New Owner's Opinions...

[guzziknight]

OK, so I've had my 08 Yaris S Sedan for just over 3 weeks now. I've put close to 1700 miles on it in that time. Here are my impressions:

I really, really like this car. Far more than I thought I would. I originally bought it because the price was right, and now I'm glad I did. I traded in the 08 Civic EX for the Yaris. The Yaris has better exterior styling, is quieter, handles better, is more comfortable, and gets better gas mileage than the Civic. The only place the Civic beats the Yaris is in the quality of the interior. The Civic's seems a little better, but not that much.

Gas mileage has been great. In the 4 times I've filled up, I've gotten, 34mpg, 35mpg, 40mpg and 38mpg. All this without drastically changing the way I drive. The biggest change was slowing down on the highway to 60-65mph. I was never able to get beter than 33 in the Civic, no matter how slow I went on the highway.

I looked at a Corolla before I bought the Yaris, and I'm so glad I didn't buy that. Not only is it not as good looking, there are a million of them on the road. Everywhere I turn, I see another Corolla. The same thing with the Civic. On the other hand, I rarely see a Yaris on the road, and when I do, it's never been an S model, sedan or LB. Makes me wonder why. I'm thinking most people just don't get it.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I just wanted to give my opinions here.

Yaniv

[Kal-El]

Good to hear you're so happy.

As for the rarity of Yaris "S" models. Yeah, you'll never see that many.
For some reason, Toyota limits the S's when it comes to the Yaris however they build tons of Corolla S's and Camry SE's.

All the times I ever visit a Toyota dealer, I've never once seen a new Yaris S available. It's too bad since they look so much better.

[TheRealEnth]

well lately its been starting to scare me... too many yarii... they are starting to pop up like civics everywhere...

[Yaristrocrat]

I've had my Yaris for almost 2 months. I'm about to turn over my first 1,000 miles, and I've enjoyed every one of them. It's funny, but although I know that everyone else on the road probably just sees another sub-compact when I pass by them, I feel like I'm driving something special, something really unique.

I have no complaints about the car at all--for what I paid for it, I think it has a very nice interior, and I love the exterior paint job. It performs fine for my daily driver uses, and I appreciate it more every day as I see the price of regular unleaded continue to creep up by a few pennies.

[chibipod]

In the 7 months I've had mine, I haven't seen another "S" LB on the road - what's the deal? I had no idea it was quite as special as it seems to be when I bought it (I just liked the styling and features better than the standard). But I do love it - and I've been averaging 42 MPG for the last 4 tanks.

[darthbauer]

I have an 08 S LB. I think I have still only seen like 3 total on the street and maybe one or two at a show. As for non S models though, I see them all the time. I was having some fun today on the way home with another LB and a sedan. Both non S models though.

[guzziknight]

I've seen maybe 20 or so non S models on the road since I got mine. A lot less than the other econocars. The only S I've seen was on the dealer show room floor, and it was a 3dr. They were asking almost 18K for it, which put it out of my price range.

[wooverstone8]

I've seen a few 06-08 Yaris S sedans here in Washington State, but I have never seen a Yaris S Liftback in person.

[yaris-me]

Welcome to YW.

[tomato]

Glad you're happy. I think the Yaris sedan and the Yaris LB are 2 different cars entirely.
I'm pretty happy overall with my Yaris. It isn't my dream car, of course, but no major complaints either. I actually look forward to getting behind the wheel.


PS> Nice name, Yaristocrat! ;)

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by guzziknight

I traded in the 08 Civic EX for the Yaris. The Yaris..............is quieter

Yaniv

no way. no how. the yaris is a good car for the price, but isnt the 08 civic the current model civic? ive test driven it enough to say id bet my left nut (and my right nut) that the civic is decidedly quieter than the yaris.

[guzziknight]

Originally Posted by roxy1

no way. no how. the yaris is a good car for the price. ive test driven the current generation civic enough to say id bet my left nut (and my right nut) that the civic is decidedly quieter than the yaris.

Sorry. One of the biggest pans of the Civic is the interior noise. I have a section of road on my commute where the surface is pretty rough. At highway speeds, the Civic is far noisier through that section than the Yaris. Also, when I use the Bluetooth speaker phone I have, it was always harder to hear in the Civic than the Yaris.

I put 19000 miles on the Civic, so this is all from personal experience. As I've said before, these are my opinions only; however, several salesmen at Honda dealers have agreed with feeling about the interior noise.

[gokartride]

I, too, as a new owner, have been highly impressed by the Yaris....I love it. I've come from being a twice MINI Cooper owner ('03 and '07) and while the MINI gives an upscale impression, past that the Yaris has much to offer that is equally clever (great packaging), economically comparable (mpg as good as a super-hypermiling Cooper), and technogically more sound (long-term reliability). The MINI is a more fussy car, imo (requires premium fuel, loads of brake dust, failing exterior body trim, extreme interior styling)...the Yaris is just nice and easy to live with. Now, I will say the MINI Cooper has great handling when pushed, but to me, as an urban driver, Yaris' extremely quick steering and crazy turning radius makes for more real-life fun. MINIs are also, in a way, trapped by a "look" that greatly challenges the aerodynamics of the car....the Yaris is free of that constraint. Nevermind the price difference between the two.

Anyway, I could go on, but imo, the Yaris is something of a secret weapon. It's benign (dare I say charming) appearance belies a very capable and athletic little car. Yes, other cars have strengths that suit their owners, but the Yaris also excels and, regardless of price point, we can be very proud of that!! In fact...I'd say the price point is just part of the fun!!!!

[Yaristrocrat]

Originally Posted by tomato

Glad you're happy. I think the Yaris sedan and the Yaris LB are 2 different cars entirely.
I'm pretty happy overall with my Yaris. It isn't my dream car, of course, but no major complaints either. I actually look forward to getting behind the wheel.


PS> Nice name, Yaristocrat! ;)

Thanks, even though I MISSPELLED it, like a big doofus. I hope you don't think I'm a plagiarist, though--I just noticed it under your username a few days ago and I was thinking, "Aw, crap, they probably think I stole their idea!" I actually just thought of it out of the blue when I was choosing my name. I noticed several others had usernames with witty use of Yaris in the title, so that was the first thing that came to mind. We can share the name with no animosity, right?

And I agree with you about driving the Yaris--I get all happy when it's time to go driving. It's just a cool car and so much fun to drive. That's the way car ownership should be.

[Bob Dog]

I have had my Yaris for over 2 years and almost 25,000 miles and still look forward to driving it. I would have to say that for my particular taste it is the favorite car I have ever owned.

[Zaphod]

I have to admit, I was a bit afraid of the decision to replace TJ with it. I had that jeep for 12 years and it was a heck of a fun car/truck/whatever.

But I don't regret it one bit now. Big yellow is great!

[tomato]

Originally Posted by Yaristrocrat

Thanks, even though I MISSPELLED it, like a big doofus. I hope you don't think I'm a plagiarist, though--I just noticed it under your username a few days ago and I was thinking, "Aw, crap, they probably think I stole their idea!" I actually just thought of it out of the blue when I was choosing my name. I noticed several others had usernames with witty use of Yaris in the title, so that was the first thing that came to mind. We can share the name with no animosity, right?

And I agree with you about driving the Yaris--I get all happy when it's time to go driving. It's just a cool car and so much fun to drive. That's the way car ownership should be.

Don't sweat it. I did think that the first time I noticed your nickname to be honest, but I got over it pretty quickly! Don't worry, I'll probably change that line when I think of something better to say. Keep the nickname, and enjoy the forum!

[businezguy]

I just finished my first road trip today and I absolutely love my car. For starters, moving from a 2002 Ford Focus to this car is a step up for me. The seats are way more comfortable because they are far more cushy, and particularly because they have height adjustment which is a huge plus since I'm pretty tall.

The exterior of my car is *very* good looking, and I *love* the white paint. The dealer put these black door guards on the doors, and it looks custom. Today on my first road trip I was driving down a suburban street and this kid of about 20 or so yelled nice car and was giving me the thumbs up and running behind the car, LOL.

This isn't normally the type of experience I would expect in driving such an affordable car. The handling is very good, and the pick up in the car is excellent. I'm very pleased so far, and fully expect this car to last me a long time.