[1] Well - with the scenario recap I'd say Yaris too. [2] Good little cars with a bit of character , [3] parts easily obtainable (I know you wish you could say the same for the Daewoo)
1 + 2 : The Yaris gets a resounding "meh" from me, and a clear "no" from anyone else involved. The interior just doesn't cut it. Although yeah, it is probably as reliable as the Hyundai and gets significantly better MPGs.
3. Got that one right. Actually there is a parts distributor not too far off from the dealer so most parts have a 10 hour turn-around, some have taken as long as a week to get though. Same story for the Rogue though, the Continental tires it comes with were so new that when I needed a replacement @ 6k mi (drove on some nails) nobody, not the local Conti dealer, nor local Nissan dealers had any spares in stock, took 4 days. BUT...i'd hate to see how parts-waiting goes for smarts.
It sounds to me like you've got more thoughts going on than just economy. Simply knowing where all your cars were manufactured makes you a little more of a car enthusiast than the average Joe. Get yourself on the waiting list and your number will probably be up before the Daewoo dies. From reservation to delivery for me will be less than 8 months if my DDE is true. Go with the smart and truly enjoy the car you're spending 15k on.
I liked the Hyundai interior better when I test drive it right before the Yaris. I did some checking and you can get an armrest for the Yaris which would make the interior feel MUCH better and you'll still have a car with Toyota quality.
I don't understand orangecones dislike of the Yaris. It's easily the best of all the cars under consideration. But, if you just don't like it then you have to make the best decision to please yourself - and only you can do that.
I don't know anything about Daewoo - wouldn't ever consider one. And, Hyundai is getting much better than the early generations. They will be real contenders in the next few years, although fit and finish is still around Nissan's level. The Genesis, although it's not applicable for your application, is quite nice although they are still battling the stigma of the early cars as far as marketing a $40K luxury car...the Genesis coupe might change a lot of people's minds.
I'm partial to the Yaris S, (S type with the better interior) since I have one on order to replace my Smart. No, it's not particularly exciting, but nothing in that price range is exactly going to light your pants on fire...including the Smart which generated road rage in me every time I drove it.
Maybe you should think about a one or two year old car, and get more car for your money - let someone else take the initial depreciation.
Enjoy your 4% interest on your loan, with the economic meltdown in progress - IF you have great credit you're looking at 7-8% financing, if it's not spotless you're into double digits if you can get financing at all.
It's not a fun time to be buying anything. I'd put it all off as long as possible.
I'm partial to the Yaris S, (S type with the better interior)
really now? See, wasn't quite aware of that. I looked at the base Yaris 3-door Liftback and that interior was just horrible... I just assumed the S had a few more tacked on bits here and there but didn't change the overall feel of the car.
My beef with Yaris: purely cosmetic. It gets better MPG than anything else, it is actually cheaper than anything else (including the Hyundai/Kia), and like you said, at the end of the day it is still a Toyota. What bugs me is the styling... for example the keyhole in the rear hatch w/ black stuff raound it looks very out of place.
What bugs me is the styling... for example the keyhole in the rear hatch w/ black stuff around it looks very out of place.
I felt the same way about the Smarts having the tow hole hooks black and the black skirts around the bottom - instead of getting a different type of car, I changed the car to suit me. I painted them, problem solved.
nice read karl... i sorta miss the Geo Metro... but here is a more detailed write-up of why not a huge Yaris fan, I figured I owe you guys a decent list of reasons.
(bit of a nit-pick here....but it all adds up)
- black knob around rear hatch key hole (integrated/hidden handles work best)
- speedo in the middle (smart's tach+clock in center is fine)
- vertial hvac controls (make you take your eyes off the road too much)
- dust collecting useless storage area surrounding the hvac controls
-- just overall seems to have a lot of nooks for collecting dust
- no center arm rest
- power window controls being up high on the tilted handle
now, i will give you Yaris owners credit that:
- at the end of the day its still a Toyota
- better fuel milage than competition (vs Fit, Versa, Accent/Rio)
- cheapest of the bunch even with some features thrown in
also..despite my positive opinion of the Accent (ok, I do like it better than Yaris and Fit).. I don't want to project the impression that I am a Hyundai fanboy, or even that the Accent is my 1st choice right now. It is simply one of the better cars I tested so far.... will probably test the Rabbit tomorrow (yeah i know, add about $2k to price, kill mpg by about 5....but also kill 0-60 time by about an hour), also still waiting for the Cube (a month left to wait for announcement, maybe be able to test drive in early may), also waiting for the Hyundai i30 (Elantra Touring) to show up (yes its bigger, but looks promising). So the fun continues.
Last edited by orangecones3; 10-24-2008 at 10:49 PM.
Tested the 2-door Rabbit w/ mixed feelings. Overall it drives really well but has a lot of hesitation moving from 0 to 15mph. Once you clear 1st gear you're off. The exterior is very understated yet classy, so I dig that. The interior also left me mixed feelings. Some parts felt solid, others really cheap and/or out of place. Certain storage compartments were also very poorly planned through. On the bright side it has a chilled glove box to keep your make up from not melting ;) Overall verdict is that the Rabbit lives another day on my list... taking it down to 3....
1. fortwo passion -- really like the car. what scares me is the sparce dealer/part supply network so if anything goes wrong, wait times might be discouraging (for the Daewoo we currently own... some parts take a while to fetch, so we arleady lived with a small supplier network and had enough)
2. hyundai accent se -- cheapest of the bunch (so far) and i thought the interior was very well done, even if somewhat spartan. power was a little lacking (ok, so it does have 40 more hp than the smart) but it was less fun to drive (old 4-sp slush box is the culprit i think).
3. vw rabbit 2-door -- best performance at cost of worst fuel economy of the bunch. interior is almost upscale.
I know i am comparing apples to oranges to bananas here....but thats what I got so far. Good thing that I have plenty of time to figure out where I stand (unless I want the smart then I need to order now).
And...still holding out that Nissan won't do to the cube what toyota did to the xb.
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