I BIT THE BULLET!

[otterhere]

This must be where my (middle) age shows, LOL... All of you young kids are celebrating the purchase of your brand new Yari, and here I'm having buyer's remorse... Remind me again why I spent ALL this money on a brand new car because I just HAD to have the 2009 Yaris??? Oy, my aching bank account...

I'm not happy about having to pay something like a thou all together for all these little extras I really didn't want, and I think that's what's eating me...

Shame, Toyota, for "loading" these cars! But maybe I'll learn to love MP3...

,

[PreciousPups4U]

"middle" age here and no regrets.

Love all my extras, power windows, locks, keyless. Can't imagine the car without them. Even got the second one equiped just the same except the first one is an auto and the second one is a manual. Now I have never used the MP3 thing, but I don't have an ipod.

Just enjoy, what color did you settle on? Did you get the 3 dr or 5 dr?

[jclo3313]

I'm an odd one I ordered mine (08') with few options for the same reason. My wifes Yaris is loaded up and she loves it and wouldn't have had it any other way. Just sit back and enjoy all of the goodies.

[lita_g]

Originally Posted by otterhere

Shame, Toyota, for "loading" these cars! But maybe I'll learn to love MP3...

,

I find it hard to believe people still listen to radio, I can't stand all the commercials and I'm not a fan of talk radio. Plain CDs can't hold much, so it's great to have an MP3 disc player and the audio aux input, I don't have an Ipod (hate them with all my soul) but I have a walkman phone and it's awesome to be able to plug it into the car and browse through my songs, besides, if someone calls me, I can hear them through the speakers

[otterhere]

Originally Posted by lita_g

I find it hard to believe people still listen to radio, I can't stand all the commercials and I'm not a fan of talk radio. Plain CDs can't hold much, so it's great to have an MP3 disc player and the audio aux input, I don't have an Ipod (hate them with all my soul) but I have a walkman phone and it's awesome to be able to plug it into the car and browse through my songs, besides, if someone calls me, I can hear them through the speakers

But you're young, right??? All I wanted was a car that ran well... For $11k...

[Stargate YARlantIS]

I went w/ the base model, I didn't need all the bells and whistles, keyless: no big shake, so i gotta stick a key in the door, BFD! lol power windows: something else to brake, I don't mind the manual crank ( my boss said he didn't think they still made cars w/ crank windows) lol

[lita_g]

Originally Posted by otterhere

But you're young, right??? All I wanted was a car that ran well... For $11k...

I don't know how "young" I am anymore, not a kid, 27 already. Believe me, a car that runs well for $11k sounds good to me too, but if I was going to buy a new car I was going to get what would make me comfortable this time, so I had to ask for AT (don't care to drive MT with heels on), power windows/doors/mirrors are something I'm already used to, and I can't be on the road for 30 mins each way when going to work with no music, I've tried FM modulators in the past but they're not the same.

Anyway, I know there's some yaris that don't come fully loaded, I know that because I saw a whole bunch of them when looking for the one that had the specs *I* wanted.

[Luna V 2.0]

I was kinda in the same boat. I wanted the power package, not because of the goodies but because I want a rear flat folding seat. But I also wanted to spend under 12k.

My solution was buying a used 07. Worked out for me. considering my last car was a 92 Tercel, having a 07 is close enough to "new" for me. I only regret it when I think about having 4 doors, not because I want to ride people int he back but because it's just a hassle to climb into the back to get the seats to fold flat.

I grew to like the extras anyway, its nice having the keyless, although I'm paranoid of the battery dieing on me and then not being able to get in my car (cause its keyless/alarm). In fact I might eventually un install the alarm, I never wanted it anyway, it just came with the car.

[otterhere]

I think we have different definitions of "extras"... Mine is w/o power windows, power locks, keyless entry, etc. (didn't get power package)... But there is no "base" model out there without at least the convenience package; most also have all-weather guard package (which I consider a total rip-off; you get a "better" heater and washer fluid holder? is the "regular" not good enough? Rear defroster? But wait; you already paid for that in your convenience package!). And the $150 mats; don't get me started...

So I got as bare bones as I could (without "special ordering" and waiting a year and then maybe not even getting it, and it wasn't bare bone enough to suit me. "Done and done!"

[Thej3sta2]

blasphemy

[MadMax]

I gotta admit, owning a Jeep Wrangler made me more acceptable of a Yaris with manual locks and windows. I kinda like the fact that they are mechanical and not electrical, if you know what I mean. I have more of a chance of fixing them if they break, which is less likely because of the lack of complexity!

But I have to admit the MP3 auxillary jack is one of the coolest things on the car! I love bringing my music and listening to my playlists, not some assclown DJ's idea of music! Or I can listen to one of the several podcasts I download, such as CarTalk (my fav).

Yeah, I'm middle aged as well (45); but I am re-living my youth a bit with my Yaris. It has tinted windows and mag wheels, and the last time I put an exhaust tip on a car it was still the 1970s! And I paid way too much for my Yaris, but I love it and can't wait to teach my boys how to drive in it! But I also had "buyer's remorse" for spending that much money on a car, especially after I just bought two new M1911 pistols about a month prior! But the wife just talked me into $5000 in new appliances in the house, and we just put in $1400 in wooden blinds in our house. Plus, about a year ago we put in over $3500 in wooden floors, so the joy of spending is shared!

Cheers! M2

[aca72]

You'll be smiling a lot when the price of fuel goes back to $5 per gallon.

[specialeducator]

Originally Posted by PreciousPups4U

"middle" age here and no regrets.

Love all my extras, power windows, locks, keyless. Can't imagine the car without them. Even got the second one equiped just the same except the first one is an auto and the second one is a manual. Now I have never used the MP3 thing, but I don't have an ipod.

Just enjoy, what color did you settle on? Did you get the 3 dr or 5 dr?

I'm middle-age too- somehow I now think I must need an ipod now. Once you plug it in, where does it sit?

[oilman930]

I am also middle age, but too quickly coming up on being an old man, and I am not going quietly.

I ordered a Yaris S and will be paying what some people think is way too much money for a Yaris. I want the car with every option. Hopefully the car will show up before the 2010 models come out and with the right options in it.

As for music, maybe I will opt for Sirius radio. I already have an account so I might as well listen to it in the car too.

The car will have big shoes to fill, it will be a replacement for the Mini Cooper S that I sold after I got married.

[BailOut]

I don't think I quite qualify as middle-aged yet as I just turned 36 (my wife, who is older than I, likes to tell me that I'm in my late 30's now!" ) but I love the MP3 player and the all weather package. I, too, avoided the power package as those things have always been the first to break on me and are always unjustifiably expensive to repair.

The rear heater is valuable if you have passengers back there. The larger fluid tank isn't so much a boon as the low level indicator is because most of us tear through fluid during thaws and it's difficult to see how much you have left due to the tank's placement in the engine compartment. The rear defroster is self explanatory. Etc.

The ability to play MP3s is nice for me in three ways. First, as others have stated radio has way too many commercials (it was always bad but it's even worse under the Clear Channel banner nowadays) and music CDs don't hold much music so it's wonderful to be able to pop in a data CD that's chock full of like 10 hours of MP3s and then hit the random button (although the random algorithm isn't random at all, much to my dismay).

Secondly, the ability to hook up an MP3 player via the auxiliary jack is a boon for my carpoolers. The 3, sometimes 4 of us have a 35-45 minute drive in each direction and it is wonderful to be able to check out books on CD from our local library, rip them to MP3 and turn them back in right away so that someone else can check them out, then hook up the player during the drive. Right now we're listening to William Gibson's "Spook Country". "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" is next.

Thirdly, when it's nice outside and we have the windows down you can't hear audio books well so it's time to jam out, and the aux jack makes it possible for everyone to take turns hooking up their MP3 player and selecting their favorite playlist. It's a great way to get exposed to different music, and when combined with the democratic way we select audio books it gets everyone involved in the audio decisions. No one feels left out and everybody is happy.

[otterhere]

Well, I'm single and virtually NEVER carry more than one passenger (in fact, I would've bought the Smart Twofer had it not been for all the interstate driving among crazy 18-wheelers going 80 mph), so "rear" anything (except cargo space) is wasted on me. Trust me: I will NEVER own an iPod, iPhone, or MP3 player. However, to answer your question, you can put your device in one of any 20 "compartments"; that cost $750!!!

Seriously, I'm disappointed in Toyota for not just offering it bare bones and letting us "build our own," as they advertise; it's very American (greedy) and unworthy...

[b_hickman11]

they do it because it saves them money

[otterhere]

Originally Posted by b_hickman11

they do it because it saves them money

MAKES them money!!! Good product for a good price is what I thought Toyota was all about - not loading bells and whistles for a profit... : (