Little Zippy (or, The IQ Review)

I've now had Little Zippy for seven months just long enough to figure out the weird controls and quirks, and long enough to give a qualified opinion on what it is like to own a sub-compact car. For those of you who missed my post on Zippy's purchase, she is a 2012 Toyota/Scion IQ. I have driven her about 6,000 miles to date.

Updates:

The toxic cleaning products they used to detail Zippy stunk for about two months during which time I wore a mask to avoid having a bad reaction. I wore very warm layers and kept the windows down alternating with hot heat to expedite the offgassing through the winter. At night I placed bowls of fresh grounded coffee and baking soda on the floors. Six months later I can sometimes still smell it very slightly if Zippy is closed up for a long period of time, but it isn't strong enough to bother me anymore. Most people probably wouldn't even notice the smell.

The Toyota dealership didn't clean the rugs at my request. They were dirty. I considered renting a carpet cleaner and using my non-toxic carpet shampoo, but the manual says not to use water. I checked with the local auto supply shop and the sales associated suggested a foam product he used with much success called Tuff Stuff. I asked if it had a smell and he said he'd never noticed one. He asked a few other guys at the counter and they agreed. I wasn't convinced. One guy took the can and offered to test it. Whew! Yeah, it stunk strong of fake lemon. They assured me it goes away fast. Yeah, right. It only costs $4,99 which is much cheaper than renting a carpet cleaner so I figured I'd test it on the removable carpets first and if it was too toxic then I'd use a carpet cleaner or store the carpets as long as needed until the smell wore off. Well, they were right. I used a mask to clean the carpets then let them dry. Then I took a damp rag and tried to wipe any excess off. Once dried, it didn't smell at all! So now I have clean carpets. Hooray!

The Scion IQ was discontinued in 2015. I was told by the Toyota sales people they weren't selling. I've had numerous people stop and ask me what kind of car I'm driving, exclaim how cute it is (of course!) and question why they've never seen such a car. When I tell them Scion IQs are no longer made, they invariably ponder, "I wonder why?" I tell them because Toyota didn't market them effectively. No one has ever heard of them! I'd never heard of them. I have only seen two other IQs in my whole corner of the USA and never any advertisements. I'm pretty sure I am the only person who owns an IQ in my town or county.

The Scion division of Toyota has been discontinued as well. I don't know why. Does that make Little Zippy a collector car?

Reasons to Buy a Cute Car Like Little Zippy:

Outstanding gas mileage. The first time I did the mileage test I got 38 miles per gallon. The second time 42 miles per gallon. At first I thought I did the math wrong so I asked. My mechanic guy said they are equipped with a "smart engine" and it will register your driving style and make adjustments for the best gas mileage. Love it!

It takes five minutes to wash the whole thing.

Incredibly fun to drive. I love the handling. Very touchy steering and brakes. I love the tight turning radius, however, since I'm constantly tempted to make a U-turn in the middle of a two lane street, this makes me a law-breaker and could end up a negative. I haven't been caught yet.

Really easy to park, especially parallel park, because it fits anywhere.

Negatives:

I will admit here this is less of a review on the car itself and more of a comparison to my van. That's probably not fair, but oh well!

It doesn't have a butt. No back end. Why is this a problem? Because when you drive in rain the tires kick up mud and the whole back is caked with dirt. This doesn't happen with a regular sized car, or it never did with any other car I've owned. It is equipped with a window washer for the back window, but I hesitate to use it with all that mud in case it scratches.

This is from one drive on a semi-dry day.

Needless to say, I wash Zippy nearly every time I drive her. I've never in my life washed a car so much! I even dry her off with towels and use toxic tire cleaner to shine up the rubber. I have become a fanatic.

Little Zippy lives in the garage which is another reason why I wash and dry her before parking her in the garage. If I don't, the garage gets dirty really fast. This has made the garage fairly useless because I'm afraid of getting dust on Zippy if I use the circular saw to cut wood or sweep. I'm afraid of getting paint on her if I paint. I'm afraid I'll drop nails or tire-puncturing sharp things if I construct or repair anything. If I do need to do any projects, I back her out onto the driveway and after finishing the project, I sweep the garage, air it out, and then drive her back in. I've also spent the last six months getting rid of garage-stored items so Little Zippy will have lots of room. It's a lot of work babying a baby car.

No cruise control. Going from a van to a mini-car judging speed was a difficult adjustment. I've only been pulled over by the police once. Although it was more like a declaration he asked me, "Do you know the speed limit is 55 and you were going 65?" I confessed, I knew the speed limit, "But isn't this car the cutest thing you've ever seen? I just bought it and it doesn't have cruise control like my other vehicle, the speedometer readings are in the wrong place unlike my other vehicle, and it's totally different than my gas-guzzling other vehicle. I am getting better at getting used to it, but isn't it the cutest car you've ever seen?" After asking me about the gas mileage and agreeing it was the cutest car he'd ever seen, he just told me to work on getting used to it. No ticket! I think he just wanted me to stop talking. I still creep over the speed limit, but I haven't been pulled over again. I don't think I'll be able to talk my way out of my next felony.

The sound system is foreign and very elaborate. I have to constantly use the manual to figure out basics. I have no idea how to work the fancy technology either, but since I don't use any, it doesn't matter.

I drive with the lights on. Why? Because I'm afraid Zippy is so small other cars won't see her. She makes me a little paranoid.

Visibility is difficult. This was the same for the Mini-Cooper so I think it's a problem for any small car. I'm used to my big van with the panoramic windows.

For some bizarre reason it takes a "special" oil that costs more. Of course. Damn Toyota.

Insurance costs four times more than the van. The van is OLD.

I won't eat in it and I only drink water. A little inconvenient, but I don't want to drop food all over her and mess up the clean carpets.

The heating and air conditioning are not comfortable. Everything is working, it just gets too hot too fast and the air conditioning doesn't seem effective. It takes forever to get going. Roll down the windows and it's too noisy. Again, my van has a huge interior and I think air space is just different.

I finally figured out how to use the locking system, but I hate if I were to lose the fancy key it would cost me nearly $250 to replace. Something wrong with that.

No interior lights. I'm spoiled. My van's interior lights come on if I open the door, automatically turn off when I start the van, have various light controls when needed, headlights that automatically come on if it gets dark or even cloudy with automatic dashboard lights, and if I get out of the van when the headlights are still on the obnoxious ding, ding, ding warning wouldn't ever let me forget to turn them off. Nothing like that in the Little Zippy. There is an overhead light that is so faint it's useless.

In my van if I leave the turn signal on, it starts beeping obnoxiously. If I leave Zippy's turn signal on, it just stays on.

No sleeping in Zippy so I'm less likely to go camping with her, besides...

Potholes, bumps or uneven roads are a nightmare. It feels like the whole car is banging apart. It's because of those tiny tires. Initially I thought those tiny tires would be cheap. Nope. They cost about four times more than new tires for my van.

I made the mistake of driving down a driveway that was overgrown with tall weeds. Little Zippy is NOT a country car. The next day something started clanging loudly. I thought the engine was falling out. I panicked and drove it to the nearest Toyota service center. They showed me the piece that had come loose. It was thin two feet by one foot rectangular piece of metal that looked like a piece of tin foil that I was told keeps the exhaust from overheating the bottom of the car. OK. He said I must have hit a rock or something. I hadn't connected the tall weed driving to the situation yet. He told me I shouldn't drive on gravel with this car. WHAT??? I asked him why it doesn't say that in the manual and why didn't the Toyota salesman tell me this? No comment. He directed me to parts and there I was told I could not replace just the 2 x 1 piece of tin foil, but I would need to buy the WHOLE BOTTOM OF THE CAR!! Whoa! The mechanic said he couldn't get me in for the repair for six weeks (!) so instead they will do what they can to re-attach the piece of tin foil so it wouldn't clang until then. Great. I went back to the parts guy to ask more questions about this expensive part. He looked at me quizzically and said on the sly, "Didn't they just fix it? So you don't need a brand new part." I think he is the only honest car dealership employee I have ever encountered. It's been four months and no need to replace anything. I also had my own mechanic look at it and they say it was repaired and stable. Still, Little Zippy is a tender, touchy thing unlike the van that can be used for back roads driving and remote camping with no problem.

Conclusion:

Now, to look at my list of pros and cons you'd think I didn't like Little Zippy. Heck no! I love this car! No, it's not a high-quality car, and yes, it is definitely cheap, but I love driving it, I love looking at it. I wanted a fun, impractical car with good gas mileage and after years of shopping I found one. It's great. For now.