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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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| The rare rear of an ’18 Yaris SE. Photo via Lexus of Seattle |