Ford Fiesta vs Toyota Yaris?

sunny241

Hi. I am looking for a used car for around 6-7k which I think could get me around 5 years old car. I quite like the look of a Ford Fiesta ( 1.1L or 1L ecoboost) and Toyota Yaris 1.3L petrol cars (both 2016 models). I'm having hard time deciding between the two so was hoping for some opinions on which on may be a better choice? I'd like the car to be nice to drive but also reliable.

BOWFER

The 1.0 ecoboost is the only turbocharged engine in your line up and will feel far livelier than the other two.
For that alone, I'd go with that as the other two will need driven harder to compensate for their lack of turbos.
Small non-turbo engines are nasty, they really are.

Goudy

Depends what you mean by better?

The Fiesta will handle better, but the Ecoboost can have a few engine niggles and there have been reports of one or two more serious issues with them. Try googling 1.0 Ecoboost problems.

As written above, the 1.1 isn't turbocharged so is less fussy and not prone to the same problems, but won't drive as eagerly.

The Yaris doesn't handle as well, they aren't terrible, just the Fiesta's chassis is very very good, but they do tend to be better built and more reliable.

A colleague has racked up 120,000 in her 2016 Yaris Hybrid and apart from normal servicing items, all it's needed was a pair of rear wheel bearings. I know another that's Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost has had problems with carbon build up on the valves and needed some very expensive head work, I believe it's a problem due to their direct injection layout.

Grumpy_chap

Fiesta beats Yaris

PRAISETHESUN

I've been driving a Yaris for years and I swear by them - they are nothing special but they are reliable and good quality in my opinion. In contrast, the 2009 Fiesta my parents owned a number of years back had a number of issues that manifested not even 6 months after it was out of warranty. Not that my specific experience with a sample size of 1 car is anything to go by, but I personally can't see myself buying another Ford unless I got a really good deal. Just my 2 cents.

noclaf

Goudy said:

Depends what you mean by better?

The Fiesta will handle better, but the Ecoboost can have a few engine niggles and there have been reports of one or two more serious issues with them. Try googling 1.0 Ecoboost problems.

As written above, the 1.1 isn't turbocharged so is less fussy and not prone to the same problems, but won't drive as eagerly.

The Yaris doesn't handle as well, they aren't terrible, just the Fiesta's chassis is very very good, but they do tend to be better built and more reliable.

A colleague has racked up 120,000 in her 2016 Yaris Hybrid and apart from normal servicing items, all it's needed was a pair of rear wheel bearings. I know another that's Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost has had problems with carbon build up on the valves and needed some very expensive head work, I believe it's a problem due to their direct injection layout.

Interesting, I was only aware of the coolant issue with ecoboost and not the carbon build up too. The ecoboost tech and these issues just makes me nervous to be honest. If you are leasing the car or buying new you have some protection with warranty but as a used proposition I would be wondering how durable those engines will be long term as I tend to buy and just hold onto cars for ages.
No doubt the torque will be crap on n/a petrol engines but less chance of borkage so depends on what is important to a potential buyer. The 1.5/1.6l ecoboost seem a bit more reliable based on reports/reviews etc

facade

I'd have the Yaris- as long as the VIN starts JTD meaning Japanese built. The alternative is VNK (France).

There is considerably less chance of a Yaris being stolen as well, you can't park a Fiesta outside here unless you have decent security posts on your drive and use a disklok

Tiexen

Ford Fiesta reliability

The Ford Fiesta was rated average for reliability in our 2017 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey of cars currently on sale in the UK. Of the owners who responded, 4.7% reported experiencing a problem with their car at least once.

Electrical gremlins were the most frequent problem and while owners reported issues with practicality and exterior trim, the Fiesta received mostly positive feedback elsewhere.

Toyota Yaris reliability

The Toyota Yaris finished in 59th place in our latest Driver Power satisfaction survey, with just 10.5% of respondents saying their car developed one or more fault in the first year of ownership. As a brand Toyota ranked 10th out of 30 manufacturers.

For a manufacturer known for its reliability, an average result will be disappointing, and the Yaris also came in for criticism for its lacklustre ride and handling along with mediocre interior comfort.

oldagetraveller1

"all it's needed was a pair of rear wheel bearings"

Without researching or knowing at what mileage this was necessary, I wonder if these are a common failure on the Yaris?

I had a rear wheel bearing fail at 30k miles. The complete hub assembly has to be changed too.

A hub assembly from Toyota is around £240! I used Blueprint.

They can be an absolute pig to remove because of corrosion depending on operating environment. However, after seven years from new, other than that, it's been totally reliable.

Goudy

oldagetraveller1 said:

"all it's needed was a pair of rear wheel bearings"

Without researching or knowing at what mileage this was necessary, I wonder if these are a common failure on the Yaris?

I had a rear wheel bearing fail at 30k miles. The complete hub assembly has to be changed too.

A hub assembly from Toyota is around £240! I used Blueprint.

They can be an absolute pig to remove because of corrosion depending on operating environment. However, after seven years from new, other than that, it's been totally reliable.

I think it was around 80k ish when it needed the bearings and I seem to remember the dealership quoting a different price (higher) to what she ended up paying. I think that might have been due to the normal Yaris having different hubs to the Hybrid and they quoted for the wrong ones.

Oddly enough she swapped out a Fiesta Econetic TDCi for a new Yaris in 2016 as the Fiesta had a few issues at the time and was getting a bit flaky as it neared 80k (she does nearly 25k a year).

There was a coolant problem that turned out to be a cracks in the expansion tank and another coolant problem with the oil cooler. The dealer was advising on a fresh set of injectors to cure a bit of a engine stumble under high load and the DMF was on it's way out as well.

She's a bit Charlton Heston/NFA when it comes to her Yaris, "out of my cold, dead hands" seems to be the jist!

The carbon thing is pretty common with direct injection as the intake valves don't get "washed" by incoming fuel. Some engines are better than others and obviously use comes into it, lots of cold starts on a cold engine will have it running rich and producing more carbon. I know of a couple of Ecoboosts that have needed head work due to it, so it's not isolated but then again ford sold millions, so you make your own mind up.