What We Drove

Toyota loaned us an Absolutely Red 2007 Yaris Hatchback with a $15,640 sticker price, including the $580 destination charge. Admittedly, that sum caused jaws to drop, but our test sample was a fully-loaded model with a Power Package, upgraded audio, alloy wheels, ABS, side-impact and side-curtain airbags, remote keyless entry, a rear spoiler, and carpeted floor mats – in other words, a whole bunch of stuff economy car buyers don’t really need. According to Toyota’s website, it’s possible to get a Yaris Hatchback for as little as $11,770 and well equipped (without the safety add-ons) for less than $14,500. We put hundreds of miles on this little bugger, a mix of city, highway, and twisty road driving that clearly revealed the Yaris’s preference for urban point-and-shoot travel over open road cruising.