I bought my 2006 Civic Hybrid used in 2010 with only 30k on it. It was spotless when I got it, original everything. Over the next five years I added 160k to it. I have had to do the following maintenance:

fuel
oil changes
wiper fluid
wiper blades
tires

That is all. No really, I've done absolutely nothing else. It's even got the original brake pads (which isn't that hard if you use the regeneration feature like you should). It needs an aircon recharge this year, but that's hardly surprising after a decade. I'm still averaging around 5.0 l/100km, which is *superb* for Canada (cold weather = bad milage).

But the one drawback: the seats are terrible! They have a huge and very solid lumbar bulge that gives my back fits. Doesn't bug the wife too much, but after a couple of hours I can't drive any more. It's not just the seat itself, much of the problem seems to have to do with the positioning of the pedals, because if I sit in the passenger seat I don't have a problem. I do not have this problem in the newer models, they've softened them a lot.

This year I've noticed some rust around the front of the rear wheel wells. Nothing major, but its a bit worrying. Nothing else I can find elsewhere on the frame. I've seen the same pattern on other 06 Civics, so this might be a common issue.

Other than that, I would highly recommend this car. You need to know two things though, it's absolutely gutless (although I hear the newer model is much better), and the rear seat doesn't fold down and there's no pass-through - so no skis!

My wife's Echo has not been the greatest car. I give it lots of leeway because it's a low-end model and I don't really expect too much. So it's a bit noisy, but certainly not too noisy. It's a bit light handling, but not too light. Etc.

The problem for us is that the car has been unreliable. Over the last five years we've had to replace a transmission, two driver's side side mirrors, a muffler ($500!), and front wheel bearings. This is after only 250,000 km, less than the national average of 25k per year. More minor issues are the truck no longer opens, the seat belts won't self-retract, and general bits and pieces getting old.

And then there's the rust. The entire frame of the car is rotted out. No, it was not undercoated, and that's a lesson learned the hard way. But I didn't undercoat any of my other cars either, and haven't had these sorts of problems since the 80's. At 250k it's already beyond salvaging, and as soon as the next thing goes it's off to the wrecker... I wish I knew this BEFORE putting on the new muffler!

For comparison, my 2006 Civic Hybid is mostly working. It has only a few less kms on it, but everything still works fine and it has had exactly zero maintenance issues - I'm even on the original break pads!

I wouldn't say the Echo is a bad car, especially for the price, but I don't think I would recommend buying one.