2nd vs 3rd gen ride quality + durability

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Kalispel

Most of the documented problems with the 2nd generation were fixed by the 2009-2011 refresh, so I would personally stick with those model years only for a 2nd generation, if the goal is to minimize reliability issues.

^^^^^This. If I ever happened to come across one for sale that had the split rear seat with integrated headrests....and was also low mileage, manual transmission, and either silver or white...I'd probably make the purchase.

[chocolab]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Im afraid you missed out my ECHO was better in every way than my Yaris EXCEPT for the rotary heater knobs.

I look for those sometimes, but there are so few that aren't super high miles. One time several months ago I saw a great one on Craiglist and called only a couple of days after the ad went up, but it was already gone.

What did you like better about the Echo?

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

^^^^^This. If I ever happened to come across one for sale that had the split rear seat with integrated headrests....and was also low mileage, manual transmission, and either silver or white...I'd probably make the purchase.

N&C, one I was considering was in your neck of the woods, a silver 2012 MT with 91k miles at Gullo in Conroe. I thought about driving down to get it even though I'm several hours away up in north Texas. Almost wish I had. It looked really clean from the pics and I think they were only asking like $8200.

[roxy1]

sorry,the echo is a fine commuter car, but vs the 2nd and especially 3rd gen yaris, id follow with this:

-road/engine noise- worse, noticeably
-handling-worse, noticeably
-highway manners-worse, noticeably
-interior materials-worse, noticeably

obviously, it was much less safe as well. I would still recommend one to someone looking for cheap reliable transportation who couldn't swing a newer yaris, fit, accent, fiesta, sonic, etc.....

even though the echo was lighter, the truth is that under the revised (post 2008) EPA ratings, the manual echo is rated 30/38/33 city/highway/combined, which is the same city and combined mpg of the current yaris.

[nookandcrannycar]

N&C, one I was considering was in your neck of the woods, a silver 2012 MT with 91k miles at Gullo in Conroe. I thought about driving down to get it even though I'm several hours away up in north Texas. Almost wish I had. It looked really clean from the pics and I think they were only asking like $8200.

I really like the Silver. TexasDirectAuto.com has a radio show that airs on a local station here on Saturdays, IIRC. The host tells callers what the company will pay (sometimes qualified by actually seeing the vehicle). It appears that the price goes down if the car has a manual transmission.

[428CobraJet]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

It appears that the price goes down if the car has a manual transmission.

But the smiles go up!

I just left Gullo Toyota. ..talking to Phillip Sharp about possibly ordering a manual trans 2015.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by 428CobraJet

But the smiles go up!

I just left Gullo Toyota. ..talking to Phillip Sharp about possibly ordering a manual trans 2015.

[nookandcrannycar]

Last night at about 10pm, I started my blue Yaris for the first time in 3 weeks. It started up without any hesitation at all, as it did 3 weeks ago after not starting it for 2 weeks. It briefly ran a little rough...smoothed out while the 'cold' light was still on. Chalking it up to temperature (mid 30s, IIRC). I backed it out of the garage, on to the driveway, and let it run for about 15 minutes before pulling it back into the garage. I'll be away for just a few days over 3 weeks, so I decided (given the very easy start) to leave the battetry connected. The brief 'roughness' was a sharp contrast to my silver Yaris. Yes, there is a difference between 3,000 miles and 300,000 miles .

[chocolab]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

The brief 'roughness' was a sharp contrast to my silver Yaris. Yes, there is a difference between 3,000 miles and 300,000 miles .

I check here every once in a while but I missed when you got your new one. I guess it's a MT also? How did you find a MT one in Texas? As we know, for some reason the Gulf States region got very few MTs, and it seems from what I saw searching online that they got even fewer in 2014...

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by chocolab

What did you like better about the Echo?
.

The ECHO is lighter for one thing. Mine was a MT and so got better mpg than my Yaris which has AT. About 40 mpg vs 35.

The Yaris also lost a wp and the oil pressure switch while the ECHO had zilch go wrong in almost 8 years and 48k miles. Battery went 7 years.

Actually now that I think of it I like the instrument panel of the Yaris better and the design of the auto shifter (gated) And the hatch is better!