Test Drive of Toyota Vios 1.5 G

A couple of weeks back I got a phone call from my Brod, Gerry Crudo, asking me if I was interested in test driving a Toyota Vios.  I said I was okay with it.  A few days later, Gerry's friend, Albert of Dentsu Asia, called me up about the proposal.

Apparently, Dentsu is one of the PR firms of Toyota and they were doing a feature on the fuel economy of the Toyota Vios.  Their target were actual Vios owners.  Since I was one, they got me for the "gov't officials" bracket.  Hehehe, I guess nahirapan silang maghanap ng gov't official na nag-da-drive ng economy car like the Vios.

My Vios is a 2005 1.3 model.  At the time I was shopping for cars, my eyes were on the Mazda 3 coz' ang ganda ng porma.  Unfortunately, it was outside my budget.  Yung pasok naman sa budget ko was the Vios, the Kia Picanto or a surplus 2-door Pajero.  The Kia was cute but too small.  And I didn't want to buy a second-hand car as my first real car.  So, the Vios it was.  And I have no regrets with my purchase.  It gets me around from point A to B.  It has a radio, an aircon and power-steering.  And it was very fuel efficient.  Solve!

Last July 25, Albert, together with his colleagues Hazel and Jek, delivered to me a 2007 1.5G Vios.  I think it's the top-of-the-line ng Vios.  And they lent it to me for a week.  Here's how I used it:

JULY 27

I drove up north to Laoag, Ilocos Norte.  Along the way I stopped over at Manaoag, Pangasinan, to attend the 3rd Leaders' Forum of the UP Bannuar.

Here I am walking to the multi-purpose hall of Pyramid of Asia resort, the venue of the seminar.  I spoke about Youth Participation on Governance.  Thanks, UP Bannuar, for inviting me.

Afterwards, I went to Dagupan, still in Pangasinan, to have late lunch with my college friend, Me-Ann, her husband Rex and their son Argee.  Thanks for the delicious seafood, Me-ann and Rex!  Nabusog ako.

Then my niece, Rose, and I proceeded to our destination.  The car is fast, compared to mine.  Naka-160 kph ako sa NLEX, samantalang sa Vios ko 120 kph nanginginig na.  It's more spacious too as there was ample legroom sa rear seats.

Electronic and power everything.  dashboard, steering wheel, windows and side mirrors.  My only concern in the cockpit area is where's the ashtray?

The new Vios is also fuel efficient.  Full tank cost about 2,000 pesos (at P60/liter).  Pagdating namin sa Laoag, may laman pa yung tanke.  The odometer also said fuel economy was at 16km/l.  Not baaaad...

JULY 28

It was raining.  I drove myself to the Capitol.  Here I am leaving the ancestral house.

And here I am walking to the Capitol building.

This is me on my desk.  I am reading the day's agenda.  Obviously, I'm early.

The session didn't take long.  It was the Vice-Governor's birthday and may pakain siya.  Here I am loading my things para makauwi na ako.

JULY 29

I drove over to Sarrat to deliver 3 knapsack sprayers for Brgy. San Agustin.  These come from my Barangay Development Fund and will be used by farmers to distribute fertilizer and/or pesticide.

JULY 30

Same sh*t, different day.  After a day's work I'm getting ready to go home.

That night, the car travelled back to Manila.  Back and forth, it covered 1,140 kilometers.  I returned the car to Albert and Hazel on August 1.  Thanks, for letting me test drive it, guys!

Over-all, the new Toyota Vios 1.5 G is a cool and affordable car for yuppies like me.  Reasonable price, fuel efficient and nice looking.

If there was a problem with this particular model it's that the clutch was too high and medyo matigas.  Other than that I give it a score of 9.5 out of 10.