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.

Small cars in the Philippines rarely get any respect. Sometimes, even when cars such as the Echo have the right of way, some cars, including vans would cut off and violate a traffic rule just to say that huge cars rule Metro Manila.
The Echo's luggage space is pushed to the limit by bringing these paper tubes to Laguna. Although the car is short, the versatility of the hatchback enables long objects to rest from the front area all the way towards the rear-most part of the car. Try doing that on a conventional sedan...
The Echo is very economical and effective in conserving fuel. Despite having the smallest gasoline tank in our long-term fleet at 45 liters, it has the longest range at a bit more than 400 kilometers.

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