After having driven a Dodge Onion uhh Caravan for 11 years (paint peels like an onion), it's nice to drive a small car again. I am not the typical youthful driver (almost 45), but I like the lines of the ECHO -- it's different and I like different.

My husband and I looked at both the Ford Focus and the ECHO. We wanted a small economical car to replace our Chevrolet Caprice Classic. (Yes we're keeping the Onion.) I must admit, the Focus handled a little better on curves, but opinion was not high with the odor of burning oil coming off of its engine after a 30 minute test drive in a demonstrator model with 5,000+ miles on it. Not to mention finding out that the Focus has already had one recall.

On the other hand, Toyota's reliability had something of a hand in our final decision. I found the instrument panel in the center a bit strange, but I did get used to it. The paint and trim are very professional. The seats comfortable. The front seatbelts are adjustable to a person's height. The car is solid, no rattles, squeaks or clunks.

Its engine and automatic transmission are peppy and I have not had any trouble getting out into traffic in our increasingly urbanized area. The overdrive cut-off button comes in handy in the urban traffic also. The ride is a bit stiff, but I don't like mushy riding cars. It performed fine on the interstate. We'll know more when we take our 800 mile vacation drive to visit the in-laws next week. The brakes work fine. I haven't had any panic stops yet, but the one performed during the test drive stopped the car in what I believe to be a decent distance.

Front visibility is excellent - not too much different from the Caravan, just a bit closer to the ground. Rear visibility is taking some getting used to and with the high trunk it's a little difficult to gauge when backing into parking spaces. It was difficult for me to find a position that I liked for the outside mirrors and we added one the those little round convex mirrors to the driver's side which helped a lot. The sound system is great too, but not necessary to make a car drive better.


Overall I'm pleased with my new ECHO.

UPDATE 6/21/00

We took our little car on an 800+ mile trip. Straight highway driving got us 41 mpg (auto trans). Hilly with some stop and go traffic - 38 mpg. Windy, mountain road - 33 mpg and it stayed on the road, too, in less than desirable conditions (heavy rain, fog, thunderstorm). Engine strained a little bit on very steep upgrades(4 people in the car), but did better without the air conditioner. Brakes worked great on a steep downgrade when the car in front of us missed a sharp curve in the fog and ended up in the oncoming traffic lane (luckily there was no oncoming traffic!). Husband made the comment that the car feels very aerodynamic - very little forward wind resistance.

Also I've had a chance to ride in the back and while there is more road noise and the ride is a little more bumpy, these seats are comfortable and roomy.

04/10/01

8,100 miles later. Still love driving my ECHO.

Had a minor fender/bender in October - about $600 worth of damage. Seatbelts worked nicely. Dented the right corner of the front bumper and just scratches on the hood.

Problem-free for everything else.

UPDATE 6/20/03

Mileage: 23,433
Was rear-ended by a Dodge Dakota in May 2002. Mushed my trunk good and slightly buckled the rear quarter panels-did everything it was supposed to do in an accident. I was not injured. Messed up the Dakota's radiator. The ECHO was still drivable until I could get it into the body shop (had a two week wait for an appointment). Repair like new. Have had no mechanical problems. Still love it.

UPDATE 6/4/05

I still love it. No problems what so ever.