[jdwilson]

i'm by no means a new comer here at TN, but I'll admint I didn't search.
i currently own an '07 tacoma, but i'm thinking of trading it in on a yaris hatchback. reasons being, i can save about $200+ a month and that will get me that much closer to being able to leave the terrible job I have.
anyway, how happy has everyone been with there hatchbacks? I know i will miss my truck and may buy an old beater just to have to haul crap and all that. gas is crazy and although i don't get bad mpg's with my tacoma, i'm always looking for ways to save money.
so if you're happy/unhappy with your yaris, or if you have any FRIENDLY advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Setitie]

I'm in the same boat. I have a 2004 GMC Sierra pickup that I want to sell/trade-in and I'm wanting to get a 2008 Yaris Hatchback. Took one for a test drive and loved it.

 

[jdwilson]

I'm in the same boat. I have a 2004 GMC Sierra pickup that I want to sell/trade-in and I'm wanting to get a 2008 Yaris Hatchback. Took one for a test drive and loved it.

i'm trying to go test drive one, but nobody around me has any. not sure what's up with that, but i'm trying to find a dealer that has one. i'd really like a 4-door with the hatch (i think they might call it a 5 door) but i don't think they're available in the US.
what did you think about the power/response and ride?

 

[Setitie]

First off I know very little about cars. I chose this vehicle for it's fuel economy and the Government of Canada has a ecorebate for it. Plus I'm what you would call a "fat" person so I wasn't sure if I could fit in it with some degree of comfort. It was very comfortable and I found that I could see around me (traffic) very easily. Ride was comfortable though I honestly don't know how to judge "performance". I want the RS Automatic 5 Door as it has a nice list of features and looks really nice (really looks good on the inside).

 

[molinee]

Just sold my Grand Cherokee and picked up a 2007 Yaris HB and am very happy..... Went from 14 mpg city to 35 city. Lots of interior room which suprised me. Has good acceleration and has a sporty feel. I don't think it will be too long and every family will have a smaller car for all around town driving and maybe an old beater truck for special driving/hauling. But first things first...... Drive one to see if will work for you. Then you will know for sure.

 

[jdwilson]

Just sold my Grand Cherokee and picked up a 2007 Yaris HB and am very happy..... Went from 14 mpg city to 35 city. Lots of interior room which suprised me. Has good acceleration and has a sporty feel. I don't think it will be too long and every family will have a smaller car for all around town driving and maybe an old beater truck for special driving/hauling. But first things first...... Drive one to see if will work for you. Then you will know for sure.

i've checked around and nobody has one. my buddy has a scion xb and it has the same engine and it's pretty peppy so maybe this one will be too. man it kills me to get rid of my truck. i haven't had a car since 1994, but the wife's job doesn't pay good and there's a hundred things to pay for and i'm getting sick of mine.
wish me luck.:clap:

 

[Bakemono]

Im another truck guy who is considering a Yaris. I had planned on trading my '99 F-150 in on a Tacoma in a year or 2, but the gas prices have me thinking maybe Id be better off to just keep the F-150 for driving in snow and for when I need to haul stuff and then have a Yaris or some other small car as my daily driver.
I havent driven one yet, so I cant tell you one way or the other what they are like. One thing you could do is go to your local Scion dealer and test drive a Scion xD. Those wont be exactly like a Yaris, but should be pretty darned close.
Dont worry, you arent the only one who is thinking about getting into something that is easier on gas. My F-150 only gets about 16 mpg and costs me about $70 a week just to drive back and forth to work. Needless to say, as much as I love my big truck, its almost to the point where I cant afford to drive it anymore, so the 36 mpg of a Yaris would be a welcome relief.

 

[HomeGrown]

Not sure about the hatch, but before I ordered my Taco, I test drove a 4-dr sedan Yaris, and I was surprised by how well I liked it. I drove a 5-speed model, and loved the feel of it, for an inexpensive car. I did end up getting the Taco, but I only have a 12 month lease on it, and am considering getting either a Yaris or Corolla to replace it when the time comes. I've got a reg. cab 4-cyl 5-speed 4x4 Taco, and I've been getting an average of around 20-22 mpg, combined city-hwy driving. Not bad, but I'm like you.... and everyone else driving a truck. We're leaving a lot of money on the table by driving trucks. The Yaris is looking pretty good right now, with gas rushing headlong past $4.00 per gallon. I could definately go for a sedan, but I'm not sure about the 3 dr. hatch. Maybe a bit small... but I would definately look closely at it before ordering the sedan. I imagine the 3 dr. is good for a couple mpg better than the sedan?

 

[Setitie]

My Toyota dealer basically insulted me with there "offer" for my truck, which has very low KM's, so I am going to have to sell it privately. Gives me more time to think it over.

 

[RningOnFumes]

• MSRP: $11,550 - $13,925
• Invoice: $10,856 - $13,089

• NHTSA Driver's Crash Rating:
• Basic Warranty: 36 months/36,000 miles
• Fuel Type: regular unleaded
• Fuel Economy Range: 36 mpg Hwy, 29 mpg City

Base 4dr Sedan
Horsepower: 106 @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 103 @ 4,200 rpm
Transmission: 5-spd man w/OD
Curb Weight: 2,288 lbs.
Fuel Type: regular unleaded


Base 2dr Hatchback
Horsepower: 106 @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 103 @ 4,200 rpm
Transmission: 5-spd man w/OD
Curb Weight: 2,290 lbs.
Fuel Type: regular unleaded

Info acquired from: http://autos.aol.com/cars-Toyota-Yaris-2008/available-trims

Believe it or not, the Sedan is lighter. As MPGs are relative to the driver it all depends on if you have a lead foot or not. Right now, you'll see a waiting list to buy one, granted a short waiting list.

I have had one since November, I love my sedan.

It seems the popular option is to get the base model with the power package. This combination will get you out the door for about 14 k, less for the hatch.

Don't forget to get the manual. You'll regret it like the Camry guys regret getting a V6.

Things different this year (US market).... S is not offered in the hatch back. US still doesn't get a 5 door. All cars get 15 inch steelies. Those are the major differences.

So good luck.

 

[molinee]

I was always a truck/suv guy myself for many many years. I like sitting up high, I like big tires, I like big exhaust, I like pushing my way around through traffic...... When you go from a truck to a small car like my Yaris you have to make a brain change. It's a totally different experience. There are trade-offs for sure. I like the faster pickup of the Yaris. I like the great mileage. I like the maneuverability, I like parking, etc. You might like it or you might not. I still suggest that you drive some smaller cars and especially the Yaris before you actually buy one. If you can keep an old beater truck for when you need a "truck fix" you should do it. Maybe license it only in the summer or something. However, I do think this crazy gas crunch will kill off most all the trucks on the road... Too bad too!

 

[dvlnblkdrs]

yaris rules ftw! get it, u will love it, i promise.. and check out the yaris specific forum while ur at it.. im sure will answer all ur questions n then some!

 

[Bakemono]

My Toyota dealer basically insulted me with there "offer" for my truck, which has very low KM's, so I am going to have to sell it privately. Gives me more time to think it over.

Even selling it privately, you arent going to get what you probably feel is a fair price for your trucks.
With gas prices high and getting higher, the used market is so flooded with trucks and SUVs that you practical have to give your truck away.
As long as you can trade your truck in and not end up in negative equity (meaning that what you are getting for trade-in on your truck is less than what you owe on it), Id suggest just taking whatever the dealer will offer you for it.
Thats why Im planning on keeping my old F-150 and just buying a Yaris with no trade-in

 

[Setitie]

I owe about $9500 and the offered $10,000 so...

 

[Bakemono]

My Toyota dealer basically insulted me with there "offer" for my truck, which has very low KM's, so I am going to have to sell it privately. Gives me more time to think it over.

I wish you luck, but I think that even selling it privately you arent going to be able to get what you think your truck is worth.
The value of trucks and SUVs has dropped in some cases as much as 50% in the past year because the market is so flooded with SUVs.
My aunt and uncle recently tried to trade their '05 Ford Explorer in on an '08 Ford Edge and they too were insulted by what the dealership was willing to give them on trade. 2 years ago they paid something like $34,000 for their Explorer and the dealer would only offer them $13,000 for their Explorer. Needless to say, they decided to keep the Explorer.
Thats kind of what made me decide to keep my '99 F-150 instead of trading it on a Yaris or an xD. Its not really worth anything, but the body is in good shape, it has almost no frame rust and (knock on wood) it still runs good, so why get rid of it? Plus, its nice to have a truck around for when you need to haul stuff and by not driving it much and dropping the insurance down to just liability it wont cost me much to keep the truck around, so I figure why not?
I wish you luck in selling your truck, but I think you are going to find the grim reality that most all other truck and SUV drivers are finding: our trucks aint worth squat because with high gas prices, the used market is so flooded that no one wants them.

 

[Setitie]

I have it in a national publication next week and it appeared online today so once this ad runs out, I think I will give up on selling it for now.

 

[HomeGrown]

With gas prices high and getting higher, the used market is so flooded with trucks and SUVs that you practical have to give your truck away.


Thats why Im planning on keeping my old F-150 and just buying a Yaris with no trade-in

Exellent choice. Many people's knee-jerk reaction to the high gas prices is to dump the truck or SUV at a tremendous loss. While this *MAY* make sense for some people who drive a whole lot (depending on the amount of negative equity), in many cases it's not the best decision financially at all. People would be well advised to CAREFULLY calculate their realistic projected fuel savings before jumping off this financial cliff.

 

[Bakemono]

Exellent choice. Many people's knee-jerk reaction to the high gas prices is to dump the truck or SUV at a tremendous loss. While this *MAY* make sense for some people who drive a whole lot (depending on the amount of negative equity), in many cases it's not the best decision financially at all. People would be well advised to CAREFULLY calculate their realistic projected fuel savings before jumping off this financial cliff.

Yup! In some cases you have people trading in trucks or SUVs which they owe $5,000-$10,000 more than what they are going to get on trade-in and even though they are moving to a more fuel-efficient vehicle, in many cases that are in so much negative equity that they really arent saving money because of how expensive their payments are.
Right now Im working on getting some credit cards paid off, but hopefully in a year or 2 I will be able to afford to have car payments. For now, all I can really do is try to conserve fuel when I can and try to limit the amount of miles that I drive.
In addition to the Yaris, Im also planning on getting a scooter/moped. The bigger ones (125cc) will go 60+ mph and still get 80 mpg, so that would work fine for what Id use it for. My trip to work consists of country backroads (55 mph speed limit) and about 5 miles of in-town driving, so for that a bigger scooter would work fine and would save me a lot of gas. Im looking at getting either a Yamaha Zuma or a Yamaha Vino. I personally like the looks of the Zuma better (the Vino looks too much like a Vespa), but Id take either.
One of the guys I work with has a 50cc Yamaha Zuma. He drives about 5 miles a day back and forth to work and that Zuma uses about half a gallon of gas per week. The tank holds something like 1.25 gallons and he fills it up every 2 weeks.
Like I said, I figured Id keep the truck for when I need to haul stuff, drive the Yaris when it rains or when its cold and ride the Zuma/Vino on nice days.
The past few days Ive been pricing on Yaris' on Toyota.com and you actually get a lot of car for the money. I was surprised that air conditioning is standard on a Yaris. I personally like the sedan better than the hatchback. I know its only a different of something like 19" in length, but the hatchback looks so much smaller than the sedan.

 

[jdwilson]

well, my local dealership got one in the other day and i went by there and test drove it. i was really impressed with it. it was a base model with automatic trans. the salesman was about 6ft tall and he had plenty of room in the back. I've got a baby on the way and the only thing that concerned me was the distance between the bumper and the back seat. not a lot of room for a crumple zone there. other than that, the car was really responsive, even for an auto, and rode pretty good. i'm used to a truck so it felt a little squishy, but some different shocks or performance springs (!) would take care of that. so then we went inside. the car i drove was not what i wanted. it was black and automatic. i wanted the blue with a 5-speed and if they had it there that night i probably would have driven it off the lot. so they looked for one and found one and after all the fees and all that, they came to a price of 13,500. i was shocked to say the least considering i bought my sr5 tacoma with everything but 4wd and nice wheels for 18,000. so i told the guy i would go home and think about it and get back to him. i went home and did some figuring and was depressed and shocked at the same time. i was depressed because i figured up what it cost me to drive every month. i figured in the payment on both cars, averaged 1000 miles/month for gas costs, insurance and taxes. it costs me $635 a month to drive my tacoma. but even worse it would cost me $495 a month to drive the yaris. that was figuring in the inevitible negative equity that the dealership would slap on for the trade in of the truck. so, a savings of $140 a month just isn't enough to justify buying the small car. the sacrifices that i would have to make by getting rid of the truck greatly outweigh the benefit and extra cost to keep it.
i'd like to say one thing about this side of TN. you guys are a thousand times nicer than anybody over on the tacoma forums. Nobody over there has really given me a hard time, but they are pretty rough when it comes to noobs. you guys were considerate, kind and helpful and I commend you all for it.

thanks for the help. Josh

 

[Bakemono]

The problem right now if you have a truck and want to trade it in on a car is that unless the truck is paid off, you are going to lose a lot of money trading it in. The market is so flooded with used trucks right now that some dealers are even refusing to take trucks and SUVs in on trade.
I dont blame you for making the choice you did.
$4 a gallon gas is here to stay, so Id bet you will be in the market for a Yaris again in the future.
Just pay off the truck and then keep it around for hauling stuff, then just buy a small car as your daily driver/gas saver. Thats what Im going to do.