By Anthony Rees
Our Expert Ratings come from hours of both driving and number crunching to make sure that you choose the best car for you. We comprehensively experience and analyze every new SUV, car, truck, or minivan for sale in the U.S. and compare it to its competitors. We require new ratings every time an all-new vehicle or a new generation of an existing vehicle comes out. Rather than pulling random numbers out of the air or off some meaningless checklist, KBB’s editors rank a vehicle to where it belongs in its class. We take each vehicle we test through the mundane — parking, lane-changing, backing up, cargo space and loading — as well as the essential — acceleration, braking, handling, interior quiet and comfort, build quality, materials quality, reliability.
All Toyota Yaris trims get standard air conditioning and a CD stereo with auxiliary and USB jacks. Toyota Yaris L trims have four speakers, manual windows and a fold-down rear bench seat. (Those inserts are hard plastic in the L.)On top of that, Toyota Yaris SE models add cruise control — a stand-alone option on the Toyota Yaris LE — sport seats with more bolstering and different fabric, and that leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearshift. I tested all Toyota Yaris trims in a mix of highway, city and Southern California hill country driving. I thought the previous Toyota Yaris had a lot of room to improve, and Toyota has proved me right by improving the 2012 so much.
You are currently customizing your list. No items found for the search criteria specified. Here are some search suggestions that can help you find better results.
Then we had the opportunity to drive a preproduction Yaris around the artsy west Los Angeles suburb of Culver City and realized Toyota was indeed right: It’s a car. The 2012 Yaris is available in base L, mid-grade LE, and sportier SE trim levels and is a three- or five-door hatchback—“liftback” in Toyota-speak. The front “sport” buckets on SE models get more aggressive side bolsters, although lumbar support is lacking in any and all Yaris front seats. Informal Comparison TimeSince many Toyota buyers operate with tunnel vision regarding brands, the 2012 Yaris will most likely sell at least as well as the outgoing model. But alas, the Yaris will not be sold in a vacuum, so we brought along one of its newest competitors, the 2012 Hyundai Accent five-door, to our Toyota drive for an informal side-by-side comparison.
You are leaving Goodyear, and are being directed to a website run by a company other than Goodyear. You are leaving the Goodyear Website and you are being directed to a website run by Citigroup, which issues the Goodyear Credit Card. You are leaving the Goodyear Website and you are being directed to a website run by Citigroup, which issues the Goodyear Credit Card. CONTINUE Cancel
