Previously to my Sportivo echo I had owned a Toyota Starlet and found a chance to upgrade to a slightly newer car while keeping all the positives of the starlet. These positives were Toyota build quality, fantastic fuel economy and nimbleness.
I had been browsing the web for a few months for an echo sportivo to be listed for sale that was well looked as they are quite rare and some are not well looked after. I was after the midlife update (my03) model due to its tweaked styling cues and various changes inside when compared to the initial echo sportivo. Eventually I found my one with low kilometres and extremely well looked after.
I absolutely love the exterior styling with the body kit, rear fog lights and the grey on the front and rear bars. The spoiler is subtle but adds a lot to the design without being over the top. My only complaints for the exterior styling are that the antenna on the roof is too long and so you have to be careful entering some locations and Toyota didn't bother with painted mirrors. Toyota Australia also decided not to sell them with the lowered suspension and 15 inch rims that overseas markets got in their rs/t-sport models.
Interior wise the car is solid and basic but because it is the top of the line model it has some nice touches such as interior chrome door handles, leather steering wheel and gearshift knob, sports seats (think they were designed by recaro) and the entire black interior means that it hasn't exactly aged poorly when compared to other cars of the same era that have nasty grey plastic. However there is no 'soft touch' plastic to be seen inside which would cause any modern car reviewer to cringe but it just makes it more durable easier to keep it looking good. There is about one million places inside to store your phone and wallet with many suprising locations such as storage underneath the passenger seat, split glovebox and two large cubby holes on either side of the head unit. I also recently discovered that the rear seats fold forwards to give more room in the back for moving goods which would be handy if you needed to move bulky goods. Something disappointing was that the echo comes with no clock inside but I got a modern Kenwood touch screen installed to bring it into the present day and it works fantastic with hands free calling and bluetooth. The rear seat slides forwards or backwards with rear legroom ranging from enough room for 2 small adults to not enough room for 2 year olds depending if you have the seat back or forward. I am 6 foot 2 and have no issues at all with space when driving as there is plenty of head and legroom for the driver although this leads to a downside, which is that you sit quite high in the car and the seating position is anything but sporty.
I see a lot of people on the internet that do not own an echo comment on the instrument cluster mounted in the middle of the dash and say that it would be difficult or hard to read. No its the complete opposite, I actually miss it when I drive other cars as it has some sort of trickery to make it look like your reading down a tunnel and so your eyes do not need to adjust from long distance to near distance when going from checking the speed to looking at the road. It only took me ten minutes to get used to the unique layout when I first drove the car.
The echo sportivo is sporty to drive. It will never win a race at the lights (if you're after a drag race weapon look elsewhere) but the car is extremely zippy thanks to the 1.5L engine producing around 80kws that was only available in the sportivo (also sedan models). I drive on highways to work and it has more than enough power at speed to make overtakes and cruise along without it feeling out of place. Throttle response is reasonable and the clutch is light and the power steering makes parking a breeze making this a fantastic option for first car buyers. The 5 speed manual does the job well with precise shifts and I cant fault it. It also handles well through the corners and is a lot of fun with it feeling fairly composed through twisty roads thanks to its light weight (900kg) and the upgraded firmer suspension that Toyota offered on the sportivo. The ride is firmer compared to your average shopping car but definitely not uncomfortable. I would best describe the car as a warm hatch that could easily be taken futher if you require.
Fuel economy is terrific, I use 98 fuel and get around 550-600kms out of a $55-$60 tank with highway driving. Fantastic!!
I haven't encounted a single issue since owning the car and I don't expect to for a long time to come. The engine in my car is still for sale in the brand new Toyota Yaris which shows how solid and advanced the engine was back in 2004. Maintenance such as oil filters are cheap and the car is easy to work on.
The only things I wish Toyota had done as mentioned were to provide the overseas lowered suspension and rims we missed out on and a bit more of a sporty driving position. Everything else about the car is fantastic and I cannot fault it. I can see why the (base) echo sold so well when new and Toyota did a fantastic job with them. I definitely recommend this car to anybody wanting a sporty cheap and cheerful car.