10 Things You Need to Know About the 2016 Toyota Yaris

2016 Toyota Yaris ・ Photo by Toyota

The 2016 Toyota Yaris, a rather unassuming subcompact hatchback, has a tough uphill battle. Compact and subcompact class leaders have to do everything well to stay in that position, hitting the sweet spots of style, space, equipment, power, handling, and price. With so much strong competition, it’s easy for the stragglers to get overlooked. The Yaris is worth a little extra attention, though. It was significantly refreshed just last year, giving the hatch a more modern look and feel. The Yaris also offers substantial value that can’t be matched by the competition; namely, Toyota’s reputation for making safe and reliable cars. The most aggressive subcompacts might get the most attention, but the 2016 Toyota Yaris offers a practical, spacious, and high-quality alternative. Let’s take a look at 10 things new car shoppers should know about the Toyota Yaris.

10) It’s available with two or four doors

The 2016 Toyota Yaris hatchback offers the choice of two-door or four-door body styles, which gives buyers an easy and inexpensive way to customize the car right out of the gate. A two-door Yaris is a smart choice for singles, people who often drive with pets, or people who would frequently use the whole backseat area for cargo (which would be easier to load and unload through the hatch). Four doors are an obvious choice for people who have kids or who usually drive with more than one passenger. It’s clear that Toyota really wants to keep the 2016 Yaris affordable for its target market; the price premium for the four-door version of the car is just $1100, which is a bargain considering the value of the extra two doors’ added functionality.

Photo by Toyota

9) It’s stylish, especially for the price

There are arguably better-looking cars than the 2016 Toyota Yaris in the compact and subcompact category, if following the conventional wisdom that “sportier” equals “better” (which is a common and not altogether unfair assumption). Even if the Yaris isn’t the most athletic of the bunch, it still offers competitively good looks. For the 2015 model year, the Yaris received a significant refresh that focused on making the car’s exterior sharper and more refined. The rounded-off nose was reworked in favor of crisper angles and more defined contrast between the car’s body color and the black plastic grille trim. The old Yaris’ front end was emotionless, while the updated version appears much more playful. It’s a good look for the Yaris, and it helps the car feel like a more premium vehicle than it actually is.

Photo by Toyota Media

8) The front seats are good for tall drivers

Anyone of above-average height who’s ever ridden in or driven a compact car might be a bit wary when it comes time to shop for one, and the apprehension is totally understandable. Small cars are notorious for being cramped, but happily, the 2016 Toyota Yaris manages to buck the trend. Test drivers praise the Yaris for providing comfortable front seats that easily accommodate tall drivers, with plenty of head room and shoulder room (and leg room, too, particularly when there’s no one sitting in back). But what about drivers of average and below-average height? The Yaris is more than happy to welcome everyone, with a driver’s seat that provides six-way adjustability and a high seating position that gives short drivers extra visibility. The 2016 Toyota Yaris should be on the short list of small car buyers who need a little extra wiggle room to be comfortable.

Photo by Toyota Media

7) The back seats are good for tall passengers

Let’s face it, no one wants to get stuck riding in the back of a compact hatch, so those who buy a Toyota Yaris should get used to their friends rolling their eyes when it comes time to climb inside. Since the Yaris is so roomy up front, surely some space must have been sacrificed in the back, right? Well, not necessarily. The 2016 Toyota Yaris earns praise for offering almost as much room in back as in the front, providing acceptable head space for all but the very tallest passengers, and enough wiggle room for legs to stretch out a little. Compared to some of the competition in the subcompact and compact car classes, drivers and passengers alike might be pleasantly surprised by the generosity of the 2016 Toyota Yaris’ interior confines.

Photo by Toyota Media

6) The interior has a premium look and feel

The Toyota Yaris’ 2015 refresh included some much-needed updates to the cabin. The Yaris is the least expensive model in Toyota’s lineup, but the brand borrowed cues from its more expensive vehicles to give the Yaris a more expensive look and a better tactile experience. In fact, some test drivers have said that the interior of the Yaris is the car’s most compelling feature. Toyota updated the Yaris’ cockpit with more soft-touch surfaces, including the entire dashboard, and fewer plastics. The accent materials, which include metallic-look and chrome trims, follow the less-is-more approach, highlighting design details without overdoing it. In a sea of competitors who use the cheapest possible materials to cut costs, the 2016 Toyota Yaris’ interior is a pleasant surprise and helps substantially improve the car’s value.

Photo by Toyota Media

5) The Yaris has a generous list of standard equipment

Unlike some of the other vehicles in the subcompact and compact car market, the 2016 Toyota Yaris includes plenty of features and tech equipment, even in the base model. It’s a common strategy to limit the equipment in cheap cars to help keep the price down, but Toyota knows that some budget buyers might be alienated by stingy feature packages. So, Toyota’s included standard features that will help attract the Yaris’ target customer, such as Bluetooth wireless integration that can support streaming audio, voice recognition, a USB input tucked away in the glove box, and a six-speaker stereo system. The Yaris’ control system is operated via a 6.1-inch touchscreen, which has earned praise for being intuitive and easy to use, unlike some of the more complicated infotainment systems featured by competitors.

Photo by Toyota Media

4) It’s safe

There are two main organizations that test and rate vehicle crash-worthiness, the National Highway Traffic Safety Institute or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. For 2016, the IIHS tested the four-door version of the Yaris. The results for the IIHS Moderate Overlap Front, Side, Roof Strength, and Head Restraints & Seats test were all Good, although the Yaris scored only a Marginal on the Small overlap front test, which is a particular challenge for a subcompact car due to its small front end. The NHTSA offers scores on a 5-star scale for Overall, Frontal Crash, Side Crash, and Rollover. The 2016 Yaris earned a 5-star score on Side Crash and 4 stars on the three other ratings. Granted, those scores aren’t stellar, but buyers of the 2016 Toyota Yaris can still be reasonably confident in the car’s safety.

3) It’s playful and eager

The Yaris doesn’t have the performance pedigree of some of the other vehicles in its class, but it provides enough response to engage most drivers. The engine isn’t the Yaris’ strong point, so whomping on the throttle isn’t the way to go about coaxing some joy out of the car. But the aforementioned 2015 model year updates really helped improve the car’s handling and cornering abilities, increasing positive response to the Yaris’ overall driving experience. The 2016 Toyota Yaris SE model, in particular, is always up for a little fun, thanks to a few extra goodies tucked away and out of sight. How did Toyota pull that off? Well, we’re about to explain.

Photo by Toyota Media

2) The suspension was recently updated

In 2015, Toyota updated some critical components in the Yaris’ body, helping the car’s drivers achieve a more enjoyable driving experience. The Yaris shed 44 pounds over the previous version, which made it lighter and more nimble, and at the same time, the body was strengthened for overall handling improvements. An updated front stabilizer bar was paired with a new rear torsion beam, providing better strength and stability all around. The 2016 Yaris also uses MacPherson struts in front, which is a popular component thanks to its simple yet effective design. Check out the 2016 Toyota Yaris SE for a sport-tuned suspension and better stopping power thanks to more competent disc brakes at all four corners.

Photo by Toyota Media

1) The Yaris has Toyota’s reliability and resale value

Two of Toyota’s strengths as a brand are that its vehicles traditionally have excellent reliability and don’t depreciate quickly. This helps all Toyota vehicles, even budget-oriented models such as the 2016 Yaris, retain a high resale value when it finally comes time to trade up. When it comes time to shop for a new compact or subcompact car, buyers who are interested in getting a good value should seriously consider the 2016 Toyota Yaris, whether they plan to drive the car for just a few years or keep it for the long term. In either scenario, the Yaris is likely to reward its owner with a strong resale value, making it a smart purchase from beginning to end.