2001 Toyota ECHO review from North America
"The Echo is the best car I've owned in 40 years of car ownership"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
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.
Recommended reviews
| The Smartest Car of 2007 |
|
| As close to perfect as you could ask |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Model year | 2001 |
| Year of manufacture | 1999 |
| First year of ownership | 2001 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2007 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.5L Automatic |
| Performance marks | 9 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 10 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 8 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 10 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 0 miles |
| Most recent distance | 135000 miles |
| Previous car | Dodge Neon |
| Date of Entry | 3rd November, 2007 |