Since its first arrival on local soil in 2012, the Toyota Etios has seen sustained demand in the used car market. There’s very little real difference between early cars and later examples, with its periodic updates leading to a gradual evolution rather than outright revolutions. It’s not the prettiest thing out there, but the Etios is practical, durable and affordable to run, and that’s exactly what budget-conscious buyers crave.
By Martin Pretorius Published: 19 September 2023, 12:30 Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes Photo GridA favourite among fleet owners and private customers alike, there’s much to commend about Toyota’s budget hatchback. Forget about pretty or frivolous: the Toyota Etios is all about value and durability. With bulletproof mechanical bits and easy serviceability, there’s a lot of clever engineering that’s gone into giving the Etios a long, drama-free and safe service life.
By the time the Toyota Tazz was finally phased out in 2006, the first-generation (in South Africa) Yaris did a pretty decent job of covering the entry-level market. But, as that car started growing up, Toyota realized that the new-generation model’s increasing sophistication had kick-started an unavoidable move upmarket. What Toyota needed was something Yaris-sized, that could be priced against the wildly successful Polo Vivo.
Fortunately, help was at hand, in the form of the Indian-built Etios. Arriving to mixed initial press reviews, the Etios nonetheless went on to become one of South Africa’s most popular cars. As the years went by, the Etios proved itself to be a rugged and dependable purchase, easy to service and inexpensive to run: the embodiment of traditional Toyota values. Add above-average safety ratings to the mix, and the low-cost Toyota becomes an attractive choice for buyers who place a premium on value and peace of mind.
Like the Etios, the Ford Figo is only available as a used vehicle. It is more powerful than the Toyota, with more standard equipment in high-spec versions, and a fair bit nicer inside as well.
Only the 1.4-litre Vivos overlap with the Etios range, but the entry-level Vivo 1.4 Trendline hatchback isn’t a huge lot more expensive than a high-spec Etios Sprint, can’t match the Toyota on performance, but features superior quality and refinement.
Sometimes overlooked by buyers, the Micra Active is less expensive than the entry-level Etios Xi, but almost matches the much more expensive Etios Sprint on the standard feature count. The trade-off is less power, although the Nissan’s little 1.2-litre 3-cylinder engine does a decent enough job for this class.
Also less expensive than the Etios, the earlier Swift hatchback is an altogether more sophisticated design than the Toyota, with a nicer cabin and lower fuel consumption. The DZire sedan shares this sophistication but loses out against the Etios sedan’s massive boot. The main downside is the Swift/DZire’s smaller engine, which almost matches the Toyota on power, but loses ground on torque. Either one is available with a manual gearbox, or with an automated manual.
Doing battle with the range-topping Etios Cross (which is basically an Etios Sprint with some plastic cladding), the Haval H1 is a crossover-ish small hatchback from China. Based on an older-generation Toyota platform, the Haval H1 has similar power and equipment to the Etios Cross, but weighs a lot more. The H1 is great value for money, though, and actually undercuts the cheapest Etios by a decent margin.
Because the 2019 Etios is still essentially the same car as the 2012 Etios, newer ones are pretty much identical to cars dating from 2017, which themselves are basically just the 2015 update with different bumpers, a new radio, and standard alloy wheels to go with the name change from Etios XS to Etios Sprint. But even though the frosting has seen some minor updates through the years, the basic car underneath is almost identical.
And, thanks to its stellar reliability record, there’s no reason to fear buying an older Etios, even though the standard warranty for 3 years or 100 000 km has expired. There’s only one reason to keep servicing the car at the dealership: the service history. A dealership service record may stand you in good stead when it’s time to sell your Etios because such a full-service record could add a few thousand Rands to your trade-in value. You will however have to pay dealership labour rates, which are generally much higher than those of non-OEM (private) service centres.
Fortunately, it’s not hugely expensive to service an Etios, and, because they’re so easy to work on, it’s easy to find a workshop that’ll perform basic servicing or even major repairs for a lot less than you’d pay at a dealership.
There’s one major upside to buying an older Etios, though, and that’s the initial purchase price. These cars don’t depreciate very quickly, but their values do drop once they’re a few years old or the odometer shows some distance. Very early cars can be had for about half the price of a newer one. We have a massive variety of pre-owned Etios models listed here on AutoTrader, and many of them are amazingly affordable.
This will be the preferred option for fleet managers, because it’s a pay-to-use deal, but can also be applied to private buyers. The buyer pays a certain amount every month for the privilege of using the car and simply returns the car at the end of the lease period. These cars generally end up on pre-owned floors or at fleet sales outlets. Lease agreements generally run for a fixed term, and most of them have an upper yearly mileage limit, so make sure that such an arrangement will fit your usage needs.
The upsides of leasing are that the burden of getting rid of the used car is removed from the buyer and that there will be no further outstanding balance to settle, such as the buyer would find in a hire-purchase deal with a residual value. The downside is that the buyer will end up paying for a car for a number of years but have no tangible asset to show afterwards.
Some dealerships and finance houses also offer different financing options, with hire-purchase transactions being the most common. In such a transaction, the buyer will put down a deposit on the car, and then proceed to pay monthly instalments until the car, along with interest and finance charges, are fully paid.
So far, so good. But hire-purchase deals have a nastier sibling, which works in mostly the same way, but with an outstanding value due at the end of the payment period. Many financing deals are structured in this way, to make the monthly instalments seem more affordable, but in the longer term, these deals end up costing a lot more than they do at first glance.
This outstanding value is known as a residual value or a balloon payment and is usually due along with the final “normal” instalment. Most banks and finance houses will allow the buyer to finance this residual value, provided the car’s value is still higher than the outstanding amount (which, given the Etios’s strong resale value, should not pose any obstacle).
While it’s impossible to accurately predict how much any car will cost to run in the short- or long-term, it’s worth noting a few points:
Seeing as the Etios have been around for years, you’ll be able to find swarms of them on Automark floors (Toyota’s used-car sales outlet), as well as on other used-car showroom floors. But the best place to compare the price, condition and mileage of a variety of examples from a host of dealerships is of course by searching for a used Toyota Etios model on AutoTrader.
You might be surprised to learn that buying a car often has some opportunity for haggling. Don’t imagine that you’ll get 50% off the purchase price, but you might be able to score a few thousand here or there, under certain conditions:
If you buy a used Etios with an expired warranty, you can choose to have it serviced and maintained at either the Toyota dealership or at a private service centre. Toyota parts are generally on the expensive side of reasonable from the agents, and dealer workshop labour rates are quite high as well. If your Etios has an active service plan, you’ll have no reason to take it anywhere else, though, as it’s all included in that perk.
Private (or non-OEM) service centres have much lower labour rates than the agents, and they will have access to second-tier (non-OEM branded, but still produced according to OEM specifications) parts supplies as well. Aftermarket support for Toyota body- and mechanical components is very strong, so you may find that most components can be found at either the agents or from non-OEM parts shops. However, going the non-OEM route may adversely affect your car’s resale value, as this also means that the car won’t have a full dealership service record. It's also advisable to stick to the OEM oil filter: on account of its very small capacity, you want the best possible oil filtration.
The Etios has been on the market long enough for any flaws and failings to be fairly well-known. Fortunately, there are very few reports regarding problems with its mechanical components, with the few known issues relating mostly to the electronically-controlled throttle – usually easily remedied by just cleaning the throttle body.
Additionally, some 2014-2015 vintage Etios models may have a noisy cam timing chain, due to a gradual failure of the hydraulic tensioner, so listen out for prolonged rattling from a cold start. Lastly, very early (2012-2013) Etios models may present leaking shock absorbers and rattling front strut mountings. The former are off-the-shelf Monroe parts and can be bought at most non-OEM spares shops, and the latter will be available from the agents. For the rest, the Etios appear to be as sturdy and durable as you’d expect from a Toyota.
You most likely won’t be able to get your money back when you sell your Etios, even if you’ve only had it for a short while, although they do retain their value surprisingly well for a car in this segment. Putting it simply, almost all cars lose value on a continuous basis from the moment they’re first sold. Depreciation does allow you to find good-condition, low-mileage Etios models at relatively bargain prices, though.
There are however some things you could do to get the best price for your car when you decide to sell it.