Forum:
Hi there! 
I have been reading up what I can on the YRV Turbo after spotting one on eBay earlier this year, and by being surprised at the specs on offer.
We currently have three vehicles in the household: my work van, a Suzuki Swift 1.0 and a Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4.
I've had the Swift for nearly five years, and it has been supremely reliable. Even with 130k on the clock, it doesn't burn any oil, and has been brilliant as my daily hack when I was needing to get all round the country as cheaply as possible! It is now used as a daily town runabout, school runner and the wife's commute. It has returned the original £500 I bought it for several times over!
Unfortunately, I believe that it will succumb to the dreaded rust sooner rather than later, and this is where the YRV comes in.
What better replacement than a small 5-door car that is brilliant around town (can't beat an auto for that) but has a bit of poke yet returns around 35-40mpg? Well, adding the good asking prices, it certainly looks hard to better!
With the YVR Turbos being between eight and ten years old now, there will obviously be some good ones and some bad ones out there. I have been trying to see what any common problems may be (specific to the YRV Turbo), so am wondering if there's a buyer's guide anywhere, or at least a thread with some good info in?
Many thanks in advance for any pointers.
Hello and Welcome.First off
Hello and Welcome.
First off I have had my YRV Turbo for close on 6 years now. Done a lot of work including a lot of modifications etc...
As for what to look out for (Come on Bobf lets make this one a sticky shall we
):
- Under rear anti-roll bar and brackets. Known to fail if they weren't uprated.
- Original Y-shaped exhaust pipe known to rot
- Fuel filler pipe known to rust and need replacing
- Water pump can fail/show signs of leakage
- Autobox failures are known (Down to a lack of servicing/ not being done due to lack of knowledge with fluid and filter changes needed every 6 years) - symptons include a flashing 'D' to not going into gear properly
- Sills on front and back rotting
- 2 Lambda/O2 sensors are known for failures after 40-60,000 miles (Happening with other Daihatsu Models as well)
Other things to note: Servicing is every 6 months (Needs oil and filter replacing) not every 12 months!
You'll be lucky to get 35-40MPG, I manage roughly 30MPG but you will get less if you rag them. Using mine as a daily hack to and from work (47 miles), get roughly a weeks worth of fuel at around 210-215miles from the 40 litre fuel tank. With a mixture of stop/start dual carriageway and motorway driving.
The car with standard setup and suspension may not be to your liking and you can get body roll in the corners as well as the famous torque/bhp wheel spin depending on tyres etc... The standard alloy and tyre package ain't great (175/55/R15 tyres). Best mod is to have different alloys and wider tyres. Me on the other hand went with lowering the car and the wheels and the tyres. But be warned on changing alloys you may need to fit 3 or 5mm spacers on the rears and possibly shave something off the rear axle.
Oh and the best bit is that there arn't that many Turbos on the road from the original 210 that Daihatsu imported there are about 160 left on the UK roads.
Hope this helps?
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'12' Plate Mazda MX-5 2.0 litre NC 3.5 Venture Roadster 160BHP
'15' Plate SEAT LEON 184 FR TDI. 240BHP/500nm Torque.
Past: '53' Plate Yellow YRV Turbo Approx. 150BHP
Thanks!
Thanks for the warm welcome! I'll post something a bit better when I'm back home on the PC.
Just another thought
Elnevio,
You could also be a possible future owner of a Sirion1.5sx. And no I am not having a go at YRV owners, but just putting another thought out there. If you are looking for a small car with performance you should consider a Sirion 1.5.
I was quite surprised at the mpg figures for a turbocharged YRV and for me they are on the poor side I gotta say. I have a Sirion 1.5sx that is a standard fit and very, very well maintained and I have never achieved less than 43mpg on my regular 80mph run from North Wales to Reading and back. If I ‘mims’ along at 60mph I genuinely get 49mpg and if I drive at lorry speed I can just get 54mpg. I promise there is no embellishment on these figures.
As for acceleration I have given many Golf GTIs a worrying experience. The engine is high revving when needed but it also has a slightly long stroke and this gives it incredible torque for around town driving in a high gear, and awesome pulling strength for accelerating on motorway lane changing without having to change down. There is minimal stirring of the gearbox – once in top gear it will work very well down to surprisingly low speeds.
And don’t forget this is from a naturally aspirated engine so there is no turbo complexity involved. In comparison I had a 1.5 Suzuki Swift and it was frankly useless in the engine department – it wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding. I have also owned a Sirion 1.3 and that was superb with the K3-VE engine, and the 1.5 is the big brother. Daihatsu make very good engines (as we all know) and the 3SZ-VE engine is the best engine I have come across for all-round performance, simplicity, and reliability.
So there you go. By the way welcome to the ‘hive’.
Regards
Phil
Great info!
Thanks again for the replies and genuinely useful information.
Not too worried about servicing issues, as I like to do most of my own, and totally advocate the use of proper fully synthetic oils. Even the Swift is fully-fully syntheticed up! (I think I may have made that word up there... :D)
I already have an auto in the family, but would certainly appreciate details of where I can be pointed to the correct ATF specs, and also whether there is a correct flushing procedure, as I doubt that it's a simple case of draining and refilling? Fishing for finer details already, and this is without buying one yet!
It has been useful to get an idea of real world MPG, although it's still twice as good as the Mitsi on juice.
As a general idea, we will keep looking these up, but realistically with a view to potentially buying one in a few month's time, depending on work (and if the Swift gets condemned!), but the YRV just ticks so many boxes!
PS: Anyone going to Japfest 2 at Donington this Sunday? At a wedding in Lincoln today, so may drop in on the way back tomorrow for the day.
Update!
This is still on the cards!
Sadly, the Swift didn't get through the MoT due to the rusty underbody, and not worth getting it sorted. Temporarily arranged a Grand Vitara TD from my folks, but planning to get something more permanent in the New Year when I get my Christmas working bonus.
Will be looking to put the information generously provided on here to good use.
In the meantime, is there anyone willing to take me for a spin in their Turbo? Although I live in Gloucester, I work all over the place - Essex, Merseyside, Derbyshire, South coast - so would be more than happy to meet up somewhere!
New proud owners!
Had a look at a black one in Nottingham last week, and it was a bit of a shed externally, scuffed, scratched, dinged and front bumper almost hanging off. So didn't even bother with a test drive.
However, we went and looked at an 03 yellow one in Bournemouth with 52,000 on the clock, and were suitably impressed!
Service book totally stamped up - in fact an extra page has been stapled in to allow for more stamps!
The bodywork is excellent. For a 10-year-old car, there is very little wrong cosmetically, just a couple of paint chips really - only found one door ding by the filler cap. Alloys are a little deteriorated, but not much more. Sills looked good underneath from what I could see - in fact generally pretty clean underside overall.
Exhaust Y pipe had been replaced (backed up by it appearing on an old MoT as an advisory a few years ago). Fuel filler pipe and anti-roll bar look original so will be keeping an eye on these.
All the fluids were excellent and clear, car starts from cold, hot and in between no problem. Gearbox seems fine and changes great whether cold or hot. Drives straight, brakes straight, with no wobbles or juddering.
Interior is immaculate and everything lights up and works. Air con too!
It has the Turbo 130 decals - not 100% on them, but we'll see how we go.
Got a bit off the dealer for tax, and forked out just over £2,300 for it in the end.
Higher end of the price range (except for the £4k one on eBay with 19k miles on it at the moment), but compared to the black one I saw, it was miles better.
We're certainly happy with it!
Thanks again for the excellent info on here on what to look for - it was a big help.
Yellow is the fastest colour ;)
Good stuff. As Bob has pointed out check under the plastic sills as both my front and rears had gotten bad. I take it mechanically everything is fine? Water pump is an issue so worth checking. Would also recommend a filter and fluid change on the auto box as I am betting the last owner wouldn't have had this done as its not in the service schedule. Should be done every 6 years according to last page in the owners manual. Have fun and hope the modding bug doesn't kick in too soon or you'll be bankrupt
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'12' Plate Mazda MX-5 2.0 litre NC 3.5 Venture Roadster 160BHP
'15' Plate SEAT LEON 184 FR TDI. 240BHP/500nm Torque.
Past: '53' Plate Yellow YRV Turbo Approx. 150BHP
Appeared on eBay
Hi Peeps - long time no post!
Our old YRV turbo has appeared on Autotrader https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201802013311002
It was written off for a very minor rear end in Oct 2014 and I bought it back off the insurance co. Subsequently sold it on as was as we decided we wouldn't be fixing it. Chap in Gloucester bought it, and still had it around six months ago as far as we can tell.
So it's now for sale in Blackburn for probably too much money and the rear end work has not been done. The rear slam panel was very slightly dinged too. If anyone wants some additional pictures from when I sorted out the eBay ad, please ask!
The ad is misleading with the Lady Owner 8 Years bit, unless they're on about the first 8 years! Also, there's no mention of the Cat C. And a quick look at the recent MoT history reveals that the rear sills needed doing recently. So they've either been welded or covered up as the history shows them as an advisory.
Wow very surprised to see the
Wow very surprised to see the car still going. I am also previous owner of that car, was the last Daihatsu I actually owned, and definitely not a lady.
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