Values of sold-out Toyota GR Yaris soar by $20,000
The Toyota GR Yaris is a bit of a jackpot car, ticking off almost every single box applicable to the hot hatch genre.
It might not be particularly practical, but it’s often touted as being more rare than its rivals, its turbocharged triple is among the few truly unique engine formats in the genre, it has motorsport pedigree and ‘homologation car’ status of sorts, and its four-wheel drive mechanicals are largely bespoke.
All of this added together with a $54,990 sticker price (drive-away, too, thanks to Toyota’s ‘Drive Happy’ philosophy) meant that its current sold-out status was inevitable. In the wake of this, it’s curious to plot its value on the second-hand market.
A raft of opportunistic sellers have emerged with GR models packing little to no kilometres on their respective clocks, with significantly marked-up prices to suit.
Currently, there are eight GR Yaris models listed on auction website TradeMe, with each model priced well over the original price, regardless of how much mileage has been put on the odometer.
Four models have less than 1000km on the clock, and are priced between $74,990 and a whopping $79,990. Some of these come with mere delivery kilometers on the clock, advising that the buyer will be their ‘first owner’.
The cheapest model listed, on the other hand, happens to be the only version in black and is priced at $65,000.
It’s important to note that none of the listed GR Yaris models are listed by Toyota New Zealand dealerships. In fact, the majority of models listed are imports, as opposed to being ‘NZ new’. One notes that it’s an import from the UK.
Toyota New Zealand initially brought over a batch of 20 GR Yaris, most of which were immediately snapped up before they’d even hit the shore. This figure was a stark contrast to Australia, who had over 1000 GR Yaris in their local allocation (these also sold out).
It’s expected that a second allocation of GR Yaris models will eventually hit New Zealand. Although this may not occur until the model receives a refresh.
