Looked at a Yaris today
#1
10-13-2007, 10:37 PM
Looked at a Yaris today
As they've become morenumerous on the roadfor their gas mileage, I've taken some notice of the Toyota Yaris. Today my wife and I were driving by one of the local Toyota dealers, sowe decided to drop in for a quicklook.
Well, on the outside it certainly is a cute little vehicle. We looked at a so-called 5-door, lift-back, auto, ACversion, and, for sucha small-looking vehiclefrom the outside, it really is pretty comfortable on the inside.
The inside trim and dash were mostly black plastic, but it looked and felt decent enough. In short, it was a spartan interior, but I liked it.(If I were designing the vehicle, I'd get rid of most of the dash, go bare bones utility all the way, and advertise it as a handyman's economy vehicle).
The seats were less comfortable than our Accord, but I expected that. There's not enough leg room for me, but the seat is secured to the floor on essentially flat surfaces, so it would be very easy for me to make a custom bracket that would allow the seat to slide back at least another four inches. Head room was not overlygenerous, but adequate.(Much larger vehicles have lessroom than this one.)
The engine compartment is very tight (our Accord's is spacious by comparison), but I think one could still do routinemaitnenance fairly easily.From a quick look, things look much much simplier in generalunder the Yaris's hoodthan our car.
Mileage figures for the car areremarkable, and it would be very easy to park this vehicle just about anywhere.
With a good service manual in hand, I think a Yaris would be a very good vehicle for a DIY'r. The more expensive vehicles look to me likethey'd be much more difficult to work on.
If the Yaris is built as well as Toyotas were 18 years ago, it might be a very economical vehicle to own over the long term, especially if gas prices go through the roof.
Nice little econobox, I must say.
Well, on the outside it certainly is a cute little vehicle. We looked at a so-called 5-door, lift-back, auto, ACversion, and, for sucha small-looking vehiclefrom the outside, it really is pretty comfortable on the inside.
The inside trim and dash were mostly black plastic, but it looked and felt decent enough. In short, it was a spartan interior, but I liked it.(If I were designing the vehicle, I'd get rid of most of the dash, go bare bones utility all the way, and advertise it as a handyman's economy vehicle).
The seats were less comfortable than our Accord, but I expected that. There's not enough leg room for me, but the seat is secured to the floor on essentially flat surfaces, so it would be very easy for me to make a custom bracket that would allow the seat to slide back at least another four inches. Head room was not overlygenerous, but adequate.(Much larger vehicles have lessroom than this one.)
The engine compartment is very tight (our Accord's is spacious by comparison), but I think one could still do routinemaitnenance fairly easily.From a quick look, things look much much simplier in generalunder the Yaris's hoodthan our car.
Mileage figures for the car areremarkable, and it would be very easy to park this vehicle just about anywhere.
With a good service manual in hand, I think a Yaris would be a very good vehicle for a DIY'r. The more expensive vehicles look to me likethey'd be much more difficult to work on.
If the Yaris is built as well as Toyotas were 18 years ago, it might be a very economical vehicle to own over the long term, especially if gas prices go through the roof.
Nice little econobox, I must say.
#3
10-13-2007, 10:58 PM
Unregistered
Posts: n/a
RE: Looked at a Yaris today
Well considering the Yaris did substantially better than Toyota predicted (hence the immediate increase in production awhile back) I think it is a good car. But remember that while you are saving gas, what about the battery? How long before it needs to be replaced? Those can be close to $2k, taking away all your fuel savings.
#5
10-14-2007, 01:11 AM
RE: Looked at a Yaris today
I think 19Accord97 is thinking about the Prius. I don't see that the Yaris comes in a hybrid on MSN.com.
#6
10-14-2007, 01:28 AM
RE: Looked at a Yaris today
My friend has a yaris hatchback with the 5 speed. It's really a well thought out vehicle and is quite comfortable for adults. Has the aux plug in and comes with a mp3 cd player The car is fun to drive too! The only qualms I have with it is there is no rpms meter thingy, the speedo is not directly in front of you and yeah, that engine compartment is one tight ****. Really good bang for the buck though fasho.
#7
10-14-2007, 01:32 AM
RE: Looked at a Yaris today
Oooohhh, that would definitely suck to not have a tachometer. that would turn me off all together. i don't understand why any carmaker would make a manual trans car without a tach. That makes no sense whatsoever.
#9
10-14-2007, 12:09 PM
RE: Looked at a Yaris today
The Yaris is not a hybrid. (I would not touch a hybrid with a ten-foot pole.)
The version we sat in had a tach like the one in this Yaris (maybe it's an option):
I'm not too keen on the speedo position - not because it's difficult to see - but because my wife will be able to monitor even more closely how fast I'm driving.
The version we sat in had a tach like the one in this Yaris (maybe it's an option):
I'm not too keen on the speedo position - not because it's difficult to see - but because my wife will be able to monitor even more closely how fast I'm driving.