Used Car Advice

[dz63]

I have a rusted out, 1991 Tercel which I am nursing along. I am hoping to get another year out of it. It has been a very reliable, fuel efficient car. I use it to commute to back and forth to work (about 25 km round trip each day). I drive about 10-12,000 km's per year on this car.

When the Tercel dies, I am interested in another Toyota...either a second hand, 4 door, manual transmission Echo, Yaris, or possibly Corolla that is about 2-3 years old.

In your opinion, which is the best buy? My three top priorities in order are reliability, fuel economy, and price. Performance, handling, and comfort are not very high on my priority list, as this is just a daily commuter and commute time is of the order of 20 minutes each way. Are there any known problems with any of these models? Are there any certain model years to avoid? Based on your experience, is there anything that I should watch out for?

All opinions (good or bad) will be gratefully accepted.

Thanks!

[echo987]

I have an Echo and I love it. Mine is a 2door 5spd. I wanted a 4door but couldn't find one. The american models didn't come with a tachometer so I had to put one in. These are great cars. I can get 45mpg traveling at 60 mph. I get 41 mpg at 70mph. These cars are great. If you get a 2000 or newer you get the good motor the 1.5 VVTI, at least this is true for the american models. The cars have a timing chain which should be good for over 300,000 mi. The car is easy to work on. I would recommend it to anyone, especially tall people. I'm 6'5 and I fit with head room, I can't fit in the newer yaris, they lowered the roof.

[800over]

Just like the above poster...if your priority is reliability,fuel efficiency and price...echo or Yaris. You can get the Echo/Yaris for less than a Corolla and you'll have great reliability (slightly better than Corolla) and better fuel efficiency. I've got 230k on an 02 Echo. I've only replaced an exhaust reed valve ($100) and a Right wheel bearing ($250) since new. BTW I used to own a Tercel.

[new echo owner]

Seems like most Echo owner chose it for its reliability.

My criteria were simple: reliability, ease of maintenance and repair, and of course fuel economy. Price was a factor but not as important. I had looked at other manufacturers' available models but decided on Toyota since I am more familiar with them. Besides doing the usual search on the Internet for information, I also looked for Toyota bulletins for each model just to have some idea on what to expect. And I was surprised to find that there were less than ten bulletins on the Echo drive train through out the models lifespan, which seems to be a pretty good sign. If Toyota can't find much wrong with the car to put out bulletins for then one can conclude that not much do go wrong with them.

I haven’t spend enough time looking into the Yaris, but as far as I can tell the Yaris is simply an evolved version of the Echo, similar drive train with update engine controls and manual transmissions. And since I don’t want a new car or an over priced used one, so I simply skip over the Yaris as an option.

Corolla is a good choice, but it still can’t beat the Echo’s ease of maintenance and repair, and not to mention reliability and fuel mileage. I am getting close to 39 mpg for 95% of in-town driving. And since I am the only one in the car, my two door Echo is just right for my needs. If you have more than one person riding in the car or need a little more power then Corolla would be the choice to go with.

N.E.O.

[thebarber]

echo or corolla, i dont think you can go too far wrong

an 05 echo hatch will have a tach though

both cars are big sellers, so there are lots of spare parts around and lots of people who know how to fix them, if need be

both cars are reliable and good on gas, though the smaller, lighter, echo would be a bit better

seems to depend on what kind of price you can get one of them for and what size of vehicle you need...