OK,
I didn't get a Yaris though I just put it in my name. I just co-signed for one for my kid.
Monday I finally got a chance to drive the 75 miles to Harbor Freight. After I was in the store a full 3 minutes I get a phone call from my kid. She said her car wouldn't start -
- I told her I couldn't rush over there to fix it for her this time and it was up to her to figure it out. So she got her friend's dad to look at it and explain the symptoms to me. His diagnosis was timing belt which I said no as I just replaced it 3k miles ago. Either way, from his description I couldn't walk her through a repair so I called my uncle to pick it up with his flatbed and take it back to his shop to check it out.
I got there to his shop later and we checked it out only to find out there was no compression on cylinder 4 (this is a 99 Escort) . We decided to call it a day so I went home and did some research. I found out that it is very common for Escorts to drop valve seats in cylinder #4 so I called him and told him to pull the head and check out everything. Sure enough I was right and it didn't disintegrate the piston. Got a new head and finally got it all back together today, it made some noise so I told them to pull the oil pan which they did. The found the bottom half of piston #4 along with some piston rings.
I finally decided to call it quits. I bought this car new back in 2000 and it has been excellent, gave it to my kid about 4 years ago which she has maintained it excellent. The engine looked like new on the inside. Only because of Ford's design did it go south.
All the time this car has been out she's been driving my spare Smart which I don't like ANYONE driving my cars so I decided I wanted her in a reliable car
TODAY. We checked out a few dealers and decided on Toyota. Checked out their overpriced used cars and then saw a bare bones 3dr Yaris, only options were CD, A/C, auto which was the convenience group or something like that. After some talking I got it for $12,900;this was of course
after he accidentally offended the Smart when my wife had the "oh crap, you shouldn't of said that look on her face when he said that. He had said we weren't going to find another car cheaper and then I said I got the Smart cheaper at $13,500, then he said Yaris is so much better - that was when he discovered my passion for Smarts. Window sticker was $14,679.
Soooo, in a round about way I now have a Yaris. Finished the paperwork and let them do the prep even though they tried to get me to take it tonight. Oh, color is a Burgundy which I've never seen on a 3dr before. We did consider a Smart but I decided on the Yaris for just a few reasons you guys don't wantt o hear.
#1 - Smart tipping - some of the places a college kids goes has the kind of people that tip little cars.
#2 - too noticable - I thought about if she does something on accident to offend Freddy Psycho. It's an easy car to find. We have some hillbilly nutcases around here.
#3 - She could be in it NOW! Didn't have to drive 4 hours to the closest dealer.
#4 - Price - I know, apples and oranges which is what I had explained to the salesman. A Pure with A/C is somewhat close to the base Yaris but the Yaris can be found.
#5 - Dealer network nearby - self explanitory.
All this being said, I'd rather have my Smarts over the Yaris. I came REAL close to getting a Prius and giving the Orange Smart to my kid. Wife loves the Yaris and wanted to give the Orange Smart to the kid too - wasn't going to happen! Still, the Yaris seems like and OK car and as I've said before - it would be my next choice.
Today
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