Toyota Echo 2003Change

I have had this car for many year, With over 400K on it currently, Still going strong not much breaks on them. and if it does break its easy to fix. Great little car that you cant kill.

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.

After putting over 200K on this car I'd have to say that I am very pleased with it. At over 6' tall I can still go for long trips in comfort. The only things I've had to repair/replace are the brakes, tires, battery, front exhaust seal, front wheel bearings and the fuel filler tube.
It now has over 300K on it and I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a long trip, IE either coast. Excellent for a 'cheap' ride. The fuel savings alone made all the car payments.

I have to commute about 30-45 minutes to work every day and this car has been very reliable. It is also great on gas. I drive a lot and only need to fill it up once a week and it costs about $50 to fill up from empty.

Very reliable little car, great on gas, saved me a ton of money. also great car for a beginner or if somebody wanted to learn manual.

Fuel economy makes this peppy little ride worth driving despite the lack of styling. Handling is crummy but this isn't admired for its agility but rather its reliability and thriftiness.

Having gone through four standard transmissions I have found that all four were only only good for less than seventy-five thousand kilometres. the last transmission replacement was with a 2005 transmission. it does not seem to have the same weakness with the bearings and is now compiled over one hundred kilometres on my car. it had seventy five hundred previouslly. (I have 375 000 km logged on my 2003 echo at the moment.

I love my Echo. I would buy another one in an instant. They are very reliable and good on gas. They are small so they are easy to park in the city. I would highly recommend buying one.

i have been super happy with the gas mileage with this car. it actually is pretty roomy inside. not a fan that there is no cruse control but i cant complain too much

i owned this car for a few years with near 400K on it and all i had to put in was about 500 bux in it

Very fuel efficient and very pleased with maintenance. But it is very ugly and very light. It gets blown around on the freeway and is terrible on snow and ice.