Is Now The Time To Buy A Used Toyota GR Yaris?

You may have seen that the new Toyota GR Yaris is about to go on sale. It’s a magnificent little thing, as we recently found out on a frozen lake in Finland, and no doubt improves on the old car.

However, coming with all the upgrades is an increase in list price - now costing from £44,250. Or about £12,000 more than the old car equipped with the Circuit Pack listed for new. The thing is though, we don’t think Toyota will have any issue selling every one of its ‘limited numbers’ of the new car.

Surely then, as a lot of potential GR Yaris owners face the disappointment of missing out on an allocation, interest in used ‘first-gen’ version of the hot hatches is only about to surge. Perhaps now - and we quite literally mean right now - is going to be the best time to buy one.

We’ve found this 2021 example in the classifieds for £27,790, and it seems to tick all of the boxes. It’s covered 22,410 miles since new - not bad for a near-three year year-old car and suggests someone has enjoyed it reasonably - and whoever specced it went for the right choice with the Scarlet Flare paint finish.

Plus, there’s hardly been any deprecation in those three years, and we have a feeling it’s more likely values will rise further than fall again.

It’ll be coming to the end of its standard manufacturer warranty, but it’s worth noting that Toyota will extend that by an extra year up to 10 years (or 100,000 miles) every time you get the car serviced at a main dealer, so reliability concerns shouldn’t be an issue long-term.

Most importantly of all, it comes with the Circuit Pack - which is the version you want. This adds front and rear Torsen differentials to the GR-Four all-wheel-drive system, stiffer suspension and lightweight forged BBS alloy wheels.

Being a ‘first-gen’ car, it’s down on power over the new version with 257bhp and 266lb ft of torque. You’ll also have to deal with the slightly more awkward driving position and the mildly irritating placement of the rear-view mirror, but we think those compromises are going to be worth it.