Toyota GR Yaris owners cash in

Dozens of opportunistic Toyota GR Yaris owners in Australia have cashed in on the craze surrounding the prized hot hatch, making thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks by selling them on the private market.

In September last year, Toyota controversially announced the first 1000 examples of the GR Yaris would be priced from $39,950 drive-away before eventually reverting to a permanent recommended retail price of $49,500 (plus on-road costs).

The move caused quite a stir, and within 24 hours of the introductory price announcement, 560 enthusiasts had plonked down a $1000 deposit to reserve their vehicle.

Now, new research from carsales reveals almost 30 examples of the Toyota GR Yaris have been on-sold privately over the past two months, many of them from the initial $40K batch and others from a secondary presale offer.

The average transaction price of each second-hand GR Yaris was $51,568 – a tidy profit of more than $10,000.

“The latest carsales data reveals that 29 Toyota Yaris GR have been delisted on carsales over the past 60 days at an average price of $51,568 – and with average kilometres of just 289km,” said carsales trade content editor David Toscano.

“At time of writing, a further 14 Yaris GR are available to purchase on carsales with a mean price of $53,524 – more than $14,000 more than the initial $39,000 drive-away price for the first 1000 units.”

The GR Yaris is officially sold out in Australia until at least mid-2021, after both the first and second shipments of the 200kW homologation special were snapped up.

Profiteering from performance cars is nothing new, although in most cases it is better associated with exotic European sports cars – not Toyotas.

However, Toyota’s GR (Gazoo Racing) high-performance sub-brand is proving to be a big hit with Aussie buyers, with the initial shipment of the first GR-branded model in Australia, Supra, sold out in just 22 minutes.

Toyota Australia has admitted it grossly underestimated initial demand for the GR Yaris, but has vehemently defended its decision to subsidise the first 1000 units in Australia.

“Our significant local investment in the GR brand and our customers made this pure performance car genuinely attainable,” said Toyota Australia’s sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley.

“In fact, GR Yaris has exceeded expectations and ignited the market.”

The obvious profiteering has not deterred many prospective GR Yaris buyers, however, with carsales data revealing it takes an average 12 days for a Toyota GR Yaris to be sold.

For those who have been priced out of the surge, Toscano said attention had turned to other like-minded hatches.

“It seems that many of these consumers are now weighing up the purchase of a hot Hyundai – which bodes well for the Korean brand as it enters the light hatch performance fray with the upcoming i20 N,” he said.

In December 2020, 7.8 per cent of consumers who viewed a new Toyota GR Yaris for sale on carsales also viewed a Hyundai i30 N, while 6.4 per cent of consumers took a closer look at a Civic Type R.

“Interestingly, nearly seven per cent of consumers also viewed a brand-new Toyota Supra for sale on carsales,” Toscano said.

Check out GR Yaris models for sale on carsales