In this car review we discuss the 2022 Toyota Yaris ATIV X CVT 1.5 in Pakistan. We will start with purchase decision, and work our way to the good, the bad, and the ugly about this car. You may find lots of other reviews about the Yaris on some more car focused sites like Pakwheels.com, but this one is specifically about the one unit we purchased.
The purchase decision:
As you may remember, 2022 was a terrible time to buy a car in Pakistan. The prices are heavily inflated, and waiting periods are indefinitely long. They tell you booking time is about 6 months but it always takes longer than that. This gave rise to this exploitive ON nonsense where people pay a premium of several lacs to get their car immediately.
With that background, it was a no brainer to buy a Yaris when Toyota announced a promotion where you can book a Yaris the car in one month without ON. This took out the Citys and the Corollas who were demanding either 6 months wait time or 2+ Lac rupee ON. At the time, Elantra was overpriced, Sonata was out of budget, and I am not interested in those used imported cars.
Now there are many options within the Yaris family:
- ATIV X 1.5
- ATIV 1.5
- GLI
- Some other 1.3 variant Manual or automatic
- I have lost track of how many versions there are.
- Yaris Aero 2023.
So we just went for the top of the line variant in the graphite grey color. The one month delivery time was fulfilled in about 3 months.
Is the Toyota Yaris 1.5 a good car? – First Impression
Its a normal car. It has four wheels, two headlights, steering, a trunk, and even an engine. The rims are nice, and the metallic graphite grey color pretty good too. But here is what actually made me angry:
There are no mud flaps. Why! Even a Mehran comes with mud flaps, why would they not include this 200 rupee item. I think its plain disrespectful.
Instead they offer some kind of Gold and Silver package in which for 40,000 rupees you can have leather seats, Cruise control, retractable mirrors, floor mats, MUD FLAPS, and all those basic things that should come standard with the “Top of the line Toyota Yaris ATIV X” variant. I really don’t car for cruise control and leather seats. Mud Flaps should not be an add-on to any car in any universe.
The problem here is not the car, but the company’s attitude towards the customer. Anyways, we drove the car out of the dealership.
The drive
Without quoting horsepower and torque numbers, I will simply say the drive is smooth, the pick is good, and the suspension is soft and cushiony. The CVT transmission on the Toyota Yaris ATIV X is quite smooth. At high speeds, 120 km/hr, the car is stable, and the RPM is low around the 1-2 mark.
I do feel there is a bit of understeer, as if the steering needs to be rotated more than normal than required to turn the wheels on other cars. I drive a Corolla and a Hatchback, which feel normal to me.
There is a drive mode setting that has three different modes; ECO, normal, and sport. I feel no difference in the ECO and normal modes. Sport mode does however make the car accelerate harder. Will I ever use it? Probably not. Watch this video of the Yaris’s transmission testing.
The hill start assist works well. The brakes work well. The horn sounds polite.
Yaris interior
The interior of the Yaris is not the best. The dashboard is all hard plastic and bulgy and cabin is not very spacious. My hatchback feels more spacious than this. And there is this slim armrest that the driver and passenger are constantly fighting over. The driver height position is quite low, and I do wish the seat had height adjustment in it. To summarize, the interior looks better at night than in the day.
The central control panel is not bad. Its fairly organized and the buttons are easy to find. The digital climate control works well. The infotainment system is fine too.
The speedometer / Instrument Cluster
As one of the most used instruments in a car, I have a lot to say about the Toyota Yaris speedometer.
Its quite basic, which is fine. The blue lighting of the speed meter is a different blue from the rest of the interior unlike in a Corolla. This triggers my OCD.
Second, there is no heat gauge. Why not? I don’t know. No matter how modern cars become, the heat gauge is an absolutely necessary instrument due to different driving styles and conditions which influence the engine temperature. You just have to wait till something goes wrong in order to learn that your engine is hot. Not a smart way to drive in my opinion.
Third, that gimmicky little screen embedded in the meter. Too much useless information. Like what are these trophies for? And why is the fuel gauge part of this display. Fuel too should have its own needle type gauge. Just a personal preference.
Is Toyota Yaris fuel efficient?
This is advertised as the main selling feature of the Toyota Yaris across all variants, whether they are 1.3 or 1.5 liter engines. And it is true. The fuel average for these cars range between 15 – 17 kilometers per liter for in city driving and long distance driving, with air conditioner. This is much better than what a lot of other cars without VVTI engines and CVT transmissions give. Read up this post to learn about ways you can improve your fuel economy.
What is the advantage of Toyota Yaris ATIV X CVT 1.5
I admit this has been a harsh review, as it should be for the kind of prices we pay for cars like these. Some nice touches I can appreciate about the Yaris are:
- The daylight running lamps
- That dim light in that storage space at the front.
- The fact that you cant hear the indicator clicking until you put on the seat belt.
- Airbags.
- Sound proofing of the cabin.
- Boot Space
What are the disadvantages of Toyota Yaris ATIV CVT 1.5?
- They really should have included mud flaps.
- It looks bad, both inside and out
- Yaris GLi variants may have better resale than the ATIV 1.5 Versions
