Toyota Yaris 2019 review: Ascent

If you think the Yaris looks like it hasn't changed shape in about a decade, you'd be right. Almost. It's been eight years since it's had a makeover. There's something comfortingly familiar about it on first sight, like when you find an old T-shirt that's well past its use-by date. It's comfy, but you wouldn't really go out in public with it. That's how the Yaris feels, a tad dated, but reassuringly familiar. 

The inside is where this car could really do with a makeover, however. While it's in a budget category, there are other, more stylish cars in the same price bracket that do a better job like the Mazda 2 and Kia Picanto.

The Yaris is full of hard plastic bits on the dash and doors, the centre console is basic in design and there are no standout features or recent efforts to lift the interior.

The fabric seats are comfortable enough and you do have to remember that we're in an affordable car, so it's never going to be luxurious. But there are other affordable options that have more modern interior designs.

The Yaris Ascent has all the basics covered, like two cupholders in the front, one in the back. A storage spot to throw keys and a phone and bottle holders in the two front doors, plus your usual glove box. It was enough for me for the week.

My children were able to climb in themselves and do their own seatbelts up.

Bending down to do kids' seatbelts up may get a bit tiresome, especially if you have a baby in a capsule and you're in a constant in-out situation.

My children, aged five and seven, were able to climb in themselves and do their own seatbelts up. It is truly one of the  joys of your kids getting older when you reach that stage.

The Yaris will get you from A to B without any fanfare, or too much excitement. There's a hard-working 1.3-litre engine under the cute bonnet, which means it's quite slow going up hills, and on takeoff from a stationary position. When you do press hard on the accelerator, the engine is loud, which makes it sound like the car is making a lot of effort to go a little bit faster. It's not a powertrain that instills confidence, put it that way.

There's a hard-working 1.3-litre engine under the bonnet.

The gear shifter is long and thin, exactly like a stick, which makes it feel a bit awkward to change gears. The shifter is something I barely notice in  other cars, so it really stood out.

The Yaris's diminutive size means you can easily nip into parking spaces, the steering wheel turns easily and feels even, and there is a reversing camera to help you out. I also found myself doing more u-turns this week than three-point-turns, just because it was so easy, and that   always made a difference to my day.

The Yaris Ascent I drove was fitted with the Toyota Safety Sense pack, so for an extra $650 you get newer safety equipment like auto emergency braking, lane-departure alerts and automatic high beam.

As standard you'll get seven airbags, plus two ISOFIX points and three top-tether points to fit kids' car seats safely.

The Toyota Yaris Ascent with Toyota Safety Sense ($650) and a premium paint job ($409), comes in at $18,020. Fuel consumption is a fairly average 5.8L/100kms.

It comes with Toyota's three year/100,000km warranty, which is shorter than other companies but it seems to work for Toyota, given its reliable reputation.