Yaris sales hit new low...

[vrait]

If the yaris had a 6-speed manual and a 5 speed auto I think it would sell more. The 4 speed almost made me not even consider it.

[kimona]

Originally Posted by vrait

If the yaris had a 6-speed manual and a 5 speed auto I think it would sell more. The 4 speed almost made me not even consider it.

My 4-speed automatic Yaris performs so much better than the 6-speed automatic in my Camry. IMHO, the 4-speed automatic is a brilliant piece of work!
Besides, a 5-speed automatic would probably have the same final drive ratio anyway.

[jack black]

Kimona, I finally cracked your avatar.

Senna Matsuda, LOL.

Speaking about Yaris, I was at a dealership today and they had only one Yaris, way in the back parking. $17k. For only $500 more you can buy xD. No wonder they don't sell.

[kimona]

Originally Posted by jack black

Kimona, I finally cracked your avatar.

Senna Matsuda, LOL.

Speaking about Yaris, I was at a dealership today and they had only one Yaris, way in the back parking. $17k. For only $500 more you can buy xD. No wonder they don't sell.

Yes, lovely Senna Matsuda!

BTW, all 2014 Scions have a $1500 discount off MSRP... so you can get an xD for much less than a Yaris LE automatic!

http://ads.ocregister.com/rop/web/oc...=0009959704-01

[Onwrdigo]

I stand by what I say about Mini. Don't get me wrong, they are wonderful looking cars. But I worry for the guy getting the Countryman All4. "That" particular Mini has been rated the most "troublesome" of the whole line. But since he knows how to work on cars, maybe it won't be a big deal when it does something nutty.

Kudos to him for finding a first generation xB for his Daughter. Still have my '05. It has been the "best" car I have ever owned. And they are "great" snow cars even in automatic transmission guise.

Yea, being in Connecticut during winter is a big deal. Here in NC, we got socked pretty hard with a couple of storms in the flat lands this year (where having 4WD is not a necessity) and our mountains got nothing when those storms happened. My Yaris was home, I was in the xB, and it got me through beautifully when others, including some 4WD's were being stranded by their owners on hills on the side of the road. So it can simply depend on "driver knowledge" when it comes to weather. I went to college in the NC Mountains with a VW Rabbit. They never canceled class even in the worst winter storms. You "had" to learn how to drive in snow/ice no matter what kind of car you owned. So, again, it depends on the driver and "yes" severity of the overall storm and frequencies of the storms if you do or do not need 4WD.

Just being friendly here. I love cars that give little or no trouble. I think the guy would enjoy a new RAV4 4WD XLE far more than the Mini Countryman All4 and for less money. At a car show recently, one of those All4's had a sticker for $37,000'''' and according to the sales rep, it was not even the fully loaded one??!!. You can get a whole lot of reliable 4WD RAV4 for that kind of money and have some change left over for a top notch ski rack and new skis/equipment for the whole family to hit those great ski slopes in the Northern territory.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Onwrdigo

I stand by what I say about Mini. Don't get me wrong, they are wonderful looking cars. But I worry for the guy getting the Countryman All4. "That" particular Mini has been rated the most "troublesome" of the whole line. But since he knows how to work on cars, maybe it won't be a big deal when it does something nutty.

Kudos to him for finding a first generation xB for his Daughter. Still have my '05. It has been the "best" car I have ever owned. And they are "great" snow cars even in automatic transmission guise.

Yea, being in Connecticut during winter is a big deal. Here in NC, we got socked pretty hard with a couple of storms in the flat lands this year (where having 4WD is not a necessity) and our mountains got nothing when those storms happened. My Yaris was home, I was in the xB, and it got me through beautifully when others, including some 4WD's were being stranded by their owners on hills on the side of the road. So it can simply depend on "driver knowledge" when it comes to weather. I went to college in the NC Mountains with a VW Rabbit. They never canceled class even in the worst winter storms. You "had" to learn how to drive in snow/ice no matter what kind of car you owned. So, again, it depends on the driver and "yes" severity of the overall storm and frequencies of the storms if you do or do not need 4WD.

Just being friendly here. I love cars that give little or no trouble. I think the guy would enjoy a new RAV4 4WD XLE far more than the Mini Countryman All4 and for less money. At a car show recently, one of those All4's had a sticker for $37,000'''' and according to the sales rep, it was not even the fully loaded one??!!. You can get a whole lot of reliable 4WD RAV4 for that kind of money and have some change left over for a top notch ski rack and new skis/equipment for the whole family to hit those great ski slopes in the Northern territory.

. I think those of you who have been forced to deal with inclement winter weather for more than a weekend or week at a time can have better results in certain conditions with Front Wheel Drive than with AWD or 4WD. My experiences, for the most part, have been in the central and northern parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (especially near and around Lake Tahoe). Most of the people I know, and others just by acquaintance or observation, favor AWD or 4WD over FWD. However, these are mostly people who don't live there for the entire winter or year round (they're weekend/holiday/vacation/etc. people who live primarily in LA, Orange County, or the S.F. Bay Area). I lived in what is largely a ski town (Mammoth Lakes, CA) for almost an entire ski season, but didn't get to try driving around in the snow re a sad mistake...I locked my car key in the car . Nearest AAA contract station was over 50 miles away...so I was out of luck until my girlfriend (after the last snow) was able to make the trek from Orange County to bring me another key. I didn't really need a car while I was there, but it would have been nice to get the experience driving in that climate. The best job of driving I've done in snowy weather, amazingly, was behind the wheel of a FWD car (a Ford Contour) over Mt. Hood (Oregon) with chains on while driving from the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort to Portland.

Re a reliable, small AWD or 4WD SUV, I like both the CR-V and the RAV4. I like the layout if the interior of the CR-V a bit more than the RAV4...I think the interior of the RAV4 is well thought out, but (in comparison) I feel a bit more thought went into the execution of the interior of the CR-V.

The Mini....ahhhh...the interior is what grabs me the most ( my favorite interior -- any current car at any price), but most of the rest grabs me as well. The car must have 'grabbed' CTScott as well, or I'm sure he wouldn't have purchased one. He bought it used, and I imagine got a deal he didn't want to pass up.

[why?]

awd is seriously overrated. And if you look nowadays, many awd cars are coming with summer tires on them, so they would be crap in the snow.

My favorite winter car was a 1999 Saab Viggen. It was like a tank in the snow, could go through drifts that were 1/4 of the way up the tires.

[Onwrdigo]

Kudos to the knowledge on here!

So I know how my '05 xB automatic does in really bad winter stuff (awesome). I have yet to try my '13 LE Yaris yet in the nasty. So does anyone in any region know how a Yaris Automatic (whether it be an LE or SE) does in the stuff with an experienced winter driver??

The Yaris is lower to the ground (somewhat) than my xB which could be a determining factor depending on road conditions. But with my xB and Yaris having the same engine and transmission, they both have this 1st gear that is sort of a "creeper gear" when you let-off the brake (but have not touched the accelerator pedal) giving you some ever-so-slightly "pull-traction" as to not spin the wheels. Last winter in the xB when I was stopped waiting for traffic on a snow/ice covered hill trying to get home in a traffic jam, I had a Jeep Wrangler in front of me and a GMC Yukon in back of me while we watched cars slide down the hill coming in the opposite direction. Luckily, nobody hit us. When it was our turn to go "up" the hill, the Wrangler struggled for a second and then went on up slowly. I just let off of the brake and my xB just grabbed away and started to go up the hill ever so "slowly but surely" without touching the accelerator. The Yukon driver spun-out for about ten seconds and then finally grabbed-on and started following me up the hill. We all made it. (All this while we passed various cars..RWD,FWD, 4WD parked/abandoned on the side of the hill by their drivers. We actually had to go around cars/trucks abandoned in the middle of the road as well). I'll tell you, having been forced/taught in college on how to navigate this stuff also helped I am sure. Our professors all drove old 4WD Trucks and Subaru's (or pretty much anything with "chains") to campus and never canceled class and would dock you a point or two if you missed class due to weather....they were "tough".

I am curious as to how the Yaris will do with my experience in the stuff. I guess I will park the xB and drive the Yaris when it threatens to dump snow/ice next time while I am at work.

BTW, Toyota.com has "finally" put up the 2015 info officially on their website for the Yaris.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Onwrdigo

Kudos to the knowledge on here!

So I know how my '05 xB automatic does in really bad winter stuff (awesome). I have yet to try my '13 LE Yaris yet in the nasty. So does anyone in any region know how a Yaris Automatic (whether it be an LE or SE) does in the stuff with an experienced winter driver??

The Yaris is lower to the ground (somewhat) than my xB which could be a determining factor depending on road conditions. But with my xB and Yaris having the same engine and transmission, they both have this 1st gear that is sort of a "creeper gear" when you let-off the brake (but have not touched the accelerator pedal) giving you some ever-so-slightly "pull-traction" as to not spin the wheels. Last winter in the xB when I was stopped waiting for traffic on a snow/ice covered hill trying to get home in a traffic jam, I had a Jeep Wrangler in front of me and a GMC Yukon in back of me while we watched cars slide down the hill coming in the opposite direction. Luckily, nobody hit us. When it was our turn to go "up" the hill, the Wrangler struggled for a second and then went on up slowly. I just let off of the brake and my xB just grabbed away and started to go up the hill ever so "slowly but surely" without touching the accelerator. The Yukon driver spun-out for about ten seconds and then finally grabbed-on and started following me up the hill. We all made it. (All this while we passed various cars..RWD,FWD, 4WD parked/abandoned on the side of the hill by their drivers. We actually had to go around cars/trucks abandoned in the middle of the road as well). I'll tell you, having been forced/taught in college on how to navigate this stuff also helped I am sure. Our professors all drove old 4WD Trucks and Subaru's (or pretty much anything with "chains") to campus and never canceled class and would dock you a point or two if you missed class due to weather....they were "tough".

I am curious as to how the Yaris will do with my experience in the stuff. I guess I will park the xB and drive the Yaris when it threatens to dump snow/ice next time while I am at work.

BTW, Toyota.com has "finally" put up the 2015 info officially on their website for the Yaris.

Sorry if this is slightly off topic, but what MPG numbers do you usually get with your xB ? I'm thinking about getting a late 1st Gen xB once my 07 Yaris needs more money to be sunk into it than makes sense. I had been thinking about a Tacoma as well, but it's been too long since Toyota has made their 'smallest engine in a pickup' (the one tooter has in his 2012 Tacoma...or an even smaller one) available with the longer bed. A guy on You Tube took out the back seat in a 1st Gen xB and created a camper (good for a night's sleep or two in a pinch). The only problem is that I'm too tall for the particular way he set things up (he left the front passenger seat in). If CTScott eventually develops one of his modules (for the xB) that keeps the airbag system working properly with the front passenger seat out...the remainder of the You Tube guy's set up would work for me. A 2nd Gen Prius might also fill the bill, but I'm thinking a 1st Gen xB might be better than a 2nd Gen Prius re mountain driving (ski trips).

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

..........well, I just increased slumping sales by one. As of last Friday 8/8/14 the customizable cars.com search engine (that roxy1 posted a link to a while back.....can pull the Yaris inventory for the whole united states) showed 22 manual transmission 2014 Yari (3 SE and 19 L). Seven of the L = in my preferred colors of White and Silver..... 4 in Florida, 1 in Tennessee, 1 in Ohio, and one in Illinois (in Naperville, where another YW member bought a 2014). Only 3 of the 7 = discounting anything off off the base MSRP...Toyota of Lakewood in FL, Royal Palm Toyota in FL (55 miles farther north), and the dealer in Naperville, IL. I honed in on the cheapest listing, posted by Toyota of Lakewood. It's still listed (at least as of a 1/2 hour or so ago) on cars.com with lots of pics ()...but it's not available. I'm in Dunedin, FL right now and I just parked it a few minutes ago.


The $12,866 on my car on cars.com = the $1,564 off the $14,430 base sticker MSRP..adding the 860.00 'destination' (on the MFR sticker on all new cars) = $13,720. In comparison, Royal Palm's Silver 3door = $13,888 ($542 off the $14,430 base MSRP) + 860.00 destination = $14,748...and the Naperville, IL dealer's $14,444 on cars.com does include destination, so = $13,584 + 860.00 desdination = $14,444. This Naperville, IL car has been sitting there since March 2014.

The car I bought had TDIO (Toyota Distributor Installed Options ) included on the factory sticker (but listed separately from the base MSRP and the 'destination' that is on all facrory stickers). Toyota only has two remaining independently owned distributors--Southeast Toyota, and Gulf States Toyota--covering a total of 10 U.S. states. My car has a TDIO package (listed on the original MFG sticker) that retailed for $946.00 and I negotiated that down to $790.00. My TDIO package original priced included -- #1 - $399 for the rear spoiler (something I like, and would have cost $435 if I had it put on at my local Toyota dealer in TX), #2 - $299 - for the 4 floor mats (a total rip off...I look at the $156.00 discount I negotiated off the package as coming off of this...the 4 floor mats on my 2007 = on the factory sticker as an option = about $150.00. #3 - $199 for film -- same idea as the 3M Clear Bra, but also included 3 additional areas (each door, and the 'load sill'/top of the rear bumper), and #4 - $49 for a Connection Package - 4 items - Apple 30 pin cable, Apple Lightening cable, a USB micro or mini cable, and a 12v USB plug). The Royal Palm car didn't have the TDIO/Spoiler pkg, and of course the Illinois car didn't because Illinois is not one of the 10 states that is covered by the independent distributors (Southeast and Gulf States).

A dealer PAC sticker of about 1k (..the existence of PAC stickers has p****d me off since I was a little kid) was added to the car when the dealer put it in inventory. It included a pinstripe with lifetime reapplication, lifetime nitrogen for the tires, and a few other things I can't think of off the top of my head. Adding that PAC sticker to the price must have completely went out the window when they put it on cars.com. I didn't expect them to include the PAC sticker items as benefits to me (because they never tried to add even $1 re those items), but the benefits were included (good idea on their part...potentially generates foot traffic at a pretty low cost).

The rest = sales tax (at the higher TX rate in my zip code), licensing, titling, etc (300+, IIRC, total in addition to the sales tax (the government fees = ). The total out the door/including all (above) was $15,990. They let me put $5,000 on Visa to get the Frequent Flier miles (I'd already put a $5k payment on my card (separate from the balance I pay off every month)...creating a way less than zero balance...to represent the charge. This was the most any dealer has let me do (dealer feeling re VISA transaction fees = ). When I bought my blue Yaris, the dealer let me do the same thing, but only for $2,000 OR $2,500 (I can't remember which). I did a bank guaranteed check for the other $10,990. All in all, I'm satisfied. I'm heading back to Texas tomorrow.

P.S. I was going to drive to Florida and sell my blue Yaris to Carmax (or to the dealer if they offered me more), but over the weekend I asked myself why....because I can't fit both into my garage?.....because insurance might be a bit more?...I decided these were dumb reasons (and I later learned the iinsurance increase = $150 something per year). I decided to keep my blue Yaris (I'll reevaluate as needed re repairs...no repairs needed at this time...but on the horizon). I redeemed a small portion of my mileage balance and flew to Florida instead.

UPDATE: On 8/27/2014 I was finally (at the tax office for my county in Texas) able to see that my Yaris had been added to the TxDOT system (added on 8/25/2014). My local tax office said they were fine with the amount paid to the Florida Department of Revenue (reciprocal agreement between Texas and Florida), and that I didn't owe them any money. I noticed that the amount the dealer paid the Florida Departrment of Revenue was almost $250.00 less than they charged me . I also noticed that the title amount (which they sent to Texas) was less than what they collected from me . I was mainly concerned about getting the extra sales tax money back. I found evidence on an obscure PDF on the Florida Department of Revenue site re what they should have charged me (...if the car is to be titled out of state, then the tax rate for the 'to be titled in state' applies....in Texas FOR OTHER ITEMS = 6.25-8.25% depending (usually) on zip code...BUT Autos = 6.25% statewide), and also found out how to channel a complaint. However I decided to wait until the end of the month + about 7 business days to see if their accounting department would catch the error. In the interim, I got the plates (tax office in Texas mailed them to the dealer in Florida), but no check included. HOWEVER, I GOT THE REFUND CHECK TODAY. -- $312.77 -- This brings my OUT THE DOOR TOTAL TO $15,677.23.

They originally charged me 8.25% -- said they have a computerized system that goes by your zip code that arrived at this percentage (a dealer in Tennessee I spoke with uses the same system and said this is proper/following the law). Only problem = the company that developed this didn't get the amounts right. The dealer ended up paying the State of Florida re the rate for Manatee County (where the dealer is) --- 6.5% for the first $5,000.00 and 6% for the rest. They charged me over $1100. They paid the State of Florida $882.27, but should have paid them $857.12 (a straight 6.25% sales tax (Texas Auto Rate) re out of state titling)...a $25.15 difference. The $312.77 represented the sales tax difference between what they paid the State of Florida and what they charged me, PLUS the difference between what they charged me for what was listed as titling and what they paid for me here in Texas, PLUS $7.00. This left only an $18.15 difference re the sales taxtax. However, they undercharged me by $61.00 on the destination charge, but added a small title prep fee....so it all evened out in the end. I'm happy.

[Kal-El]

Delayed August sales update:

A measly 523 units sold! A new, new low. Down 82.5% from last August.

Remember, July saw 686 units sold.

Camry: 44,713 (1 month before new model!)
Corolla: 33,088

[UberSilver]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Delayed August sales update:

A measly 523 units sold! A new, new low. Down 82.5% from last August.

Remember, July saw 686 units sold.

Camry: 44,713 (1 month before new model!)
Corolla: 33,088

Should be lots of dealers blowing them out, Cheap!

[vrait]

My toyota now has three 2015s.. And one is a super white L with a manual transmissions.. I wish I bought that one instead of my auto. :p

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by vrait

My toyota now has three 2015s.. And one is a super white L with a manual transmissions.. I wish I bought that one instead of my auto. :p

Does the super white L with a manual have the same pattern and colors on the seats that your car does ?

[vrait]

I have no idea. The website has a stock photo.

[Onwrdigo]

@ nookandcrannycar.....My '05 xB automatic is averaging ....

Pure City: 26mpg
Pure Hwy: 33mpg
Mixed: 30mpg
Love the car. It has held-up awesome (I bought it new and now just hit 95,000 miles) and they are already somewhat of a "cult classic". Get one that has been taken care of if you can. And replace the rear shocks with '06 Toyota Echo shocks (I used "Monroe shocks" I believe) from a parts store....It will ride way better.

About low August Sales? Not a bit surprised since hardly any dealers bothered keeping any in stock. You could not find a Yaris inside 4 Toyota dealers in the area. So I am not surprised. Now if you wanted a Corolla or a Camry??...You had hundreds to choose from. I don't want no stinkin' Corolla or Camry...give me a cool little Toyota-made hatchback dang it''.

In the last week, I spotted one '15 L Coupe at one dealer and a '15 L Sedan at another. No sight of any LE's or SE's anywhere. I think I am going to trade my '13 LE for a '15 SE late Spring '15. I am beginning to like the look. It is more European looking now than before. The interior is nicer and the doors seem more solid. Guess it has to do with the new welds they added, sealing and other little bits to make it a touch more up-market. I am just not crazy about the orange rear turn signal lenses in the tail-light....That is going backwards in design. The "15 Yaris is now the only car sold in America that does not have clear turn signal lenses in the rear lights.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Onwrdigo

@ nookandcrannycar.....My '05 xB automatic is averaging ....

Pure City: 26mpg
Pure Hwy: 33mpg
Mixed: 30mpg
Love the car. It has held-up awesome (I bought it new and now just hit 95,000 miles) and they are already somewhat of a "cult classic". Get one that has been taken care of if you can. And replace the rear shocks with '06 Toyota Echo shocks (I used "Monroe shocks" I believe) from a parts store....It will ride way better.

Wow. Thanks for the information.

Not a bit surprised since hardly any dealers bothered keeping any in stock.

I've noticed the same thing.

I don't want no stinkin' Corolla or Camry...give me a cool little Toyota-made hatchback dang it''.

[JL512]

Its very unfortunate that Yaris sales are dropping :(. My name is Jerry and I own Toyota Yaris. I am very happy with it. Though I had bout it used but the mileage is great and over all it is well maintained by the owner.

Thanks