A790
04-07-2006, 01:59 PM
I’ve never owned a Toyota but I have driven quite a few, ranging from the venerable and ferocious Twin Turbo MKIV Supra to the sporty and high strung Celica GTS. A friend of mine needs a new car, and he needs it to cost less than $20,000 while getting great gas mileage. The first cars that come to mind? The Toyota Yaris, Chevrolet Aveo, Honda Fit, and the Kia Rio.
INITIAL IMPRESSION
I have mixed feelings about this car. 99% of the Yaris’s on the lot look bland and quite boring, but then there’s the one Yaris with the 15” rims and lowering springs, and it actually looks pretty good. This is the one and only car I will ever say that I find the 5 door version more attractive than the 3 door.
Before I took the Yaris out I sat down with my rep at Heninger Toyota – Kim McMurdo – and talked a bit about the pricing and options. For the kind of vehicle we were looking for the price was just over $23,000… yikes!
The Yaris has every sort of option you could imagine, ranging from lowering springs and a performance exhaust to aluminum accented interior trim or vehicle attached tent! Once you get over the basics – air, power options, and sunroof – you get to pick and choose what you want. Willing to drop $800 for a “performance exhaust”? You got it. How about $85 for all-weather floor mats? Sure thing. Hell, if you really want to the tent, it’s yours!
We ask to test drive the only Yaris on the lot we’d even consider buying – a Blazing Blue mettallic 5 doors RS with the optional 15” BBE wheels and lowering springs. It looks pretty good, and honestly, for a brief moment I even thought about how cool it would be to buy it and turbo charge it. Then, once I realized what I was thinking, I sat down in the driver’s seat and started it up.
INSIDE THE CAR
The interior in the Yaris is surprisingly roomy, though I felt a bit cramped with a passenger behind me. The controls are easy and simple to operate, though the gauges are located in the centre of the dash much like the Saturn Ion. Some may like it, but I do not.
I also feel I should mention the absolutely horrendous interior fabric. It’s littered with little “M’s” and it is quite possibly the most annoying fabric I’ve ever seen put into an automobile, ever. However, I’m sure some find it cute and attractive. I don’t. I absolutely hate it.
The CD/MP3 player sounds good enough. It took less than 5 seconds from inserting the CD for it to read and play my disc, which for a stock unit is great!
Like most econo-hatchbacks I can see everything around me. The blind spots, if any, are very small. This is great, and the car feels very vibrant and bright with the sun pouring in from all sides. Some people may find that annoying, but I don’t. I quite like it, and hey, if you don’t it’s very easy to get a tint-job.
The dash is laid out nicely enough, and though there’s plastic on just about everything, it still looks decent enough. Decent, that is, once you’ve gotten over the stupid choice of fabric that Toyota thought necessary to throw in here.
DRIVING THE CAR
The car picks up with a little bit of a punch, and it actually caught me off guard. I was honestly impressed with just how much gusto the 1.5L 4 banger put out. Acceleration isn’t fast by any means, but it’s quick enough that you’d be able to operate around town or on the highway without the feeling that you could push it faster.
With the 15” rims and the lowering springs the car handled quite well. Very well, in fact, and that is a big plus for this car. The low stance gives it an aggressive look and an even more aggressive way of dealing with the corners. Though it tended to follow the grooves in the road a little bit too much I quickly adapted my driving style to compensate.
It wasn’t too loud in the cabin with the windows closed, but as soon as the windows were open you got the tell-tale buzz of a small engine. Not really annoying, but definitely worth mentioning.
Throughout the entire length of the test drive I couldn’t help but get more annoyed at the ridiculous location of the gauge cluster. I constantly had to remind myself to look to my right if I wanted to see how fast I was going or at what RPM I was driving at. I felt it to be a distraction and, despite what Kim told me, I never really got used to it. I found myself just following traffic more than checking my speedo.
The clutch/transmission are smooth and easy to use, which is great for this type of car. It would be hard to miss-shift in this little hatch.
CONCLUSION
Though a couple of things really annoy me – the interior fabric and cluster location – I will say this car is a fantastic little vehicle and is definitely in the top of its class.
The price, which starts right around $16,000, will quickly get up there. If you do wind up getting the base you wind up with a barebones machine. Literally, no power options, no air… no nothing. The price as tested was just over $23,000 and I feel it competitive given the options chosen and the type of car it is.
This is not a Kia or a Hyundai, it’s a Toyota. Not that Kia or Hyundai are bad vehicles, because that certainly isn’t the case these days, but Toyota’s have a reputation for being some of the most reliable vehicles on the road today and Consumer Reports certainly agrees.
Overall it is the segment leader, hands down. If you want an economy car that delivers 50 mpg and still has a little bit of pep this would be the one for you. That said, you can get a small Kia for over $5,000 less. Is the price difference worth it? That’s up to you to decide.
SCORING
Exterior: 3/5 (as tested: 4/5)
Interior: 2.5/5
Roominess: 3.5/5
Drivability: 5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Overall in segment: 5/5
The bottom line is that the styling is purely subjecting and you might even enjoy what I did not. However, even if you agree with my views on how it looks, you can’t turn down how it drives and the economy it delivers.
Talk to Kim McMurdo at Heninger Toyota for a good buying experience, and let him know that Cameron Martel sent you. He might swing you a bit of a deal :thumbsup:
INITIAL IMPRESSION
I have mixed feelings about this car. 99% of the Yaris’s on the lot look bland and quite boring, but then there’s the one Yaris with the 15” rims and lowering springs, and it actually looks pretty good. This is the one and only car I will ever say that I find the 5 door version more attractive than the 3 door.
Before I took the Yaris out I sat down with my rep at Heninger Toyota – Kim McMurdo – and talked a bit about the pricing and options. For the kind of vehicle we were looking for the price was just over $23,000… yikes!
The Yaris has every sort of option you could imagine, ranging from lowering springs and a performance exhaust to aluminum accented interior trim or vehicle attached tent! Once you get over the basics – air, power options, and sunroof – you get to pick and choose what you want. Willing to drop $800 for a “performance exhaust”? You got it. How about $85 for all-weather floor mats? Sure thing. Hell, if you really want to the tent, it’s yours!
We ask to test drive the only Yaris on the lot we’d even consider buying – a Blazing Blue mettallic 5 doors RS with the optional 15” BBE wheels and lowering springs. It looks pretty good, and honestly, for a brief moment I even thought about how cool it would be to buy it and turbo charge it. Then, once I realized what I was thinking, I sat down in the driver’s seat and started it up.
INSIDE THE CAR
The interior in the Yaris is surprisingly roomy, though I felt a bit cramped with a passenger behind me. The controls are easy and simple to operate, though the gauges are located in the centre of the dash much like the Saturn Ion. Some may like it, but I do not.
I also feel I should mention the absolutely horrendous interior fabric. It’s littered with little “M’s” and it is quite possibly the most annoying fabric I’ve ever seen put into an automobile, ever. However, I’m sure some find it cute and attractive. I don’t. I absolutely hate it.
The CD/MP3 player sounds good enough. It took less than 5 seconds from inserting the CD for it to read and play my disc, which for a stock unit is great!
Like most econo-hatchbacks I can see everything around me. The blind spots, if any, are very small. This is great, and the car feels very vibrant and bright with the sun pouring in from all sides. Some people may find that annoying, but I don’t. I quite like it, and hey, if you don’t it’s very easy to get a tint-job.
The dash is laid out nicely enough, and though there’s plastic on just about everything, it still looks decent enough. Decent, that is, once you’ve gotten over the stupid choice of fabric that Toyota thought necessary to throw in here.
DRIVING THE CAR
The car picks up with a little bit of a punch, and it actually caught me off guard. I was honestly impressed with just how much gusto the 1.5L 4 banger put out. Acceleration isn’t fast by any means, but it’s quick enough that you’d be able to operate around town or on the highway without the feeling that you could push it faster.
With the 15” rims and the lowering springs the car handled quite well. Very well, in fact, and that is a big plus for this car. The low stance gives it an aggressive look and an even more aggressive way of dealing with the corners. Though it tended to follow the grooves in the road a little bit too much I quickly adapted my driving style to compensate.
It wasn’t too loud in the cabin with the windows closed, but as soon as the windows were open you got the tell-tale buzz of a small engine. Not really annoying, but definitely worth mentioning.
Throughout the entire length of the test drive I couldn’t help but get more annoyed at the ridiculous location of the gauge cluster. I constantly had to remind myself to look to my right if I wanted to see how fast I was going or at what RPM I was driving at. I felt it to be a distraction and, despite what Kim told me, I never really got used to it. I found myself just following traffic more than checking my speedo.
The clutch/transmission are smooth and easy to use, which is great for this type of car. It would be hard to miss-shift in this little hatch.
CONCLUSION
Though a couple of things really annoy me – the interior fabric and cluster location – I will say this car is a fantastic little vehicle and is definitely in the top of its class.
The price, which starts right around $16,000, will quickly get up there. If you do wind up getting the base you wind up with a barebones machine. Literally, no power options, no air… no nothing. The price as tested was just over $23,000 and I feel it competitive given the options chosen and the type of car it is.
This is not a Kia or a Hyundai, it’s a Toyota. Not that Kia or Hyundai are bad vehicles, because that certainly isn’t the case these days, but Toyota’s have a reputation for being some of the most reliable vehicles on the road today and Consumer Reports certainly agrees.
Overall it is the segment leader, hands down. If you want an economy car that delivers 50 mpg and still has a little bit of pep this would be the one for you. That said, you can get a small Kia for over $5,000 less. Is the price difference worth it? That’s up to you to decide.
SCORING
Exterior: 3/5 (as tested: 4/5)
Interior: 2.5/5
Roominess: 3.5/5
Drivability: 5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Overall in segment: 5/5
The bottom line is that the styling is purely subjecting and you might even enjoy what I did not. However, even if you agree with my views on how it looks, you can’t turn down how it drives and the economy it delivers.
Talk to Kim McMurdo at Heninger Toyota for a good buying experience, and let him know that Cameron Martel sent you. He might swing you a bit of a deal :thumbsup: