Faults:

Drain line from the air conditioning condenser vibrated off after driving on 40 miles of washboard road. Discovered it when water accumulated on passenger side floor. Found and reconnected it myself.

At about 125,000 miles got a check engine light. Bought a CD shop manual and a code reader. Found it was the downstream O2 sensor. Replaced it myself.

The A/C-heater defroster blower didn't work on a couple of occasions. Haven't found out why yet.

General Comments:

Great car.

Extremely reliable compared to the American cars that I had owned and driven from 1967 to 2001.

Wife and I drove it to Alaska and back over the Alaska Highway in summer of 2002. That's when the A/C condenser line came off. It was small, but there was room for our luggage and our smaller antique and souvenir/gift purchases. We averaged 37 MPG -- best was 42 MPG -- worst was 32 MPG driving 85 MPH in Montana running the A/C. People we met in Eagle, Alaska were amazed at the mileage we were getting -- gas that summer was 2.10 a gallon there in Eagle. It was a great trip and a lot of it had to do with the car.

Faults:

My little ECHO has had NO problems at all, just routine maintenance.

General Comments:

In spite of all the jokes I've heard about my little red ECHO, I laugh all the way to the gas station when I fill my tank once/month or less often. I only work part-time and don't do a lot of driving, so this is the perfect car for me. It is comfortable and fun to drive, easy to park, the stereo is great and the A/C makes life easy.

This is my 4th Toyota, and I've noticed that the bodies on these cars seem to hold up quite well compared to some other brands. I live in PA where the winter roads are constantly coated with salt, and I've had no body-work issues, and no trouble driving in snow for that matter. The trunk in my ECHO also seems to be able to hold everything I try to put in it - a very versatile car. I've had a Tercel and two Corollas, and this ECHO is my favorite Toyota by far.

Faults:

I recently bought my Toyota ECHO. When the Toyota Echo first came out, I thought it was funny looking. I still think the exterior is a little funny looking, but I like it.

I love the interior. Lots of space and storage. Seat covers were definitely hard to fit. The seat covers fit alright for the front, and for the back seat I ended up just getting a fur blanket.

I believe I got a good deal on my ECHO. I bought it for $3450.00 (CD) plus taxes, AS IS. It needed a donut gasket, a rear pipe gasket, a front right wheel bearing, four new tires and new wipers. A total of $600.00.

The only thing now is there is a noise, like air escaping from a balloon, when I step on the gas. I only really notice it when I'm going slow.

The other thing is, I'm only getting 22 mpg (city driving). I thought this was high. And after reading other people's postings, they said they get at least 34 mpg (city driving). If anyone has an answer or suggestion for either of these problems. I would sure love a posting from you!