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.

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