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Toyota Echo

5806 messages,  Last post on May 21, 2013 at 2:56 AM

You are in the Toyota Echo Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota ECHO, Sedan

Messages Page 576 of 581

#5749 of 5806 One Six Eight by nippononly

Jan 03, 2012 (9:42 pm)

My apologies to e50e above, but my Echo has reached the ripe old mileage of 168K as of last week, and still I have never had a single repair. I have done tires, batteries and oil, plus fluids filters and plugs - mine has the 60K plugs so even plugs haven't cost a lot.
 
Have never even replaced the brake pads or the clutch. Still getting 40 mpg as a running average in my suburban driving, still uses no oil between changes.
 
And......as of last week it is now in the hands of a friend who fell on hard times and needed a car to get to work. So my drive to the 200K mark has been cut short.
 
But I expect he will get at least two more years of trouble-free driving out of it, and that it will reach 200K quite easily in his hands.
 
In the meantime, I have replaced it with......the new 2012 Yaris! I got an SE 5-speed, and this thing is so much fun I am making up excuses to take trips in it. And so far mileage is 44 mpg, so it is better in that respect than the Echo was due to some improvements they made for this new model, but it is still early days yet so we will see what a longer rolling average turns out to be.
 
Good luck all you Echo owners! It really is a fabulous car you have there, just the right size and so reliable and cheap to operate, and e50e, to answer your question, yes I do genuinely believe that you got the only lemon, which is such a great shame as these things have proven to be such reliable cars in the hands of everyone else who has shared their experience here and in other on-line spots. I hope you do not continue to have these expensive problems with it, but if you do I hope you are shopping where you get a 12-month parts and labor warranty so that sometimes repeat repairs will be free to you. I do understand your hesitancy to plow so much repair money into such an old car, believe me, and had the Echo ever started to act up on me in the last couple of years (after it passed 125K miles), I probably would have paid for the repair and sold it. Perhaps if you are lucky this will be a "repair hump" you will get over and then you will have several years of smooth sailing with it. I will cross my fingers.

#5750 of 5806 troll? by kneisl1

Jan 04, 2012 (4:21 am)

I think that guy was a troll myself...
 
Since you know the owner you can still follow the car on its trip to 200,000 miles (and beyond!)
 
Have you been to Yaris owners.com?
 
They have a $10 way to add cruise control to your Yaris which I did and its worked perfect for 2 years on mine!

#5751 of 5806 Re: troll? [kneisl1] by nippononly

Jan 04, 2012 (8:24 am)

Replying to: kneisl1 (Jan 04, 2012 4:21 am)
I have never been to Yarisowners.com, no. I will have to check it out!
 
As for cruise, the 2012 SE comes standard with cruise, so no need to add it. As good as the Rostra was on the last car, I wanted a car with factory cruise this time. The only thing it didn't have that I intend to add was satellite radio. For now I will continue to use my plug-n-play Sirius radio, but I want to get rid of the wires and make it tuneable through the car's stereo, so I will shop around and see what I can find.
 
And yes, I will still be able to keep tabs on my Echo, but this guy is hard on cars, so honestly my worry is not that the Echo would get to 200K miles trouble-free but that its new owner will manage to kill it before its time.
 
Oil changes are a VERY foreign concept for this guy, let alone any other type of maintenance........

#5752 of 5806 yaris world by kneisl1

Jan 04, 2012 (8:49 am)

www.yarisworld.com
 
I am bronsin

#5753 of 5806 Re: on [kneisl1] by e50e

Jan 04, 2012 (3:36 pm)

Replying to: kneisl1 (Dec 28, 2011 10:52 am)
I do research on every part. I don't just blindly hand money over. Anyway, parts for an F250 are cheaper and more common than those for an Echo. Just how it is. Also, with two alternators going right in a row, it's worth getting a warranty on the part.
 
So I guess I got the only bad one! Thanks for the confirmation...

#5754 of 5806 ppononly] by mfu

Jan 05, 2012 (1:55 am)

Replying to: nippononly (May 23, 2006 9:57 pm)
I got mine up past 110 but was scared to push the full 130. It woulda took too long and strained it too much.. but I think it could've got it!

#5755 of 5806 Re: on [kneisl1] by echofan

Jan 06, 2012 (6:57 pm)

Replying to: kneisl1 (Dec 28, 2011 10:52 am)
My experience with alternators has been that the original lasts over 10 years, but the replacements only last 3 or so. Have always bought rebuilts, which I guess is why. But now I've noticed some aftermarket ones described as "new" that are priced like rebuilt ones (~$120). What's the deal? I'm guessing they're cheapos that might not last any longer than a rebuilt. For twice that I can get a new original dealer one. Would like to go ahead & replace my 02's alternator & starter even though they're working now, just so I can do it on my own schedule & not have to do it in a parking lot somewhere.
 
But don't want to hafta do it again in 2-3 years; heck, the ones I have now might well last that much longer anyway... Anyone have any suggestions?

#5756 of 5806 suggestion by kneisl1

Jan 06, 2012 (7:13 pm)

Yes buy one of the "origional" alternators that last for 10 years out of wreck for $79.
 
3 year old wreck = 7 more years of happiness.
 
As far as replacing yours I wouldnt do it.
 
Oh wait I know.
 
Go ahead and replace them but keep them so when the replacements blow out on you, you can put the origionals back in.
 
Seriously ECHOS last FOREVER so dont mess with your good one.
 
EXCEPT for that troll guy with the cursed ECHO.
 
Dont go anywhere near his car or your might catch the badness.

#5757 of 5806 Re: ppononly] [mfu] by nippononly

Jan 07, 2012 (12:47 am)

Replying to: mfu (Jan 05, 2012 1:55 am)
LOL! Since writing that post more than five years ago I found out the governor-limited top speed of the Echo is 108 mph. So unless you defeated the governor it is likely your speedo was just exaggerating a bit when you did your speed run. But this car has a ton of guts all the way up to its top speed, that's for sure.

#5758 of 5806 Re: on [echofan] by nippononly

Jan 07, 2012 (12:56 am)

Replying to: echofan (Jan 06, 2012 6:57 pm)
By the way, the ones that the dealer sells aren't new, they are rebuilds. They are generally better rebuilds than the after market ones IMO, but they still won't last anywhere near as long as the ACTUALLY new ones (at least they were new when the car was!) in your car now.
 
Always wait until the original starter and alternator go before replacing them, they are much better than anything you can buy to replace them.

Messages Page 576 of 581

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