Buyer Research

2020 Toyota Yaris — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $13,000–$17,500. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 11 Toyota Yaris years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

The last Yaris sold in the US, and like the 2019 it is a Mazda2 in Toyota clothes — Mazda's 1.5L direct-injection engine and six-speed automatic, built in Mexico, available as a sedan or, new this year, a hatchback. Nine complaints is a small file and we read it as such: it tells you few owners wrote, not that the car is right. One thing in it is not small: the same Denso fuel pump recall that covers the 2019, for an impeller that can swell and stall the engine on the move, and a third of this year's complaints are owners who could not get the part for months. Check the VIN for recall 21V617 before anything else. The rest is a car that shakes at idle for one owner, a battery that went flat on three-mile commutes for another, and the low-speed automatic braking firing at a garage wall — all things you can test in a ten-minute drive. With the pump done and a clean first-turn start, this is a good, economical small car that will probably outlast your interest in it.

What we checked

Checked against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 9 owner complaints for the 2020 Toyota Yaris, and 1 recall campaign.

That is too small a record to read a pattern from, so we are not going to pretend otherwise — with numbers this low one owner moves the percentage by a lot. What has been filed is grouped under the engine (3), the fuel system (3), throttle and cruise control (2). Treat those as things to look at, not as the vehicle's known weaknesses. A thin file usually means few of these were sold or few owners filed. It is not evidence the vehicle is trouble-free, and the issues below are our own research rather than a reading of this record.

One recall campaign covers this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2020 Toyota Yaris

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

In-tank fuel pump impeller can deform and stall the engine on the road (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 21V617 covers 2019–2020 Yaris sedans and hatchbacks: the impeller inside the low-pressure fuel pump can crack and swell until the pump cannot keep up, and the engine loses power or stalls outright, at any speed and without warning. The warning signs before that are a long crank, a rough idle and hesitation under load. Toyota fits a new pump assembly free, but all three fuel-system complaints on this year are owners told the part was not available yet, so a car sold in 2021 or 2022 may have slipped through with the recall still open. Look the VIN up on NHTSA, ask for the invoice, and on the test drive make sure it catches within a second of turning the key.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the fuel system (3); 1 NHTSA recall campaign on this model year.

Shaking at idle when stopped, a labored start and a battery that goes flatMedium

Three engine complaints, three different stories. One owner describes an intense vibration through the seats and wheel when the car comes to a stop, on and off from 3,500 miles, that the dealer could not pin down — on this engine the suspects are a failing engine mount, a coil or plug misfiring at idle, or the fuel pump starting to struggle. Another had a car that labored to start and drained its battery on a three-mile commute, which is a short-trip battery problem, not an engine one. A third found the 4.4-quart oil capacity in the manual leaves the dipstick nearly a quart over. At the car: let it idle in Drive with your foot on the brake for a full minute and feel for a shake, check the dipstick reads at the full mark and not above it, and have the battery load-tested.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$600

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (3).

Low-speed automatic braking that fires with nothing in the wayMedium

The Yaris's pre-collision system uses a windshield sensor to brake for you at low speed. Two owners describe it stopping the car on its own: one pulling into a garage on a sloped driveway behind another car, one accelerating into a left turn with a clear gap, and one also reports abrupt braking on a highway narrowed by roadworks. A dirty or misaligned windshield sensor and a replaced windshield with no recalibration are the usual causes; a system that cannot be trusted is a system many owners switch off. Ask whether the windshield has ever been replaced, and on the test drive approach a parked car slowly in a lot and see whether the warning comes early, late, or not at all.

Repair cost (estimate): $0–$400 for a sensor clean or recalibration

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under throttle and cruise control (2).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Recall 21V617 open on the NHTSA VIN lookup, or a seller who does not know whether the fuel pump was replaced
✗Engine that cranks for more than a second or two before it fires
✗Vibration through the seat and steering wheel when idling in Drive at a stop
✗Oil on the dipstick sitting well above the full mark
✗Aftermarket windshield with no record of the pre-collision sensor being recalibrated

Good Signs

✓Recall 21V617 shown complete with the dealer paperwork for the pump assembly
✓Fires within a second of the key, warm and cold, and settles to a smooth idle
✓Idles in Drive for a full minute at a stop with the steering wheel still
✓Battery load-tested with the printout, or a dated receipt for a new one
✓Pre-collision warning that chimes at a sensible distance when you creep toward a parked car