Silver Yaris

I was looking for a set of steel wheels to put my winters on to as I didn't want to have to pay to swap the tyres in December & then again in March every year on to my OEM alloys. I kept my eyes peeled on Facebook market place, ebay, etc and managed to pick up 4 OEM Mk2 Yaris alloys for £100 that were almost perfect condition. Don't bother with steels as you can get 2nd hand alloys for cheaper which also look better than steels & won't rust like steel.

There is a difference between the French & Japanese built Yaris which is why it won't fit. If you search on eBay for one most will advise if it's for French or Japanese. If you don't know if your car is French or Japanese the VIN will start with VNK on French & JTD on Japanese. Another way to check is if you use a spanner, the nut on a Japanese car is 10 mm and on a French car 13 mm. I replaced the rear arm on mine for less than a tenner & simply bought a new blade from my local Toyota dealer. If you have a Japanese built car then you will need a wiper arm removal tool which can be found on eBay for £5.

I would remove the light clusters in the 1st instance & clean up before buying any parts as if they were anything like mine, they will have years of dirt and grime in there clogging everything up and most likely forcing water in to the boot. As per advice that I had earlier in this post (and after cleaning the light clusters & refitting), lift the carpet, get in the car, drop the rear seats so that you have a clear view of the boot and get someone to pour a bucket of water over the rear of the car. That way, you will know for sure if you need to do anything else or whether just cleaning everything up has fixed the problem. After I have sorted mine, I left my carpet up to dry out & we have had horrendous rain here in Manchester and my boot is bone dry for the 1st time in years

Just thought I'd share some pics of what I found when I removed the rear light clusters (pics are of the passenger side but the driver's side was just as bad). In hindsight, it may not have been the seal that was gone, just a build up of dirt over the last 14 years that left the water with no where else to go other than in to the boot. It's a 2 minute job to remove them as only 1 bolt & 1 electrical connector after removing the interior clip panel so worth giving them a clean out before winter to prevent any leaks.

All fitted yesterday afternoon without the need for any kind of adhesive or sealant. I have emptied the boot, lifted the carpet, dropped the rear seats, etc. so that I could properly see if there was any water getting in now with the new seal in place & my wife pouring a bucket of water over the rear of the car - thankfully none so it looks like job done. Thanks to all who commented on this thread

Might have to use some sealant as this new seal will not seal tight the whole way around even though I've cleaned off the old residue which kind of defeats the object of a new seal

Got the light cluster off & removed the old seal & need to clean up the old residue. Did you use anything to bond the new seal in or just fit it direct to the cluster?

So, new seal has arrived, went to fit it & wasn't sure if it fits inside the car or outside of the car (between the car & cluster) if that makes sense? I've removed the inside cover as per the picture & can't see any seal so I'm assuming that I need to remove the light cluster itself & if so, does the seal sit on the bodywork or the inside / round the edge of the light cluster itself?

I've ordered a tail light seal which is due arrive tomorrow & I'll fit over the weekend. I will see if that solves the problem first before removing any strips on the roof if there is potentially no need.

Just a quick update on this. Jacked the car up today & removed the wheel for better access. The main part of the shield / cover (in the pictures) broke straight off in my hands with little to no force. The remainder I removed in bits with a screwdriver & pliers. Definitely caught up this just in time as the last thing I want is parts of it flying off or causing issues whilst trying to brake.

Yeah, definitely, the hub has to come off & I've heard of people damaging wheel bearings whilst stripping it all down so I won't be doing that 👍

I've seen genuine Toyota ones for £60 for the pair but don't you need to remove the calipers, discs, etc. etc. to get to them & fit the new ones? Hence me opting not to replace them.

Hi all, For a while now I've noticed that the front disc shields / covers are badly corroded. Today whilst cleaning mine I've notices that the driver's side one has now become very unstable and I fear it may break off whilst driving which could cause all sorts of problems. Tomorrow I plan to jack the car up, remove the wheel & essentially break off the corroded shield & will take a look at the passenger side one at the same time. My understanding is that these shields / covers do not form part of the MOT so I do not plan to replace them as they are a royal pita to get to. Does anyone have any tips for removing or is it just an angle grinder (for the passenger side one) as I think the drivers side one is going to break apart as soon as I tap it with a hammer?

Just an update to this in case anyone finds themselves in the same dilemma. I opted for the Uniroyal RainSport 3's in the end and they are absolutely amazing! So much grip in the wet & definitely better than my previous Goodyear energy efficiency sport or whatever their right name is.

Hi all, As per the title, I've got water in the boot of my Mk1 and am struggling to identify where it's coming from. The carpet above the spare wheel is soaking on the right hand side. The rubber bungs in the base of the boot are in place and the main rubber seal around the boot / hatch appears to be okay. Has anyone else experienced this and if so what was the root cause of the problem? TIA for any responses