2012 Toyota Yaris

The 2012 Toyota Yaris sits in the latter, quieter phase of this generation's federal record, where complaints had fallen dramatically from the 2007–2008 peak (296 and 218 complaints, respectively) down to just 25 in 2011. However, 2012 shows a modest uptick to 35 complaints and 5 recalls — a reversal from the steady decline seen from 2007 through 2011 — before complaints drop sharply again in 2013 (9) and 2014 (2). The dominant complaint area for 2012 is air bags, accounting for 16 of 35 complaints, with 12 crash-related complaints and 1 fire complaint reported; the data does not specify a root cause for these. With 200 technical service bulletins, the second-highest in the generation behind 2013's 211, there is extensive service documentation available to address known issues. Overall, 2012 is a reasonable used buy — complaint and recall volumes are low by generation standards — but the air bag complaint concentration warrants a pre-purchase check of recall completion status, making it a solid but not standout year compared to the quieter 2013–2014 models that followed.