Hard to believe only a few short months ago I was talking about how safe the Toyota Yaris was going to be for the US market.  This little toy car was supposed to set records for safety and protection of it's drivers, despite it's small size.  Well, apparently the experts found out otherwise and now Toyota is facing a large recall of the Yaris.

According to reports a foam pad near the seat belt could ignite during collisions.  Sounds interesting, considering anything that's flammable has the ability to ignite in any type of friction collision.  So to me, sounds a little suspicious, but I'm the type of person who believes in conspiracy theory.  Hopefully Toyota will get the Yaris back on the road and selling to start improving sales figures going into 09.

A Toyota Prius starts at $22,000 and a yaras 5 door starts at $14,200 for a difference of $7,800 how long will it take to save gas enought to pay for the difference? We look at the lowest gas prices in several different states and cam up with a average cost of $3.50 a gallon. If gas prices stay the same for the next 5 years here is what it will cost for 10,000 15,000 and 20,000 miles a year

• 34 MPG average for the Yaris 50 MPG average for the Prius that what I get in my 06 Prius
• 10,000 294 Gallons a year for the Yaris and 200 Gallons for the Prius = 1029 for the Yaris and $700 a year for the Prius a $329 savings a year
• 15,000 miles a year $1543.5 Yaris and $1050 for Prius saving $496.50 a year with the Prius
• 20,000 miles a year 588 Gallons a year $2058 Yaris and 400 Gallons a year $1400 Prius $658 savings a year

So lets look at 5 years at 20,000 miles a year $3280 in total savings 10 years $6560 but what if gas raises 50 cents a year your gas cost would rise about 100 each year. 5 years would become 4280 and 10 years would become $11,060 in the case you would save a few thousand so buying a Prius is only a good deal if gas prices continue to rise and you drive $20,000 miles a year

It's cute, it's cuddly, and up until now if you got hit in the side by a shopping cart you would probably have been killed.  But the all new 2009 Toyota Yaris will start offering side airbags as standard equipment.  This was no doubt a much needed safety addition to the ever growing small car market that surely others will follow suit soon.

According to Toyota and IIHS tests the Yaris ranked the lowest possible score for side impact ratings, but with the side air bags ranked in the highest category.