“It’s designed to answer all the really basic needs of transportation but not so well many want to keep it.”
So that’s it ! Make a car that many people don’t really like very much (uncomfortable, unsafe, etcetera) after they purchase it and they’ll buy another one from you that they think they’ll like more. I didn’t think of that. It’s brilliant !
No wait . . . what if the customer perceives the problems are with the make and not necessarily the model ? What if they don’t come back to try again ? I’ve got something to learn. I always thought that you tried to make an entry level product that people like well enough to want another product from the same manufacturer. Oh, wow !
Thanks everyone for the tips and insight. My initial gut was what I seem to have stumbled across here… I’d probably end up spending the extra $2k for something bigger that will last me long term. I feel like you really can’t argue against Corollas.
You’re Welcome.
"My initial gut was what I seem to have stumbled across here… I’d probably end up spending the extra $2k for something bigger . . . "
I don’t blame you after “stumbling across” the video posted by Americar.
Consider spending $2k more than the $2k more and get something bigger, yet. Riding in a little sxxx-shaker can make one homesick, especially in poor driving conditions.
CSA has it right. The whole original and successful General Motors strategy as practiced by Willam Durant was to make a good entry vehicle, (Chevrolet) and then have people “trade up” as their incomes increased, all the way up to Cadillac.
When imports became a serious threat in the 70s, however, Detroit responded with very mediocre small cars ( Vega, Pinto, English Fords, Chrysler’s Simcas & Omnis) with the result that they PERMANENTLY LOST a very large section of the car-buying public, especially in California.
Toyota’s approach is reliablilty and affordability at the bottom (not necessairly great handling and comfort) , and having lived abroad I can witness to Japanese car owners there wanting to gradually trade up with the same company because of the brand loyalty.
CSA…you are naive. Tell me you don’t think that market strategy doesn’t involve encouraging loyal buyers to move from one model to another even before the one they own is obsolete or in need of replacement.
My relatives and close friends have owned GM, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler dealer ships for many, many years. They all have marketing strategies. Some work, some don’t.
Toyota does exactly what I said and in the opinion of one Toyota dealership assistant manager, for the reasons I have stated. Welcome to the real world where common sense exist elsewhere too…This also includes minimizing the competition to their own Scion line. If the Yaris was too much bang for the buck, it does create competition. Keeping it in a different segment allows them to offer non competing products in others.
Delaying improvements to one line (Yaris) helps another. Toyota now has competing brands, as GM with Pontiac, Buick and others did for years. We are not moving up one product line, it’s several. The Yaris is exceptionally roomy, reliable and functional. Refined, it is not…that’s left to others. Fortunately for Toyota, William Durant hadn’t been making that decision for Toyota.
This blind squirrel may not get that the average car which has more than one owner is designed to fill a specific need then be traded up as the need changes. Toyota bean counters can see…longevity to these cars, like a Yaris, are not that they will last one person a long time, but serve several owners with a similar short term need. The profits on sales, parts and maintenance of used cars are depended upon by car dealers and the factory(parts) as much as on new car sales.This may not be that “right” time for the pretentious blind squirrel who only partially gets it. The previous Tercel was criticized in much the same way.
If real-world mileage in the Yaris is only in the 40-45 range on the highway, and you plan on doing a lot of highway driving, I’d pass on it and get something larger and safer if you don’t mind the extra $$$.
The Ford Fusion I got as my last rental car gave me 38 mpg on the highway with just the standard 4-cylinder.
If you drove 25,000 highway miles per year and had a Fusion at 38 vs a Yaris at 43, you’d save about 75 gallons of gas, or about 3 gallons of gas per 1,000 miles.
That’s a pretty small difference, and at fairly low cost, for a much more comfortable, larger, and safer vehicle.
If you like the Yaris, and it meets your needs and demands, buy it. It’s that simple. If you think it’s a bit too “entry level” for you, step up to another model.
Lots of people drive entry level cars and love them. Lots of people think they’re too basic and drive other models. People select a specific car for all sorts of reasons, and as long as you like it that’s all that counts.
I just talked with someone who likes a particular models because “it comes in purple”. Go figure.
“Lots of people drive entry level cars and love them”.
The same mountainbike has given you good advice. I am one of those people that drove entry level cars–1965 Rambler Classic 550, 1971 Ford Maverick, etc. These cars were just fine for me. I would still be driving entry level vehicles, but I got married. My wife didn’t like the fact that there were no door switches on the Rambler to turn the dome light on. I could see her point in entering a dark car, but that never bothered me.
If the Yaris meets your needs, then go with it. In the end, it isn’t Consumer Reports or the people who post on this board, but you who will be driving the car. I don’t own a Yaris and have never driven one. Therefore, I have no basis to make a statement about how good or bad the car is.
One more point: If you buy the Yaris and find that it is uncomfortable, go disk a field with a Farmall F-12 tractor. After you get off the tractor seat, you’ll find the Yaris very comfortable. When I thought my 1965 Rambler was uncomfortable, I would go for a drive in my 1950 Chevrolet 3800 1 ton pickup truck. When I would get back in the Rambler, it then seemed very comfortable and smooth riding. When I thought the Chevrolet pickup rode too hard, I would go out and ride around on the Farmall F-12–it made the old pickup seem like a Cadillac.
Comfort is a relative thing and what is comfortable for one person is uncomfortable for another. I share rides to a band rehearsal with different people. At one time, one woman had a Cadillac deVille and another woman had a Ford Escort. I was more comfortable riding in the Escort. The seats in the Cadillac were too soft for me and the ride was too floating.
Pay no attention to Triedaq’s remarks on comfort. We went to a football game in a new enclosed football stadium and Triedaq complained about the seats. He said that a person couldn’t be comfortable in chair tyype seats watching a football game. A real football fan is only comfortable sitting on bleachers.
An observation…entry level vehicles have three things in common; they are usually under equipped, under engineered and cheap for the average driver. Because of this, rather then refresh the vehicle too much, to keep that price point, they often just change the name instead. My faulty reasoning is based upon…Tercel, Echo, Yaris…wonder what it will be called next ?
Was wondering how Mrs. Triedag would respond…Mr T., can you see yourself replacing your 4Runner with an entry level Suzuki Sidekick type with a standard transmission, no power lumbar support, no climate control and a ride you will have to take by yourself cause no one else will ?
I have an entry-level car (a Versa), and it is air-conditioned, has a decent stereo with CD player (the newer ones also have an “aux” jack for an mp3 player), seats 4 adults comfortably, and is a reasonably rugged car. I guess some people want more, but the Versa seems to work very well for me. I have the 1.8 with the 6-speed stick, and it takes Pittsburgh’s hills with no fuss.
dagosa–When Mrs. T and I went on our honeymoon, money was tight. We took Amtrak and went coach from Chicago to Flagstaff, Arizona. I rented a car–it was a Chevrolet Vega. It was the bottom of the line–even had a manual transmission. It did have air conditioning as I remember. We drove to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and through part of the Painted Desert in New Mexico. We then went by rail back home. After that trip, my wife plans the trip and selects the rental car. This past summer, we flew to Bakerfield, California. She had reserved a Chevrolet Traverse and we drove to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, to King’s Canyon and then drove along the coast before flying back home.
When I was in my second year of graduate school, I had a old heap that was my transportation. I had driven back home and my dad had just purchased a new Studebaker Lark. This was in 1963. I took the car in for servicing and on the showroom floor was a brand new bottom of the line Studebaker Lark priced at $1495. I mentioned the car at dinner that night and my mother thought I ought to have the car. In the 1940s through the mid 1950s, my family didn’t have much. My dad bought used cars that were entry level when they were new. At any rate, my dad and I went to look at the Studebaker. My dad’s comment was “You don’t want a cheap car like that” and proceeded to look at more expensive cars for me. I would have only had to borrow $1000 to buy the stripped Studebaker and was willing to do that. However, I didn’t want to borrow more than that from my parents, so I kept my old car. When I did get a job, I bought a stripped Rambler.
I’m older now and I don’t think I would buy an entry level car. However, if the Yaris satisfies the OP, it might be just fine for them.
Sounds like we had similar automotive backgrounds. A Yaris would have looked awfully good next to the 55 Desoto and 62 Rambler which were our first two college cars.
At this point in our lives, I would be hard pressed to get the Mrs. back into a truck of any kind of the type we owned for 30 plus years till just a few years ago. It’s lush SUVs with 3rd row seats if we tow and nothing dirty in the back. Put that in a trailer and keep it always ready for the jaunts she and girl friends take regularly. I would drive a Yaris or a truck, but I would be riding alone.
I find the key to “entry level” car comfort is to own a motorcycle, preferably a sport bike. Riding the motorcycle completely resets your perspective on what comfortable is, and when the motorcycle seems slow, driving the car completely resets your perspective on what slow is.
I actually don’t find a Yaris that uncomfortable. It has bucket seats with lumbar support, the AC blows cold in the summer and hot in the winter, the radio/cd player keeps me entertained. After a 300 mile trip, my butt doesn’t ache, nor does my back.
About the only thing I miss is cruise control and that might be available as an option.
I’m six feet tall and with the seat all the way back and tilted back one or two clicks, I can drive it all day.
If this car is “unbearable torture” to drive, I wonder how our ancestors ever made it driving Model T’s.
