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After all the paperwork, Ms. Morgia-Jamias waved me off and set to do one thing I haven’t done before: drive the Yaris. I was immediately impressed with the spritely performance of the 1.5-liter engine. Though no more powerful than its contemporaries, the 4-speed Super ECT automatic makes the most out of it. The Yaris never lacks punch, even when fully loaded. Though the engine doesn’t give the sportiest exhaust note out there, the speedometer needle tells the story of a car that dispenses speed quite easily. As I got used to driving a car with almost no overhangs, it shows the Yaris’s most fun aspect: carving through city traffic. Visibility is excellent, and with a quick-ratio electric power steering, it can squeeze through two cars with an almost motorcycle-like manner (usually to the ire of motorists). Plus, it can turn on a dime into the tightest of parking spaces.

Since then, the city driving aspect of the Yaris hasn’t worn out on me. As I average around 350 kilometers a week, this car manages to be a dependable and eco-friendly companion—sipping fuel at the rate of just 11 to 13 km/L, depending on the type and brand of fuel (the Yaris seems to like Shell products). As I brought the Yaris to its first out of town trip though, its city car design flaws started to emerge. Not lacking in top speed, the Yaris can top out at an electronically-limited 130 km/h. What’s so discontenting is in the way it can get swept by crosswinds because of its lithe 1,080-kilogram mass. The overly sensitive steering is a big problem too; because keeping the Yaris pointed straight at high speed make take some concentration.

After doing almost 7,000 kilometers in just 4 months, I have little to complain about Toyota Yaris ownership. Fit and finish are generally commendable, but there were some paint issues after I got delivery, that was solved after some waxing. Then there was an annoying rattle in the rear hatch (because of the push-button type release), but was resolved by literally shoving a sock into the hatch. And then there’s the lack of an auxiliary audio input—which I countered by installing a PIE (Precision Interface Electronics) Fujitsu Ten CD changer to aux input adapter. As a companion in the next chapter of my life, the Yaris is something me and my future wife and completely depend and enjoy for the foreseeable future. Though I haven’t driven the Yaris before this, now I simply can’t think of life without it.