Me and my girlfriend decided to buy a car by the end of the year, or sooned if possible. She has her sight on a Honda Jazz, but I´ve also eyed the Toyota Yaris, if for no other thing that I like the stetics a bit more.
Both seem similar, size about the same (maybe the Jazz it´s a tad bigger?), and I know zip about the rest.
Any oppinions about them, if someone here is familiar with both that would be just peachy.
We´d use it mostly to move around the city and for some weekends out on the country side and beach.
As a side note I should point out that not only I don´t have a driver´s licence, but in my almost 28 years of life I couldn´t be arsed to learn to drive a car. :smack:
I´ll see if I take a course, someday…
Out of all the new mini-models coming out like the Aveo, the Fit, and the Jazz, the Yaris has been at or near the tops in all comparisons.
All the hype about having buttloads of cargo room is not hype. I drove the thing from LA to Boston; carrying a suitcase, two large duffel bags, five suits in garment bags, a set of golf clubs, and three shoeboxes, and I could still see easily through the back window.
I also got 37.5 miles to the gallon in the mountains. I get about 33 driving the streets of Boston and 42 on a highway drive (I do drive manual). So fuel-efficiency is a nice selling point.
It’s a 10-gallon tank and a 4-cyl engine and it takes the cheap stuff, so filling it up is pretty easy on the wallet. I haven’t done a Boston winter in it yet, but I don’t anticipate any problems.
It is light, and thus susceptible to wind gusts, but that’s to be expected among any of them. It’s also not the most soundproof car in the world, but what do you expect? You could buy one on your credit card if you had to.
I dig my Yaris. Haven’t driven the Jazz, but if you want to ask me any questions about my Matchbox car, I’ll answer them as best I can.
We have a Fit (Jazz), and we totally love it. The multiple seat configurations in the back were probably what sold us, but it’s been a fantastic all-around car in the year and change we’ve had it.
I don’t think we’d have been unhappy with the Yaris, though.
Ditto here with the Fit. You can fit (ha!) sooo much stuff back there, including from my personal experience: a 50" DLP projection TV, two mountain bikes, 6 1’x8’ boards, 10 8’ metal poles, and 50 1.5’ square pillows. Obviously, not all of that at once.
I’m not much of a car person and I’m not interested in horsepower or other statistics, but it accelerates fine for a tiny engine and the handling is superb. It’s excellent for city driving and parking, and has a good array of standard safety features.
The sound system is decent if not spectacular. You can plug your iPod into the aux jack, if that floats your boat.
The only thing that has bugged me so far is the air conditioner is strangely loud. You can really hear when the thing kicks in. Pretty minor gripe overall.
The Fit is somehow bigger inside than out! :eek: But if it is loaded and you have a steep hill, expect to take a while. CR loves it. If I had a more limited budget, it would likely be my #1 pick.
The Yaris is no better power-wise, and CR gave it a pretty scathing review. I hate the central location of the dials and gauges. And, you have to buy the Yaris from a Toyota dealer, which means you *are *going to get ripped off. :mad:
Nissan also makes one, and the engine has more ummmph- but Nissan is not as reliable as Honda or Toyota.
Come to Canada. We have four-door Yaris hatches all over the place. I’m not sure why Toyota doesn’t sell them in the States. Someone speculated that that was because Toyota sells a similar Scion model in the States, which is not sold in Canada.
Of these four-door hatches–the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Mercedes B-class, etc–the Fit is at the top of my list.
I can only contribute one small thing. I have a friend, a big guy, who has a Buick Regal and a Yaris. He says the Yaris has more leg room and is all around more comfortable and spacious for the driver. But back seat passengers don’t fare nearly as well. According to him, you would not want to stick a friend in the back seat.
I have had a Fit for a week (and it’s great being able to say that!), so I can’t give you MPG figures yet. I bought it for back and forth to work, as a replacement for a small truck. The cargo space is terrific, the flexiblity of the seating/cargo space is wonderful, and it’s a lot more fun to drive than my little Mazda truck. I picked the Fit over the Yaris because I liked the 4-door configuration and the mileage rating was a bit higher. We’ve also had Hondas for over 16 years and they’ve never given us trouble. I sat in the back while I was looking to buy, and it’s probably a squeeze if you’re over 6 ft tall, but I’m 5-10 and didn’t have any problems at all with the rear seat legroom.
My only gripe right now is that I haven’t quite gotten the right configuration of seat and steering wheel position, so I feel that I’m either reaching too far for the wheel or having to keep my foot in an uncomfortable position on the accelerator. This is the smallest car I’ve ever owned, and although the ride is a bit stiffer than what I’ve been used to, I still like it a lot. I do keep amazing myself when I go out to get in and realize that I’m driving such a small car. But it’ll be well worth it at the gas pump.
Very interesting, specially the Jazz (Fit) cargo capacity, my girlfriend has plans to start a business of her own and she´ll need to move stuff around. So I guess that´s the most convinient car.
Bummer, because the Jazz looks rather boring.
And as for the “stetics” brain fart, sorry it happens now and then. :smack:
I have a 2006 Yaris (5-door hatch) and wish I had bought a Jazz. With a 5-month old daughter in a car seat, a nappy/diaper bag and a pram/push-chair/buggy in the boot/trunk, there is room left only for a driver, a not-too-tall front-seat passenger (limited legroom due to car seat space requirements in the rear) and a regular-sized rear-seat passenger. No room whatsoever in the boot for groceries or anything else. Even without the pram in the back, I would be hard-pressed to fit a regular sized suitcase in the boot without obscuring the view through the rear window.
The Yaris is a great city car and has plenty of cargo-space if you fold down the back seats, but if you plan on carrying more than one passenger and some bags, forget it!
