Unlike the Hummer, which grabs attention through sheer size, the Toyota Yaris is something you would probably never have noticed if it weren’t for the fact that it had an excellent 29/35 city/highway mileage.
Our ephemeral beautification of the Yaris was likely an attempt at rationalizing why we bought such a car in the first place.
Face it. The Yaris, from many reviews, lacks the frills and grills that typically make a car “handsome”; the interior also gives you the uncomfortable, nitty-gritty cheap feel, though knowing Toyota that probably isn’t the case.
This peanut car isn’t exactly inexpensive compared to its competitors, either. The Honda Fit, Nissan Versa ,or Hyundai Electra are all larger, nice, fairly efficient subcompacts that run around the Yaris’ sticker price of $16,000. That isn’t even the “S” version either.
Most importantly, the car has a small engine, which from an American perspective, correlates with another size that shall not be named. The 1.5 liter engine that only pumps out 106 horsies just isn’t something you can brag about.
Our take? With gas back down, you can hope, or maybe count on, North American consumers to run out and purchase gas guzzlers eventually. Sooner or later, gas will be back up, and you’ll be feeling smart behind the wheel of your Yaris again.
via Examiner