CONSUMER REPORTS : MARCH issue reviews '09 YARIS .

[Thirty-Nine]

Originally Posted by Crandall

Excuse me then most of the people on here. I actually follow you and twitter and read your blog.

I'm glad to hear that; I do appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Crandall

Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way but it seems around here the content of what you post takes back seat to being the person with the most posts. In most cases I find the people (in most cases) who post the most have the least useful or relevant posts to furthering knowledge or add something to the community. People with 2000+ post of all "Nice car", "Good job", "Cool" or just general post whoring. I have what less then 100 posts currently but I'd like to think all my post have some kind of substance to them rather then mindlessly being a sheep and just posting for the sake of posting.

I'd say you'll find that on most Internet forums.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by Crandall

It's typical. You have to look at the age demographic on this site, it's all younger people who don't have a lot of money, and who do ghetto or cheap mods to their cars. The only people doing anything worth anything on this site are the above 20's crowd who are more established and know where money should be spent.

It's for these reason I don't expect you to understand that, yes the Fit is more expensive, but it's worth the money.

There are a wide range of people on this site and plenty who are in their 40's, 50's, ect. Go check out FitFreak.net and you'll find a younger, less mature crowd than here.

We're not afraid to admit if a car is better than the Yaris in some ways. Of course the Fit has some superiority over the CHEAPER Yaris, that's the magic of putting more money into building a car. That said, there's a reason the Yaris outsells the Fit. If the Yaris was inferior in every way, how could this be? We prefer the design, price, gas mileage, faster acceleration, ect. of the Yaris.

[thewifesyaris]

Yaris vs Fit

This is my sole opinion from owning both cars, if you take offense it's not my fault.

I have owned both and only own the Yaris because after she totalled my Fit it was all I could afford.

I would agree the Fit is a better car. But the Yaris isn't too far behind.
The Fit is overall more luxurious and has a lot of better materials including a more powerful engine that will last just as long as ours. The only real thing that will last on our Yaris is the motor. If you look around at the rest of the car it is all plastic. Cheap interior. Little to no sound dampening. But hey I can't complain, for the price it is reasonable.

As for resale value... unless you opted for the more expensive versions of the Yaris like say the S, you might get a better resale value, but us econo crank window manual lock folks, the only thing a buyer sees of value is that engine that has plenty of life on it. Even the nicer Yaris doesn't really get rid of the cheap interior. So your still within the same boat as the rest of us.

As a consumer I'm looking to rid ourselves of both of these cars before 40-50k miles simply due to the fact that they probably will not be worth more than 5-6k.

Yes the Fit shouldn't be in the same class as the Yaris, but the only real reason it is, is the fact that the specifications meet up, not really the price or quality of craftsmanship.

Toyota made a decent car for those who need one, who don't fit in with the budget of those other cars. I can be completely honest, when I owned my Fit, I thought my wife's Yaris was a POS and I wanted her to have something more safe and slightly more luxurious. It's funny now that we both own the Yaris and I think the same thing. I tried to cover it up by modifying the thing to my liking but that didn't help the fact that I am not happy with the fact that it is a low end "get me by" car that I wish I could exchange for something better. Not to say that Toyota doesn't make good cars, because the car we are looking to upgrading to is a Corolla.

[auxmike]

I saw a sweeet '09 Corolla XRs in blue on the lot w/manual tranny too
$23,000
"nuff said.....

[ddongbap]

Screw you all. I'm getting a Smart car.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by ddongbap

Screw you all. I'm getting a Smart car.

Go for it! Report back when you buy your first parts... we'll recognize you. You'll be the person with their pants pockets turned inside out because the Parts Person at the Smart dealer had some henchmen grab you by your ankles, hold you upside down and empty your pockets out.

IMO, if a thing has anything at all to do with BMW or Mercedes Benz you will pay out the nose for parts.

Gene

[ddongbap]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Go for it! Report back when you buy your first parts... we'll recognize you. You'll be the person with their pants pockets turned inside out because the Parts Person at the Smart dealer had some henchmen grab you by your ankles, hold you upside down and empty your pockets out.

IMO, if a thing has anything at all to do with BMW or Mercedes Benz you will pay out the nose for parts.

Gene

God. All you ever complain about is parts. Not everybody keeps their car till it breaks down. I've been through a few cars where I replaced them under warranty. So please, cry a little bit more.

And you assume I'm poor or something.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by ddongbap

God. All you ever complain about is parts.

Buying a car with a limited logistical train, in other words, few places where you can get parts or service is not wise I lived through the Yugo and Belarus experience and understand these things.

I've also had to fix cars. Maybe you do not do such quotidian things?

Originally Posted by ddongbap

Not everybody keeps their car till it breaks down. I've been through a few cars where I replaced them under warranty. So please, cry a little bit more.

You like to give money to banks. You should be the one who is crying, not me.

Originally Posted by ddongbap

And you assume I'm poor or something.

So if you're not poor why did you buy an economy car?

Gene

[eht13]

Originally Posted by GeneW

So if you're not poor why did you buy an economy car?

I have agreed with some of your other points in this thread, but for this one I just wanted to point out something I said earlier in the thread... I would say that some people may have a decent amount of money but don't want to spend more of it than they need to on cars (either upfront or down the road in terms of cost of ownership and reliability).

[ddongbap]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Buying a car with a limited logistical train, in other words, few places where you can get parts or service is not wise I lived through the Yugo and Belarus experience and understand these things.

I've also had to fix cars. Maybe you do not do such quotidian things?

I fix cars.

You like to give money to banks. You should be the one who is crying, not me.

You're assuming I like to give money to banks. I don't. I don't really care either.

And I probably should be crying. But I'm not. Because I don't care.

Either way, you're still crying.

So if you're not poor why did you buy an economy car?

Gene

To mod it.

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by PK198105

how can you say the yaris is not as good build wise. i think this is the first car i ever owned/driven that the pieces actually stay on the car. nothng falls off everything is tightly fastened and nothing squeaks. did you ever try working on the honda?in order to change a headlight bulb you almost have to take the whole front off. im sorry if the Yaris is not a 350Z but it is a commuter car and not a racing machine. oh and btw the 350z interior is not much better than the yaris , last time ive been in a 350 it was cramped plastic and downright gawdy, not to insult anyone.

also if you don't like the Yaris, then why buy it there are plenty of alternatives to it.
And how can you say the Yaris is not as good looking as the Fit, the Fit looks like a giant clothes iron.

as for the after market parts don't forget who makes that buisness run , little yo boys with Hondas it is only natural that there will be a bigger supply of rice for them. IMO Toyotas and more precisely Yaris are great cars, conservative yes and maybe not as hyped up as other cars yet i wouldn't take a Fit if the have given it to me,

look its hard to deny that most of the fit/yaris debate is looks based, no?

i mean c'mon!

i like both, but differently. but i have to admit that the interior of the 1st gen fit (and 2nd gen) are nicer than the yaris. its not that the yaris sucks - - do dont get me wrong - - but i prefer the fit better. i like the gauges behind the steering wheel. i like the split fold, multi use seats, i like the fold-flat rear cargo area, i like the seating material better too, cus blue dots on flat seats = worse than black/grey seats in the fit...

and you can NOT say that the aftermarket support for the yaris is or will ever be better than a fit. cus k20 swap > all. toyotas are hard to due because the ecu is so adaptive. and all cars get i/h/e...but we still dont have a catback exhaust yet....only 1 set of non-trd shocks, only TRD sway bars (f&r), and the list goes on

that being said, i like that the yaris is lighter than the fit (and i like that the echo hatch is lighter than a yaris). i also like the look of the yaris - - THATS RIGHT I LIKE BOTH CARS LOOKS! i like that you CAN buy a super base yaris for really cheap (which i more or less bought). i really like the bolstered seats in the RS. i love the look of a yaris w/ the side skirts in 06/07.

but for me in my life, the fit would have worked better that a yaris for me.....especially now that im going to have a kid.....i could have used 4drs, split fold seats, and more storage.....but i have what a i have

very few from this site will ever prefer the fit over a yaris....and as a car enthusiast, im willing to accept that.

[auxmike]

As a Smart car owner, I can tell you the're real easy to work on.
BUT, I get no respect in it.
My last road rage incident pictured......

[ddongbap]

Originally Posted by auxmike

As a Smart car owner, I can tell you the're real easy to work on.
BUT, I get no respect in it.
My last road rage incident pictured......

I think you're using the wrong wookie for that mod.

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by PK198105

i just have one question how safe would you really feel in a Smart? each time i see a Smart on the road i have my cell set to 911 just press SEND

my wife and i drove a smart w/ a diesel before driving the yaris (actually like 30min before)

i found the ergonomics kind of weird, and the car being a 2 seater just made it seem kind of useless. i also hated the quasi-auto transmission too. AND it was wicked slow.

oh, and theres no mercedes dealer in fredericton - - the closest is in saint john which is just over an hour away in good weather. and its not like you can get the oil changed anywhere w/ the diesel smart too (im not sure how it is for the newer gas engine) but they actually have to pump the oil out as there isnt a drain in the pan....so you HAVE to get it done at a mercedes dealer (though from what i read on the smart forum, there is a roaming truck that will come to your city to change the oil)

so ya...we own a yaris (which seemed like a speed demon after driving the smart car!)

lol @ auxmike

[rningonfumes]

lmao at the pics.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by PK198105

i just have one question how safe would you really feel in a Smart? each time i see a Smart on the road i have my cell set to 911 just press SEND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s

As you can see, even at a brutal 70 mph crash head on into a cement barrier, the Smart's passenger compartment stays intact. It's a pretty safe car. Too many people are stuck on the old belief that a small car is a death trap.

[Kal-El]

Yeah, the test in the this video is an extreme example and you'd probably get killed in a Hummer going 70 mph into a solid barrier. The cause of death in this situation is the sudden and violent whiplash of your internal organs never mind the broken neck and the seatbelt crushing your ribs.

[Phaeton]

Some people who bought the Yaris aren't poor.
I bought one because I needed a car that would be dependable and get good gas mileage over a long period of time. I've put 40,000 miles on mine in 8 months. I would not do that to a nicer car.