Can Toyota Still Manage to Build an Awful Car? - LA Times Article

[St_G]

Well put. +1

Originally Posted by Pavel Olavich

And don't just pick on auto journalists....to be fair, even Yaris owners (some of them) are also irrational....actually calling the awesome Honda Fit trash, and such...this irrational stupidity is no better then the attitudes of some auto journalists.

I love my Yaris, but for the record, I think the Fit is a better car, but I didn't want to spend the more $$ to get it. No regrets having the 2007 LB for me however.

[Yaris]

Originally Posted by BailOut

Do you know what the difference is between accelerating from 0-45 MPH in 6 seconds vs. 12 seconds in an urban scenario is? Getting to the next stop light's line of traffic faster and then wasting fuel at 0 MPG while you idle and wait.

What's with the rush to be the first to hit the next red light? I haven't seen anyone handing out racing trophys to the idiot red light racers.

[stuffy]

And don't just pick on auto journalists....to be fair, even Yaris owners (some of them) are also irrational....actually calling the awesome Honda Fit trash, and such...this irrational stupidity is no better then the attitudes of some auto journalists.

I love my Yaris, but for the record, I think the Fit is a better car, but I didn't want to spend the more $$ to get it. No regrets having the 2007 LB for me however.

i agree the fit is a great car, but it is no better than the yaris. like i noted, it has some features the yaris doesn't, but likewise the yaris has it's strong points as well, which most of these journalists ignore.

the way these reviews read, you would think the fit is twice the car the yaris is.

[St_G]

I will say this: anyone who acts like there is a qualitative diffence in the interiors of these two cars (I never bothered to go sit in a Versa, so I can't compare there) is nuts. There was nothing more upscale about the plastic dash and cloth seats in the Fit S I drove.

I never bothered to even go sit in a Versa, so I can't speak to that one.

[daq421]

So here is what I wrote to the Author of that Review:
.................................................. .................................................. .......

Sir,
I am the owner of a Yaris 4 door coupe, And while I recognize your Auto review was related to the 3 door, to which some of your complaints are specifically related. I find I'm motivated to respond anyway.

It seems you have completely missed the point (and the boat) when it comes to the Toyota Yaris. As I mentioned I have one of these great cars and after putting 11,000+ miles on it I love this little car. It's (unlike the puffed up and over featured behemoths of some car manufacturers) a simple and fun car. And that's really the point. The Yaris is wonderful for it's simplicity, mileage, and low maintenance needs not it's flash. As a reliable and economical choice, in this era of rapidly climbing fuel costs, the Yaris shines. Further, having driven this car for months (using it for both daily commutes and lengthy vacation driving), I wonder at your low opinion of it's road abilities. The car is not fast, this is true, but it has never failed to get me comfortably and quickly around in traffic or nimbly slice around the curves in the local back roads. I have to ask, what were you asking the little car to do? Drag race?

I suggest you take a Yaris on as a daily driver for a month or two, try the 4 door, then rewrite your review. I pretty much guarantee that after really getting to know this reliable, nimble, fuel efficient, and fun car you'll have a change of heart.

-Peter



--
.................................................. .................................................
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
-Mark Twain
.................................................. .................................................

[ChinoCharles]

HE DRIVES A VERSA

'Nuff said.

No, he actually said he got a Versa for the same sticker as a Yaris and prefers it more. I want to know what Versa he was looking at that cost under $12,500.

I think I am beginning to understand more and more why Toyota sold the liftbacks with power nothing. If you're looking for a hatch with amenities, maybe the Yaris isn't your car... unless you buy the base model and add them yourself as many of us have done. You can just pick up a Versa or a Fit... Honda and Nissan assumed their buyers would be looking for all the goodies, while Toyota seemingly didn't want to get into a three way battle. They wanted the best base value. For me, I can save big bucks putting power windows and locks on my car myself and waiting for someone to off their 60/40 seats, so base was fine.

Hmmmmm.

[Spades]

Originally Posted by acrbill

WTF!!! What kind of cars have you owned that make you think the Yaris handles well? It is the worst handling car I have ever owned. It feels like I am going to scrape the door handles on the ground when I take a corner at speed.

well, for a 11k dollar car the handling is pretty good. go drive a versa or aveo and get back to me.

besides, maybe you dont know how to drive it? I have lots of fun on twisty roads with it, and even on the skidpad results it is not half bad. I dont consider a hairpin corner taken at the appropriate speed unless at least 3 tires are spinning. but hey, if you have owned much better cars with much better handling, why oh why did you buy a 11k dollar gas miser car?

[foober]

My brother in law and sister will only buy american. (they have a jeep and GMC). And his cars are always breaking down. He's been through three cars in 10 years while I've had my one toyota tacoma.

My litttle brother went good gas milage car like I did last year. He bought a honda hybrid. And they've already got a recall on it to check a switch. But he's also very discouraged about the milage. He was hoping for at least 50 miles to the gallon. He's getting almost 40 miles to the gallon.

And my little yaris is doing great. And i'm getting 37+ miles per gallon at half the price of these big luxury cars that are always breaking down.

[Pavel Olavich]

Originally Posted by Spades

well, for a 11k dollar car the handling is pretty good. go drive a versa or aveo and get back to me.

besides, maybe you dont know how to drive it? I have lots of fun on twisty roads with it, and even on the skidpad results it is not half bad. I dont consider a hairpin corner taken at the appropriate speed unless at least 3 tires are spinning. but hey, if you have owned much better cars with much better handling, why oh why did you buy a 11k dollar gas miser car?

Forget about twisty roads and such....just on the freeway doing 70 mph, it is bouncy, the steering is a tad wandering, and the handling is NOT remarkable, not even when comparing like cars from any and all competitors. I'm not saying it is bad....just that the handling is not great, nor remarkable, just okay. I knew this before I bought the 2007 Yaris LB, but I was ok with it because my demands of this car are not sportcar handling...rather high MPG, high reliability, and low maint costs, so I don't complain.

As for twisties, canyon carving driving, it's handling is BS....and I know how to drive twisties by car and sport bike. The Yaris is a great car, perhaps the best in it's class, but lets not make it more then it is.

[ChinoCharles]

I have to second Pavel and Bill on this one... stock, the Yaris handles like garbage. Its body roll city. If you want it to handle well, you're going to need to pay the 500-1000 for an upgraded suspension and put some real tires on it.

[Pavel Olavich]

Originally Posted by foober

My brother in law and sister will only buy american. (they have a jeep and GMC). And his cars are always breaking down. He's been through three cars in 10 years while I've had my one toyota tacoma.

My litttle brother went good gas milage car like I did last year. He bought a honda hybrid. And they've already got a recall on it to check a switch. But he's also very discouraged about the milage. He was hoping for at least 50 miles to the gallon. He's getting almost 40 miles to the gallon.

And my little yaris is doing great. And i'm getting 37+ miles per gallon at half the price of these big luxury cars that are always breaking down.

You cannot hold it against Honda because of one recall...this is not fair, especially since Toyota gets recalls too. Just accept the truth: Honda & Toyota make great cars.

And the fact that your bro gets less MPG then he expects really doesn't mean much as we don't know his driving habits, etc....

Honda & Toyota both make great fantastic cars...and they take turns eclipsing each other every year, model depending of course.

[spkrman]

Originally Posted by BailOut

Do some people really believe you have to have a 5,000 pound SUV just to pick up the milk?

Sadly.... some people do!!!!!

I'd say maybe 5% of those with giant SUV's have a practical use for them.

I like simplicity, the less stuff there is, the less to BREAK!!!! A proven reliable platform, plenty of space for most folks... what more do you really need?

I do have to agree, though, the yaris once "equipped" doesn't seem as much of a value once compared to the fit and such... or even the scion XA (when it was available).

I like the car, and I've spent many an hour of a long highway journey in it, and I fully intend to drive it until the wheels fall off - which should be a very long time from now

[nsmitchell]

I recently took my Vice President to his house in my Yaris. He drives a $70K+ Mercedes S430 Long Edition. It was about a 10 mile trip and he kept commenting on how quiet and well composed the car was. We were cruising at around 70mph and he just couln't believe we were in a small car. I also think people don't realize the wheelbase on the Yaris LB is fairly long. 96.9". The Honda Fit has a wheelbase of 96.5". Hello!!!

Cute, Quiet, Controlled, Quality and Cost effective = COOL CAR!

Yaris is YES!

[nsmitchell]

ConsumerGuide has some good info.

http://consumerguideauto.howstuffwor...ta-yaris-3.htm

http://consumerguideauto.howstuffwor...onda-fit-3.htm

[jdubau55]

After looking at some of the other articles that guy wrote I just kinda blew him off. As a matter of fact when I did the search for him the title was "Criticism: Dan Neil" so really it seems all he does is nit pick over all the things he thinks are bad.

[Pars]

Originally Posted by Pavel Olavich

Forget about twisty roads and such....just on the freeway doing 70 mph, it is bouncy, the steering is a tad wandering, and the handling is NOT remarkable, not even when comparing like cars from any and all competitors. I'm not saying it is bad....just that the handling is not great, nor remarkable, just okay. I knew this before I bought the 2007 Yaris LB, but I was ok with it because my demands of this car are not sportcar handling...rather high MPG, high reliability, and low maint costs, so I don't complain.

As for twisties, canyon carving driving, it's handling is BS....and I know how to drive twisties by car and sport bike. The Yaris is a great car, perhaps the best in it's class, but lets not make it more then it is.

I tend to zip around at 100mph on the dinky 175/65/14 tire (I got 45,000km on them) and It's not bad. I've yet to encounter a situation where the steering got upset from bouncy roads. A similarly priced but much bigger Cobolt would feel more stable at 100mph, but you'd be handicapped by the Cobolt's dumbed down steering response when it comes time to toss the car around. That being said, I'm more used to the responsiveness that comes with low profile tires and good springs/shock and I'm looking forward to getting rid of the Yaris's mushy tires for low profile summers.

If you got a good set of knee pads and a sport Bike, any car (including most sport cars) would be BS in comparison.

[deebrown]

For those of you upset over the LA Times review, click on the following link (or copy and paste it) to read a very positive review.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-13232,00.html

[hystria]

The price of a Yaris is the price of quality pieces and quality conception. That's why it offers so little while being "so expensive". It is build to be a trouble free car, the only one and probably the last such a car here in North America