Shopping for Fuel Efficiency? Kelley Blue Book Suggests Waiting

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by sbergman27

I'm calling for people to make informed choices when making their car purchases, but you seem more interested in defending the Yaris at any cost.

There is no such thing as an '88 Metro. There were. however 85 - 88 Chevy Sprints. And in '88 there was a model called the Sprint Metro, with an EPA rating of 54 city, 58 hwy. My Yaris' window sticker read 29/35.

You are probably thinking about the 89-94 Geo Metros. The '95-'99 Geo Metros and 2000 Chevy Metro, with their multiple air bags and perimeter reinforcement cages would likely have no problem meeting modern safety regulations.

But let's consider the significance of that for a moment. You are claiming that you have driven your Yaris 104k miles. I've driven mine 50k miles in the last year. I've driven the Sprint 370k miles, as well. 50k of those in the last 12 months. And I'm just as alive and healthy as you are. What has that additional safety actually bought you? In comparison to my driving experiences... nothing. Less than nothing, actually, since I have had a few "Oh my God! I'm going to die!" moments in the Yaris. None in the Sprint, however. The Yaris is a death-trap in ice and snow compared to the Sprint.


OK. So you are pulling out all the stops to defend your Yaris. Hey Bro, chill out. I'm a Yaris owner too. And I would definitely recommend the Yaris to others, even though it is far from the safest car on the market.


Sure I can compare the mileage. My advice to you is not to drive your Yaris on the ice, and if you do, please take extra care. But if you do die on the ice, rest assured that I will try to consider that statistic in an objective manner.

The Yaris is, relatively speaking, a gas guzzler, compared to the Sprint Metro. That's on an objective scale.

On a subjective scale, I feel safer in the Sprint, although improved safety was a factor in my decision to purchase the Yaris. (I've been forced to admit that I was wrong on that count.)

-Steve

It's not about defending the Yaris. I'm just saying that it's apples and oranges comparing a 1988 economy car to a 2008 economy car.

Today's cars have put on a lot of weight over the ones from the '80's. Mainly do to tons of added safety features as well as convenience features that today's buyers demand to have. Not to mention the ever increasing sizes of the cars. Also, Americans tend to not want a car with less than about 100 HP. The Yaris's 106 HP is the lowest powered car outside of the Smart car and Mazda 2 (in the US). All of these things have led to a greater difficulty in obtaining the high efficiency as such cars as your Sprint.

Also another thing to keep in mind is the change in EPA ratings. You claim the Sprint was rated at 54/58. Impressive no doubt and I bet you can achieve such numbers. Before '08, the Yaris was rated 34/40 and then lowered to 29/35-36 with the new rating system. So the Sprint would have been the equivalent of about 49/54 or so today (about where a Prius sits).