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John
I will replace the spark plugs myself, but I have no way to properly catch and recycle the coolant, so I would just as soon pay them to do that part.
Startling fuel economy continues, by the way. Last single tank was at 41.5 mpg, I am finally getting the hang of this. It does make a difference whether I drive it like a little race car or keep the revs down for frugality's sake. ;-)
Running average moves up slightly, just a hair below 40. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Others tings to do at 60k miles: check valve adjustment, change manual transmission oil, change sparkplugs, change air filter. I think it would be a good idea to look in the owners manual and check all the things they tell you to check at 60k miles. I would look the belts over but theyre probably OK.
I looked in the manual, and came to the same conclusion as you. Plugs (which I will do myself, as they want almost $100 to do that!!), air filter (already done), change manual trans oil and check valve adjustment (two items I am probably going to just get lazy on). Manual transmission oil can go much longer than the manufacturer-recommended intervals, based on my experience with Toyotas over the years, and as for checking valve adjustment, well sheesh. For the price of a valve adjustment on this thing, I might just let them go out of adjustment and hope for another 50K miles before one burned out. Not a super-smart attitude, I will be the first to say, but more a question of playing the odds and hoping to win! :-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Other issue is when looking for this problem, we noticed that the engine shifts about 2 inches when in park, and shifting between reverse, neutral, and drive. I know this is supposed to happen but the movement seems rather significant compared to our other vehicle. Is this typical for a Toyota or could it be a broken engine mount? Any advice is appreciated!
As for the squeaky sound, if it doesn't make the sound when you gun it, it might not be the belts. I would suspect an idler in that case. Can you duplicate the sound with the car sitting still? If so, do it and listen for exactly where the sound is coming from.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Even though my handle is tundradude, and my 02 Tundra (25,800 miles) pulls my RV around, my daily driver is a xB (12,400). I always like to see how the Echo is doing since my car is basically the xbox Echo.
It appears that my xB should last a long long time with the reliability ratings of the ECHO. My 95 Corolla currently has 188,400 on it. I have owned 14 Toyotas and 1 Scion or 15 Toyotas, and I have always liked good gas mileage cars.
I love the xA, and I like the looks of the new Yaris too. If I weren't such a stickler for having cruise control, one of those two would definitely be my next car. I just happened to get one of those Echos sold by SET that had port-installed cruise, otherwise I probably wouldn't have discovered the magic of this little car. Peppy, great fuel economy, comfortable inside, and genuinely light in a world of behemoths. Good stereo too. The xA's stereo is excellent - I just sampled it the other day.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I honestly don't understand why Toyota offers factory cruise on every single one of its models except all the cars with the 1.5L engine. Dumb.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I agree the "loading up" of unwanted options is dispicible. So is the Toyota habit of lumping together packages of things not all of which you want and charging $2500 for it.
Word in the Yaris thread is they are arriving at dealers in about 2 weeks. I am curious to see what they have changed from my car.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I have a 2003 Echo and love it. I have not gone back to dealer for anything since purchase - don't trust the dealership service at all (not that I have given them a chance, but have had numerous past bad experiences with dealership service departments). Anyway, I see that there is a recall to do some kind of corrosion protection routine. Has anyone had this done? Is this a waste of time? If you had it done, did the service department screw up anything in the process? Thanks for advice/feedback. Rich
Mine was not recalled, so I have not had any personal experience of it, sorry.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Please go to the web site http://www.echodrivers.com/ and look under the General Discussions section. There is a thread at the top that deals with this recall with some interesting photos.
I always maintain the car by myself. That was the first repair done at a dealer. I was kind of worry about my first dealer experience prior bringing in the car, but, it turned out well.
Echo is inexpensive to buy, mechanically reliable, easy to maintain, comfortable to drive, and fuel efficient. Too bad it is no longer made.
i.e. rearview mirror, several junkyards will
respond with matches and prices for the part
you need. the parts are from wrecks, so they
are an exact match.
good luck. hope you find your part.
I bought the car to be inexpensive to buy and maintain, so I am disinclined to do more than that for the first year. Plus, that will be the necessary work to maintain my emissions and "Toyota certified" powertrain warranty.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
PS I dont think the guy who advised you to change the brake fluid and transmission oil was giving you a bum steer. If you saw what your brake/clytch fluid looked like you might agree! Auto trans doesnt need changing but the manaul would benefit.
Checked the oil yesterday just to see if it used any before they change it, and in 5K miles it hasn't used a drop. Good news. I keep having to chuckle when I pull out that plastic dipstick. Whether the use of plastic was for weight or economizing reasons, do people agree with me that they went a bit far there?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
You gotta love this car! I dont understand the plastic dipstick either. Its very hard to read especially with fresh oil. My wifes Camry has a metal dipstick with a white plastic oil dipper on the end. (so it can fall off into the oil when it gets older)
One thing I liked about the ECHO the first time I saw it is that a lot of attention was paid to making the car LIGHT. (hard to understand how the plastic dipstick does that. Maybe it does) That is the key to fuel economy. The fact that the car does pretty good in crash tests tells me a lot of thought went into this car.
Alas, my chronic-car-buying eyes are already straying to the new Yaris. The liftback puts on less weight than I thought - about 200 pounds more than my 4-door Echo, part of which is the standard A/C, I am sure. That A/C probably makes the actual weight of my car more like 2120 pounds, so the weight increase is around 170 pounds. Same engine, the clock is now standard! The inside looks less plasticky and more stylish, the wheels are 15-inch if you get the package with the CD and rear wiper as I probably would, and there are cute alloys available as an option if you spend the extra $500. Oh how will I be able to resist this next year? I am still hoping to keep the Echo for 3 years, as I really like it. But a liftback at $12,3 as I have described it is very tempting. Longo Toyota in LA already has one equipped exactly that way. Most of what they ordered were sedans, of course. I might go for the sedan, simply because it has a tach where the 3-door doesn't, but it is an extra grand.
Anyway, I am going to mile up the Echo with my typical driving patterns, so when it crosses the 100K mile threshold and the certified warranty expires, I might be out shopping...
:-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Fresh coolant cost me $49.95. So, not too bad, and that is the last I intend to do except oil changes and tire rotations until 90K. Besides, it is dangerous for me going over there - I keep hanging around the Yaris's! I can't wait to see the hatch - apparently dealers are getting their first ones next week. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I wonder what year your ECHO is though. My 2001 came with regular plugs (.89 cents each) and the owners manual says change every 30k miles. Maybe the newer ones get iridium plugs. I would still remove and clean the threads every couple of years though.
Knowing me, I will almost certainly have sold my Echo before another 100K miles rolls off the odo, so I will only ever have to do that once. HOWEVER, had I know they were iridiums, I probably would have opted to just leave them in there, as those are supposed to be 100K-mile plugs. The maintenance schedule is written for Echos that have the $0.89 plugs like yours. It calls for replacement every 30K to maintain the emissions warranty.
Anyway, that's done. And no, it was not $105, the plug replacement by itself was $105. The total was just shy of $200, including the fluid changes you mentioned and checking tires, other fluids, and belts, and greasing my very loud, very cranky front door hinges on both sides of the car. Now they are silent, and I like the car that much more for it. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Assuming it was full tonight (which it looked to be on the gauge - above the 'F'), I guess that gives a running average of 39.25 mpg over the last 750 miles. Not too bad. And I wonder if the maintenance service it had during this tank reduced the mileage at all. I guess they probably don't spend too much time just idling the engine, do they? So probably not.
I am waiting for the oil companies to switch over to the summer gas - I know we have it in California, but I have never really paid attention to the date of its arrival. I am wondering if I can eke out an extra point then, and achieve a solid 40+ mpg during the summer months.
Meanwhile, it could be my imagination, but it seems to be starting a little easier, especially when cold, with the new plugs. It fires up with pretty much no cranking at all.
Alas, I am returning to my former speedy ways - raced a kid with a BMW 318 up the freeway on-ramp tonight just for the fun of it (I won, he looked surprised :-)) - there's no substitute for light weight, none, and third gear in this car just goes on and on. But if I allow those bad habits to return, I am never going to be able to nudge the running average over 40 mpg!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
On the garden State Parkway (which is six lanes in spots) my little ECHO cruises in the left lane with the BMWs, Audis, and sports cars. I go about 80, pulling over for faster cars, but passing on the right and weaving in and out of traffic to get around slower cars. Once a Saab I believe, refused to either pull over or let me pass. He sped up as I sped up. So I put my foot on the floor until he dropped back. When I could take my eyes off the road and looked at the speedo, it said 106! I once beat some kind of sports car to a spot to pass when we both saw it at the same time. I cut him off and he had to drop back in traffic and never caught up. The ECHO got there faster! The ECHO is a wonderfull car for this kind of game.
Can I make the 40 mpg running average on summer gas? I dunno. Once the real heat starts, I am not one to spare the A/C, so any improvement from the summer gas may be offset by increased A/C useage. But several people posted here that they get better mpg in summer than in winter.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
We have some shaded parking at work, so if I get a shady spot I won't necessarily run the A/C in the afternoon or when I go out to lunch, but I am not usually that lucky.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
All I found was this:
EPA proposes easing gasoline formulation
Jan 1, 2002 12:00 PM
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to make it easier for tank terminal operators to make the transition from winter- to summer-grade reformulated gasoline (RFG). This action will require tank terminals to accept only summer-grade RFG beginning April 15 of each year. Currently, there is not a specific date that terminals must begin receiving summer-grade RFG. However, tanks at terminals must contain only summer-grade RFG by May 1.
Terminal operators typically draw down their levels of winter-grade gasoline as May 1 approaches, causing an abrupt reduction in gasoline inventories. This proposal would increase the amount of time terminals have to make the changeover from winter- to summer-grade RFG. The proposal also requests comments on a number of transition alternatives associated with the RFG program. The proposal is available at www.epa.gov/otaq/rfg.htm.
Thanks,
Chintan Talati
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Thanks for any advice related to this.
Bailey
There are several of the newer model Echos in the commercial. They're traveling to the left of the Suburban. Soooo adorable! I wasn't paying too much attention to the commercial because I was trying to spot the Echos. The commercial had something to do with the roominess of the Suburban and how it takes so many of the smaller cars, the Echos, to match the carrying capacity of the Suburban. I think the advertisers missed their mark. I was much more interested in the Echos than in the product they're were trying to sell.