2004 Toyota ECHO review from North America

My wife and I purchased our first Toyota ever and wow are we ever disappointed.

When we first purchased it we had problems: the fan cable breaking and a part in the front end. Most recently though, and the reason I am writing to you, our brakes wore out.

According to almost all other Toyota drives of other models, theirs last at least to 110,000. When we went to the local Toyota dealer in Prince George with a brake light blinking, they said it could not be the brakes, proceeded to top up the brake fluid and sent my family and I back onto the road with the advise to come back to them and book an appointment if the problem persists.

We went to a brake shop for a second opinion as out families lives are obviously more value to me then Toyota. The brake pads were as thick as a $5 bill. We immediately made an appointment with the brake shop and had them replaced the next morning.

When we brought the proof back to the service people they claimed they could not have known and they were not to blame, would not even give a sorry. Same with the service manager, and the sales manager (whose daughter was the day before person that said we would be fine).

My wife and I feel obligated to let the public know that the brakes go, according to 8 other Echo owners between 50,000 and 64,000 km unlike an other traditional Toyota, so please get them checked independently, not at your dealer.

They don't seem to care about your families safety and apparently, neither does Toyota by putting weak brakes in the Echo.