A brief history of me and cars

I really like cars. It doesn’t matter if it’s an old car, a modern car, a sports car, or a basic car — I like cars in general. I believe that all cars serve purpose, and if a car is solving someone’s problem, than it’s a good car.

With that said, I have had a few cars in my life: an old Civic, an old Accord (which is the car I owned the longest), a Fiat Palio, and Chevrolet Vectra (also known as Opel Astra H in europe), to name a few. The last car i had before my current one was a Chevrolet Celta. If you are from Argentina, you may know this model as the Suzuki Fun.

Don’t get me wrong — it’s a great car: extremely reliable, with cheap parts and good gas mileage. However, it was a product made for developing countries like Brazil, so there was nothing luxurious about it. It was built on the same chassis as the Opel Corsa B, a car that was debuted in 1993. It had a 1.0-liter engine and a manual transmission, and the interior was very simple. Luckily, my car as least had air conditioner, power steering, ABS, and airbags. Although air conditioner and power steering were optional, airbags and ABS became mandatory for cars produced in Brazil after 2014.

Looking for a new car

So, i started looking for a newer car for myself. These were my prerequisites, ranked from the most to least important:

• Cost around R$60k (approximately USD 10k)
• Reliability
• Automatic transmission
• Good gas mileage
• Newer than my Chevrolet Celta

First, i searched the internet for a car, but I wasn’t finding anything interesting. All de midsize sedans (by Brazil standards—considered compact sedans in the US) were very old. For instance, a 2012 basic Toyota Corolla costs around R$60K, which is very expensive. A 2012 Honda Civic is priced similarly. You can find a much newer french midsize sedan, like de Citroën C4 Pallas or the Peugeot 408, but these cars are not known for their reliability.

Then, I start looking for a compact car (which, in the US, is considered a subcompact), like the the Honda City, Toyota Yaris, and the Chevrolet Onix, However, all of them were either too expensive for my budget or older than I was looking for. Especially when considering models with an automatic transmission.

Then, there is a category of cars that I don’t believe exists in the US, as they are even smaller than a subcompact car by US standards. Here in Brazil we called this type of car a subcompact, and it is more common in Europe. In Brazil we have some examples, include the Volkswagen UP, Nissan March, Kia Picanto, Fiat Mobi, and Toyota Etios.

Since i don’t have children, don’t travel much and just want a car that works when I need it, this type of car would suit my needs. Among the examples above, the only ones with an automatic transmission are the March, Picanto and Etios.

The VW UP is a car that i would consider—it’s compact, somewhat charming, and has a 1.0 turbo engine with a good power-to-weight ratio. However, it’s only avaliable with either a manual or a single-clutch transmission. And although I wouldn’t need to shift gears myself with the single-clutch option, this type of transmission has a bad reputation in Brazil—not just in Volkswagen cars, but across all automakers that offer it.

I don’t really like the design of the Picanto and March so i opted for the Toyota Etios.

One day, while walking through a local used car convention—where people go to sell their own cars (I’m not sure if this type of event has a specific name in english)—I saw a 2017 Toyota Etios automatic for sale at R$62k. The only thing was that it was a “cross” model, which is why it was those plastic cladding parts around the car.

It was a one-owner car, previously owned by a Toyota salesman, and almost all of its maintenance had been done at a Toyota dealership, the owner agreed to take my Celta as part of the payment, so i bought the car.

First impressions

Driving the car for the first time was a great experience overall. Coming from a Celta, the Etios felt like a significant upgrade. The seats are pretty nice—not as comfortable as those in a Toyota Corolla, but still very good. Plus, they are leather, which is uncommon in entry-level cars.

The automatic transmission is also great. It has only four gears, but when paired with the 1.5-liter engine, it is more than capable of handling the car’s 935 kg (2061 lbs) weight.

Positive points:

I really like all the optionals features this car has. The Etios Cross is equivalent to the Etios XLS. In the lineup, there was the entry level Etios X, the mid-level Etios XS, the mid-to-high-end Etios XLS, and finally, the high-end Etios Platinum. So, the Etios Cross comes with many features that the basic version don’t have, such as the previously mentioned leather seats.

Here are the features that come with the Etios Cross:

Standard in all versions:

• Onboard computer
• Power steering
• Air conditioning
• Power windows
• Central locking system

Etios XS:

• Bluetooth stereo
• Cruise control (only when paring with an automatic transmission)
• Audio controls in the steering wheel
• Chrome interior details

Etios XLS:

• Touchscreen stereo with bluetooth (more on that later)
• Fog lights
• 15-inch alloy wheels
• Letter steering wheel and letter seats
• Side mirrors with integrated turn signals

Etios Cross:

• All the features from the other versions
• An “off-road” look
• A roof rack

As you can see, the Etios Cross has a lot o optional features for an entry-level car. I really like its appearance—it’s small and quirky, somewhat like a 1990s Renault Twingo of the 2010s. The center dashboard is also very similar to the Twingo’s.

Negative points

But it’s not all perfect with the Etios. There are some aspects I didn’t really like about the car—nothing that makes me regret my purchase, but things that still irritate me at times.

Here are some things that I didn’t like about the car:

Opening the trunk

There is a button on the trunk of the car that opens it electronically, which is much better then having to open it with a key like i did with the Celta. However, something that irritates me is that when i press the button, the trunk doesn’t open automatically. I have to press the button with one hand and then lift the trunk with the other hand. If I press the button and then try to open it, the trunk won’t open. this is a very poor design.

As you can see in the image above, the Etios only has a button to open the trunk. In the VW Up, for example, the button is there too, but it has also has a handle you can grab with the same hand to open the trunk. However, this is a problem that only Etios Hatch owners will face, because the sedan model has a lever inside the vehicle that that the driver can pull to open the trunk.

The touchscreen Stereo

One of the worst things about this car is the radio. It has Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port to plug in a flash drive, and an HDMI port—but nothing else. It doesn’t have TV, Apple CarPlay, or Android Auto, and it doesn’t even have physical volume buttons. To adjust the volume, you have to press the up or down buttons on the steering wheel or go into the “settings” screen on the display and adjust the volume from there. It has a volume icon when listen to a song, but it is only for adjusting the equalizer.

The HDMI port does not mirror your phone’s screen. On my Samsung phone, it sort of opens Samsung DeX,but the resolution is all over the place. I haven’t tested it with an iPhone, but i don’t have much hope that it would work either. So, i only use the radio via bluetooth.

Honestly, I would rather have a regular stereo without a touchscreen—ate least then I’d have physical volume buttons.

Other Minor Inconveniences

• When I turn on the lights, the instrument cluster gets dimmer to be easily visible at night. But when it’s day, I can’t see anything because it is too dark.
• Cruise control works well only on flat highways. When driving through hills, the RPM fluctuates a lot.
• The car doesn’t automatically lock the doors when i start driving; i have to manually press the lock button to secure all the doors.
• There’s an annoying beep when I’m not wearing a seat belt. I get it—it’s for safety—but sometimes i just want to drive to the gym near my house. And when it’s time to drive back home, I don’t wanna wear the seat belt because my back hurts from training (which proves that the car has a sensor detecting when I’m moving, but instead of using it to lock the doors, it only triggers the seat belt warning).
• Wind noise is very loud when driving on the highway.

Do I recommend the 2017 Toyota Etios?

Absolutely! It’s a great car, perfect for those who want a vehicle that just works—much like a 1984 two-door Civic. However, the optional features on the Etios Cross aren’t that important to me. If I were to buy the Etios again, I’d prefer a newer Etios X with an automatic transmission, the standard radio without a touchscreen is essentially the same as the one with a screen, and I don’t really like letter seats—cloth seat works just fine for me, but of course, without the extra features. So, it is up to you to decide which option is better.

I’d also consider getting the sedan instead of the hatchback, as the trunk does not have much space.

Thats it! I hope you enjoyed my post about my car, I don’t plan on selling it anytime soon—it’s such a good car that I want to keep it forever. But let’s see what the future holds.

See ya!