Toyota Yaris vs Peugeot 2008 - anyone driven either?

[Lilifer]

I’m getting back on the road after a break from driving for health reasons, and I’m choosing something on the smaller/cheaper side this time so I’m not risking too much on a car, as secondhand prices have gone up a fair bit lately anyway.
I’ve narrowed it down to two, and I really like both, so hoping some Mumsnetters might have driven one or the other:

• Toyota Yaris 1.5 115HP Icon Auto, 2024, ~28,700 miles
• Peugeot 2008 1.2 130HP GT Premium, 2022, ~52,000 miles

I like that the 2008 sits higher up on the road (easier getting in and out), but I don’t do much motorway driving, maybe once a month, so I’m not sure that matters as much as I first thought. My kids are all off at college with their own cars now, so I don’t need the extra space in the back like I used to either. Has anyone driven either of these? Would love to hear how they compare for reliability, comfort, and just general day-to-day driving.

I'm not sure there's an objectively better choice, it depends on what you want from a car. If you just want it to get you from A to B with no hassle then probably the Yaris. If you want to actually enjoy driving it then probably the Peugeot. Depending of course on how you like to drive.

A good tip I got was to look online for owners' forums and see whether ther are any recurring problems that would matter to you. That's how I found out about the cam belt issues with the Peugeot, but it was just the original cam belts that were problematic. When I bought mine I told the salesman that I wouldn't be going ahead unless they replaced it and though he told me it was out of the question, his manager agreed immediately.

Also if you're leaning towards one or the other but the actual cars you're looking at don't have quite the combination of features that you want, tell the dealer and see if they can source one that has everything you want. Plus they will arrange for it to be brought from wherever it may be for you to test drve locally.

Thanks @MontyDonsBlueScarf I will check all that. I did ask about them sourcing one but that could take weeks for the right one to come up at auction, they’re not a chain, only a family run so don’t have other garages they can share across cars with

@MontyDonsBlueScarfwpuod I need to be asking them to replace that cams belt thing (have no idea what it is) is it something that’s a problem in the Peugeot? The one annoying problem I did have with my Peugeots and it was on a few years old watch that the aircon kept failing and eventually they found it wax due to a slow leak in the air con Fluid and so the cost of replacing it was close to 1k!!!

I have a Yaris Cross, and wanted to warn you dont get it if you are a low mileage user. The starter battery on most hybrids (not just Toyota) fail very easily. I've had the car two years and am already on my third battery as a low mileage user (nearly 5k in those 2 years). There are many posts on the net about this if you need further checks. They advise a trickle solar charger (didnt help in winter). Leaving it standing on for 60 minutes (limited success but wastes fuel).

Definitely agree it's worth googling for known problems whatever car you are getting, I didn't know about the Yaris hybrid battery thing but I am a high mileage user (17k a year) and drive pretty well every day, very rare for me not to, I love driving and love the Yaris. Cambelts - yes, I was taught years ago to be careful about these when buying secondhand, all our Toyotas (we've had 6 between us now) have been chain-driven.

I had the Peugeot 2008 we got the GT line one , automatic engine. It was brilliant to drive, easy to park, large inside and great boot space. We swapped it recently as got an EV but I miss that car - it was just really easy and enjoyable!

Run a mile from anyone trying to sell you any wet belt car.

I have had 3 Toyotas, I was rear ended at a traffic light in the first and the second one was. crashed in to in a car park when no one was in it, they fled the scene. Both were written off.

So mine had bad times at the hands of other idiotic drivers. They are so reliable. Go Toyota Yaris.

Do not get the Peugeot, a family member had one and it was constantly breaking down. Electrical faults, engine recirculating issues, the fuel tank leaked. Conversely, you very rarely see a broken down Toyota, but you do see a lot of very old ones on the road which is always a good sign! Also, I haven’t driven a Peugeot myself but I imagine a car that size would feel slow with a 1.2 litre engine, whereas the 1.5 litre engine is the Toyota should feel fairly nippy which will make joining the motorway and overtaking a breeze.

I had no idea what it was either, but that doesn't matter. The original cam belts are a known problem, it doesn't show up until it fails and then it's a big expensive problem. The replacements are made from a different material and they're fine.

First of all check online for the replacement schedule for that model, it will say something like every xxx miles in normal conditions, every yyy miles in extreme conditions. Look at how they define extreme conditions. Then think about the car and its age and mileage and take an educated guess about the conditions it's been driven in. The car I was interested in had a very low mileage for its age so I inferred that it had done a lot of stop/start town driving, which counted as extreme conditions and halved the replacement interval.

Then ask the dealer when the cam belt was replaced. If they say 'never' and it's already outside the limits you researched, ask them to do it. The salesman told me they wouldn't because it hadn't done enough mileage to need it, but I asked him to check with his manager as the car had clearly been used in conditions that qualified as extreme. He went off and checked and came back immediately saying 'no problem'.

I would have done the same thing with the air con had I known that was an issue but it didn't show up on the owners' forum, I guess because leaking air con gases is something that happens to all cars eventually. I dare say there's an official replacement schedule for that too somewhere. Or you could just ask them to do an aircon check and show you the results.

It was a little intimidating to challenge the salesman but it turned out to be dead easy. I think their default position is to say 'we don't do that' but if you can come back with 'why not when the manufacturer says ....' it makes them stop and think.

Peugeot anytime

I have had the same Yaris for 5 years. Spent nothing on it. Never any issues, love it. Easy to park, economical and because of the larger engi e in a small car good on motorway and climbing the hills that surround where I live. I would definitely pick it again 100%.

Try a dealer with group stock ?

Dh had a 60 plate Peugeot 2008 for about 13 years. It was expensive to fix when it went wrong, which it did, a lot. There wasn’t enough legroom in the back as our children became long legged teens and the boot wasn’t that great really. We were really glad to finally scrap it.

I used to drive a peugeot, it was ok, but my last car was a hybrid Yaris and it was fantastic. So reliable and easy to run. I’ve updated to a Yaris Cross hybrid which is also fantastic. I even got my daughter a little Aygo as her first car as you just can’t beat them for reliability.

Aren't all the Yaris hybrid not just the cross?
I'm looking at the cross because it's higher but not longer or wider than my old Volvo V40 . Also has heated seats which the regular Yaris does not.

I'll research the battery problem, my mileage is around 5/6 k a year.

Another Yaris fan. Parts are cheap. Mine was 15 years old when it died

Yaris.

I had mine until it was 23. Never needed any work doing.

Thanks all, it looks like Yaris is still coming out ahead. Regarding the Peugeot @Pericombobulations I would expect to be doing 7-8miles a year, both these cars seem to have had an average of 13-14l miles a year which seems massive to me, I thought the average was 9k so 14k seems a lot. @ElegantDress is a cam belt the same as a wet belt and what is chain driven mean? @ClassicalQueen that’s good to know and @MontyDonsBlueScarf I will check that so it’s something I can look up on line then by just putting in the car spec? Yes I found my Peugeot 3008 expensive to fix when anything broke, it wasn’t regularly breaking but when it did it was £££

I’m from a Yaris family. We buy them brand new, run them into the ground / pass them on to the children to run into the ground. I like them because they are just so reliable.

currently we have:
2018 plate. 60k miles. No problems so far.
2014 plate. 70k miles no problems so far.
2010 plate, 140k miles. Needed new exhaust and clutch at about 100 - 120k miles, but that has been all. Otherwise it’s still going strong.

I did have another Yaris, that got to 100k with just a clutch change, before it was rear ended. To look at it, there only looked like a fold in the bumper, but the insurance said the repairs were too expensive for the value of the car.

Did have a third Yaris that survived a three car crash… and that lived to about 90k miles with no other problems before I upgraded it.

Personally, I like them as they’re easy. You get in and drive. Touch wood, they have relatively few problems and most of the extra features are really helpful, so all of our cars have Sat nav, two of them have reversing cameras (the oldest has the beeps!), it’s cheap to run, easy to drive and for a small car doesn’t feel too tinny. But if you want bigger, look at the Yaris Cross - they’re just a little bit bigger / roomier. I might look at getting one of those next time.

My battery is fine. If it runs low you get a text saying to drive the car for 30 mins. I've had it twice in 3 years both times after a holiday.

I think they dropped the petrol/manual model Yaris in about 2020.

Cam belts are not the same as wet belts and chain belts but they all do the same thing https://www.trustagarage.com/help-advice/cambelts-cam-chains-and-wet-belts-what-you-need-to-know

My 2018 hybrid (which I have had since it was a year old) has 110k miles on the clock. It has never failed to start or broken down, other than wear and tear the only major repair it has needed are wheel bearings, twice, which have both been covered under the Toyota warranty that ends after 10 years or 100k miles provided you get it serviced by an authorised garage. DH recently got a Corolla to 205k miles before trading it in (we are a high mileage family). It did start needing a few repairs in the last year or so we had it.

Definitely not the Peugeot. I have a friend with one and after 18 months of ownership it needs a new engine. She’s the 2nd person I know with that problem. Toyotas just keep going and I like the Yaris though I think I like the aygo more, especially the beefed up ones.

@mumlectthats an incredible record of reliability!!

Thanks @ElegantDressi will check that out