My Initial Review -- Long Version

[Lewis]

I am a new owner too with 2000 miles under my belt. I agree with the above comments but with one important (for me) addition. The straight ahead highway stability (on both windy and still days) of the car really leaves a lot to be desired and cries out for improvement.

I know they'll be many here who'll tell me the car is light, high, and has a short wheelbase and very hard tires- but all those things can be said about the Honda Fit and it did much better on the highway than the Yaris in my test drive(s). I went with the Yaris because of it's intended uses- for me it's a commuter/errand/station car so the price difference was important because I didn't plan to drive it on the highway very much.

I am basically very happy with the car - it certainly has a lot of value for the price I paid.

Ways I'd improve it:

1. adjustable intermittent wipers for the front w/intermittent wiper on the hatch.
2. internal hatch release
3. needs stability control and front knee airbags for safety
4. rear anti-sway bar should be standard
5. split rear seats should be standard
6. ALL manual trans cars should have a tach

These features are standard in many markets where the Yaris can be considered a family car- we in the US are basically sold a decontented model- which would be ok if you could buy these things separately but many of them require purchasing packages and/or are not even available at all (foremost of which is stability control which is so important for safety it will be required in all new cars in 2012).

Above all I would say- Straight line stablity MUST be improved!

What the above improvements would add to the price is anyone's guess but it would make the car a much better every day proposition thereby justifying a higher price which I'd be ok with based on the extra utility the car would thereby offer.