MODEL ON TEST: GR SPORT HYBRID 1.5 VVT-i – MILEAGE – 14,418

After 10 months and 10,261 miles, it’s finally time to say goodbye to our Toyota Yaris Cross GR Sport – Terry, as we like to call him. To say this is a sad day is an understatement. In our line of work, we’re in the hugely privileged position of being presented with opportunities to drive all sorts of cars on a regular basis. One week we may drive a brand-new electric car, sometimes it’ll be something fast and loud, and from time to time we may jump behind the wheel of something old. As such, driving a car that we don’t own for an extended period of time isn’t a completely absurd proposition, and as such we were expecting this to be a very normal six-month loan. But it’s been one of the most surprisingly pleasant experiences of my motoring life.

From a reliability perspective the Yaris Cross has been flawless. There have been no warning lights, no electrical issues and not a single problem with the infotainment system. The only headache, as was well documented, was a flat tyre on a Welsh mountain road caused by a pothole the size of one of the Moon’s craters, and that can hardly be blamed on the Yaris Cross. The car has been impressive when it comes to efficiency, too. On longer runs we’ve regularly managed somewhere north of 50mpg, while short trips have yielded anything from 60 to 90mpg.

Then there’s the physical package itself. There’s a decent amount of space in the front and rear, visibility is good, there’s a nice level of adjustment in the driving position, and there’s a completely acceptable level of space in the boot. Plus, there are physical controls for the air conditioning, which will never not be a feature worth praising given how many cars force you to make simple adjustments like that by tapping away at the infotainment screen.

If this reads like the copy of an advertisement, don’t worry, as there are certainly weak spots. The cruise control is slightly dim-witted, the in-built navigation can be irritating to use, there’s too much tyre and wind noise, and the elevated ride height causes the suspension some problems if you hit larger lumps and bumps in the road. Curiously,in our final weeks with the car, we also noticed that the car’s nine- beep locking symphony wasn’t played to the world every time we locked the doors. Furthermore, the parking brake didn’t come on every time we stopped driving – sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn’t (fear not, the car was in park and wasn’t going anywhere, but neither the light for the handbrake or the handbrake itself were on).

But, as we’ve said before, I’ll regularly use the word ‘good’ to describe the Yaris Cross, and I’ll do so with the very best possible sentiment behind the word. So often, unless something’s described as ‘very good’ it can be read as being a bit naff. But good in this case means there’s genuinely very little we’d desperately want to change about the car. In so many areas, the Yaris Cross does exactly what you’d want and expect it to do and nothing more.

The Yaris Cross isn’t quick, but it’s got enough performance for 90% of situations. The ride isn’t perfect, but you won’t get out after a long journey and wish you’d brought a cushion to sit on. The infotainment system isn’t jam-packed with features, menus and animations, but it has all the basic features you’ll need. Do you see what I’m getting at?

It’s a good car, plain and simple. We’ve bonded with Terry the Toyota in a way we would never have expected. It’s seen us through autumn, winter, spring, summer and back towards autumn again, and we’d never once wished we were driving something else. Our cat Adrian even took a shine to it -admittedly only standing in front of the car for a photograph the very morning it returned to Toyota HQ.

Would I buy a Yaris Cross? I would, and I can’t think of a single serious reason why I wouldn’t be happy to recommend one to someone else, either.

Thanks Terry. We’ll miss you.

SEÁN WARD

WHAT’S HOT: There have been no issues or flaws in the past ten months.

WHAT’S NOT: There’s too much road and tyre noise.

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL OF OUR LONG-TERM REPORTS ON THE TOYOTA YARIS CROSS

FACTS & FIGURES

PRICE: (NEW) £32,245 (NOW) £35,095 (AS TESTED) £32,245 (DEALER TRADE-IN) £23,300 (DEALER FORECOURT) £23,900

COLOUR: Silver metallic bi-tone

BUILT IN: Valenciennes, France

CODENAME: BX

GENERATION: 1

PLATFORM: TNGA-B

BODYSTYLE: 5-door SUV, 5-seats

LAYOUT: Front-wheel drive

POWERPLANT: 1,490cc,3-cylinder,12-valve,petrol with electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack

GEARBOX: Continuously variable transmission

MAX POWER (ENGINE): 67kW/90bhp/91ps

MAX POWER (ELECTRIC MOTOR): 62kW/83bhp/84ps

MAX TORQUE (ENGINE): 89lb ft/120Nm

MAX TORQUE (ELECTRIC MOTOR): 136lb ft/185Nm

TOP SPEED: 105mph

0-62MPH: 10.7secs

CO2 EMISSIONS: 109g/km

ECONOMY (COMBINED): 58.8mpg

ECONOMY (ON TEST): 57.1mpg

FUEL TANK: 36 litres

RANGE: 466 miles

INSURANCE GROUP: 14

BIK RATE (2026/2027 TAX YEAR): 28%

SIZE (LENGTH/WIDTH WITHOUT MIRRORS/HEIGHT/WHEELBASE): 4,192/1,765/1,585/2,560mm

BOOT SPACE (MIN/MAX): 397/1,097 litres

KERB WEIGHT: 1,230kg

TOWING WEIGHT: 750kg

EURO NCAP RATING: Four stars

SPARE WHEEL (FULL-SIZE/SPACESAVER/RUN- FLAT/SELF-SEALING/REPAIR KIT): No/no/no/no/yes

WARRANTY: 3 years/60,000 miles up to service activated 10 years/100,000 miles

DATE ARRIVED: 14th November 2025

COSTS:  £174.25 (first service) £197.88 (replacement tyre following puncture)

FAULTS: None