Conclusion: m extremely happy with my '08 Yaris two-door hatchback… Zippy and fun to drive and, of course, Toyota quality…
Deleriously happy with the price I paid; all in all, $2k below sticker. Yippee…
Thrilled to have sold the Swift; a little sad, and I will miss it, but time to move on. I’m confident that all the i’s were dotted and t’s crossed in the transaction and got a good price for it to a good home.
Bonus happiness: check in the mail for the entire deposit on the '09 Yaris less the actual cost of transporting (must be gas only; $71 dollars missing from the total).
Double-bonus: this will be the final installment of the Yaris Chronicles. Aren’t you ALL deleriously happy?
Thanks for all the advice and “tough love” along the way.
Never Say Never! … You Know Where To Find Us!
Good Luck!
You got lucky with the deposit refund. That is nothing short of a miracle to get most of it back. I guess it really is better to be lucky than good. 
Is this part of the Mars Expedition?
Congradulations on a successful transition to your new car. Unless you start a large family immediately or a business requiring a larger vehicle, you should not need another car for the next 15-20 years. You live in a dry part of the country, and with proper maintenance by the book, this car will virtually last forever.
There’s a guy driving around Las Vegas with a 22 year old Toyota Celica that has 1.2 MILLION miles on it. Still no rust!!
Actually, they had no legal right to retain it – or so I’ve been told by other car dealers – since I got nothing for it. The cost of transportation was reasonable…
Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
“you should not need another car for the next 15-20 years”
THANK HEAVENS
And then there are all of those other people on this board with broken-down Toyotas… just saying…
Congratulations!
What did you end up getting for the Swift?
$1200. Was still being advised to hold out for $1500, but it wasn’t worth it to
me to risk life and limb dealing with complete strangers from Internet sites or classified ads (sold to someone at work). He can do the work himself, so a good deal for him, and I don’t have to pay someone to do it, so a good deal for me…
And that check in the mail for the deposit refund? That was the cherry on top!
You were so right about not worrying about the $1,500. Some people do that with their houses in a declining market and never get to move out. I’m happy to hear that some car dealers refund deposits, even though they missed a chance to sell you a car. They might have come out ahead by getting the right car for you or if they hadn’t cut off the negotiations so quickly.
Some think so; a.k.a. “the thread that would not die.”
“Is this part of the Mars Expedition?”
No, because it didn’t cost 3 times as much as originally advrtised.
but the way she complained, you’d think it did… 