Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2012-2020) reliability & safety
Owners believe the Toyota Yaris hybrid is showing its age, and more modern rivals are leaving it behind
| Euro NCAP rating | Adult protection rating | Child protection rating | Safety assist rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 stars | 83% | 80% | 57% |
Although updated throughout its life, the Toyota Yaris has been with us in its current form since 2011. Inevitably, it's now starting to show its age, and its most recent scores in our sister title Auto Express' Driver Power owner survey aren't especially inspiring. However, reliability isn't a weak point, and Toyota has an enduring reputation for build quality. Standard safety kit is generous, too, but some of the latest safety innovations are absent.
Toyota Yaris Hybrid reliability & problems
As it's essentially just an engine choice in the regular Toyota Yaris range, the Yaris Hybrid isn't individually rated in Auto Express' annual Driver Power survey. In 2018, the Yaris finished a lacklustre 58th out of 75 cars in the survey, with few owners singing its praises but none condemning it outright, either.
The Yaris was given middling scores across the board, with few owners especially impressed by its interior and exterior style, interior comfort, practicality, or ride and handling. Its engine and gearbox came in for more compliments, but the Yaris put in its star performance for running costs.
While there was mention of niggling electrical faults, only 10.6% of owners reported any faults within their first year of ownership. That's actually a slight improvement on Toyota's result as a brand, where 12% of owners reported faults. Overall, Toyota finished 12th out of 26 carmakers in the survey.
Safety
The Toyota Yaris was initially crash-tested by Euro NCAP back in 2011, when it received a five-star rating. Safety standards have moved on since then, so it's impressive that the Yaris retained its five-star rating when it was re-tested in 2018. In fact, in the area of adult occupant protection, its score only fell from 89 to 83%, while its child occupant protection score only dropped from 81 to 80%.
In some ways, the Yaris is now safer than it was at launch, having gained several crash-mitigation features over the years. Toyota Safety Sense, a package that includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is standard; it also incorporates auto-dipping main beams and lane-departure warning, plus road-sign recognition on the Icon trim and above.
Other than AEB, no semi-autonomous technology available – there's no active cruise control or lane-keeping assistance on the options list. Naturally, a long list of mandatory safety equipment, such as tyre-pressure monitoring, anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control, is fitted as standard.
