A few years ago I sat browsing through a Teen magazine I had gotten in the mail and stopped on an ad for quite possibly the ugliest car I had ever laid eyes on, a Toyota Echo. The two door Roxy edition. They were giving one away in some kind of contest. I looked over at my sister and said "I will never drive something like that."

With much irony and amusement I sit down to write a review of my first car, a 2002 Toyota Echo. Sedan. Bright, bright red. Hey, it was either that or a Kia.

Okay, okay, so I'm being sarcastic. In all honesty, I love my little Echo.

Unusual Circumstances
I must forewarn you, if you're looking for information on Toyota's sales or service, this isn't the review for you. My grandfather, the former owner of an auto body shop in southern California, bought the wrecked Echo from a dealer's auction in Arizona and made it just like new. In other words, I didn't get mine from a Toyota dealership.

My little Toy's stats
Year: 2002
Color: Red exterior with gray side cladding and gray interior
Model: Automatic sedan with the Youth Package (gray cladding, spoiler and alloy wheels)
Miles: About 13k when I got it. I just recently went over 15k

Reliability is Toyota's middle name...or something...
In the few short months I've owned my Echo, I've had no problems with it. It has always run beautifully for me, despite the fact that it was previously wrecked in the front.

As someone who witnesses continual problems with Fords and Chevys (my parents have two Chevys and have had Fords in the past), it's plain to me that Toyota is ahead of the game when it comes to reliability even extending to their economy cars.

You'd expect that most economy cars are made with cheap materials, particularly the interior accessories like radio knobs and buttons and air conditioning controls. It was a nice surprise to find rather nice, solid buttons and such that don't feel like they'll fall off whenever you touch them. It really smacks of something you'd find in a more expensive car. Granted, it doesn't look like a luxury vehicle on the inside. Certainly not. But it's much nicer than you might expect.

The bass/treble/fade and volume controls in my mom's '96 Camaro are all cracked or broken off. Oops, did I say that?

High gas prices? What high gas prices?
Two days ago I filled up my Echo at a price of $1.82 per gallon and paid a little under $18 for a full tank of gas that will last me until well into July. No joke. I'll love to see how nice it'll be when gas prices really start to drop, if that ever happens.

There's something 'bout the way you look tonight...
Ok, what the heck was that subtitle about? *shrugs* Anyway, as I have already pointed out in my first paragraph, I was never exactly fond of the Echo's appearance. In fact, I still hate the look of coupes. If you're going to get an Echo, you have to go with a sedan. Period.

The Echo seemed awkward to me at first. With a nose that always appears to be digging into the ground, the body lifted rather high and its itty bitty wheels, the Echo is certainly a car that has to grow on you. The 2003 is by far more attractive than the 2002, as Toyota decided to give the Echo a facelift for the '03 model.

Nevertheless, I've definitely come to love my Echo and find it be rather cute (the alloy wheels, side cladding, spoiler and tinted windows are subtle but do wonders for the car) in a dorky way and it fits me perfectly. Why? Because it's different. A little to the left of the norm. I could be driving a Civic, but how original would that be?

I love when people make a big deal out of the center cluster
So one day I came out of class and was getting into my car when a teenaged boy with what seemed like a permanently dumb look on his face asked me "is that the speedometer in the middle?" When I responded accordingly, he looked over at his friend and said "dude I don't know if I could drive like that." Cough.

Anyway, yes folks, the gauges are in the middle of the dash. I will say what everyone else has said here - you get used to it after about five seconds of driving the Echo. Looking over to the center of the dash is about as natural as it gets, and it feels much safer than looking down through a steering wheel to read your gauges.

The guys and gals at Toyota were right on when they designed it that way, and unless more companies follow suit, the center cluster will be sadly missed when I no longer have my Echo (which will hopefully be a long, long time from now). In fact, I'm almost wondering if I'll be able to get used to a behind-the-steering-wheel cluster again. We'll see.

More to it than meets the eye
Okay, so have you ever seen that circus act where a million clowns come crawling out of a tiny little car? Well, that car might as well be the Echo. Eh, maybe I'm exaggerating just slightly, but the Echo is certainly more spacious than you'd expect.

I think some of the other reviewers may have exaggerated this fact a bit too much, because the Echo isn't huge on the inside or anything, but head room and leg room is great (in the front seats - I haven't sat in the back too much but it's not terribly spacious back there, just enough room to not hit your knees on the seat in front of you) if you consider the car's overall size. I sat in the passenger seat of a newer model Civic one time and found myself squished in with the driver. I felt like I was practically sitting on her lap, my legs were crowded and I kept feeling as if my head was going to hit the ceiling. The Echo is the exact opposite.

As well, for those who require a lot of space for suitcases or whatever large objects you may haul around, the trunk is surprisingly large and the back seats fold down to allow for even more space. I have yet to find much use for the trunk or the fold-down seats, but hopefully a trip to a concert is in my near future. ;)

And holy crapola, talk about a lot of storage compartments! I swear, they're everywhere, and you better believe my grandmother had the car stocked with napkins, straws, a flashlight, salt, sugar, rope (?!) and whatever other "necessities" you can think of when she got here.

Having split-level glove compartments is really nice. I use the smaller one on top for my insurance and registration information, and put all of the "junk" in the bigger compartment on the bottom. Come to think of it, that's rather funny. At least I'll be prepared when I get a speeding ticket; no digging around napkins and flashlights to get to my registration card. Ha!

Then there's a storage tray beneath the passenger seat that my grandmother managed to fill with napkins and other such items as well. My favorite compartments are probably the two cubby holes on either side of the stereo where I keep CDs and other little knick knacks.

If I lived in an area that had toll booths all over the place, I'd probably use the coin holder that's next to the steering wheel. And I have yet to use the odd compartment beneath the steering wheel. Actually, I'm not even sure that's a storage compartment but it sure looks like it is. Then there's the pockets on the back of the seats; I don't use those, but only because they're covered up by my seat covers. *breathes* Did you get all that?

So let's talk about cupholders. I've read some reviews where people complain that they can't fit larger cups in the two front cupholders because they're beneath the stereo. I haven't had any problems with that, even with the SuperSize cups you get from McDonalds. There's also one cupholder in the center for the rear passengers. Very rarely do I ever drive with another person, let alone two or three, so running out of cupholders isn't a problem for me.

What works and what doesn't work for the Echo
The basic structure of the car raises some advantages and disadvantages of the Echo. Its light weight makes the car peppy and quick; a car that's extremely easy and fun to drive. Its small size makes for effortless parking and zipping through traffic. I think some may even underestimate the Echo's power until taking it for a ride themselves.

However, its light weight and tall height causes it to be tossed around in the wind at any speed over 45 mph. I never realized just how windy North Carolina was until I started driving the Echo. Now I swear I'll be reported for drunk driving one of these days, simply because when I'm on the highway on a windier day I feel like I'm all over the road. It takes a little more patience and makes you more alert, but it's not a huge mark against the Echo. This one downside is tolerable.

Did I mention red was previously one of my least favorite colors on a car? But it's great because it's really hard to make a red car look dirty which I can appreciate because I have little patience for washing a car every single weekend. Plus I love the red, gray cladding and tinted windows together! I think it looks great.

While others have commented on making sharp turns in the Echo, this is something I've never had a problem with. I never feel as if the Echo is going to topple over. Yes, it's light and it's tall, but not quite to that extent.

Stuff I have and don't have
Some extras I don't have that would be really nice are power windows and locks, but it's no big inconvenience to have to lock and unlock the door manually. What I do have is a great stereo system (yes, it is the stock CD player that came with the car) which is really impressive for an economy car.

So let's wrap it all up in a neat little package
I love the Echo. I think it was a perfect "first car" for me and would especially recommend it for new teenaged drivers. But honestly, anyone looking for a good economy car that gets great gas mileage should take a look at the Echo. It's different and it's fun.
Amount Paid (US$): 4,500
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: Automatic, 4dr, ABS, cd player