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Comments
Since some posters here have asked that we stick to the Yaris, I won't dwell on the scores of the other cars in the test, but I know someone else will probably want to bring them up.
Are you considering puchasing a Yaris, or any of the other vehicles in the test, in the forseeable future?
When gas prices go up, you'll see less non-work trucks on the road, and car sales will increase (especially small car sales).
Well, let's see--considering that I burn less than 2 gallons of gas over an entire mowing season (May thru October), and I top my car off with about 6 gallons of gas every week of the year, our automobiles must have one heck of an effective emission system. Do you think? Or, maybe the environmentalist lives on a big estate in the carribean and has a lawn mower with a Hemi?
Come on now. Not the people I know; that's a pretty expensive hobby.
And yes, work trucks will continue to sell. But people who have been buying pickups and SUVs for "gee, they're nice to have" reasons will stop buying them.
Gas will be $3 a gallon this summer, $4 a gallon by 2009 and $5 a gallon by 2011. Book it.
I do have one piece of advice for you folks already owning these compacts. As a truck owner please watch yourself when you're near a trucks blind spot. Sub compact cars & motorcycles can drive in a trucks blind spot all day long without the driver seeing you. Truck sales will top 2 million units every year no matter what gas does.
chevy598: you make some good points, but then detract from their effect with some statements that seem slightly absurd: certainly, not EVERYONE has a boat, in fact even among truck buyers, less than 2% surveyed by AAA last year use theirs for towing anything.
You make a very good point about snow plows and tow trucks, but these aren't the bulk of the pick-up market either. Now contractors - of course THEY need full-size pick-ups most of the time. But FWIW, Toyota officials have wondered publicly this year whether it will be worth the expense to go whole-hog with the next-gen Tundra - it is massive and gas-guzzling, just as you say. The personal transport buyers of full-size pick-ups will disappear in droves, I am sure, as gas spikes up in future summers to $4/gal (maybe next year, if not then the year after for sure), then $5/gal, etc.
And contrary to what you said, truck sales DID NOT continue steady when gas prices shot up. Through most of this year they were down as much as 20%. Just ask Ford about that - they have been crying in their soup in utter disbelief as they watched the bottom fall out of F-150 sales in spring and summer.
It is good to know that Yaris is still one of the safest models in its class, even if its results weren't stellar. Even WITH the side airbags, Rio and Accent results were poor, as were Aveo's results, although there I don't know the side airbag situation.
With the results of the IIHS report, I sure hope Toyota starts to build a LOT more of the Yarii with the SAB, and makes them standard soon (they say all their models will have them standard by 2009, apparently)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Since your lawnmower has no such emissions system, it releases larger quantities of smog producing emissions than your automobile, even at the much smaller level of gasoline consumed.
Either system (your car or your lawn mower) will produce and release essentially the same amount of carbon dioxide per gallon of gas. So, only drive your lawnmower to work if you are less concerned about smog than you are about global warming.
backy: I remain unconvinced that Toyota will make SAB standard on the '09 Corolla, despite their statements to the press. And Yaris? Forget it. I think the best we can hope for is more being built with optional SAB, and the bags maybe becoming standard on the next-gen Yaris around 2011.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I loved the Yaris Liftback and fell in love with it the moment I drove it (and I test drove the 4 door but didn't like it as much) and should have purchased it on the spot (it was in May 2006 and I didn't realize the Yaris Liftback was hard to get..so I ordered it the next week in Blazing Blue, with the CD/mp3 player (the basic $740.00 package) and it came with a bumper guard and arm rest (I didn't order those but they ended up being way ok) and I got my Yaris Liftback in July 2006. I love it a lot and its great on gas mileage (my usual average is around 40 plus mpg), drives very nicely and is very comfortable.
I get lots of stares at the car from other drivers and smiles as they wonder what it is....
all in all I am very very happy. I can't say I would be in the Fit...it just wasn't a right fit for me.
Toyotas will always be known and have a slight edge if you prefer a soft ride. The Honda's ride like sports cars (IMO). The civic has a nice ride soft like I like but...the $$$. However, the Fit definitely has more room, is more utilitarian and is a better buy for a bigger budget than I had with a 05 Element trade-in. I bought the Yaris because I wanted one, I love the design...the design is beautiful. The Fit looks like a small minivan or a Mazda5.
My favorites are Yaris, Aveo and Accent. The Aveo, priced with standard and $2500 rebate is like a 10,000 car IF you don't mind the bumpy shifter(manual) and the cheapy feel of the doors. But utilitarian wise and overall dollar for dollar the Aveo is pretty good it's just that Made in America badge that scares people and the depreciation is embarrassing. The Accent I love simply because I drove a 93 Hyundai Excel for 138K trouble free miles.
I dig your what you wrote and I, too, would certainly go for the Yaris...
Only one thing: The AVEO is made in Korea by Daewoo, and it's known around the world as the Kalos in some markets.
I do agree, though, that many have this fear of anything, especially automobiles, made in America...so I catch your drift!
Merry 2007, friend... :shades:
Peace!
Echo ended up one of the most highly rated cars on the road in terms of reliability. Given that there is a lot of similarity between the Echo and the Yaris, I suspect Yaris will accomplish the same feat. And with any luck, the xA and xB as well...
I suspect that is what kneisl was referring to with his comment, that and the fact that both models are inexpensive to buy and operate.
And hey, these days, Yaris/Echo is one of the few Toyotas you can buy that is still "made in Japan"!! :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
As with the Camry, when demand exceeds the output of the American plants, Toyota will bring in some Corollas from Japan. Right now there are a fair number of Japanese-built Camrys in the mix, as demand for that model has been so strong for the last year.
Of course, Toyota has never done this with the Yaris or Echo - all have been Japanese-built - which is what doomed Echo I think: they had to either decontent or raise prices a lot when the dollar was weak around Y2K, and they chose to mostly raise prices, which put Echo in direct contention with the American-built (and therefore cheaper for Toyota) Corolla.
The same is true now, the only difference being that Toyota has been able to leverage EVEN MORE its global-everything-sharing to benefit the Yaris's bottom line.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
DEAL OR NO DEAL?
Has anyone out there experienced inclement weather, such as snow and/or icy roads/streets in a Yaris, especially the 3dr version? I'm curious to know how this little critter makes do with traction on VERY slick surfaces.
Hopefully Toyota will bring the latest Yaris 3 and 5dr
liftbacks to the U.S. in 2008. There's always that possibility, eventhough I'm not so optimistic it will happen. ...In the U.K. there are versions of both liftbacks with ESC/traction control and MORE power. Toyota SHOULD send some of those here. They WOULD sell, I'm sure of it.
Cheers...
Peace! :shades:
Personally I think the 1.5L engine in the Yaris is peppy enough, and its fuel economy is its main value proposition. VSC would be welcome, and maybe we will see it in the next couple of years as Toyota makes good on its promise to put VSC on all of its cars in the U.S. by 2009.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The two really do look alike on the outside. I believe it's the other way around though: the Aveo is a copy of the Fit, which has existed in its present shape since the early 90s. The inside of the two cars is quite different, however, as well as the engine, transmission and other parts.
Mooresville N.C.