Toyota Yaris Cross (2024 – ) review

Hybridisation is all very well but brings with it extra cost, the more noticeable when it comes to smaller cars like the Yaris Cross. Case in point – while the Toyota matches rivals like the hybrid version of the new Renault Captur on price Renault still has a petrol-only option for £4,000 less. You’re going to have to do a lot of miles for the (marginally) better efficiency of a hybrid to claw that back, and because it’s not a plug-in nor do those buying as a company car score the big Benefit In Kind savings. Better to think of it as a more socially acceptable alternative to the diesels we used to buy, Toyota’s clever and proven hybrid system very efficient in all driving scenarios, fuss free and going a long way between fuel stops.

Toyota always performs strongly in owner satisfaction surveys and warranty indexes and, while technically complicated, the hybrid system in the Yaris Cross is well proven and dependable. While you need to commit to servicing at a main dealer to qualify the option to extend the standard three-year warranty to 10 years demonstrates Toyota’s faith in its engineering skills, and the reliability of its cars.

The already impressive suite of safety systems has been thoroughly upgraded for the 2024 model year, the radar and sensors powering things like the Pre-collision Brake Assist and active cruise control now with increased bandwidth to respond to motorcycles, pedestrians, oncoming vehicles and other hazards previously beyond their range. Nearly all of these systems (and a whole lot more) are standard on all models and make their presence felt with incessant bonging, though it’s frustrating that genuinely useful features like blind-spot monitoring and the associated ‘Safe Exit Assist’ preventing you from opening your door into passing traffic are still only available on fancier trim levels. An Advanced Safety Pack with alerts for unseen traffic crossing behind when reversing out of a space and a 360 camera is also on top models, but where we’d consider such features genuinely useful on bigger cars it’s less of an issue on smaller ones like the Yaris Cross.

In typically conservative Toyota style updates to the Yaris Cross are in the little details. Literally nobody, for instance, is going to be impressed that your new Yaris Cross has thicker glass, smoother engine mounts or improved sound insulation over your previous one. But you’ll really appreciate it on longer runs, the Toyota pretty much as refined as its Lexus LBX cousin and delivering big-car serenity along with its small car convenience. Toyota is making this effort having realised a lot of older buyers are downsizing from bigger cars but don’t want to compromise on the comfort they’ve been used to previously. Meanwhile for younger, family drivers the Yaris Cross has a sense of knockabout practicality many will appreciate while various ‘SUV’ branded options for unglamorous but useful things like boot liners, rubber floormats and the rest help it shrug off the worst kids, sports kit, dogs and the rest can throw at a hard-working runabout. A pity there’s not more space in the back seat but, apart from that, it more than lives up to the promise of crossover practicality. Just in a smaller package.

Tech has improved with this update, which inevitably means bigger screens and more sophisticated operating systems powering them. Saying that the entry level Icon still misses out on the best of the new features and lacks the 12.3-inch digital instruments and 10.25-inch central screen of the rest of the range, so we’d advise going up a grade or two if this stuff matters. Even with the advances the Yaris still looks a little behind the times when compared with fresher rivals like that Renault Captur as well, but if lacking a bit of style there’s substance behind it with the addition of features like a ‘digital key’ option where you can unlock and drive the car with your phone, without even taking it out of your pocket. The wireless smartphone connection – via CarPlay in our case, though Android Auto is also supported – also seemed more stable with the new system than it did in the original Yaris Cross we tested previously.

Hybrids may be technically complicated but the ones Toyota builds are refreshingly easy to drive and live with. With no need to plug it in to charge you just hit the start button, put it into Drive and let the car figure out the most efficient combination of electric motor, petrol engine or both combined. Which it does very well indeed. The improved refinement means you’re less aware of what it’s doing, which is just fine and leaves you to delight in useful real-world performance like strong off-the-line acceleration and squirts of electrified power for situations like merging into fast-flowing motorway traffic. For this updated model Toyota has added a more powerful option for the 1.5-litre petrol engine and electric combo, this increasing combined output from the standard 115 horsepower to 130 horsepower on fancier models. We drove the regular one and it felt just fine but a little more can’t do any harm. We didn’t drive the all-wheel drive version, which gets an extra motor at the back able to kick in when required in slippery conditions. It’s a nice-to-have and helps Toyota’s ‘mini SUV’ claims but adds weight, complexity and cost the Yaris Cross probably doesn’t need.