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Safety and Technology

Cars for new drivers: Reliability’s the key

The Yaris achieved 4 stars on the Euro NCAP test.

Some parents don’t want to buy their children a car that is ten years old or something that hasn’t been through the latest crash tests, and can you blame them? So, where do we look for reliability and technology? Japan of course (there’s nothing like a bit of social stereotyping when it comes to car manufacturing)!

Do they produce the kind of chassis that the first Ford KaFord KaUnited Kingdom, 1996 > present3 series
36 versions
57 photos
was endowed with or the build quality of the Audi A2Audi A2Germany, 1999 > 20056 versions
12 photos
? No, they don’t but a Toyota YarisToyota YarisJapan, 1999 > present3 series
212 versions
400 photos
1 video
is still a damned fine car. And, if you want something decent to drive the Mazda 2Mazda 2Japan, 1996 > present4 series
67 versions
146 photos
doesn’t do a half bad job either.

The Yaris is the cheaper option of the two, for I am of course talking about one with a few miles under its belt. Being a ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
4570 photos
10 videos
, and in that inherently reliable, that shouldn’t have caused it much harm though.

Today’s Yaris has become more grown up and lost some of the original’s appeal in the process. But fortunately we are not talking about that model.

The original car was built between 1999 and 2005 and was a bit of a revolution really. It competed against the supermini manufacturers from Europe with a blend of practicality, given its diminutive size, and amusing handling.

It also got 4 stars on the Euro NCAP test, meaning it is near the top of its class when it comes to safety too, and that will be all important to ‘daddy’.

Watch out for chips and general roadworthiness when buying but, being a Toyota there is little that is likely to go wrong. So, if you are a worried father, concerned that your offspring is going to break down in a rough area late at night, or that the car will fold around them after a low speed prang then a Yaris could be the answer I reckon!

Encyclopedia

Engine
Straight 4

Displacement
61 cu in

Top Speed
96 mph

Transmission
5, Manual

Maximum power
68 hp @ 6000 rpm

Type
Hatchback

Fuel
Petrol

Fuel consumption (combined)
--

price
--

annual ownership cost
--

This is where it gets a bit more interesting for me, and possibly where I get a bit more enthusiastic.

Back in 2007 I went on a roadtest, the main point of going was to drive the new Fiat 500Fiat 500 (modern)Italy, 2007 > present240 versions
581 photos
7 videos
– a car that disappointed slightly with its dynamics despite being great fun in so many other areas. There was a MiniMINI (BMW)Germany, 2000 > present15 models
2211 photos
7 videos
, Mazda 2 and a Renault TwingoRenault TwingoFrance, 1992 > present3 series
67 versions
208 photos
1 video
there too. Surely the Mini was a shoe-in when it came to naming the car you’d buy as an enthusiastic driver? I wasn’t quite so sure.

The Mini was, of course, great to drive but the surprise package was the Mazda 2. It had a lovely ‘snickity’ gearbox and a free revving engine attached to an amusing chassis. I was very, very pleasantly surprised indeed.

It was the Mazda that I ended up spending most of the coming day in. It felt pleasingly solid next to the Renault Twingo I had turned up in, better packaged than the Mini and had the Fiat licked for ‘fun-factor’ in anything but the looks department.

I wouldn’t blame you for thinking the Mini or the Fiat might do more for your reputation as a ‘stylish youngster about town’ but it is the Mazda that would identify the shrewd 17 year-old.

Since that day, and I do this rarely, I have even persuaded a good friend of mine to buy one and as far as I know he has not been in the smallest part disappointed. The car has been reliable and smart to look at, nothing has felt flimsy and we even had a road-trip up to Scotland and back in it…much better than my Renault ClioRenault ClioFrance, 1990 > present4 series
318 versions
514 photos
3 videos
172 for that trip I can tell you!

The Mazda also feels pleasingly well made and for this reason you will have to pay a touch more to secure one. It won’t cost a fortune, but neither will you be paying £1000 for a decent car any time soon, whereas there are plenty of Toyota Yaris’s around at that kind of money.

The Mazda 2 may not be quite at the top of the class if you’re buying a supermini in 2012 but it would be my pick for the class of 2007 and, five years later that is why I am still recommending it.

Those two cars would be my favorites but the comments in the first paragraph hold true. There are various options and if you are truly searching for reliability then look to the island to the east of Russia for your answer…their factories are devilishly precise.