Persuade me to buy a Yaris!

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by swidd

Uhm if you're sure you're okay with the small-car lifestyle aspect, i.e. you can't haul firewood and large furniture, only small grocery purchases at a time; no large family or soccer practice hauls, and you will get no respect from Republicans (unless you fit up to ~40" of gun in the Yaris trunk), then check out the competition and see if spending more on Ford Focus/Fiesta, Mazda 2/3, Audi A3, or Mini Cooper would be worth it do you. There you'll have leather and wood and almost-as-good MPG. The Yaris is only the leader when considering what you get for your money; best fuel economy in economy class, lowest maintenance cost for the lowest initial purchase price.

I think unless the OP has more than 2 kids, he should be fine living with a sub-compact car. The Yaris, especially the liftback, can haul a crap load of stuff. More than enough space for most situations. People always bring up the part about hauling furniture or lumbar but on that rare occasion, you rent a truck or have it delivered (most stores deliver furniture, appliances, ect. for free). Why own a big truck for that rare occasion when you need to haul a huge load but commute everyday at 18 MPG with no load.

And yes, the Yaris is the lowest cost to own vehicle you can buy. This is factored when you combine purchase price, MPG, maintenance, reliability, parts, and insurance. The only cars that come close is a base Accent and Versa. They can't beat the Yaris mpg and reliability though. As my sig points out, I've got 105,000 miles and have not needed a repair yet. THAT'S cheap to own.

BTW Swidd, many conservatives own small cars including myself. That's a silly generalization. We own them for economical reasons not environmental reasons knowing that "global warming" is a massive hoax.