RIP, Echo. You served your purpose as Toyota’s lowest-priced U.S. model, albeit with a design only a cartoon character could love. Guess you could say that you were never boring, but then that’s faint praise – especially compared to your replacement: the youthfully stylish and far more capable 2007 Yaris. Hatchback or sedan, the Yaris looks like a real car, where you, poor Echo, reminded us of a transformer toy gone crazed.

Ah – but enough gazing into the past. The present offers more style and function, a Yaris that simply looks more expensive than it really is while offering economy buyers an excellent value. Even the base hatchback looks great, with short overhangs, color-keyed door handles and side mirrors, and a chrome-trimmed front grille all brought together by a sharply pointed design. With the hatchback, it’s a case of form and function. The large taillights look good, and serve to enhance safety. The rear door is attractive, wide and easy to use. Inside, the Yaris hatchback has nice fabric, and almost 13 cubic feet of cargo room. Also available in the hatchback are reclining rear seats, a pretty darn nice feature in a subcompact car.

That helps to make the Yaris competitive with the similarly-priced 2007 Nissan Versa, though less than the new Honda Fit – which costs a few thousand dollars more. The rear seats of the Yaris hatchback not only recline but can also move forward and back, though you have to pay extra for all of these features. Up front, the gauges are centered, a convenient location for Toyota as the Yaris is sold worldwide, but this arrangement is similar to the oft-criticized setup in the Echo. For U.S. drivers, the center display takes some getting used to – perhaps because we’re not as used to world car design – but it’s safe to say that all drivers appreciate gauges right in front of their noses. One of the benefits of this configuration, however, is a plethora of storage compartments. The Yaris hatchback features three “glove compartments”: two on the passenger’s side and one in front of the driver, each a handy area for stowing paperwork and other materials. Audio controls are placed directly under the center instrument panel display, and below that, three large knobs control environmental settings. All are exceedingly simple and easy to use. Problems with the hatchback’s interior design include the absence of a tachometer, that odd center-mounted gauge display, and seat construction that felt less able to meet the expectations of Toyota durability.