Quote:
Originally Posted by SDPadres
Hello everyone! Im in the market for a daily driver and the i have been recommended a Yaris from a good friend.
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I do about fifty miles per day round trip commuting, with another fifty miles on weekends to visit friends. At the end of the trip, unless I have an unpleasant experience with an idiot driver, I do not feel like I've been in a fight at the end of the trip. I can't say that other small cars I've owned over the years left me as at ease at the Yaris at the end of the run.
The Yaris seats are quite comfortable, not like a luxury car, but firm and comfortable. The car is surprisingly roomy for its tiny size. You won't feel like you're sitting on a wooden bench seat inside of a coffin. Quite the opposite.
The vehicle is agile. I have one without ABS and am able to navigate fast stops with ease. I am able to gain and dump energy on suburban commutes with ease.
Acceleration is not one of the Yaris strong suits but it is comparable to some of the older US made luxury cars. In terms of horsepower to weight ratio the Yaris approaches that of some of the early 1980s vintage Trans-Ams. I don't try to "keep up" with sports cars but I can hold my own with SUVs most of the time.
I live in a mountainous area and have no difficulty whatsoever climbing steep hills, even ones over 30 degrees grade.
The Yaris is stable in snow. Instead of a mushy give the car will "break" and requires some experience to master - this is normal for front wheel drive cars however. I have deliberately experimented with it on ice and snow, using offbrand Mud and Snow tires. The car can hold its own in icy weather and manages snow up to four to five inches deep easily. I've also climbed steep hills with virgin snow, navigating up and down with no instabilities.
One time for an experiment I took a local limited access road which had not yet been treated or plowed. I was able to handle the car with little trouble up to fifty miles an hour in snow about four inches deep using M&S tires. Not quite "like on rails" but defintely managable.
One thing that will become apparent is that the Yaris does not have a lot of sound deadners. Going down gravel roads is a noisy experience. You will hear brake squeak, gear sounds and other noises that ordinary cars are built to silence.
For maintenence the car is a breeze. You can indeed change your own oil in the street without a hoist or jack. The oil filter and engine oil pan drain plug are easy to access from the front of the car. Most of the "need to change" parts are located in easy to reach places under the hood. I can stand in one spot in front of the hood and touch the alternator, spark plug cover, air filter cover, battery, A/C compressor and can even reach the ECU by leaning inwards. This ain't your modern pretzel "Jack up the wheels and take off the CV joints" to fix something car.
Toyota really did their homework with the Yaris. Plain and simple.
Downsides - Aformentioned road noises. Toyota selected easily corroded fasteners for some applications but these are all replaceable with better quality stuff. The car's paint is not the best, it seems to be vulnerable to dings from rocks, but it's probably easy to touch up.
The car is tiny. There are idiots who think that small car drivers should "Defer" to them. I've noticed that the proportions of the car fool people into thinking that you're further away. I've been cut off innumerable times by folks who seemed think I was further away. I've learned to live with this and take precautions. I drive my car like I'm on a bike and just expect to be cut off and hassled like bikers expect it.
This perspective effect can work for you - I've noticed that police do not use their radars as soon with my Yaris as they did with larger cars I've owned in the past. This gives you more time to evade a radar speed trap.
Gene
Discussion area for all the Toyota Yaris and Echo owners worldwide.
..Off to Bar Harbor tomorrow and was hoping to go in the Yaris but my daughter is on the evening shift next week and says theres no busses at midnight and the parking sticker for her work can only be used on the Yaris
how convenient ,guess i get to see how my 05 Echo does on long trips.
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