This what happens when everyone jumps on the same bandwagon. The best is the enemy of the just fine. Don’t pay $5000 more to gain 4 mph.
There has a clear pattern over the last few years. Gas prices jump way up around Memorial Day. People cut back on the driving, both because of the price and the end of the prime vacation season. Gas prices go down, following the law of supply and demand. People feel relief, even though they went down much less than they went up in the first place. The short attention span crowd buys gas guzzlers again.
Wait until late September for the Labor Day driving bump to subside. Then buy a small car. It doesn’t have to be a Yaris. Then wait until next Memorial Day, when gas will cost $5 a gallon. If you can wait a year or two, the auto companies will be geared up to produce a lot more small cars.
I’ve always driven Chevrolets. The last one I bought is the best car I’ve ever had. It was made by Toyota.
Yes; my previous car was a Chevy/Geo Metro Hatchback, which is the twin car to my current, the Suzuki Swift Hatchback; fabulous little cars, both of them. I like the Yaris because it most closely approximates this. Swift is coming back in 2010, but I expect it to be bigger, sportier, and way more expensive. I’m in no great rush and can wait a few months. Funny, I notice after contacting local dealers that unless you’re not ready to buy RIGHT NOW! TODAY!!! they lose interest quickly, tee hee.
I must admit that I had much less interest in a new car before I dropped my collision insurance on it and promptly acquired two huge dents – one in each side ride panel (neither my fault, of course). At this point, it seems kind of useless to even wash the bird doo off it, LOL. But I definitely see the wisdom in nursing a basically good car along to a ripe old age and natural death; if I did only in-town driving, that would be a no-brainer for me. As it is, I’m “shopping” (and seriously considering the '09 for the reasons given above; just ordering a new one exactly as I want it makes a lot of sense and sounds oh, so easy), but not ready to act as of now. The check-up also sounds like a good idea (although my mechanic wants to buy it; conflict of interest?), esp. before winter. Should I decide to keep this one and suddenly stop posting, it will be because my car broke down on a lonely country road and I’ve been abducted, violated, strangled, and dismembered; watch for me on CNN headline news. Thanks for the helpful advice, guys.
Hardly. Gas is not expensive enough ( to me ) to even think about getting more fuel efficent vehicles. My supercharged Mustang gets about 18 MPG overall, which I think is more than reasonable for the amount of performance it offers. My Bronco gets about 9-12 MPG which is reasonable for what it is and what I use it for. For me getting better fuel economy is not worth giving up power and performance. I do not envy you.
The current Suzuki Swift, sold nearly everywhere except the US, is about the size of a Chevrolet Aveo, a small hatchback/wagen. I’m puzzled why such a good and handy little car is not sold in the US; the Aveo is selling briskly to young people, retirees, and those wanting a no-frills second car.
Suzuki is also introducing another small hatch (I think, again, everywhere BUT America): the Alto, I believe it’s called. Seems everyone everywhere is smarter than we are re: cars. Whazzup with that?
You want to know why that is? In Europe the population density is good bit higher than it is here. For the most part people don’t have 30 mile commutes. In the U.S. people do. Therefore there is a more of a demand for cars that are larger , more comfortable, and often more powerful (re: not econoboxes). As for gas prices. When you take the taxes out of the equation, the actual prices are much closer between the U.S. and Europe than most people realize or want to admit. If the European governments didn’t have such a hard-on for taxing fuel (and just about anything else). You would see people driving larger vehicles. It’s not that everywhere is “smarter than we are” about cars, it’s just that their semi-socialist leaning governments basically force them to drive tiny cars. I have some English relatives that come over every few years. One of them is a police officer in Wales, and he drools with envy that most of the police departments drive around in Crown Vics while he has to make do with a little diesel hatchback.
It clearly says (and you posted it). “Resale Price MAINTENANCE agreement.”
The line above the one you posted.
" Price-related agreements are presumed to be violations, but antitrust authorities view most non-price agreements with less suspicion because many have valid business justifications."
What you’re saying CANNOT be illegal. It is done openly in many many markets…From telecom to Audio to Golf equipment to Vinyl siding. The manufacture sets a price and ENFORCES the retailer NOT to sell BELOW that price…PERIOD.
Thank you fro pointingout that the wholesale price of gasloine at the refineries is about the same the world over. Oil companies charge theur refineries the world price of oil, no matter what its source.
Europe and othe densely populated countries put high taxes on gasoline nad large cars for a number of reasons:
Most of these countries have narrow streets and roads, large cars will create impossible traffic and parkig situations. In Japan cars are taxed on WIDTH as well, because of the narrow streets and lack of parking.
Most countries do no produce oil; keeping imports down through lower consumption helps the balance of payments. This problem has had an adverse affect on the value of the US dollar!
Dictating samller cars helps keep overall emissions down and helps to keep the air clean.
Your English policeman relative’s job would be A NIGHTMARE if every Englishman was allowed to buy the car he really wanted without any purchase tax and gasoline taxes. Old countries just cannot handle millions of large cars!
I remember watching Top Gear where Hammond and James were ragging on Jeremy for buying a Ford GT because it was so wide. They joked because someone actually had to back up a car because he couldn’t cross a bridge somewhere in London I believe, which, in turn, caused a massive line of cars and angry drivers.
My husband and I drove the 2008 Yaris sedan (as well as a 2009 Corolla) and discovered that both are surprisingly poor in quality compared with previous Toyotas. Though the maker enjoys a long history of quality, affordability and dependability, that is not what we saw in either of these cars.
I would be very cautious and critically examine the Yaris (08 or 09) before deciding what economy car to buy for regular highway tripping. Even the government of Japan has criticised this automaker for the incredible cheapening of the product they’ve been producing over the past few years. (namely the ton of recalls for engine sludging problems and unexpected “normal” surging engines)
Our Gripes:
1)Yaris wanders (floats) at highway speeds and does not feel stable. (the security features - such as airbags and steel side beams - are nice, but knowing you’ll need both if the wind picks up on the highway or a semi passes you is not a comfortable feeling.
2) The emergency brake pull is such a light-weight, I’m pretty sure it would snap if one hit it with an elbow or briefcase getting in or out of the car. (This may be just a niggle, but to me it indicates that what’s on the other end of that cable is potentially just as chintzy…not to mention the level of quality under the hood.)
3) We couldn’t get used to sitting with our faces so close to the windshield, and not knowing how fast or slow we were driving without turning our heads fully away from the road in front of us, thanks to the middle-dash instrumentation, was unnerving.
4) The acceleration was so bad, the test drive was nearly a triply fatal experiment: Leaving a red light heading onto an entrance ramp to a highway, the “fuel economy smart” engine decided we shouldn’t punch it to avoid a speeding red light runner and bogged at just the wrong moment.
5) The driver’s seat feels like molded poly-foam with no inner support frame.
The 09 Corolla had a huge visibility problem due to the fixed headrests for backseat passengers, not to mention the placement of back-side windows. The acceleration was stronger, but again one must consider how close one wants their face to the windshield. The quality of this vehicle is far less than the Corollas of just ten years ago. Driving it makes one feel like more attention was given to interior plastic trinkets and plug-ins, than solid construction and quality engine performance.
This company seems to be answering American consumer complaints with assurances that it intends to do nothing more than shift their marketing and production focus to newly developing countries around the world. And worse, a quick check of the many forums regarding Toyota problems reveals that their use of the words “that’s normal” is increasing in frequency, while warranty-covered solutions are plummeting.
We won’t buy another Toyota until it has re-established itself as a quality over appearance car maker.
When the Echo first came out, my mom didn’t like the bubbly shape and the center gauge. Then our 92 Corolla’s transmission seized. Despite her doubts, I recommended the Echo and the car grew on her as it cuts the gas bill 25%
I actually like the bubble shape of the Echo for functional reasons. When I sat in the back of a Yaris at an auto show, my head rubbed the roof, which didn’t happened in the Echo. I’m not even 6 feet tall so I don’t think I’m asking for too much here. When mom wanted to trade the old Protege before it became a bottomless money pit, Toyota was out of the question. I told mom to check out the Honda Fit.
I own a 2004 Scion xB with a 5spd stick. It gets 42mpg on the freeway if I keep it at 55. I don’t think the bloated new one can do that. The previous poster is right. Toyota has become a form over function company. Unless Toyota stop listening to what most people want, I won’t buy another one.
Okay; this is all very discouraging, LOL… Guess I’d better test drive the Yaris along with the Scion xA, which would be my second choice (looks too “SUV” for my taste, but I do need the hatchback design).
They don’t make the xA anymore. The xA was the poor man’s MINI and how you could see any SUV in it is beyond me. The xD has seemingly replaced it, it just looks like a typical econobox. For the record,
Try the Honda Fit. It has one of the best clutch, shifter, brakes, and steering of any car I’ve ever driven. It’s right up there with the Miata and has a spacious interior for its size.
I forgot they call it the xD now. About the Fit, it may seem like a huge interior, but it has no leg room. I’m 5’10", and with the seat all the way back, my legs were cramped in there.
