VX envy? - Just buy a Yaris

[regal]

I remember test driving a new '94 VX Civic , I was fresh out of college and came close to buying it , but bought a new Ford Ranger instead. Funny that the Honda dealership looked like some fly-by-night rinky-dink outfit compared to the Ford dealer back then. Well it was a dumb mistake I have regretted , been looking for a VX in good shape the last several years.

Unmolested EG Civics are hard to find, any VX Civics that are in good shape are never going to be for sale.

I finally came to grips with the fact that I will never own a VX and last month bought a new 09 Yaris LB 3DR 5spd. I live in an area with hill after hill and curve after curve. I am averaging 40 mpg, I really doubt that a VX would do much better on these roads.

The Yaris doesn't have a double wishbone suspension, but I plan on correcting its handling quirks with a TRD suspension. It does have a stiffer chassis than any EG Civic and it is very peppy with the dual overhead cam variable valve timed engine.

Honda has abandoned its lightweight subcompact car heritage. The Fit to me is a micro-van. I recommend the Yaris as the next best thing to a VX, and you don't have to worry about the previous owner teenager who forgot to change the oil. The Yaris is available new and in many ways superior to the VX.

[maximilian]

Last summer when my last car died I wanted a Yaris. Couldn't get them then, though. Does the central console bother you at all? A lot of reviewers complained about it, but I have to admit the efficiency of it serving both left and right hand driving markets appealed to my somewhat skewed sense of priorities. Never test drove one though.

[regal]

I like the center speedo, don't have to move your hands to see it. The Yaris sales are down 50%, you can name your price. I paid $11.5 out the door.

Its geared more for a city/country road vehicle than an interstate/highway vehicle. If you could mate the Yaris 1.5L into a VX with a VX tranny, I'll bet it would get better milage than a VX engine. Its an incredible engine, they should have given it a tall 6th gear for highway commuters, but for me its perfect.

[maximilian]

Originally Posted by regal

I like the center speedo, don't have to move your hands to see it. The Yaris sales are down 50%, you can name your price. I paid $11.5 out the door.

Thanks for rubbing it in! When I tried to get one, the dealers were trying to get me to pay MORE for them (because I had no car and have no friends/family in the area waiting a long time was tough). What they should've really been doing is offering me a discount if I would be willing to wait for delivery. They were acting like the Yaris was the only option available. Oh what a difference a few months can make!

BEEF's been trying to convince me to get a Fortwo while prices are depressed. Evil man!

[Project84]

I test drove two entry Yaris's back in Late 07, early 08. Regal, they didn't make a Yaris in 2005, typo?

Loved the interior of the HB, hated the interior on the Sedan. Loved the looks of the sedan, hated the looks of the HB. I was torn, and since Toyota wasn't budging much on price, I just decided to walk from the idea.

In today's offerings from all the manufacturers, the Yaris has the competition for FE and entry price beat, in a VERY bad way. The Yaris is the only sensible, affordable, and reliable (check yaris forums for more on this) offering for FE minded drivers on a budget who crave "new".

I will say this, the day I drove both a sedan and a HB Yaris, I then drove a Corolla CE 5sp and the clutch, interior, road noise, ergonomics of the Corolla blew the Yaris away. Price was only $3k more. It was slightly used vs. the new Yaris.

[maximilian]

Consumer Reports actually gave the 2008 Hyundai Accent a higher rating than the 2008 Yaris (I forget the values now and my subscription's up, but it wasn't a bloodbath or anything). Edmund's shows a lower TCO for the 2009 models as well (within their set assumptions, of course). $29,030 vs $27,874, so really they're darned close to each other. Of course they show a better TCO for the Aveo than both, but that just shows the limits of a 5 year TCO comparison, I suspect (CR did not like the Aveo at all). No ratings on a new 1994 VX, unfortunately.

I don't get insurance on my cars (since I can afford to replace them), but I still count the insurance cost in the TCO, since I'm assuming the risk and that's worth something!

[regal]

I had a Accent once. It needed new front brake discs. They were integrated into the hub, a $60 job on most cars was over $1k for the Accent. I took it to the JY as it was totalled. At that time the Accent was a throw away car. Don't know about the new models, but they lost my trust.

As far as Consumer Reports, they aren't really drivers/auto enthusiasts. They are a big part of the blame for the bloated curb weights cars suffer from today. They also seem to focus on initial quality and asthetics, rather than long term engineering. I find that autoxers, dragsters, fuel efficiency gurus, etc all share a common thread that Consumer Reports lacks.

I took a gamble because I have a suspicion that the Toyota Racing suspension offered for the Yaris will transform it to handle like our old beloved Hondas. Around here if you have a car that can handle curves well you use the brakes less and it really impacts MPG. I'll report on the TRD suspension upgrade in a couple weeks, the good thing about this suspension is it is made by Toyota and does not interfere with the warranty.

[maximilian]

What year was that? Heard horrible things about older ones.

CR definitely does focus too much on initial quality. They complained about the central console. I couldn't care less about handling or anything, myself. You definitely have to look at the individual category ratings and read their reviews and adjust for your priorities. I still would've gotten the Yaris had I been able to.

[regal]

Yes even the 5 year empiracle studies that they do really just scratch the surface. A well designed and built car should last 30 years minimum. A lot of their 5 year superstars will self implode after 6 years. I plan on keeping the Yaris a long time. There was a guy on you-tube that is up to 300,0000 miles on his Yaris, all he has done is oil changes, filters, and tires. Even the brakes are original. When I watched that I was sold.

[maximilian]

If it weren't for the long warranty (mine's 100k/10 yrs for everything, not just the 60k/6 it usually comes with) I wouldn't have gotten an Accent. My reservations nudged the salesman to up it. Normally only the powertrain has 100k/10. Given how much I drive, I'm covered until 2018. Most likely I'll have gotten rid of it before then.

CR really liked the Honda Fit, BTW. I agree about its micro-van flavor.

[regal]

The Fit is really a different class of car (or van), 20 years ago with its weight it would be considered a full size car.

I hope Honda comes out with a compact car again one day. But I think they know they can't compete with Hyandia.

[maximilian]

The next few years should be very exciting given the new emphasis on efficiency. I wanted to get a used car and just wait a few years for the new choices, but now that I'm living by myself I really wanted the reliability of a new car (my first). Also, the used efficient car market around where I live is lousy. Nobody was selling an efficient car that was in any sort of good shape unless I went a really long way (gas was around $4 a gallon then). My immediate area has this really strange inflated sense of used prices. Cars, yard sales, even baby clothes. I had a moving sale with what I thought were reasonable prices (at least by MA standards) and people descended like locusts and cleaned me out. Didn't even wait for me to finish setting up (had people coming into my house to look at stuff I hadn't had time to move outside yet). Kinda surreal.

[theholycow]

Fit isn't THAT heavy. 2489-2615lbs depending on how equipped. Yaris is 2293-2340lbs depending on model (but not including optional equipment).

For comparisonn, 1980 Buick LeSabre that's longer than longcat, listed curb weight is 3500lbs.

[maximilian]

What does a 1994 vx weigh, as a point of comparison?

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by maximilian

My immediate area has this really strange inflated sense of used prices. Cars, yard sales, even baby clothes. I had a moving sale with what I thought were reasonable prices (at least by MA standards) and people descended like locusts and cleaned me out. Didn't even wait for me to finish setting up (had people coming into my house to look at stuff I hadn't had time to move outside yet). Kinda surreal.

Sounds like I'd be wise to load my truck and my camper full of my stuff and drag it up there for a yard sale. 10mpg towing the camper, 270 miles, that's 54 gallons round trip (unless I sell the camper too), so $120 or so to sell my stuff to a crowd of locusts vs. failing to sell it here if I bothered to try...

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by maximilian

What does a 1994 vx weigh, as a point of comparison?

2100 pounds.

[maximilian]

Here, at yard sales most people expect like 85-90% of the price new. I saw a Miata for sale, and really wish I could recall the asking price and year now. It was in quite good shape, but the guy wanted more than twice it's blue book value (it was older). Miata's not my style, but I was having my last car fixed and had time to kill in town so took a look.

[maximilian]

Huh, not as dramatic a difference as I anticipated. Under a ton is starting to push things for current tech (let alone 1994 tech), I guess. The Fortwo's 1600 lbs!

[regal]

Originally Posted by maximilian

The next few years should be very exciting given the new emphasis on efficiency. I wanted to get a used car and just wait a few years for the new choices, but now that I'm living by myself I really wanted the reliability of a new car (my first). .

I'm in the same situation, recently got divorced. Then I realized that I better have a dependable car with a loaner from the dealer if something does break. I've bought trucks new but this is my first new car at 38 years old.

I thought with the economy in the toilet that it would be a strong used car buyers market. But its not as far as dependable economical cars. Every used Civic I looked out was way too expensive for the miles/condition. You can get a good deal on a 50k mile Lotus though

[maximilian]

Well for the used market, I'd expect people to hang onto what they've got in a downturn rather than shell out for a new vehicle. Especially if it's in good shape! It's a catch-22.

I would've been willing to risk it, but this area's very rural and I have no friends or family within 5 hrs (moving here was my ex's idea - I'm also recently divorced). I didn't realize how good I had it before, as I ran a scooter and just borrowed my ex's car whenever I needed it. Guy she ran off with sold me his winter beater for $100. That lasted a year.

[regal]

Yea I live out in the styx too. Getting my old Civic worked on was a real hassel without the wife to give a ride. I should have just done my own work on it like when I was younger, but you never know when a 2 hr job turns into a 3 week job. I'm liking the security/freedom of the new car. One less thing to worry about.

[maximilian]

Originally Posted by regal

One less thing to worry about.

You have put your finger on it precisely.

I had a neat trick for taking my car in myself. I'd put my scooter on my trailer and then ride it back. My mechanic had a lot of room so he didn't mind my leaving the trailer there. Winter would've been a problem, and my scooter croaked so that's the end of that. I've looked around a bit to try and make friends, but my background is so different from the full-time residents here (my town is a ski area and had less than 500 full-time residents in the 2000 census) that it's not likely to happen before I move outta here. My mechanic's a nice guy, but I wouldn't want to hassle him.

[theholycow]

I've considered a similar strategy because my wife never wants to cooperate when I need to bring my vehicles in. If I was bringing my truck in and I had a scooter/motorcycle I could just load it in the bed. Otherwise, I could get a dolly and tow my car with my truck; if leaving the truck, I could conceivably tow the empty dolly back. Lack of money for buying a dolly holds me back.

[maximilian]

There are foldable trailers for motorcycles that fit in the trunk. A bit expensive. I was going to weld one up for my scooter but it died first. When I move closer to civilization I wouldn't want to run a scooter (too many cars - I come from a long line of cowards - emphasis on "long line" ). I'd just ride a bicycle here, but the hills would kill me. I work out every day and am in good shape, but professional bicycle racers come here to practice! Man they're fast.

[regal]

I was looking into the battery assisted bicycles, but my mechanic is 8 miles away and there are a lot of steep hills, not sure if the electric would last the 8 miles. If the battery went dead I can't imagine peddling a 80 lb bike up these hills.

Yea a car payment is much better.

[maximilian]

My old moped only had one gear. Peddling it (well, walking) up hills is right. The new one with the CVT did pretty well, though.

[want2buyVX]

Regal,

Don't feel bad about not buying a VX.

Thats how I feel when Microsoft was just 50 cents a share back in the day and I didn't buy any shares

[regal]

Originally Posted by want2buyVX

Regal,

Don't feel bad about not buying a VX.

Thats how I feel when Microsoft was just 50 cents a share back in the day and I didn't buy any shares

I was so close to buying a new VX in 94. Honda was still kind of an unknown in my area and I thought it would be risky!

[maximilian]

This thread had me noticing every Yaris I drove by on my 11 hour trip last weekend. There were a ton of them!

[dkjones96]

To think, I passed up a 300k/15 year warranty on an Elantra cuz I didn't want a car payment... Not sure if I regret that or not.