Below Expectations: Toyota Echo (2001)

A few months ago, I rambled about how poor dealers and service centers are in the Philippines. I un-regrettably mentioned several of them, whom I considered to be the worse of the worst. Then, I said something about Toyota and how their service seemed to be a bit better compared to these guys, judging on the Echo’s long-term introduction. I wanted them to prove me wrong on service imbecility and downright stupidity of dealers in this country. Alas, they have failed miserably—now I have added Toyota Otis to the list of automotive dealer lowlifes.

The thing I hate about service centers here is that you pay them a huge amount of money…you trust their reputation and their supposedly-Japanese quality training—and what do you end up with? People with the same IQ as Pee Wee Herman! I maybe exaggerating a bit, but our experiences with the Toyota Echo seem to prove my point. I’ll go back to awful service centers later, but first I’ll give a run down on my performance evaluation of the Echo thus far…

It’s been 5,038 kilometers since we introduced our Toyota Echo as part of our long-term test fleet. Our initial observations on the Echo have dramatically changed in the past couple of months, as this car has become a mixture of good news, bad news and downright ugly news. As always, it’s best to start of with the positive stuff…

The great news is that, the Echo is still one little road rocket. Even in four-speed automatic guise, this little egg, as we affectionally call it, proves that with the correct gearing, even an 85-bhp engine will produce wonders. Though I can’t boast that it has won all the street light battles it has gone through, I could pretty much say that it cruises remarkably well. The excellent mid-range torque, a characteristic of Toyota engines, plus the lightweight body (900-kilograms in automatic guise) makes this hatchback great for stop-and-go Manila traffic.

Fuel economy is also remarkable for an automatic car: returning an average of 12.3 kilometers per liter, the Echo easily beats our long-term manual Honda City LXi by three kilometers per liter!

More praises in the steering and handling departments as well. Though the steering feels a bit over boosted, it is precise and accurate. The Echo feels very maneuverable; especially in tight traffic jams and Galleria parking lots.

The dinky size of the Echo may prove to be its biggest letdown as well, and no, we don’t mean because it lacks interior space or practicality. It seems that other cars, especially big, large ones don’t give any credit to the avant-garde Echo. It is often the subject of road challenges or futile (and stupid) overtaking just because they THINK it’s small and therefore it’s slow. Of course, this hastily generalization is easily overseen when by just flooring the Echo’s throttle, it leaves other cars biting the dust.

The cute-as-buttons styling of the Echo’s interior is great to uplift a boring day at the office. The mere sight of the funky dashboard and center-mounted instruments seem to dictate that the only music fitting for the Echo’s CD player would be M2M: cute and cuddly. The seating position is more than adequate for front passengers especially because of the pushed-up dash design and the huge legroom it provides.

Sadly, the execution of the design is annoying—being a 650,000 car, it doesn’t have any semblance of class having acres of hard plastics and semi-fabric seats to boot! Moreover, nifty touches such as a glove box light and map lights could have added some practicality, but alas, Toyota decided to go basic.

Comfort during short city driving seems to be okay, but the firm ride, due to the fact that the cabin sits directly on top of the suspension system, means that whoever rides in the rear will suffer through spinal shocks every now and then. In fact, the rear bench lacks any kind of back support whatsoever, giving the rear passengers a stiff neck during a long-haul trip (believe me—it has already happened).

The stiffness of the ride seems to affect something more than just the passengers: the dashboard. Even if this car has traveled for less than six thousand kilometers, the dash is beginning to show some degrees of squeaks and rattles. Although quick service stops at Toyota did cure an ounce of dashboard and air conditioning noises, it keeps on coming back after a few thousand kilometers or so after the last repair job.

According to Toyota, the rattling is caused by the dashboard mountings getting misaligned—it’s great when they get re-aligned for free during the warranty period, but things could get bloody during the car’s latter life.

The tint also showed considerable amount of scratches, specially the side windows. We’ve managed to complain to Toyota regarding the problem as well, and their answer seems to provide a riddle harder than what the sphinx could throw at those Egyptians—the Echo lacked a felt lining the windows that prevents tint scratching. They said that they are willing to add this missing lining and replace the tint as well, unsurprisingly six months later and they forgot all about the felt (is Peewee Herman listening?)

The transmission shock (the shock caused by shifting an automatic from neutral to drive or reverse) seems to be more pronounced lately. In fact, in some cases, it becomes unbearable. Again, a quick stop at the service center cured the problem—but only temporarily.

The air conditioning unit, provided excellent power to overcome midday Manila heat. Unfortunately, it started to sound like a vintage Tora-Tora from World War II: the fan emits an awful mechanical noise (not to mention a fart-like smell) whenever the fan speed is set at the highest. It’s a shame because you’d have a choice of listening to Don’t Say You Love Me inside a Pan-Am DC3 or melt in the summer heat. Again, the problem was fixed by Toyota, and so far, it hasn’t returned since.

Okay, now for the really bad news—Toyota service. During the course of the Echo’s 5,000-plus kilometer trek to date, it was smashed twice (first, because of squatters who threw bricks at the car; and second due to a late-breaking Nissan Sentra). The first occasion proved to be the worse of the two, requiring a change for the front and rear windshields, the hood, the tailgate, the right-hand headlamp as well as some dents on the driver’s door.

We knew it would take a while for this egg to be patched up, but what we didn’t know is that the cause of the delay was something that’s completely absurd: in-house insurance and parts delivery. The first delay is actually what irritated us the most. The reason for the Echo’s long delay in repairs was because the first week was spent on hunting down and calculating and re-calculating the cost of the car’s repairs. What’s so stupid here is that the insurance company is an in-house agency at Toyota Otis, which you are FORCED to get (or else you won’t get the car).

The insurance fiasco took four days to fix, and was hard to follow up. There were several delays in signing of paperwork mainly because the insurance people played hard to get. All the more, this in-house agency is making us pay the month dues for this long-term vehicle for a rate that’s almost double that of the insurance for the Honda Accord VTi-L but the price is half that.

Once the messy paperwork was all done, the next stage proved to be a problem as well: the parts delivery. There was a huge amount of mis-coordination on both the side of Toyota Otis and the Toyota plant. It took two weeks to get the front and rear windshield in place, mainly because the parts had to be shipped all the way from Japan. Although the perfect excuse who have to be that the Echo is a CBU unit; so it really takes a while for parts to get here. Then again, since Toyota Motors Philippines is not a gray importer along Ortigas Avenue, it makes more sense for them to be prepared and have stock of parts that often need replacement in accidents.

Right after the front and rear windshields were in place, the Echo was drivable, but the repairs weren’t complete. The dash had to be replaced and the rear hatch still lacked the Toyota emblem—replacing these would take over a month then, said the technician, so we drove home the Echo half-baked.

The moment we got hold of the Echo, we began to notice the poor workmanship of the tinsmith and painters over at Toyota Otis. The repainted areas were all rough and uneven, not to mention the rear hatch still had dents that wasn’t repaired. Clearly, it was an haphazard job.

It’s now April, and unfortunately, they still haven’t got everything one hundred percent right. Though the paint has been smoothened-up and the hatch properly aligned, the Toyota emblem and the dashboard replacements are still nowhere to be found. The excuse given to us by the body repair supervisor? The plant ordered the wrong dashboard—they ordered the Echo Verso dash instead of the hatchback’s.

Though we could have done mileage on our test unit, the long downtime due to the Echo’s repair caused us to wait a bit longer before enjoying this city car. It is a great shame to see a good car like this spoiled by service personnel with the intelligence of Forrest Gump and a head as thick as King Arthur’s breastplate. So far, the so-called Toyota service that we’ve heard from satisfied people in the US and UK are pretty dismal here.

The thought of owning an Echo is getting dimmer as well with the raising of Toyota’s prices and the introduction of the new Honda Civic. For 654,000 pesos, the Echo city car pales in comparison to the better deal manual Honda Civic LXi for 685,000. The egg could probably hold off if the parts inventory and retraining for their employees could be fixed. Probably service is where Toyota could hold off on its own.

Unfortunately, Honda seems to be going on the right track, our long-term Accord has proven very reliable, the parts easily available and the service at Honda Quezon Avenue very dependable. Toyota has to act fast, or they’d remain a distant Echo of the competition.

By Ulysses Ang | Photos By Ulysses Ang and Jason Ang