CONSUMER REPORTS : MARCH issue reviews '09 YARIS .

[Crandall]

It's typical. You have to look at the age demographic on this site, it's all younger people who don't have a lot of money, and who do ghetto or cheap mods to their cars. The only people doing anything worth anything on this site are the above 20's crowd who are more established and know where money should be spent.

It's for these reason I don't expect you to understand that, yes the Fit is more expensive, but it's worth the money.

[Thirty-Nine]

Originally Posted by Crandall

It's typical. You have to look at the age demographic on this site, it's all younger people who don't have a lot of money, and who do ghetto or cheap mods to their cars. The only people doing anything worth anything on this site are the above 20's crowd who are more established and know where money should be spent.

It's for these reason I don't expect you to understand that, yes the Fit is more expensive, but it's worth the money.

Wow, that's a striking generalization. You are right though; a lot of people who don't have scads of money will buy the Yaris ... and the Fit ... and all kinds of other cars that don't cost a lot. So what?

I do believe that the Fit is a great vehicle. However, not everyone likes the Fit more than the Yaris. I drove both, and liked the Yaris better. Does that mean I don't know what I'm talking about?

And if the Fit is such a better car, then why do you have a Yaris?

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by Thirty-Nine

And if the Fit is such a better car, then why do you have a Yaris?

he doesnt like 5drs

i wish id have sprung for the 5dr myself.....now that i have a kid on the way

[eht13]

Originally Posted by Thirty-Nine

Wow, that's a striking generalization. You are right though; a lot of people who don't have scads of money will buy the Yaris ... and the Fit ... and all kinds of other cars that don't cost a lot. So what?

I do believe that the Fit is a great vehicle. However, not everyone likes the Fit more than the Yaris. I drove both, and liked the Yaris better. Does that mean I don't know what I'm talking about?

And if the Fit is such a better car, then why do you have a Yaris?

Well said. I would even say that some people may have a decent amount of money but don't want to spend more of it than they need to on cars (either upfront or down the road in terms of cost of ownership and reliability).

This is my first Toyota, and having owned two Hondas in the past (an '89 CRX and a '98 Civic coupe... as well as our other car now being an Acura) I looked at the Fit first. I test drove the Fit, a Versa, and the Yaris on the same day. The Versa was just boring. The Fit was nice and it's true that the better deal we could get on the Yaris helped its case versus the Fit, but the big surprise to me was that I actually liked the Yaris more than the Fit anyway. And when I see Fits on the road now I see what some in this thread mean when they say it is like a "mini-minivan".

[Crandall]

Originally Posted by Thirty-Nine

Wow, that's a striking generalization. You are right though; a lot of people who don't have scads of money will buy the Yaris ... and the Fit ... and all kinds of other cars that don't cost a lot. So what?

I do believe that the Fit is a great vehicle. However, not everyone likes the Fit more than the Yaris. I drove both, and liked the Yaris better. Does that mean I don't know what I'm talking about?

And if the Fit is such a better car, then why do you have a Yaris?

Excuse me then most of the people on here. I actually follow you and twitter and read your blog.

Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way but it seems around here the content of what you post takes back seat to being the person with the most posts. In most cases I find the people (in most cases) who post the most have the least useful or relevant posts to furthering knowledge or add something to the community. People with 2000+ post of all "Nice car", "Good job", "Cool" or just general post whoring. I have what less then 100 posts currently but I'd like to think all my post have some kind of substance to them rather then mindlessly being a sheep and just posting for the sake of posting.

As to why I bought a Yaris, the deal fell through on the IS300 I was looking at and need something. I'm just waiting for the time being til a MK-V Supra I like comes up.

Sorry if I threw this post off topic but hey, it seems to happen a lot anyways

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by Crandall

It's typical. You have to look at the age demographic on this site, it's all younger people who don't have a lot of money, and who do ghetto or cheap mods to their cars. The only people doing anything worth anything on this site are the above 20's crowd who are more established and know where money should be spent.

It's for these reason I don't expect you to understand that, yes the Fit is more expensive, but it's worth the money.

There are a wide range of people on this site and plenty who are in their 40's, 50's, ect. Go check out FitFreak.net and you'll find a younger, less mature crowd than here.

We're not afraid to admit if a car is better than the Yaris in some ways. Of course the Fit has some superiority over the CHEAPER Yaris, that's the magic of putting more money into building a car. That said, there's a reason the Yaris outsells the Fit. If the Yaris was inferior in every way, how could this be? We prefer the design, price, gas mileage, faster acceleration, ect. of the Yaris.

[thewifesyaris]

Yaris vs Fit

This is my sole opinion from owning both cars, if you take offense it's not my fault.

I have owned both and only own the Yaris because after she totalled my Fit it was all I could afford.

I would agree the Fit is a better car. But the Yaris isn't too far behind.
The Fit is overall more luxurious and has a lot of better materials including a more powerful engine that will last just as long as ours. The only real thing that will last on our Yaris is the motor. If you look around at the rest of the car it is all plastic. Cheap interior. Little to no sound dampening. But hey I can't complain, for the price it is reasonable.

As for resale value... unless you opted for the more expensive versions of the Yaris like say the S, you might get a better resale value, but us econo crank window manual lock folks, the only thing a buyer sees of value is that engine that has plenty of life on it. Even the nicer Yaris doesn't really get rid of the cheap interior. So your still within the same boat as the rest of us.

As a consumer I'm looking to rid ourselves of both of these cars before 40-50k miles simply due to the fact that they probably will not be worth more than 5-6k.

Yes the Fit shouldn't be in the same class as the Yaris, but the only real reason it is, is the fact that the specifications meet up, not really the price or quality of craftsmanship.

Toyota made a decent car for those who need one, who don't fit in with the budget of those other cars. I can be completely honest, when I owned my Fit, I thought my wife's Yaris was a POS and I wanted her to have something more safe and slightly more luxurious. It's funny now that we both own the Yaris and I think the same thing. I tried to cover it up by modifying the thing to my liking but that didn't help the fact that I am not happy with the fact that it is a low end "get me by" car that I wish I could exchange for something better. Not to say that Toyota doesn't make good cars, because the car we are looking to upgrading to is a Corolla.

[auxmike]

I saw a sweeet '09 Corolla XRs in blue on the lot w/manual tranny too
$23,000
"nuff said.....

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by Crandall

easier to work on,

Really? Okay, I'm going to the Honda stealership with a camera. We'll compare the view under the hood.

Gene

[auxmike]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Really? Okay, I'm going to the Honda stealership with a camera. We'll compare the view under the hood.

Gene

Hey, get some window sticker pics too!

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Really? Okay, I'm going to the Honda stealership with a camera. We'll compare the view under the hood.

Gene

i think he means modding...not maintenance

threads that mention the fit always go this way, lol. always.

what do i say?

AVEO FTMFW

[ddongbap]

Screw you all. I'm getting a Smart car.

[Thirty-Nine]

Originally Posted by Crandall

Excuse me then most of the people on here. I actually follow you and twitter and read your blog.

I'm glad to hear that; I do appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Crandall

Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way but it seems around here the content of what you post takes back seat to being the person with the most posts. In most cases I find the people (in most cases) who post the most have the least useful or relevant posts to furthering knowledge or add something to the community. People with 2000+ post of all "Nice car", "Good job", "Cool" or just general post whoring. I have what less then 100 posts currently but I'd like to think all my post have some kind of substance to them rather then mindlessly being a sheep and just posting for the sake of posting.

I'd say you'll find that on most Internet forums.

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by PK198105

how can you say the yaris is not as good build wise. i think this is the first car i ever owned/driven that the pieces actually stay on the car. nothng falls off everything is tightly fastened and nothing squeaks. did you ever try working on the honda?in order to change a headlight bulb you almost have to take the whole front off. im sorry if the Yaris is not a 350Z but it is a commuter car and not a racing machine. oh and btw the 350z interior is not much better than the yaris , last time ive been in a 350 it was cramped plastic and downright gawdy, not to insult anyone.

also if you don't like the Yaris, then why buy it there are plenty of alternatives to it.
And how can you say the Yaris is not as good looking as the Fit, the Fit looks like a giant clothes iron.

as for the after market parts don't forget who makes that buisness run , little yo boys with Hondas it is only natural that there will be a bigger supply of rice for them. IMO Toyotas and more precisely Yaris are great cars, conservative yes and maybe not as hyped up as other cars yet i wouldn't take a Fit if the have given it to me,

look its hard to deny that most of the fit/yaris debate is looks based, no?

i mean c'mon!

i like both, but differently. but i have to admit that the interior of the 1st gen fit (and 2nd gen) are nicer than the yaris. its not that the yaris sucks - - do dont get me wrong - - but i prefer the fit better. i like the gauges behind the steering wheel. i like the split fold, multi use seats, i like the fold-flat rear cargo area, i like the seating material better too, cus blue dots on flat seats = worse than black/grey seats in the fit...

and you can NOT say that the aftermarket support for the yaris is or will ever be better than a fit. cus k20 swap > all. toyotas are hard to due because the ecu is so adaptive. and all cars get i/h/e...but we still dont have a catback exhaust yet....only 1 set of non-trd shocks, only TRD sway bars (f&r), and the list goes on

that being said, i like that the yaris is lighter than the fit (and i like that the echo hatch is lighter than a yaris). i also like the look of the yaris - - THATS RIGHT I LIKE BOTH CARS LOOKS! i like that you CAN buy a super base yaris for really cheap (which i more or less bought). i really like the bolstered seats in the RS. i love the look of a yaris w/ the side skirts in 06/07.

but for me in my life, the fit would have worked better that a yaris for me.....especially now that im going to have a kid.....i could have used 4drs, split fold seats, and more storage.....but i have what a i have

very few from this site will ever prefer the fit over a yaris....and as a car enthusiast, im willing to accept that.

[ToddR]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Hey, maybe this year they'll even mention that a chimpanzee with a set of channel lock pliers can change the oil in a Yaris?

Gene

Wouldn't a monkey wrench be more appropriate?

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by ToddR

Wouldn't a monkey wrench be more appropriate?

You'd need a pair of them. A little one for the oil pan and a big one for the filter. Would work...

Gene

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by thebarber

i think he means modding...not maintenance

threads that mention the fit always go this way, lol. always.

Oh.

Yeah, you can hack Honda ECUs. That alone would make modding worthwhile.

Toyota ECUs are tough nuts to crack. They do not make them hacker friendly. I wouldn't even bother because the car is under warranty, it runs just fine and I have other things to do right now besides hack on ECUs.


Okay... I'm gonna piss some folks off here.

Why would you Mod an economy car?

Why not pick an Acura, or a Subaru or some other expensive vehicle? That way all you have to do is make small changes rather than major modifications.

Gene

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Why would you Mod an economy car?

makes it more fun for me.

i find: stock = boring

even mild mods are good. makes the car different than others, which i like.

i also find its a slippery slope...like lays potato chips....you cant have just one.