A car of interest....

[Gogogordy]

I just drove little red Yaris from Temecula Ca, to central TX, and back ( a total of 3,030 miles ) on $329.83 worth of fuel. That doesnt surprise me...despite the ding in MPG Texas' 80 mph speed limit causes.

What does surprise me is the level of interest from strangers at gas stops, rest stops, and in motel parking lots my bug-splattered Yaris received. "What kinda car is that?" "iis it japanese?" etc. I was even questioned by a LEO in Eloy, AZ as we both stopped for a Subway sammich. He was genuinely interested....

You'd think theyve never seen a Yaris in AZ, NM, or TX. But, for the most part its truck country, and the further east I travelled the fewer imports, and greater American cars ruled the road.

Yes, gas prices drop some once you exit California, but that small gas decrease cannot make up for such exceptional mileage and economy. I even nursed 3 bars of fuel from west of Yuma, to up and over the Chocolate Mts and all the way into El Cajon....passing several larger vehicles which blew by me earlier but lost their leads to me for having to stop and refuel

[Kar98]

I've never heard of a Yaris until I accidentally bought one last summer.

[MadMax]

I see lots of Yarii in Central Texas, usually one or two a day. They aren't as common as F150 pick-ups and SUVs in these parts but they're not that rare!

Of course, in Europe and Japan I saw about twenty times the number of Yarii, especially in the latter.

It's one of the things I love about the Yaris, it has international charm but isn't common!

Cheers! M2

[B2FiNiTY]

What's a LEO?

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by B2FiNiTY

What's a LEO?

Law Enforcement Officer

[Amdkt7]

Originally Posted by Kar98

I've never heard of a Yaris until I accidentally bought one last summer.

How do you accidentally buy a Yaris?

[Kar98]

The AC in my 97 Golf finally died, which was the last straw. I was looking for a Jetta Wagon, but all the ads were like, oops, we had one, it was awesome, but just got sold. Yeah right. So this being the middle of Summer in Texas, I really needed something like right now, and stumbled across a cheap hatch with two doors and AC and a manual, so I quit looking and got that one.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Kar98

So this being the middle of Summer in Texas, I really needed something like right now

So true. When I lived near San Francisco I once bought a car that didn't have air conditioning. That was a big mistake (I lived in the burbs -- hotter temps) and I vowed to never do that again. In Texas in 2013 I can't imagine that any dealer would take delivery of a new car without A/C...no one would buy such a car. In the Northern U.S. and Canada people get worse gas mileage in the Winter for reasons that have been discussed on various Yarisworld threads. In much of Texas it is more likely to be just the opposite, as something like 80% of the population lives in the Texas Urban Triangle/Texaplex (as you know, but others might not) this = DFW, Houston, and San Antonio metros at the corners, with Austin and Waco along the perimeter and College Station/Bryan inside....all hotter than H E double toothpicks during the summer.

[jambo101]

I dont get why the Yaris isnt a more popular car in the USA or why Toyota doesnt aggressively market the product.
I usually go on a trip from Montreal to St Pete Florida twice a year and its the rare trip i'll see more than one or two other Yaris on the whole journey, up here in Montreal almost every other car is a Yaris or an Echo.

[Kar98]

Because: wtf, power nothing, not even mirrors, and by the time you added on what options are available, might as well buy a Corolla. Is what Americans are thinking.

[djhuddy2442]

their arent to many yarii on the east coast i live in pittsburgh and except for mine have only seen4 ever

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I dont get why the Yaris isnt a more popular car in the USA or why Toyota doesnt aggressively market the product.

I think it is a sad commentary, but I think Kar98 is correct re why the Yaris isn't more popular in the United States. I think Toyota doesn't aggressively market the car here because people here will buy more cars that give Toyota a higher profit margin. I realize that the Yaris can be a 'first step' re later moving to other Toyota models...but without CAFE standards, would the Yaris exist here at all?

I usually go on a trip from Montreal to St Pete Florida twice a year and its the rare trip i'll see more than one or two other Yaris on the whole journey, up here in Montreal almost every other car is a Yaris or an Echo.

I think part of the reason is the 'American viewpoint' that Kar98 mentioned. Another reason might be parking difficulty re population density. If you are taking AUT-15 to I-87 to the New York Thruway to the GSP to I-95 all the way to Jacksonville then I-10 to 301 to I-75 to I-275, then you aren't really hitting any areas that have a higher population density than within the city limits of Montreal....local people along almost all of that route don't care as much about having the smallest car possible to 'create' parking opportunities, as there is much less need for that approach. Another reason (although I'd think limited because there isn't THAT much difference) is the higher price of gas in Canada vs much of the United States....people don't care quite as much about having a fuel efficient car re gas cost.

[jayeh]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I dont get why the Yaris isnt a more popular car in the USA or why Toyota doesnt aggressively market the product.
I usually go on a trip from Montreal to St Pete Florida twice a year and its the rare trip i'll see more than one or two other Yaris on the whole journey, up here in Montreal almost every other car is a Yaris or an Echo.

If I lived in the states I'd probably be driving a pickup truck or a land cruiser.

Here I cringe filling the tank in my Yaris.

In the states everything seems to be a notch up from Canada, the sub-compacts don't count, Compact Cars like the Corolla are the bottom rung, a Camry is a family car.

Europe is the opposite way and a Corolla would be a family car.

The amount of car people think they need is slightly absurd. People who have kid and think they need a minivan or suv when they really just need less stuff.

Originally Posted by Kar98

Because: wtf, power nothing, not even mirrors, and by the time you added on what options are available, might as well buy a Corolla. Is what Americans are thinking.

Power mirrors aren't an option?

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by jayeh

In the states everything seems to be a notch up from Canada, the sub-compacts don't count, Compact Cars like the Corolla are the bottom rung, a Camry is a family car.

Europe is the opposite way and a Corolla would be a family car.

^^^^^ I agree

The amount of car people think they need is slightly absurd. People who have kid and think they need a minivan or suv when they really just need less stuff.

I agree, but I think people being able to freely buy and use them without any nanny state interference is the most important issue. People creating more of a carbon footprint than necessary for the mobility they take part in is, IMO, bad and people should (on a personal level) feel guilty about creating that outsized footprint. However, government shouldn't be part of that use of 'oversized/inefficient' vehicles equation.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Gogogordy

despite the ding in MPG Texas' 80 mph speed limit causes.

Yes, a significant ding (in my experience).

[jayeh]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

^^^^^ I agree



I agree, but I think people being able to freely buy and use them without any nanny state interference is the most important issue. People creating more of a carbon footprint than necessary for the mobility they take part in is, IMO, bad and people should (on a personal level) feel guilty about creating that outsized footprint. However, government shouldn't be part of that use of 'oversized/inefficient' vehicles equation.

Hmmm. I disagree. I'd love to see vehicles taxed based on emissions here like they do in Europe.

I'm also not a fan of the current trend of people buying more car because they know they are lacking skill behind the wheel.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

If you are taking AUT-15 to I-87 to the New York Thruway to the GSP to I-95 all the way to Jacksonville then I-10 to 301 to I-75 to I-275, then you aren't really hitting any areas that have a higher population density than within the city limits of Montreal....local people along almost all of that route don't care as much about having the smallest car possible to 'create' parking

I just spent the entire month of March traveling the backroads of Americas East coast ending up just north of Tampa, then returning to Montreal via interstate,in that whole time i saw one Yaris(Cape Hatteras)and one Echo (Ocala).
I wonder how many in the US would consider purchasing a Yaris if they knew it even existed.
As an example i accompanied my Mom in her Rav4 to her dealership in Homossasa Fla. struck me as odd that there wasnt a single Yaris on the lot, i asked the service manager how come no Yaris on the lot? he answered that they dont get much demand for the Yaris,,well i guess not if people dont even know they exist..

[Kar98]

Originally Posted by jayeh

Power mirrors aren't an option?

I think they're standard now. But you know how consumer perception is. ONE guy drives his Audi into his garage wall 40 years ago, and people are still like, hurrrrf unintended acceleration.