Posted on 02/20/2007 11:31:54 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Edmunds.com for years reviewed the Toyota Echo, the company's entry-level vehicle, by describing it as the cheapest car in America and still overpriced.
Even after the Echo was finally dropped last year from the U.S. market, the authoritative auto site couldn't resist reminding shoppers it had once whispered in their ears, "Friends don't let friends drive Echos." And Edmunds offers only marginally more favorable comment on the Toyota Yaris, the vehicle that took the Echo's place, calling it a "decent subcompact" but advising shoppers to "keep an open mind" about competing vehicles, including the Chevy Aveo.
Or take the Prius, the car that made Toyota a star in certain circles and perhaps even began to redress its reputation for bloodless, uninteresting vehicles. The Prius has hardly been burning up the sales charts lately. With a ridiculous federal tax giveaway expiring, Toyota has been reduced to dangling incentives even in front of California buyers. All this transpires while the EPA is still putting finishing touches on new mileage ratings that will sharply downgrade the Prius's gas performance.
What Toyota really proved with the Prius, ironically, is that Americans have little appetite for high mileage vehicles -- in fact, are willing to buy one only when the stars align briefly and inexplicably to turn a car into a Hollywood-accredited emblem of personal enlightenment.
To put it baldly, Toyota got lucky. Any motorist truly intent on burning less gasoline and saving the planet could have found a vehicle that produces mileage as good or better than the Prius's, without paying Toyota a premium for its busy "hybrid" technology.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
My sister has an Echo. She loves that car.
Both my sister-in-law and Father-in-law have Echos and yes they may be boring but they are cheap to run, don't break down and are comfortable to drive -that's all I really want out of a car - yes, I am getting old
Mel
I would consider buying a Toyota if they weren't so overpriced. Toyota dealers won't negotiate in my area and they tack on a regional price increase of up to 5% on top of the base sticker price.
I've heard the same from friends who bought from Toyota dealers. They want to nickle and dime you with a lot of options, to point you are overspending by several thousand dollars for the car. I bought a new Nissan recently and the dealer was much more reasonable about selling the car as equipped off their lot.
Seriously, although they make good vehicles, I find them boring.
Car guys think that it is perfectly natural that people should spend one-third of their disposable income on their car. People in the real world have a different view, and know that a Toyota Yaris will do just fine.
I'd've suggested you buy a Scion. No haggling and the price is good. We got an xB and love it. But I've seen what they did to the '08 xBs. I think Toyota's gone native.
If by boring you mean you rack up the miles with only service trips for oil, brakes, and tires...boring is good :)
And what is wrong with someone saying they are boring. Many of them are. But look at the warranty on new truck's, shortest there is. If they're so good why don't they put a 200,000 mile warranty on them and show everybody they are better.
You get what you pay for. With Toyotas you pay more money and get more quality. I have owned three Toyotas and will continue buying them until I am convinced there is something out there that provides even more quality for the money. If you enjoy handing your car over to the shop for a week or more for major warranty repairs or repairs that aren't covered, then paying less makes sense.
Toyota doesn't do much in options. Each model has 3 or 4 levels of package components. CE has the least, LE next up, S is the sports package and Limited has the most. It's not the same as putting a picture of the buyer in the car during assembly, but this system works well for them. Now that I'm 50 I can afford the S package for my car and Limited for my wife's van. I wish I had gone with Toyota in my 20's with a CE type car. Even though I wear glasses, my hind sight is pretty good.
Maybe if their sales start to suffer, they will. I wish my wife would let me buy the new Tundra. I had a 2003 Tundra Limited and traded it in for her van.
Indeed. My sister bought a Yaris sedan last year and loves the car. I test drove the car and it's handling is rock solid. The fit and finish are outstanding and the interior does not have the usual 'economy car' look. Nice!
I think you're overblowing things....
When GM tacked on 2 more years & 64k more of powertrain warranty, it cost them about $150 per vehicle.
Yeah - that's still some cash, but it'll hardly break the bank.
Man - you traded in a 2003 already? It doesn't really matter what brand you buy - 4 years isn't stressing ANY brand anymore.
Of course if you trade in that often, resale value is a huge consideration, and for the number of people out there blindly paying thousands extra for used Toyotas, a Toyota is a great pick for someone buying new and trading in frequently...
BTW, my Tundra 03 had 35,000 miles on it and was in mint condition. I never did get a chance to take it off road.
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