2005 Toyota Echo---should I?

[bentjazz]

I might have a chance to buy a 2005 Toyota Echo for around $5000 with 50,000 miles on the odometer. I'd give my Yaris to a family member and I'd get the Echo. What do you guys think? Think it's a good or bad idea based on the model and year?
Thanks.

[thebarber]

Low mileage...but its more than id pay for a 12yr old echo

[DiCaprio]

Well the price isn't too bad if you look at similar 2005 models with equal mileage. They start at 5.000 and go up to 6.900 ( for one with 37k ). If you like the car and it's in good shape why not ? But since this is one of the cheaper priced echos in north america i'd take a good look at it.

[Exiwolfman]

definitely not for that asking price , its an echo and old save your cash get something better

[Kalispel]

The Echo is an odd little car - even compared to a Yaris.

[bronsin]

That would depend on the cars history. Do you know who owned it and what care it had?:iono:

I would negotiate the price downward if possible.

[bentjazz]

I think I'm going to pass on it. Plus, I love my Yaris and it's paid for. I've always kind of had a thing for the Echo, but I think if I look I can get a newer Yaris with around the same amount of mileage for a pretty decent price for my family member. Thanks for the input, people....

[tmontague]

The other thing to keep in mind when looking at an old car with low mileage is how it was likely driven. Most of its miles were very likely short trips around the city. This leads to condensation in the oil, extra carbon build up and the engine not getting up to operating temps.

This also is dependent on the type of climate the car was driven in, but many sellers use the low mileage as leverage but in all honesty it's not all that important when looking at a 12 year old car. Cars don't like sitting for long periods of time.

IMO, the ideal seller would be a single owner who cared for the car (oil sprayed it) and did a lot of highway driving with frequent WOT pulls. Not always the easiest to find though, but an ideal none the less. This is why I never buy my cars from used car dealerships. I always buy right from the current owner, you can tell a whole lot more from the owner after a conversation with them (also you can tell if they're full of bs too) It has served me well thus far.