Yaris sales hit new low...

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by kimona

Well, you can buy a Corolla L automatic (with customer incentives) for less than a Yaris LE automatic (which has no incentives).

^^^^^ ....but the Yaris is much easier to park, and probably gets better MPG. I know, I'm in the minority...a huge percentage of people in the U.S. don't look at it that way. Some people want as much car around them as possible for 'protection'.

[kimona]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

^^^^^ ....but the Yaris is much easier to park, and probably gets better MPG. I know, I'm in the minority...a huge percentage of people in the U.S. don't look at it that way. Some people want as much car around them as possible for 'protection'.

It seems bigger is generally considered better here in the US. BTW, the Corolla gets better gas mileage than the Yaris!

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by kimona

It seems bigger is generally considered better here in the US. BTW, the Corolla gets better gas mileage than the Yaris!

EPA MPG, but what about what real world users get ? I'd bet most Yaris drivers do better than the EPA numbers.

Is the Corolla LE available with a manual ? If not, then that alone changes the equation for those of us who prefer a manual.....I know, a minority of potential buyers.

[kimona]

If a Toyota buyer is simply in the market for a compact economy car, then it makes sense to overlook the Yaris when he/she can buy a Corolla for less... especially when it's bigger, gets better gas mileage, and has the popular Corolla nameplate. Besides hatchbacks are still not that desirable to many US buyers.

And, if the buyer is simply looking for any Japanese economy car, then the Yaris is far too expensive! For example, a basic 4-door Versa has a window of $12800, while a similarly equipped Yaris is $16280.

Bottom line: A new Yaris is way overpriced... even if it is a Toyota.

[Kal-El]

Yup, and it comes down to the Yaris being built in Japan vs the Versa being built in Mexico. That's the main disparity. Which is why Toyota has decided to team with Mazda to have its next model built in Mexico alongside the Mazda2. It's the only real way to get the price down.

The other thing Versa has going for it is that it is the biggest sub-compact package. Really, it is the size of a compact. That's what gets American buyers to sign on.

[roxy1]

I bought the yaris because I wanted a hatchback. corolla doesn't come in a hatch.

only the corolla with the cvt gets better mileage than the yaris. the corolla that starts at $16800 is the stick, rated at 28/37. the cvt in the corolla (and most every other cvt ive driven) takes the last bit of joy out of driving.

if Toyota wanted to push the yaris, they would market it more and push up inventories. in the subcompact market, hatch sales have either caught up or surpassed the sedan sales over the last few years.....sonic, fiesta, versa...and Honda doesn't even bother with a fit sedan.

[kimona]

I bought my Yaris because it was a Toyota... and because I wanted a hatchback. My 2007 was very reasonably priced equipped with automatic, power windows/locks/mirrors, and 60/40split folding rear seat. Even though I'm not a big fan of the 3rd generation Yaris, I'd still buy one similarly equipped if the price was right... which isn't the case.

[Flipper_1938]

Dealers make more money on corollas. That's why they push them.

Same thing went on with the ECHO. You had to want an ECHO to get somebody to actually sell you one. When I bought my 2010 Yaris sedan, I had to drive 100 miles to find a dealer who had a MT sedan...next closest one was 400 miles away. My car was built in April, I bought it in November.

The average fat-ass american would rather have the bigger car for the same money anyways.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by roxy1

I bought the yaris because I wanted a hatchback. corolla doesn't come in a hatch.

only the corolla with the cvt gets better mileage than the yaris. the corolla that starts at $16800 is the stick, rated at 28/37. the cvt in the corolla (and most every other cvt ive driven) takes the last bit of joy out of driving.

if Toyota wanted to push the yaris, they would market it more and push up inventories. in the subcompact market, hatch sales have either caught up or surpassed the sedan sales over the last few years.....sonic, fiesta, versa...and Honda doesn't even bother with a fit sedan.

I read Kimona's post #22 and Kal-El's post #23 (filled the 15.6" on my smaller windows laptop on whatever zoom setting I have right now in Safari). I highly respect Kimona's opinion and highly respect Kal-El's opinion, but I was still SMH. I was already starting to write the reply in my head. Two thoughts stuck out above others. One, we're kind of talking about apples and oranges because Kimona mentions/prefers an automatic, and Kal-El a sedan, while I prefer a manual 3-door hatch. Two, I thought if one took me, roxy1, and other like minded owners (from YW, and people posting their results/opinions on Yahoo Autos, Edmunds.com, etc.....who don't go crazy re hypermiling or maintenance, but do try to drive to generally drive to get the best fuel economy we can)....and took (let's say) 300 new cars for 300 people and 100 had a manual 3-door Yaris, 100 had a manual 5-door Mazda 2, and 100 had a manual Versa sedan and each one was driven the same number of miles (but over 200,000 for each), that the Yaris would have the lowest overall cost of ownership. It might not beat the Mazda 2 by much, but I think the Yaris would deliver the lowest overall cost. I think the Versa would bring up the rear, given those parameters. I started to scroll down to reply and......LOL, I see this as the next post. If I had elaborated beyond the above, some of our thoughts would have run together.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Flipper_1938

Dealers make more money on corollas. That's why they push them.

Yep.

Same thing went on with the ECHO. You had to want an ECHO to get somebody to actually sell you one. When I bought my 2010 Yaris sedan, I had to drive 100 miles to find a dealer who had a MT sedan...next closest one was 400 miles away. My car was built in April, I bought it in November.

Yep. When I bought my Yaris in Rhode Island (October 2006, 2007 model year), there were only 5 manual transmission 3-door Yarii in the entire Northeast (USA).....and at least one of those was a lie (the car was still on a boat..on the way ).

The average fat-ass american would rather have the bigger car for the same money anyways.

Yep.

[timothyone]

I can't imagine why so many would choose the Nissan or even the Honda over the Yaris. I studied and drove them all and found nothing out there that seriously challenged the Yaris. I do believe the ugly and confusing to pronounce name is a turn off for many. Yaris sounds a bit Star-Treky to me, but it is a great car. The Toyota Paris would have been a nice name had it not been for that slimy Hilton girl.

[Gogogordy]

Toyota had a similar problem with it's Starlet many years ago. Wisely, significant price discounts cleared the backlog. It too was a fine automobile, but outgunned competitvely and under-appreciated.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by timothyone

The Toyota Paris would have been a nice name had it not been for that slimy Hilton girl.

Barron Hilton (her grandfather) has stated publicly how profoundly her antics have embarrassed him and have sullied the family name.

[YodaBird]

Originally Posted by Flipper_1938

Dealers make more money on corollas. That's why they push them.

Same thing went on with the ECHO. You had to want an ECHO to get somebody to actually sell you one. When I bought my 2010 Yaris sedan, I had to drive 100 miles to find a dealer who had a MT sedan...next closest one was 400 miles away. My car was built in April, I bought it in November.

The average fat-ass american would rather have the bigger car for the same money anyways.

True, dealers don't make any money. My next car I hope to be a VW Jetta, I always wanted one, that and a Porsche, don't know if I'll be able to afford one. I've thought about a Benz too, then again same as a Porsche, don't know if I'll ever be able to afford.

[Onwrdigo]

I drove and/or rented everything too.

Fiat 500: Fun, but tiring after a long drive on the interstate. Did not trust it for long haul reliability either. And now, it is known for many problems.

Kia Rio5: Engine sounded like a blender on first start-up. Sales guy said "they all do that when cold due to the new fantastic direct injection that you are going to really love". Yea right, that is what I want...a car that sounds like crap every single morning.

Nissan Versa: has been the brunt of a lot of motor-magazine flack early-on for cheap feeling. I think it is downright ugly, both the four-door and hatch. And recent Nissan reliability records are not all that great either.

Current Mazda 2: Too small for me. Plus my previous experience owning both a Protege'5 and a Mazda3 hatch were nightmares from new.

Ford Focus & Fiesta: typical "Ford" lack of reliability....the absolute"worse" transmission and steering I have ever experienced on any car.

Honda Fit: Ok, more room. But never liked the old one's looks (looks like the Alien himself from the movie "Alien"). Funny how the new one looks like our Yaris now. "Hmmm". But it is made in Mexico and Honda delayed sales to "quality control something-something"....Raised my eyebrows. And to get a good one, you will spend more than a well-equipped Yaris.

Having owned my Yaris for over a year now, it has been great and "cheap to maintain". Rides great, is quiet and really does have good power and gas mileage. Yes, have had a few issues, but dealer fixed everything within minutes. The only thing I cannot cure, is the upper middle dashboard buzzing at low speeds...."grrr". But I still really like this car.

"Now", I like the looks of the new '15. And supposedly according to the Canadian press, Toyota has done a lot to the suspension, stiffened the structure (IIHS small overlap improvement???), made the interior nicer, better dashboard materials, better seats/fabric and is using new "quiet' seals to make it more silent. I do not know if this will translate to the cars sold in the U.S.; that is a question I want answered.

I don't care if it is made in France. In an earlier post, I mentioned a friend who rented a 2014 Yaris LE from Enterprise. It was made in France. Had 35,000 "rental car" miles on it. And I got to tell you; it was still very tight, well made, nicer seats, no rattles at all. I am seriously thinking of trading my '13 LE for a '15 SE.....That is if I can even find one. Toyota Southeast does not bother bringing SE's to their port. I have never seen an SE in North Carolina, only L's and LE's. I guess I will have to go to Virginia, Maryland or higher-up even to find one if that crazy logic continues? I do say...Shame on you Toyota for not bringing SE's to the SouthEast...If you do, I have yet to see one. And "market/advertise" the dang thing.

I do not want a re-designed '16 Mexican made-rebadged Mazda 2. I don't care how much the auto magazines praise Mazda. If you look at the ownership results, they are not consistent and they still have some major problems even after ditching Ford.

And this is "rich".....I was getting an oil change the other day and there were not one, but two families trading in late model Mazda 2's...one for a new Corolla and one for a "used" Yaris...go figure.

[Frank Necrosis]

My dealer kept pushing the Prius. They kept telling me how hard the Yaris is to get and how much better the Prius would be. I am sure the Prius is a good car, but the lot was packed full of used hybrids. That alone told a big story.

I am happy with the Yaris. It has the 3 things I wanted: manual transmission, air and cruise but none of the extra stuff that always seems to break.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Frank Necrosis

My dealer kept pushing the Prius. They kept telling me how hard the Yaris is to get and how much better the Prius would be. I am sure the Prius is a good car, but the lot was packed full of used hybrids. That alone told a big story.

Better for the dealer and the sales rep because both will make more money

none of the extra stuff that always seems to break.

I wish the 2015 L would carry on with the hand crank windows, but one can't always have everything .

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Onwrdigo

I drove and/or rented everything too.

Fiat 500: Fun, but tiring after a long drive on the interstate. Did not trust it for long haul reliability either. And now, it is known for many problems.

Kia Rio5: Engine sounded like a blender on first start-up. Sales guy said "they all do that when cold due to the new fantastic direct injection that you are going to really love". Yea right, that is what I want...a car that sounds like crap every single morning.

Nissan Versa: has been the brunt of a lot of motor-magazine flack early-on for cheap feeling. I think it is downright ugly, both the four-door and hatch. And recent Nissan reliability records are not all that great either.

Current Mazda 2: Too small for me. Plus my previous experience owning both a Protege'5 and a Mazda3 hatch were nightmares from new.

Ford Focus & Fiesta: typical "Ford" lack of reliability....the absolute"worse" transmission and steering I have ever experienced on any car.

Honda Fit: Ok, more room. But never liked the old one's looks (looks like the Alien himself from the movie "Alien"). Funny how the new one looks like our Yaris now. "Hmmm". But it is made in Mexico and Honda delayed sales to "quality control something-something"....Raised my eyebrows. And to get a good one, you will spend more than a well-equipped Yaris.

Having owned my Yaris for over a year now, it has been great and "cheap to maintain". Rides great, is quiet and really does have good power and gas mileage. Yes, have had a few issues, but dealer fixed everything within minutes. The only thing I cannot cure, is the upper middle dashboard buzzing at low speeds...."grrr". But I still really like this car.

"Now", I like the looks of the new '15. And supposedly according to the Canadian press, Toyota has done a lot to the suspension, stiffened the structure (IIHS small overlap improvement???), made the interior nicer, better dashboard materials, better seats/fabric and is using new "quiet' seals to make it more silent. I do not know if this will translate to the cars sold in the U.S.; that is a question I want answered.

I don't care if it is made in France. In an earlier post, I mentioned a friend who rented a 2014 Yaris LE from Enterprise. It was made in France. Had 35,000 "rental car" miles on it. And I got to tell you; it was still very tight, well made, nicer seats, no rattles at all. I am seriously thinking of trading my '13 LE for a '15 SE.....That is if I can even find one. Toyota Southeast does not bother bringing SE's to their port. I have never seen an SE in North Carolina, only L's and LE's. I guess I will have to go to Virginia, Maryland or higher-up even to find one if that crazy logic continues? I do say...Shame on you Toyota for not bringing SE's to the SouthEast...If you do, I have yet to see one. And "market/advertise" the dang thing.

I do not want a re-designed '16 Mexican made-rebadged Mazda 2. I don't care how much the auto magazines praise Mazda. If you look at the ownership results, they are not consistent and they still have some major problems even after ditching Ford.

And this is "rich".....I was getting an oil change the other day and there were not one, but two families trading in late model Mazda 2's...one for a new Corolla and one for a "used" Yaris...go figure.

Great post. Didn't someone else post that the SEs for the USDM are going to continue to be assembled in Japan ?