Debate Yaris vs. Smart Car Please help!

[Airforce1]

Hello everyone. Well i have been lurking the forums for about 1 month now and i was pretty much sold on buying a yaris. To give you a little background i currently commute 100miles daily to and from work (all highway) I currently drive a Jetta Vr6. I love the car but its horrible on gas im spendnig about 60 dollars a week.

Long story short i want a daily commuter thats good on gas, keeping in mind i need something thats decent on the highway. So i had my heart set on the yaris until a colleague of mind told me to check out the smart car. Yes there two very different cars and its hard to compare but i wanted everyone’s opinion on comparing the two. Obviously I’m going to get a little bias opinions since your all yaris owners, but any help is greatly appreciated.

THANKS! And hopefully i will be making my decision in the next week!

[staticorex]

Well the Yaris will have more cargo room if you would ever need it. But if mpg is the only thing you care about... Hope that helps.

[hatchbackkid82]

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[MadMax]

Originally Posted by Airforce1

Hello everyone. Well i have been lurking the forums for about 1 month now and i was pretty much sold on buying a yaris. To give you a little background i currently commute 100miles daily to and from work (all highway) I currently drive a Jetta Vr6. I love the car but its horrible on gas im spendnig about 60 dollars a week.

Long story short i want a daily commuter thats good on gas, keeping in mind i need something thats decent on the highway. So i had my heart set on the yaris until a colleague of mind told me to check out the smart car. Yes there two very different cars and its hard to compare but i wanted everyone’s opinion on comparing the two. Obviously I’m going to get a little bias opinions since your all yaris owners, but any help is greatly appreciated.

THANKS! And hopefully i will be making my decision in the next week!

AF1

Glad to see a fellow Zoomie on here!

Second, I also came from a 'Dub, a 96 Passat GLX wagon with a VR6 and 5-speed. Mine had a Neuspeed P-flow and rocked , but like you the gas mileage wasn't great and I was driving like a frigging maniac in it all the time.

I saw the Yaris and really liked it, then I had an opportunity to drive one as a rental down at MacDill. That sold me and I bought a 08 HB shortly afterward.

Some things about the Smart, for one it requires premium gas. That's about a 25 cents per gallon difference here, and adds up quickly. Secondly, there is absolutely no storage room behind the seats nor is there (obviously) any way to take more than one passenger. Thirdly, I wouldn't trust a Smart on the highway for too long at decent cruising speeds, the wheelbase is just too damn short...





I drove a ForFour in Germany for a week and it was a nice car; but they don't sell those here. The ForTwo would be a great city car, but since your commute is mostly highway I would recommend going with the Yaris. But I will admit I am biased!

Cheers! M2

[Tamago]

Scion IQ

[SIPNGAS]

Originally Posted by hatchbackkid82

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Herbie..this is the second time I've seen this!! What IS it? lol

[Tamago]

http://redirectingat.com/?id=42X122&...ota_tiny_car_1

[staticorex]

Originally Posted by SIPNGAS

Herbie..this is the second time I've seen this!! What IS it? lol

I second that. :p

Originally Posted by Tamago

http://redirectingat.com/?id=42X122&...ota_tiny_car_1

Page not found. :/

[CKaelin]

So it's official? The IQ will be Scion? Is it coming to the US in 2010? My local Toyota dealer knows nothing about them.. Grrr..

[Tamago]

Originally Posted by staticorex

Page not found. :/

that's what i get for not clicking first

Originally Posted by that broken site

The boxlike yet curvy "premium four-seater" encapsulates Toyota's strategic ambitions to woo buyers of European models like German Daimler AG's Smart two-seater. It is also an attempt to engineer bigger profits from usually cheap small cars.

The iQ starts at 1.4 million yen ($14,000) in Japan, about 330,000 yen ($3,300) more than the Vitz subcompact — the Japanese market branding for the Yaris — and targets urban drivers who park and scoot around in tight spaces.

It fits three adults plus a child, dog or luggage, and gets 23 kilometers a liter, the equivalent of 54 miles per gallon. Overseas mileage numbers will vary. A Camry gets about 31 mpg, while the new Prius is billed to get 50 mpg.

"We've explored all the possibilities of smallness. With this car, making a U-turn gets to be a true joy," said Hiroki Nakajima, chief engineer for the iQ, which Toyota says evokes words like "individuality," "intelligence," "quality" and "cue."

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by SIPNGAS

Herbie..this is the second time I've seen this!! What IS it? lol

Looks like he's up to 5 times now

[kustom play]

the IQ looks kinda cool, but unless your in europe or are single and live in the downtown area where everything is in walking distance its not going to work well.

i have 2 dogs, and 3/4 of our cars are 2 seater with (some) trunk room

if i didnt have the yaris going to the stores like ikea, lowes/depo, walmart would be near impossible.

i never thought about that when we bought our cars, it was like yaaaaaa sports cars YES!

then when real life kicks you in the face and your at ikea and want a small book shelf its like ohh shit, this will never fit!

i really wish scion would of brought over that open deck bB, or come out with like a new version of the old T100 mini trucks and i would be all over that!

if the car had more room i would be totally interested, as another toy sure! but as a daily driver it wouldnt work out for most peoples needs

[Tamago]

Originally Posted by CKaelin

So it's official? The IQ will be Scion? Is it coming to the US in 2010? My local Toyota dealer knows nothing about them.. Grrr..

scion, yes, and hopefully out this summer!

if it's priced where it SHOULD be (under 12,000 dollars) i'll pick one up. i need a new project :D

[Tamago]

Originally Posted by kustom play

the IQ looks kinda cool, but unless your in europe or are single and live in the downtown area where everything is in walking distance its not going to work well.

the smart car is by far WORSE in this department.

[MadMax]

Look folks, the OP is in the Air Force, and we don't buy any car that we can't get our golf clubs into!

So no Smart car or iQ, it's gotta be a Yaris!

By the way, while at the dealership last weekend I sat in a xB. Now I know why I never considered it. If I want to drive a box, I will take my Jeep!

I also tried a tC and it was too small for someone of my height and age.

As such, I naturally recommended the Yaris!

[kustom play]

i think the new xb/xd look horid

i love the new venza but they only come in auto :(

[Astroman]

The yaris takes cheaper regular fuel, gets better mpg than the smart, you have cargo and passenger room, and I've never had an issue with long trips. I averaged 80mph on a 1500 mile round trip in our new '09 manual, and the worst mileage I got with a loaded car was 35.5mpg. If I went the speed limit I know I could have broke 40. Plus with the stuff we had there was no way a smart could have made the trip, or been anywhere near as comfortable.

[Airforce1]

I agree the yaris is probally the most practical car for everyday use in terms of size and mpg. But now with the new iq i must admit it is very tempting. It fills up that gap between the smartcar and the yaris in terms of size...