Many thanks for the replies gents.
It is a mk1 and it does look like the mk2s go for 4k+ which is more than I want to spend.
I'm not actually that worries about the 5th gear thing as 95% of my driving is A and B road otherwise we use the other car.
I do like the Twingo as well as the Yaris SR 1.8 but don't seem to be many of them around within a 50 mile radius.
..Edit actually I've just found a Yaris SR 1.8 10 miles away.. 1600 squid.. full dealer warranty.. but 100k+. Hmm!
calling
@Raymond Lin didn't you have one of these or was it the 1.5 tsport you had?
I did have a 1.8L, it's the mk2 Yaris.
The good, engine and inner working of the car was pretty bulletproof in the almost 6 years that I had it, (5 years and 9 months). I manage around 40mpg for the entire duration of the ownership and i ran it on ordinary fuel. Build quality is on par for the class of car it's in, I distinctly recall it was better than the mk3 that I had as a courtesy car one time. It has enough oomph to carry 5 people, it will be a squeeze at the back though but it has a flat floor in the rear which helps, there is no hump in the middle. I even carried a huge plasma TV standing up in it for 250miles. Actually bigger than you think in a way.
The problems I've had was to do with rust, the end section of my exhaust rusted really bad and the car was 8 years old at the time, and spare for the exhaust had to be sourced from Japan so it is not worth it, cheaper to get custom. Road noise wasn't the best but it is also par for the course for a small car, you do get 5 gears though and I remember I loved the gearbox, it was quite notchy in feel. In terms of modern entertainment it really had none, I had a dealer install an iPod kit so i can connect my phone into it as it had no bluetooth. Mine did weirdly came with keyless entry so that was actually quite handy.
I really liked the car, I mean I had it for almost 6 years. I drove it everywhere for weddings, even over on the ferry to Ireland. Service was quite reasonable, about £140 from Toyota dealer for the minor one. If it weren't for the exhaust I might have kept it longer.
Photo of the mid section snapped off and held on by a bracket...if a new one with a clear rust free exhaust, I'd buy one again. But they are not easy to find.
Oh, tax is not cheap on these, like £210.