We are not talking about having pay for a lot of extras here though. We are talking about power windows. When I bought my car in 1999 I didn’t want power windows because they always gave me trouble in my 1984 Mercury Marquis. They were such a pain in the butt that, after that car, I didn’t ever want a car with power windows again. However, the thing to remember is that the power windows in a new Yaris are likely to last at least 200,000 miles. So is it really worth making a big deal over avoiding them?
“My advice is to get the ABS and the power windows. These power windows won’t give you problems like the ones that troubled you in the past.”
I looked at the Toyota web site and ABS is part of a $2580 package. That’s an awful lot for an accessory package on an $11,000 car. If the rest of the items are useful to boadacia, then get it.
Note to self: checking with edmunds.com is OK, but doesn’t beat checking with the manufacturer (see my previous post). ;^)
Anti lock brakes are a nice feature if you like to be able to stop very quickly(eg emergent) and still be able steer at the same time. Its nice to steer if your in a panic stop and that is their benefit over anything else. If your brakes are locked you may as well let go of the steering wheel, the car will not steer.
Not sure why you dislike power windows, I have had more problems with manual windows (breaking cables) than power window equipped vehicles.
I checked out the Yaris. I thought it was a pretty decent value.
In my humble opinion, ABS is highly overrated. If on my next vehicle I have a choice I’ll go back to non-ABS. Contrary to popular perception, ABS is not designed to help you stop in a shorter distance, but rather th enable better control when a wheel starts to lose traction. Like many technoloogies, it has weaknesses. In sketchy traction situations it can adversely affect stopping distance, and that is not IMHO a good thing. Been there, done that.
Personally, I want ABS on any new car I buy. Do I absolutely need it? No. But, I do want it. I’m kind of fond of the stability control on my Honda, too. Stability control pretty much requires ABS as they share some sensors and controls. I suppose it would be possible to build a car with stability control and no ABS, but the marginal cost difference would be too small to make it worthwhile.
I also like electric windows, so that would not bother me. I really dislike that I had to get a sunroof on my car to get the other combination of features I wanted. So, yes, sometimes you have to get a “package” of stuff you may not want to get the things you do want.
I test drove a Yaris and an Accent on the same day. The Yaris is a much better car. The layout of the interior, the fit and finish, ride quality, engine noise are all better on the Yaris. Toyota is still ahead of Hyundai in the quality department in my opinion.
In one respect I can understand bundling things in packages to adds value/savings. But making one have to buy a bunch of luxury crap in order to get a simple safety feature is just wrong. I simply would look elsewhere.
When they start forcing someone to buy larger bundles just because they like blue or red, then it’s getting ridiculous.
I wonder if dealers/factory would swap tires on the car before you buy it. I see that the Exaltos(tires i have on my civic right now) are available for the Camry, but the factory ones are just plain horrid in any type of driving conditions