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Toyota Yaris vs Chevy Aveo
which is better?
0
Comments
Make a list of pros and cons and compare them side by side.
For me, some of the big ones were:
Aveo:
+Price (GM Supplier Discount)
+Comfortable ride
+Decent mileage
+Reasonably "adult" styling (sedan)
+A/C Standard
+Warranty (5 year 100,000 mile power-train)
-Front cupholders suck!
Yaris:
+Sporty ride
+Decent mileage, but only 1 MPG better than EPA ratings on the Aveo now that the EPA has changed the tests for 2008.
+OK styling. Wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in it.
-Interior layout (gauges, etc) is awful.
-Warranty (5 year 60,000 mile power-train)
If it weren't for the GM Suppliers discount I got and the difference in the Warranty, it would be a coin toss for me based on which dealer pissed me off the least in the process of evaluating and buying the car. Lots of people will talk about the great cars Toyota makes and their opinion that the Aveo, which is made by Daewoo (now owned by GM) is a piece of Korean crap. Personally, I know plenty of people who have problems with their "wonderful" Toyotas. If we were moving up a rung in the food chain, then I'd lean much more heavily to the Toyota over a Chevy, but there's not really a lot of difference at this level.
http://www.cars.com/go/video/player.jsp?makeid=47&year=2007&modelid=8242&locatio- n=MW_L_2007_Toyota_Yaris.flv&aff=national
Here is my analysis:
Aveo
Numb handling
Below average mpg for class
Boring interior
Below average price
Poor resale
Yaris
Comfortable ride
Best mpg in class
Quirky but interesting interior
Above average price
Very good resale
Fit
Sporty handling
Better than average mpg in class
Most flexible interior
High price
Excellent resale
Aveo is much improved over previous generation, but the price advantage for the average customer (no special GM discounts) is not significant enough to pull me away from better handling and better mpgs of the Toyota or Honda especially when down the road resale value is important.
2 MPG highway isn't enough to break the deal for me.
As for the fit, I think the "excellent resale" value has yet to be proven. It hasn't been on the market in the U.S. long enough to prove itself in that regard. And anyone who's willing to pay more just because it's a Honda should really be re-thinking their priorities. Honda's good, but they have their share of issues as well.
Besides which, I tend to keep my cars a long time. By the time I get rid of them, they usually have over 150,000 miles on them, which pretty much kills that "excellent resale" value, regardless of brand.
And, there was the matter of a GM suppliers discount that came into play for me as well.
I'm not saying the Yaris is a bad car. Not by any stretch, but I didn't care for it. Believe me, I wanted to love it. It was the first thing I looked at, and until I actually got behind the wheel, I thought for sure it's what I was going to buy.
150k miles divided by Yaris 32.5 mpg = 4615 gallons
150k miles divided by Aveo 29.0 mpg = 5172 gallons
The difference is 557 gallons saved times $3 a gallon is $1671.00.
If gas continues upward and averages $4 over the lifetime, it will be $2228.00.
Hope the initial savings plus interest offsets the reduced gas costs and the difference in values at the end of the cars' lives.
I just saw a 2007 Aveo5 used with 8000 miles for $6995. Now that might be a ticket to savings.
Toyota has a well deserved reputation for high quality cars, but the Yaris (and the Echo before it) were built primarily to be cheap and efficient. That comes at a cost and it was obvious to me when I drove one what that cost was.
The engine in the Chevy Aveo is old technology. It's showing its age in numerous ways. Namely, it doesn't pack as many ponies as similarly sized engines from the competition (Toyota and Honda among them), it's a little "rough" when it comes to noise, etc. But it is proven technology and I haven't heard of any substantial problems with it. There have been some issues with things like leaking oil plugs because of bad washers, and some bad timing belts, but I don't think you'll find any car at all that hasn't experienced some issues along the way.
Yes, the Aveo was built to be "cheap and efficient" too. I'm aware of that and I'm aware of the trade offs I made in buying one instead of say, a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla or Camry. But... I think the Yaris, the Aveo and the Hyundai Accent, as well as the Kia Rio, are all pretty much in the same class when it comes to how reliable they're going to be. They're all at the bottom end of their product lines, and it shows to one degree or another, in all of them.
I think Hyundai has gone a long way to proving that the days of Japanese dominance when it comes to reliability and quality at a low price are coming to a close. I'm saddened by the fact that no American manufacturer has stepped up to the plate in this regard. GM has a leg up on the competition with the Aveo. Ford and Chrysler have nothing in this class, which means they essentially give up that segment of the market entirely.
The old Beetle was a dream of a car. But we'll never see the likes of it again, thanks to safety regulations. Oh, and of course, the 1971 Beetle packed a whopping 60 horses under the hood. Funny, I don't remember Beetle drivers complaining about that back then. And many Beetles that weren't reduced to Iron Oxide dust by North American road salt are still being lovingly cared for by collectors. Being sold today used for more than they sold for when new.
That's what we need is another Beetle. Cheap enough for anyone with a steady job to buy, good on gas, and not painful to drive.
OK, I'm rambling now. Need another beer. I'll shut up.
I will say this, GM made a hella-smart move when they bought out Daewoo and formed their GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Company in 2002. That gave them access to all of Daewoo they wanted to pick from, drawings, workers , factories in South Korea, etc. And a great inroad in to the Asian automotive market. Twas a keen and cunning move, because their partnership with SAIC was already working well for them and GM is hugely popular in China with their vehicles. China is the 2nd largest automotive market in the world right now, behind the U.S.
Lately GM has been working on small rigs a lot more and let's hope something bright, shiny and new will emerge. The Volt sounds like a money pit. I have seen some nice concepts in car magazines coming from Chevy in the last year or so and some of them genuinely look very, very promising, both in mechanical design and body design. I think some good things are gonna emerge from The General in the next year to five years and on. The Aveo seems to have some ticky-tack issues that have come up but nothing too worrisome, IIRC. The new '09 hatchback looks good, too.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Comments on the Lemans from Daewoo/Pontiac?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
The Opel Kadet which shared a similar body style had great fanfare in Europe and the Lemans did have that German Getrag 4-speed manual trans which was descent.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
The Fit handles better, has better interior and build quality and decent fuel economy, and great resale.
I hated the Yaris interior.
The Aveo has the best warrany and price.
We went with the Fit, already have 2000 miles on it, a great fun little car, with great fuel economy and enough interior room for 2 kids and a Golden Lab.
I was about to buy Aveo, I was loving it, the OTD price for LS automatic sedan here in AL was $13600. I loved the design, ride, warranty etc. Then I found this:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx
then somebody said: "of 10 Aveo wrecks there were 5 cars where people died in. Nice car to drive, just, please, don't get into an accident"
That changed everything. Its side crash rating by IIHS is horrible. Most likely you will die in it even if it has STANDARD side airbags. But those are very tiny and provide almost no protection.
Yaris is another story. It also has horrible ratings when comes without OPTIONAL ($650) side and curtain airbags. But when you buy one with those, it is just great. See for yourself.
Price difference? $1800. Yep. There are no Yarises with side airbags without power packages installed. My dealers didn't find any sedans, at least. Sedan, alloy wheels, ABS, MP3 radio, curtain airbags, power windows/locks, fog lights - you have to pay for everything mentioned even if you don't need it. Mine came out $15400 OTD, and I had to fight for that price. Original quote was $16150
I wish I could get Aveo since I loved it so much. But I've got Yaris solely based on its safety with curtain airbags, since it's for my wife and it's her first car.
Please, stay safe and drive safely. All the best to you.
As for "of 10 Aveo wrecks there were 5 cars where people died in." Show me the statistics. If 50% of all wrecks involving Aveos resulted in a fatality, I think we would have heard something about that on the news by now. Don't believe everything you read on the interwebs.
I'm not saying safety shouldn't be a concern, and I'm not criticizing you for putting that above other criteria.
List on the Base Aveo Sedan is 12,330. I found one with an upgraded stereo that bumps the price to $12,655. That's a difference of $2,800 between the Aveo and Yaris. To top it off, I got a GM suppliers discount thanks to my employer, which translated to a bottom line price of $11,600 (before taxes). That's a difference of $3,855. That was a deal I couldn't pass up. Of course, I'm probably a bit older than you. Divorced. The kids are grown and gone now. It's just me. I will probably put all of 8,000 to 9,000 miles a year on my car since I home office.
I wish you many many miles of enjoyment from your new Yaris.
Take two toy cars of different weight and of the same weight, and try to model the situation. If the door holds, air bag deploys, seat belts are fine, it’s all about for how far the hitting car will penetrate into the door. In case of a lighter car, like Yaris, it will be just moved out of the way, without letting F-150 to really “penetrate”. Sure, you are risking some great Gs when the car spins around, but you have a much bigger chance to be actually hit, if you are sitting in a much heavier vehicle. Imagine yourself in a house near a window, when F-150 drives into it. House is not moving, F-150 goes all the way into the room killing you. You have bigger chances to survive sitting in a trash container.
All the best to you, Sir.
I disliked the Aveo. Try getting A/C, power steering, power brakes, power windows, automatic, rear defroster on the same Aveo. You can't. GM feels that the Aveo does not have the power to operate all those options at the same time. Toyota 1.5 VVT-i motor has the power to operate all available options at the same time. One minor problem. The Yaris electrical system does not generate enough electrical power to run the rear window defroster. So power is drained from the battery. So the rear window defroster should be turned off as soon as possible. Once the Yaris is warmed up keeping the rear window free of frost, without using the rear window defroster, is not a problem.
In fact, one magazine gave the Yaris an excellent 5 stars while the Aveo had a 12/20 score when it was tested
The Aveo in the Philippines has a 1.5 Ecotec engine with 84hp (which is the least powerful among rivals)
While the Yaris has a 107hp VVT engine. In fact, the Yaris sedan is called as the Vios, which is the best selling vehicle in our country
I advise you to shop wisely and test drive. Just giving my opinion.
The Yaris takes the top cake here..
The other owner has had emission complaints.
I have only worked on one repair between these two vehicles, that was the tranny lockout system. Frankly, I was not impressed at all.
Take it from someone who has a lot of years driving cars way past they useable life span. Leave the Aveo at the dealers lot! It is not worth any money! Look for my other posts on the Yaris by clicking on handle.