Friday, January 24, 2025

A Hen's Tooth For Sale: 2018 Toyota Yaris SE (With a Manual Transmission)

2018 Toyota Yaris SE
2018 Toyota Yaris SE. Photo via Lexus of Seattle 

I've found a hen's tooth. A rarity. This is a 2018 Toyota Yaris SE (located at Lexus of Seattle). It was the only Yaris model to come with this front and rear facia. That's right, it only appeared for one year, as the Yaris hatchback was discontinued for 2019, only to reappear as a rebadged Mazda2 for 2020, and then genuinely made extinct. To make this Yaris rarer, it's got the factory two-tone black-and-blue paint scheme. To make it a genuine hen's tooth? It's a five-speed manual. And just in case that wasn't enough, it's located in the Pacific Northwest—an area that didn't get allocations of these with manual transmissions. It's like finding a rare animal that happened to migrate out of its natural habitat. (Now re-read this in a David Attenborough voice.)

A One-Owner Rarity

The one-owner vehicle, complete with Carfax, states it was originally bought in Florida, which makes sense since, again, the 5MT wasn't available in the PNW. It's got a tick over 85,000 miles on it, but that's nothing for the venerable 1NZ-FE engine. These also had, arguably, the best seats offered in the tiny hatchback's lifespan in North America.

Toyota Yaris SE with manual transmission
A real hen's tooth: this Yaris SE has a manual transmission. 

Price on Par?

Perhaps my brain is still stuck in the 2010s, but Lexus of Seattle wants $13,087 for this, plus some sort of $995 "dealer accessory fee," whatever that is. I actually inquired with their chat, but the person on the other end said they didn't know what it was for, and unsurprisingly, wanted me to call to find out. The price seems steep to me, but it is at KBB price for a dealer. 

UPDATE 2/5/2025: Lexus of Seattle won't reply to my inquiries about the $995. I actually went and looked at the vehicle while passing through Seattle, and no one came out to assist. The car had some scratches on the doors and rear bumper and was also missing the trim strips on the roof. 

A Tempting Treasure

Frankly, this car is tempting due to its rarity. I prefer the 2012–2014 front and rear facia, but this '18 is so uncommon. It's one of those cars where you'd show up to Cars and Coffee and people would genuinely ask what it is, or think it's a Toyota Prius c or something. I do love its space-pod-esque shape.

I'll likely be stalking this one online until it sells. While we sold our Yaris a couple years ago, I still love them, and wouldn't mind adding one to the fleet again. And this 2018 is the last hurrah for the Toyota-made subcompact in the USA. It likely won't be coming home with us, but it's sure fun to look at.

2018 Toyota Yaris SE rear
The rare rear of an '18 Yaris SE. Photo via Lexus of Seattle

UPDATE 2/5/2025: After looking at the Carfax for this vehicle a little more closely, it was owned by the manufacturer, Toyota, for the first 9,048 miles of its lift, so Carfax is still calling it a one-owner vehicle. It was in Florida for the first year of its life. The VIN, VNKKTUD30JA091107, show it was then sold in Washington state. 

That fact it was owned by Toyota for over 9,000 miles of its life led me to believe it was press fleet  vehicle, perhaps for testing and review. Low and behold, I found a CarBuzz review on YouTube featuring a 2018 Toyota Yaris in this exact paint scheme, with a five-speed, and with Florida plates. I'm willing to bet this car was a Toyota fleet vehicle. Small world. 

1 comment:

Justanotherdrunk said...

Nice find, although I hate the 2 tone black, wish it was solid blue and love the exterior refresh. Still have my 2016 Yaris SE (since new) that I've driven to all 48 contiguous states, she runs strong and has been boat anchor reliable after 80K miles.