most of them are 1.3L though and come with the standard power windows etc. I think she paid around $13,900 for a dec 2005 4 door hatchback that had done about 15,000 kms. There are some that have also done even less and there are usually a variety of colours. Its a good petrol efficient car as it runs about 700 km per full tank. It is also just as bad when you are parking as you cannot see where the bonnet ends and the back too.. but its probably a bit more flatter at the back than the corolla.
Space wise.. don't do a big shopping trip as my mum and I have frequently forgotten we had a car that fits only a few shopping bags at the back. If you are going to pay 22k for a yaris.. you might as well get a corolla for a bit more..
I remember.. the corollas at the auctions go from about $16,000+ for the older models where the newer models go for a bit more on these websites
Car auctions, truck auctions, damaged car auctions | Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Perth Adelaide Hobart | ManheimFowles

Search Results - Pickles Auctions Australia

Some of the cars at the pickles may have scratches and dents so it would be good to inspect them before you buy or check out their condition report on the website. The size of the yaris' interior is quite tiny compared to a larger car but you eventually get used to it.

The only downside with the auctions is that you need to pay in full by the next day or so and there is also a certain % premium put on top eg. 3% of the sale price.

Hope this helps

 

[seremify007]

Silly question but isn't the Yaris 5dr like $16k driveaway atm according to the TV adds (for the manual)? How's it end up at 22k? Elaborate?

If it were me I'd pick Corolla as it has better resale value and will last a while, but both the Corolla and Yaris are great.

 

[lolwth]

I wouldnt buy either new..

Edit: you shouldnt really have trouble parking either of these cars as neither are particularly big or hard to manouvre.

 

[Riet]

Bahahah fuck as if bother with traction control on a yaris

 

[seremify007]

^ Who knows, you might be able to activate it if you slam your foot hard enough?

 

[Camski]

rozymisty,

In my personal opinion, if your main goal is to just get from A to B then either would be fine. However because you're weighing up the pro's and con's of both, I think it is important as a driver to be confident in what you're driving, regardless of some benefits one model may have over another.

This includes safety features, would you feel more confident knowing that you've got traction control there, just in the back of your mind in the event of an emergency?
Or do you feel more confident knowing you're in a larger car, with a bigger distance (however slight or great) between where you're sitting and what's next to you on the road (trucks etc.)?

If smaller things like the tractional control put your mind at ease, i'd definitely jump at the Yaris YRS. It seems very nicely packaged (albeit slightly expensive) with a bigger engine and conveniences that you'd like such as the rear parking sensors and buttons on the steering wheel.

Having a bigger boot is definitely handy, there's no denying that as a fact, however unless you feel 100% confident driving a larger car like that, then you're only going to be worrying about that fact when you're maneuvouring in small spaces and parking (which could be a common occurance for you).

Personally i'm more confident in a larger car, that is Corolla sized upwards so for me, so i'd be leaning towards the Corolla for that reason, just general road use when you end up on a 3 lane main road through a sweeping bend and a semi on either side of you.

seremify007, regards to pricing, "YRS" model I believe has a larger engine and more features like the electronics mentioned (TC etc.) which justify the price premium (whether it's overpriced or not is a different story).

 

[Riet]

traction control will make negligible difference.

 

[rozymisty]

What exactly does traction control and vechicle stability do?

Ok the Yaris is in 3 models- the entry level YR doesnt have VSC and TRC. Its a 1.3l engine. I learnt to drive in and hills were fine.

the YRS is a 1.5l with the VSC and TRC. then you got the YRX with fog lamps which i dont give a shit about coz here in brisbane we rarely have fog.

The Corolla is a 1.8l, before aug 09 it didnt have VSC and TRC which is weird coz i thought all cars wouldve had this......especially Toyota. it doesnt have the audio controls. It is appealing having more room in the back, but like i said, its not going to be often that ill have a huge load, only when i move (and even then my brother will help move stuff) and do a huge grocery shop which for 1 person isnt going to be much! Plus i can just stick stuff in the back.

The rear parking sensors and car mats im getting as accessories but they are just doing a cheap deal, coz like those 2 alone are about 500-600 extra, and coz all dealers are trying to get rid of 09 stock, they can get good deals. Especially with them having that 50% business investment thing...why cant private pple have gotten that! Certainly wouldve stimulated the economy more!

The steering wheel controls dont make a difference really, it would just be something nice to have.

Grr got to make the decision!! The thing that is making it hard is the fear of being a new driver and having to reverse and all that sorta stuff. Im fine with like driving on the road, its the other stuff.

 

[Camski]

That should read stability control in my last message

Traction control (TC) is exactly that, it varies the amount of power that comes from the engine if it detects too much power will be sent to the wheels, causing the wheels to spin (lose traction). The Yaris is a driven by the front wheels so the TC will cut the power to the front wheels when necessary (maybe, however unlikely, you might over-do the accelerator in heavy rain from the lights etc.).

Vehicle stability control (VSC) is designed to keep the car "stable" and going in the direction you point the steering wheel. It achieves this by monitoring for any slip in any of the four wheels. If any slip is detected, the brakes are automatically applied to the necessary wheel/s to counteract any slip that may occur.

It's probably more important in the really heavy wet stuff and for quick maneuvours (you might've seen the commercial where a Hyundai Elantra makes a quick turn to avoid a car coming out of a driveway).

The idea is, if you go around a corner a little too fast, or the ground is extremely slippery and you begin to slide sideways, you keep the steering wheel pointed in the direction you want to be going and the VSC 'should' do the rest. Same goes for quick maneuvours, for example there may be an obstacle in the middle of the road which you see at the last second, a quick turn to the right may normally cause the car to slide sideways left, however VSC should keep you going right, then a quick turn left after you've passed it (again, the car would normally slide without VSC).

This is what it "should" do but if the ground were as slippery as ice, it won't do anything because the car will just slide

 

[Riet]

VSC can alternate the brake pressure on the different wheels to keep the car balanced. Traction control decreases the amount of torque going to the wheels so they don't spin. Traction control in a car like a yaris is utterly pointless as it has hardly any power (relative to how good modern tires are), VSC does serve a purpose but not that much quite frankly. It is acvtually really unlikely that all cars would have this it is only very recently that it is becoming standard equipment on falcons and commodores (where it is useful). Before it was the realm of Germans and sports cars only.

But yeah traction control on cars like this is a gimmick, stability control can improve safety.

Edit: Camski: the problem is that the natural slip condition on FWD cars like this is understeer, and VLC can't prevent that. You would have to be doing something seriously stupid to get a yaris or corolla to oversteer, even in an emergency.

 

[rozymisty]

ok then what does under and oversteer mean?

Here in brisbane we dont have to worry about icy roads, but wet roads certainly, like everywhere.

I wont be taking the car off road naturally.

So that being kinda explained, me being a girl knowing nothing about cars, do you think i should get the base Yaris, for about $18-19?

 

[pman]

If the yaris suits what you want it for, buy the yaris

 

[Riet]

ok then what does under and oversteer mean?

Here in brisbane we dont have to worry about icy roads, but wet roads certainly, like everywhere.

I wont be taking the car off road naturally.

So that being kinda explained, me being a girl knowing nothing about cars, do you think i should get the base Yaris, for about $18-19?

Continental Automotive Systems USA - Electronic Stability Control - ESC

But that is only true up to a point. You can only apply the rear brakes so much, if you are emergency braking they are fully applied anyway it can't prevent understeer.

 

[seremify007]

Hmmm... I'd say go for the Yaris based on everything so far in this thread. It sounds like the car you both want and feel most comfortable with. In terms of which model to go for, the 1.5L will probably grow with you a lot better as whilst the 1.3L may have been sufficient when you first started driving, you'll probably be more likely to notice the lack of power as you become more experienced and drive longer distances on highways/etc.

Only thing I'd caveat this with is if you are spending $22-23k on a Yaris hatch 1.5L, you may as well check out other cars in that same class and roughly same dimensions e.g. new Honda City.

Safety feature wise- traction control probably doesn't mean much but it's more to keep you going when accelerating at the lights even if the road is wet rather than any other particularly useful safety feature. For me in a TCS car, I've activated it even without hard acceleration (Jaguar X-Type 2.1) in decent weather conditions. By no means did it save my life but I suppose it helped prevent the car potentially accelerating suddenly and unpredictably into oncoming traffic. Stability control is genuinely useful especially in unpredictable conditions (and it's designed to work in tandem with the way humans drive instinctively) so I'd get that if it's possible... it may cost a bit more but it's worth it if it saves you. May also lead to cheaper insurance premiums.

Just my 2c at 1:30am

 

[Riet]

I wouldnt pay a few grand more purely for stability control on a yaris, so unless the other features are important to you, I don't think its worth the extra cost.

 

[seremify007]

I will add one thing though- if you don't plan on modifying/changing your headunit, the steering wheel audio controls are awesome. I've got it in both my cars and can't imagine life without it because it's much safer/easier to operate the music this way. For me music is a big part of driving (especially since I'm stuck in traffic all too often; or I drive long distances alone!) and being able to keep both hands on the wheel, or at least not have to look at the controls on the headunit is a big plus for me.

 

[rozymisty]

Ive decided im going to go used. Mainly coz I dont know how long I will be working for the gov and therefore may not be able to continue salary sacrifice. Plus my friend does it and she really regrets doing it.

Anyway im looking at cars, mainly the Corolla, Holden Barina, Ford Festiva....swift....


I found a few ex fleet cars but they are auction, and most of them are sedans which i dont really need.

I am going to have a look at a few 08 corollas tmw, they were ex fleet and the price is 16990-17990, and they got about 45-53000km on them. Do you think thats a good price considering a 09 plated one now for sale is about $24?

I could get a ex demo barina for about $16k...now many kms on it...or are they just shit cars?

I dont want to go above 18k for my first car, and i dont want a bomb either.

 

[BlackDragon]

Just walk okay. Mother nature is coughing.

 

[Yasser Arafat]

jesus woman just buy a car