Yaris 1 Terra - should I worry of the baby's safety

Nat222

Being a bit paranoid about this taking into consideration a tiny back space of this car. Had someone told me, having a baby in the carseat at the back, he wouldn't advise yaris... And I am viewing one tomorrow and sort of sure I am going to like it and buy it but this thought is nagging

Spit62500

The Yaris is a safe car - the first model (2000) achieved four stars in Euro Ncap tests:

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/toyota_yaris_2000/74.aspx

By way of comparison, the Fiesta (2000 model) scored three stars:

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/ford_fiesta_2000/76.aspx

Even though the Skoda Fabia scored four stars, there were issues with child safety (in one case, the dummy baby was ejected from the child seat)

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/skoda_fabia_2000/75.aspx

Even the VW Polo with a similar four star score to the Yaris had issues with baby safety:

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/vw_polo_2000/71.aspx

Matt Simis

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=uAaGWcw8Xg0

Watch for yourself. Looks good, but I would be more concerned about being impact from another, larger vehicle.

Nat222

Spit62500, I am looking at the one from 1999, does it have the same safety features as the later ones? Saw these videos from euroncap, the thing that worries me is the possible hit from behind. My guess is that with bigger cars with bigger boot would provide a bigger protection for the child on the back seat simply because there is more space. Am I right to think so?

biko

Use a rearward facing child seat in front instead? Unless the car has airbag.

Nat222

biko, couldn't be an option, he is not in the 0 group

kmick

There is a lot of factors here
*Will you be mainly driving in urban settings. If so then a Yaris is ok as your speed will likely be less than 30mph. If you have motorway and dual carraigeway driving then it may not be suitable at 70mph.
*What can you afford. Bigger cars mean bigger fuel bills, bigger tax, bigger service etc. You could pick up an old 00 Toyota Avensis for example (which would be far safer) for less than 5k and would have reliability.
*Small chances of having a high speed crash in an urban area. Any crash is going to be bad for a small baby and I dont know the exact figures but the chances are small. I have driven a Yaris (with no baby) for 5 years and never had a tip. Touch wood I will have another 5.

Nat222

Thanx, kmick, that's really reassuring. Yes, that's mostly for urban driving, I live in Tallaght so some N81 driving will be involved
My budget is 4K, like many first time drivers was considering punto, polo, and others, but it kinda struck me when i saw this yaris
How small is the boot for yaris? Can you put a big suitcase in it? Buggy? Just trying to have a vision before I see an actual thing tonight

cjt156

Doesn't the Yaris have a sliding rear seat to allow for greater boot or leg room? That should buy you some extra space.
As said before, with mainly urban driving you most likely won't reach high enough speeds for a major rear impact - but anything you can do to protect the little ones is going to help.

JackieChan

Yaris is a nice car but one thing that always struck me was the boot space.
A few years ago I had a Punto and my sis-in-law a Yaris.
Far more space in the puno(I'd say at least 50% more).
You'll probably get a buggy in it but not great if your doing a big weekly shop.

EDIT: Of course, make sure you bring the buggy with you when inspecting the car and at least you will know if it will fit.

E92

Nobody has bothered to tell the OP that the NCAP only tests cars at the front and side. What if somebody drove into the back of the car? The back of the car could be useless altogether(this is also true for other cars though), no car is tested for how well it will perform in rear end crashes. I would not buy anything like a Yaris or any small car like that if I was using it to carry passengers in the back regularly. The seats are too near the crumple zones for my liking. They're practically in the crumple zones really.

The OP should really get a bigger car, those back seats in small cars are far too close to the back of the car for comfort IMHO.

Nat222

E92 wrote: »

Nobody has bothered to tell the OP that the NCAP tests only test cars at the front and side. What if somebody drove into the back of the car? The back of the car could be useless altogether(this is also true for other cars though), no car is tested for how well it will perform in rear end crashes. I would not buy anything like a Yaris or any small car like that if I was using it to carry passengers in the back regularly. The seats are too near the crumple zones for my liking. They're practically in the crumple zones really.

The OP should really get a bigger car, those back seats in small cars are far too close to the back of the car for comfort IMHO.

Exactly my fear
What is OP?

Nat222

JackieChan wrote: »

Yaris is a nice car but one thing that always struck me was the boot space.
A few years ago I had a Punto and my sis-in-law a Yaris.
Far more space in the puno(I'd say at least 50% more).
You'll probably get a buggy in it but not great if your doing a big weekly shop.

EDIT: Of course, make sure you bring the buggy with you when inspecting the car and at least you will know if it will fit.

Not really worried about shopping, I live few mins walk from the Square Thanks for the buggy advice, might take it along

blackbox

OP = Original Poster

Nat222

Well, didn't get that yaris, turned out there were a few little things with it, nothing major but would take few hundreds to fix it. I was taking a professional mechanic, he checked the car all over.
Today we are viewing 2 more cars, at the dealer this time. Now my question is, is this really necessary to get a professional advise from the outside when you buy from the dealer? Both cars have just been nct-ed, and the guy says everything is fine with both of them but the guy whose car we saw yesterday was saying the same... and still a few things came up. Do we really need to bring someone else or will little things be covered by the dealer if anything happens?
Thanks in advance for all replies

biko

You get a dealer warranty but that only 3? months.
Best in my opinion is to get a mechanic to look at car or get something like Nissan Gold

Have a look through this

kmick

Boot space in Yaris is awful - you would not get a buggy in there. Maybe a small carry on an airplane suitcase if you are lucky.