Toyota Echo

jhall7

Just talked to "Auto One" in Louisville and they said they sell and install cruise for the Echo at a cost of $249.00.

Their service department also told me that they had done 3 Echos in the past 6 weeks and the owners of each Echo had praised the quality of the car.

The waiting time is 3 hours, but I won't have to try and put the thing in myself.

Have ordered the bug shield through "Toyotaguys".

Jack

gaiffem

I ordered a bug shield from Toyotaguys last Friday. It arrived Wednesday. Not too bad considring they're in the Pacific NW and I'm in West Central Florida. $70 total.

Installation was a snap and the shield appears to be high quality. It's made by a Canadian company called "Formfit".

I'm pleased so far, and just wish I had heard of the shield before the local "love bug" season arrived. Would have saved a lot of grief and daily washings.

kaz6

would anyone be able to post a pic of their Echo with the bug shield installed?

thoover

We got one from Concelli Autoplex (I think that was the name, found them on the internet) that came to 56.00 that includes tax and shipping. The first one that came the UPS truck folded in half for us, the replacement came a couple days later and is fine. If it ever stops raining I will take a picture and post it.

Our dog died today, and I am sad... Bye for now...

pat

I am so very sorry. I've been there several times and will be there again. My heart goes out to you and your family.

Pat
Host
Sedans and Women's Auto Center Message Boards

jhall7

I too am very sorry to hear about your dog.

I have lost dogs in the past and know the feeling of loss that you are realizing.

Jack

kaz6

So sorry to hear about your loss! I do thank you for even thinking of posting the pic!

majorthomecho

Thoover, you have my condolences on the loss of your pet.

majorthomecho

Edmunds has reviewed the new Mini Cooper. While the reviewer did object slightly to the center mounted speedo, he did not call the placement dopey as was said (by another reviewer) about the center mounted instrument cluster on the Echo.

kaz6

Funny huh? The center speedo on the new BMW roadster is also in the center but somehow is viewed as "nostalgic"? Go figure...
I love the placement of the instruments as it leaves no glare or obstruction for night driving.

squeeziechum

i like the dials in the middle too. it is very easy to see while driving. one thing i've noticed, tho, is that i can see a round reflection of the dashboard in the windshield. i'm getting used to it but i wasn't pleased at first. does this distract anybody else? my windows aren't tinted, maybe that would solve it.

majorthomecho

The center mounted instrument cluster's reflection does not distract me. My windows are not tinted either. Actually, I know that it does reflect in the windshield, but I never really thought about it. Guess that shows how much of a distraction it is not.

majorthomecho

I was cleaning out my Echo and I came across a gas receipt. I was floored when I did a quick computation on miles per gallon. I made a notation that the trip odometer read 387.90 miles when I filled up and it took 8.905 to fill up. This works out to over 43 miles per gallon. The amazing thing is that this was mostly city driving.

In this day and age of almost $1.75 a gallon gas (in my area of the country), I have to ask myself, "Can it get any better?"

roger53

I have just purchased a new Echo blue coupe. I have checked the gas milage twice and got, 44.8 and 52.2 mpg. The last one was done by coasting whenever i can and driving on roads next to high speed highways. Where I live most of the high speed roads have secondary roads that are along side and the speed limits are 50mph. It means I get where i am going 15 to 20 minutes latter. I [lan to put a 2 more pound s of pressure in the tires and increase the milage by one mpg. My coasting is done in a safe manner. I drive conservatively and I Will try and boast the 52.8 to 54 mpg. It is a great car and the milage is fantastic. Go to hell Shell and mobil. I am fighting back.

thoover

I am going to try to link to my bug deflector pictures as requested...

It took about 10 times to get it right(duh)

thoover

I love the center instrument pod! The glare only bothered me when the first time I used dashboard protectant I did the land in front of the instruments. Now I just wipe the dust off that part with a dry rag, and the glare is not a distraction for me.

babyboomer

Traveled interstates from south Georgia to Tampa, then Orlando. Visited Disney"s EPCOT and Animal Kingdom (which have parking lots larger than New Jersey). Motored home today. And for the grand total of Echos we spotted: ONE!

mbohun

Todd,

Bug deflector looks great! However, how is this installed. Does it snap-0n? or Bolt?

thanks for you help.

persyn

hey sorry, I havent got back been working alot! The cruise cost me 256.oo US. Kit comes with detailed instructions, jsut needed a couple of sockets and a drill for one hole in steering column cover. you take out the battery, and its tray (real easy), servo mounts in factory holes, cables are allready put together, one little clip on the throttle, run cable through factory hole in firewall, hook up to brake, fuse box, clutch or auto, the hardest part is hooking up to fuse box, 2 wires ,hard to tell which is right color; then drill one hole in left side of steering column lower cover for the control switch, thats about it. i'am also in texas, near San Antonio, the cruise control is a Rostra brand but toyotaguys puts everything you need in the kit and some parts together for you, that makes it really easy. The window weather shields snap into place foolproof, theft-proof, much better design than the ones that stick on (had those on my F-250 broken when someone tried to steal them). I think they look great, I also have the bug guard from toyotaguys (just like the picture), i also got mud guards from them (toyota brand) tinted all windows in dark black. All on my 2-door silver echo, thinking about adding a spoiler from them, maybe in black what does everyone think black or silver?

persyn

hey, bug deflector from toyotaguys installs with screws in factory holes with expansion clips and , plus has four rubber bumpers that go on hood to protect paint, also stays away from the lip of hood to protect paint. Great deflector!

erinjan

Well, after eight months of ownership, I finally got to take my first real roadtrip in my Echo. I'd been worried for some time that I hadn't broken the engine in properly, or that all the city driving I was doing wasn't doing the car any good, since the mileage that I was getting in the city (heart of the city, stop and go traffic) was not really that great for an Echo (22-26). But very quickly, it became clear that this wasn't a problem, because, in a four-door automatic, with 3 people on-board and loaded with luggage, we still managed to average 40 MPH. For one leg of the trip we were at 43, and in the mountains of Pennsylvania it came in around 38.5.

I never noticed any problems with with tippyness, or getting pushed around due to high winds or large trucks, something I'd been concerned about after reading this forum. The weather was fine going down, but coming back, we dealt with rain all through Pennsylvania, and thunderstorms all through Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Echo handled all of it with no trouble. While we couldn't gain much speed going up steep inclines, we maintained our current speed with no difficulty. I have yet to need to put the car in overdrive.

Recently people mentioned ankle cramps on this board -- a problem I had for the first couple months of driving. Somewhere along the way, I must have adjusted the way I sit, or hold my ankle, as I realized several months later I hadn't noticed it for some time. After four or five hours of driving, I did notice that my ankle was getting tired, but that may just have been that I'm generally not used to doing such long trips.

kaz6

Thanks for posting the pic thoover!!! My Echo is the same color too! I think that I'll order it. I was reluctant to because most of the time the deflector looks awkward. It looks very well integrated witht the front design and with all the driving I do to Vegas, it'll save a lot of wear on the hood!
As far as glare from the pod, I haven't noticed any. Then again, I always dim the instrument lights on dark highways. I've never had it as a distraction and not having the instruments in front of me really help with night vision!

thoover

This is the same "Formfit" bug deflector that some others have talked about. The reply by persyn states exactly what is involved.

1 Clean the hood, prop it up. Place the deflector over the edge of the hood and put in 4 screws (existing holes in the hood, no drilling).

2 Place some little tape squares under hooks that are out on the "wings" of the deflector to protect the paint, and snap the hooks on the hood.

3 Place 4 self-stick rubber feet (they call them bumpons) under the deflector on the hood itself.

Done. All you needed was a screwdriver.

We also ordered and installed the mudguards on both our ECHOs. There is a little drilling for the mudguards but it is easy (into plastic). It is a mystery to me why Toyota in the USA doesn't seem to regularly stock and sell these accessories.

mbohun

Thanks for the info and explaining the details of installing the deflector and mudguards. I'm going to place my order from Toyotaguys.com!

Thanks again.

Mike

donutrun

I just bought a 2001 Echo -- 4 dr, 5 sp, seafoam blue ... I'd like to add a sunroof ... Anyone put a sunroof in? Thoughts?

jhall7

Thoover, I appreciate the pictures of the deflector on the vehicle and details on how it connects.

Even though I have already ordered from toyotaguys, it reafirms that I will be very happy with looks and quality.

I will have to wait a little though, as they are on back order. They are locating window weather shields and will ship them together.

Persyn, thanks for details of cruise hook up. They are appreciated even though I found someone who sells installed at a very good price.

I think your silver Echo will look extremely sharp with the addition of a black or silver spoiler along with the window tint and window shields.

Coincidentaly, prior to purchasing mine, I saw a silver Echo with tinted windshield and decided that was the color and look that I wanted. As always happens, found a better buy on a 2001 black and couldn't pass it up.

Another silver Echo that I saw on the street had some kind of a small black windshield visor that extended out about 5 or 6". It also had a tinted sun roof to go along with the tinted side windows and windshield.

With the black trim this was the sharpest and most unique Echo that I have seen.

Thanks,
Jack

rdeschene

In your past post you stated:

"While we couldn't gain much speed going up steep inclines, we maintained our current speed with no difficulty. I have yet to need to put the car in overdrive."

Well, using your overdrive gear (fifth on a manual, fourth on an auto) isn't really a question of need, and it certainly wont help you climb steep grades. It WILL allow your engine to run at lower revs and get better gas mileage though, although you may have gear to down to a lower ratio gear to get up steep inclines.

Glad to hear you're enjoying your Echo though. If they were sold with ABS in Canada I'd consider one to.

breckco

erinjan,

Just wanted to "echo" what rdeschene said and add a little. I sugest you always keep your car with overdrive active. Modern automatic transmissions do a great job at selecting the best gear. The only exeption might be when decending a steep grade and you need engine braking to keep your speed down and brakes cool. Also, if you are going up a grade and the car is having difficulty deciding what gear to use switch the overdrive off. I suspect this is why you are getting poor mileage around town. If you try it let us know how it affects your mileage.

Live Happy,

Breckco

jhall7

Isn't it true the overdrive resets to the "ON" position every time the car is restarted even if you had the OD turned off when you shut off the car? I hope so because I have never checked mine. I do not see a light saying that I am or am not in OD. In which case does the light come on?

I think it is possible that Erinjan may be in OD unless he chooses to manually turn it off.

He also may be referring to not having the need for the automatic to down shift as he applies gas in order to quickly increase speed or when under stress such as going up a steep hill.

Thanks,
Jack

jhall7

Does anyone know if there is a right hand armrest that can be installed for the Echo?

I was hoping that a Tercel,Corrola or anything else would fit with minor alterations.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jack

kaz6

one final question: with the deflector anchored by screws and bumpers on the hood, how does one keep the paint underneath clean and polished without having to undo the whole thing? Would there be a build-up of moisture at the leading edge of the hood?
Thanks for all the info thoover!
I too would like to install a sunroof but I think that my first upgrade will be 15" wheels and better rubber.

erinjan

I think I mis-stated it. When I first picked up my Echo, the dealer instructed me to only ever hit the "overdrive off" button for steep hills. When I think of overdrive, I mean turning it off, even though I said "using overdrive". Sorry about that. I have to admit, I was unclear on exactly when/how steep a grade would require me to turn the overdrive off. I still am.

The around town mileage -- it may be a combination of not driving on the highway much, and not driving on the highway much during the first thousand miles. Keep in mind, this is an 8 month old Echo -- and this road trip, which was 1000 miles, brought the total mileage up to only 2,800 miles. It could still really be considered to be in the early break-in stage. (At least, I hope so).

Thanks for the info!

thoover

Im not sure about the moisture issue. It doesn't fit tightly to the paint so I think it will dry out OK.

For cleaning, you can blast the hose through there good to get out the tree debris etc.

I have not waxed since I put it on (recently). The rubber bumpers will stay on the car, but I would plan to take out the 4 screws under the lip of the hood and remove the deflector.

persyn

heres a link to sunroofs www.solairesunroofs.com
also for dash overlays www.autodash.com .

echovolcanist

I was washing and waxing the my echo this afternoon when i noticed there is a plastic piece with a clip that is attatched to a tether any ideas as to what this piece is for and why its removable only on drivers side no removable piece on passengers side

squeeziechum

today i filled up my gas tank for the first time. the needle was on 1/4 full when i put in 8.73 gallons after driving 310 miles --> 35.5 mpg. i was pretty dissappointed after reading about much better numbers for city driving. (it is a manual but i had the air conditioning on pretty much the whole time). but my question is this: do you wait until the empty light goes on to fill up or do you do it when its 1/4 full? i've heard it should get better mileage if filled up when 1/4 full cuz the sludge on the bottom of the gas tank stays there... but if you do this over the whole life of the car, don't you just accumulate sludge that will then decrease mileage when there is more than 1/4 tank of gas? how would you get the sludge out?

p.s. thanks for the cruise control installation info, persyn. i'm too much of a wimp to install it myself tho.

tmccar1665

Has anyone replaced a tail light lens on your Echo yet? Is it easy to do yourself?
P.S. Love talking about gas mileage at the pump with SUV drivers

dohboy003

volcanist, if you mean the removable piece in the front panel extention, that is for attaching the towing hook (the hook is on the spare tire container). check the manual for more info.

i'm thinking of putting a moonroof on my echo.. does anyone know how much that would cost?

majorthomecho

I wrote a letter to the editor of Edmunds asking when they were going to revise the review of the Echo to indicate that US crash tests had been done. I wrote this letter back on the 22nd of this month. So far no response and the review is still the same. Shame on you Edmunds. That is now a knowingly false statement which in my opinion borders on libel.

Speaking of safety issues, do the stars handed out by the NHTSA mean the same no matter what class of car? Is a four star rating for a small car the same as a bigger car? I know the Insurance Institute puts cars into categories, but does the NHTSA? The NHTSA website does not make it clear.

echovolcanist

Dohboy thanks for your response i checked out the manual.......

mbohun

Has anyone rust proofed there echo? Premature question but I live in the snow belt where salt is used on the roads. I've noticed that the bottom of the car has allot of exposed metal surfaces which could rust in a salt enviroment. Ziebart sells 3 products. Undercoating, Rust Protection and Sound Barrier. They market the Sound Barrier as 4xs thicker than Undercoating which cuts noise and protects the metal. Does anyone have any experience with the Ziebart Sound Barrier product... would seem to be the best of both worlds especially for the echo, since the Sound Proofing could be enhanced.

rdeschene

majorthomecho.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/NCAP/SaferCar2001/page2.html

The link above describes how to interpret the NHTSA crash test results.

majorthomecho

for the link.

cliffy1

I don't have any experience with Ziebart products, but I can tell you a little about those products. First, rustproofing is a complete waste of money. The current galvanization Toyota uses makes this unnecessary. Undercoating is often a good idea to protect the undercarriage, but I don't know if applying a thicker layer really does much.

babyboomer

Cliffy is correct. Rustproofing is a waste of money. When your car has been around salt (beach driving, for example), make sure it gets a thorough wash afterwards. I have never read anywhere that aftermarket rustproofing is recommended except from the places that do it. Spraying on rustproofing adds unnecessary weight and may seal salts to metals. The only benefit may be extra soundproofing but that would be minimal.

cliffy1

There is a difference between rustproofing and undercoating. Rustproofing is applied inside the door panels and that is the one I don't like. Undercoating is a good idea in some areas, as long as it is applied correctly. If you look at the bottom of your car, you will see a lot of exposed sheet metal and a lot of exposed nuts and bolts. If you live in an area with salt or dust control chemicals on the roads (and this is more common than you may think), undercoating will help protect the underside.

If you look in your owners manual, you will see a section on corrosion prevention. You are warned that "it will do more harm than good to simply wet the mud and debris" so an actual steam cleaning is normally needed to clean things up. Many stores will steam clean the undercarriage before applying the undercoating. That is the proper way and you should ask about this before buying it.

krakato

Well Blue Echo, I'm another victim of Echo hubcap theft! I just got my silver Echo's hubcaps (wheel covers?) stolen yesterday Happened in broad daylight in a university parking lot in Tucson. They were gone when I got to my car to drive home yesterday afternoon. I can't imagine why anyone would bother to steal them, other than to pick on my Echo (which, after all, is the neatest car in the parking lot, IMHO.).

Where did you say you got your really good deal for 4 new hubcaps???

echovolcanist

krakato check out toyotaguys.com for new hubcaps..... Sorry to hear yours were stolen

krakato

Thanks! I checked out Toyotaguys.com and they seem to have a reasonable price -- ~$99 for 4. My memory tells me that Blue Echo got an even better deal . . . anyone else remember what was said in that post? I may go scrolling back to find it.

Sounds like echovolcanist and krakato(a) both have interests in volcanoes and Echos! What's the origin of your name?

mpgman

Just saw the Roxy edition with waterproof seats. Dizzying pattern though. Anyone hear anything about the 02s? How are stopping distances, being that ABS is almost impossible to find? Thanks.