The big problem
What's sad about the Yaris is the volume of its trunk, or lack thereof. With the rear seat in place, the little Toyota only offers 228 liters of cargo space.

There's worse out there, like the Chevrolet Aveo5, Pontiac Wave5 and Suzuki Swift+ trio as well as the MINI Cooper and smart fortwo. But the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio5 all benefit from twice the cargo volume as in the Yaris.

It's so small in the trunk that one evening, me and my girlfriend went to pick up another couple and go out for dinner, but I couldn't even fit my kid's booster seat in the cargo area of the Yaris in order to free up the back seat. Four or five grocery bags and it's full.

What's sad about the Yaris is the volume of its trunk, or lack thereof.

Competition

The 5-door Yaris LE has a base price of $14,245. Add $1,000 for the 4-speed automatic transmission as well as $1,725 for the Convenience Package which includes ABS brakes with electronic brake force distribution, A/C, power windows and remote keyless entry. The total climbs to $16,970.

Here's the list of similarly-equipped subcompacts, with an automatic transmission:

Chevrolet Aveo5 LT, 103 hp, $16,455
Honda Fit LX, 109 hp, $18,580
Hyundai Accent GL 3-door, 110 hp, $16,295
Kia Rio5 EX Convenience, 110 hp, $17,145
Nissan Versa 1.8 S, 122 hp, $16,998
Pontiac Wave5 SE, 103 hp, $16,455
Suzuki Swift+ S, 103 hp, $17,395
smart fortwo pure, 70 hp, $16,090

The Aveo5, Rio5, Wave5 and Swift+ don't include ABS brakes in the pricing mentioned above, since they are part of a $960 option package. However, the Yaris only offers two airbags while its rivals offer four and even six.

The flip-up cupholders are smartly located on each end of the dashboard, instead of in the narrow floor console.