Stopped by Servco today to pick up a $40 fuel filter for the FJ80. While I was there, I asked about the pricing for the gas struts for the liftgate and the bonnet. They are starting to get a little weak, but still have a little life left in them. Bonnet struts were about $70 each, and the liftgate ones were about $125 each! WTF?! I guess I’ll be looking for 3rd party struts if the time comes to replace them – either that get a $2 broomstick.
On my way out, I wandered through the showroom to browse the new ’08 Toyotas. They had a Yaris S 3-door with all the packages plus some TRD parts going for $19.5K! WTF?! I think a ’08 Scion xD goes for below $16K bone-stock, and that already includes most of the stuff that the add-on Yaris packages include. Granted, that particular Yaris had an A/T to drive up the price, but still… Put the TRD wheels on the xD for $2K and you’d end up still saving money and get a 1.8-liter 1ZR-FE and a couple of extra doors to boot!
The interior is well laid out. Comfy, firm seats. Tilt steering standard. The “S” 3-door gets a tachometer in the instrument cluster. Three gloveboxes! I think the JDM Vitz might also have storage bins under the front seats… The factory radio is a 2-DIN. I hope there are OEM brackets for a 1-DIN storage pocket and a 1-DIN radio. The outside mirrors are powered and fold both ways. Gas filler cap is on the correct (left) side for the USDM.
One of the salient upgrades of the “S” package is the factory body kit. It is attractive, but I don’t know if it is worth the asking price. Alternatively, one could get a non-“S” Yaris and add a Kaminari body kit later for about the same price as the “S”, but there wouldn’t be a tach. The Kaminari kit is more aggressive. One good thing about the factory kit is if a single section ever needs to be replaced, it can probably be obtained from Toyota parts ala-carte long into the future. Knowing the way things tend to work, the “S” package and factory mudguards are probably mutually exclusive…
Sexy as hell! MMMMMmmmm…