Toyota Yaris Cross Review & Prices

The Yaris Cross is Toyota’s biggest small car, a hybrid that combines the small footprint of a hatchback with the extra interior space of an SUV. It’s funky-looking, economical and easy to drive, but it’s not quite as comfortable as its alternatives and the interior is bland.

It's good enough to have won the Urban Living category of the 2025 Carwow Car of the Year Awards, in fact.

If you like to peer over traffic, the Yaris Cross might well tempt you away from the smaller Yaris hatchback - with which it shares its self-charging hybrid engine. It’s not the only small hatchback-cum-SUV-hybrid on sale, with the stylish Renault Captur on the cards, but the sporty Ford Puma and sensible Volkswagen T-Cross are worth considering, too.

Choosing a Yaris Cross over a Yaris is a bit like buying a 15.0-inch Macbook over a 13.0-inch one. It’s almost identical under the skin, but the extra size means it’s more useful day-to-day.

The Yaris Cross looks a lot more purposeful than its hatchback counterpart; a bit longer and a lot taller with its jacked-up suspension and high roofline. The aggressive headlights and down-turned grille give it a moody look, while the plastic body cladding and high-set rear light bar make it look bigger in photos than it actually is.

It’s a shame the interior isn’t quite as funky, as you sit in a sea of dark grey plastic. GR-Sport models have sportier seats with plush-feeling Alcantara inserts and red stitching, but even that isn’t enough to lift the ambience inside. At least the 10.5-inch (9.0-inch on the base model) infotainment system is crisp and clear to navigate, with standard-fit wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The interior benefits from its tall roofline, because the Yaris Cross has plenty of space up front. Tall passengers have just just enough headroom in the back, but four six-footers will push the legroom to its limits. The near-400-litre boot is smaller than you get in a Peugeot 2008 or Skoda Kamiq.

You can only have a 1.5-litre self-charging hybrid engine in your Yaris Cross, but while the lowest trim level has 116hp, higher-spec cars get 130hp.

It’s worth paying the extra for the increased performance, because while the fuel economy is almost identical (you’ll almost certainly exceed Toyota's claimed figures in both), that power bump makes all the difference when getting up to motorway speeds and overtaking. Wind and road noise are fairly well insulated once you reach a cruise.

Around town the Yaris Cross is very pleasant to drive - its electric motor gives you plenty of shove away from a junction, while the light steering and good forward visibility make it easy to manoeuvre on narrow streets. The suspension is a bit stiff, though, so you do get jostled about on rough sections of road.

While it’s hardly fun on a country lane, the Yaris Cross does a good job of keeping body lean in check on a winding road, so you have plenty of confidence when tacking a B-road.

Check out Carwow’s latest deals on the Toyota Yaris Cross, or Yaris Cross lease deals instead. Find a used Yaris Cross through our trusted dealer network, or other used Toyotas for sale if you fancy something different. Carwow can even help you sell your car when the time comes.

The entry-level Toyota Yaris Cross Icon trim starts at just over £26,000, priced around £1,000 over the entry-level Renault Captur Hybrid but a whopping £6,000 below the Peugeot 2008 Hybrid. It’s well-equipped, too, with keyless-go, a 9.0-inch infotainment display, 7.0-inch driver’s display and 16-inch alloy wheels.

Design trim level adds more standard kit and a bigger infotainment screen, and the option of the 130hp engine. Excel comes next, with fancy wheels, power-fold windscreen wipers and power tailgate.

The top-of-the-range GR Sport Yaris Cross has sporty wheels and seats plus trim-specific wheels, though strangely you don’t get a powered tailgate. Odd, especially considering it costs over £32,000.

The Yaris Cross is nippy around town and very fuel efficient, but it’s fidgety over bumps.

In town

Being a high-riding hatchback the Toyota Yaris Cross is ideal for city driving. You get a more commanding view of the road than the Yaris Hybrid, yet it’s still compact enough to squeeze into tight parking spaces and down narrow streets.

It’s also only available as a hybrid with a CVT automatic gearbox, which makes for smooth and nippy performance thanks to the electric motor which gives you a boost off the line. You can also drive at low speeds in EV mode to save fuel, and up to 60mpg is easily achievable.

All models come standard with autonomous emergency braking which will detect cyclists and pedestrians in your path, and you get a reversing camera as well to make tight car parks a bit less stressful. A 360-degree camera can also be optioned on top-spec models.

If the roads around your local town are a bit broken and potholed then you might find the Yaris Cross can be a bit firm, however it’s never uncomfortable.

On the motorway

If you find yourself regularly venturing out onto the motorway then the 130hp model may be worth considering over the standard 116hp version. It’s still not especially rapid, however the extra power can prove useful when overtaking. Beyond this, the Yaris Cross is very well-mannered as you push on down a fast-moving road.

A recent update brings improved sound insulation, meaning wind and road noise is fairly unintrusive. It’s certainly no worse than you’ll get on a Volkswagen T-Cross. The engine can get noisy if you call upon all the available horses under the bonnet, however.

The Yaris Cross gets both adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist as standard, something which isn’t too common in this class and a very welcome addition. The seats are comfortable as well, providing plenty of support to keep the backache at bay.

On a twisty road

While the Yaris Cross won’t get your pulse racing on a B-road, the firm suspension limits body roll through the corners and the steering is accurate enough to inspire confidence. If it’s fun you’re after, consider a Ford Puma instead - but the little Toyota is perfectly competent.

That firm suspension does come with a drawback, and that’s the fact it can get unsettled by broken or undulating roads. A Skoda Kamiq maintains its composure a bit better.

The Yaris Cross will seat four adults in comfort, but fitting a child seat can be a pain thanks to the narrow door openings

The Toyota Yaris Cross’s interior is broadly the same as the Yaris hatchback, meaning it offers plenty of space up front to get comfortable. There may be no option of electrically-adjustable seats, but they still offer plenty of adjustment to suit drivers of all shapes and sizes.

Go for one of the higher-spec models and you get heated front seats and a heated steering wheel to stay toasty on cold winter mornings, and all but the entry-level car get adjustable lumbar support.

As for storage space for your bits and bobs, it’s pretty average. The door bins are decent and will take a big bottle with ease and there are a couple of cupholders in the centre console, although the armrest can interfere with larger bottles here.

Underneath that armrest is a pretty meagre storage cubby which is barely tall enough to fit the car’s key, and the glovebox is best described as adequate. There’s a handy tray in front of the gear selector for your phone as well, which also has a USB port for charging.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back is decent on the whole. Headroom will be at a premium for taller adults, but carrying two people will be no bother. Taking three in the back on the other hand could be tricky thanks to the narrow centre seat.

Rear seat occupants have a pair of front seatback pockets and some small door bins to store their possessions, and all but the entry-level car get two cup holders in the back as well. It’s just a shame there are no charging points back here.

The two outer seats have easy-reach ISOFIX anchors, although you’re almost certain to lose the removable covers. Fitting a child seat is a bit of a faff as well because the rear doors don’t open very wide. A Skoda Kamiq is more practical for growing families.

Boot space

At 397 litres, the Toyota Yaris Cross just about matches the Kamiq’s 400-litre boot capacity. It trails behind the Peugeot 2008’s 434 litres though, and the lack of clever sliding seats means it can’t come close to the Renault Captur’s 536-litre figure.

Numbers don’t tell the full story though, and the lack of a load lip and the wide boot opening make it very easy to sling heavy items in. You get an adjustable boot floor and some handy luggage hooks and belts to make the most of the space on offer. The Excel trim also gets an electric boot that can be activated by waving your foot beneath the rear bumper.

The seats also fold down flat, and the clever fabric parcel shelf can be placed on the floor without taking up space making it easy to exploit the new-found 1,097 litres of space. The Yaris Cross is also available with all-wheel drive, another unusual feature, but it does reduce overall boot space to 320 litres with the seats up.

It may not be the most exciting cabin out there, but the Yaris Cross feels solidly built with high-quality materials

As soon as you climb aboard the Yaris Cross you’ll notice that everything is logically laid out and very well-made. It has that typical Toyota solidity, giving you the impression that it’ll last forever. There’s not much in the way of design flair here, you’ll have to look at a Peugeot 2008 for that, but there’s something to be said for the no-nonsense simplicity. The optional panoramic glass sunroof also adds some much needed light.

Entry-level models get a 9.0-inch infotainment system, while every other grade has a 10.5-inch touchscreen. Regardless of which one you go for you get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the graphics are clear and bright. It’s responsive to your touch as well, and the menus are logically laid out.

You also get a digital driver’s display as standard, measuring 7.0 inches on lower-spec cars and 12.3 inches higher up the range. The larger display is certainly more impressive-looking, and you get all your vital information at a glance in a clear and concise manner. It’s just not as configurable as the system you get in a Volkswagen T-Cross.

There are two engine options to choose from in the Toyota Yaris Cross, although both are based on Toyota’s 1.5-litre petrol-hybrid setup. All but the top two trim levels use a 116hp setup, while GR Sport models have 130hp on tap.

They're all great all-rounders, and it’s not really worth upgrading to a higher-spec model just for the added power. It’s hard to notice the difference in performance in daily use - the 130hp engine shaves just half a second off the 0-60mph time - and both cars returned very similar economy during our time with them.

That economy was very impressive though. These two engines are both supposed to do close to 60mpg, and we managed to get within 5mpg of this figure in both cars during real-world testing. This is thanks largely to the hybrid system, which does a great job of keeping the engine switched off around town as much as possible.

It’s this efficient hybrid system which keeps the emissions down as well. The 116hp model emits as little as 101g/km of CO2, while the more powerful car puts out just 109g/km. This places it in a low Vehicle Excise Duty band, and Benefit in Kind tax won’t be too ruinous for company car drivers either.

The Yaris Cross comes fitted with an impressive list of standard safety devices including a pre-collision system, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control and a rear-view camera. Rear-cross traffic alert is available on higher trims as is a 360-degree camera and advanced parking assist.

It achieved a full five-star Euro NCAP test result when it was tested in 2021. The safety assist systems score of 81% is commendable as is the 86% scored for adult occupant safety.

Toyota came 14th out of 31 brands in the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction, which is a disappointing result given its typically stellar reputation for build quality and reliability.

The standard three-year/60,000-mile warranty can be extended up to 10 years and 100,000 miles as long as you service your car each year at an authorised Toyota repairer. Kia’s class-leading standard seven-year/100,000-mile, which you might prefer as the car does not have to be serviced at an authorised Kia dealer to retain its warranty.