can anyone tell me if the toyota echo that is (was?) sold in the u.s. is the same car as the yaris that is sold in thailand? i also would like advice on how impt air-bags are as vehicles made for sale in thailand are often sold without airbags.
according to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In frontal crashes, air bags reduce deaths among drivers by about 30 percent and among passengers by 27 percent.
So you would reduce you chance of dying about a third in an accident. That sounds important to me. You can make your own decisions.
I can tell you this. If you are planning on bringing the car back to the US, it is not likely to happen. It would need to have been built to US specs to start with.
Here’s a list of cars they sell in Thailand.
http://www.toyota.co.th/en/product_index.htm
If you buy one there, you probably can’t bring it back to the US. It has to meet US safety requirements, and the models sold in almost any other country won’t meet them. You may not be able to take one with you to Thailand, either. You need to check with the Thai government or the US Embassy to see if you can bring a car with you.