[WikiEN-l] Some Wikipedian misinformation got temporarily lodged in my brain

Thu Jun 9 21:50:36 UTC 2005

I own a 2000 Echo, and its a great car, btw. 

Jack (Sam Spade)

On 6/9/05, dpbsmith at verizon.net <dpbsmith at verizon.net> wrote:
> This is NOT a big deal, but it occurred to me that I should mention it.
> 
> My car had about 140,000 miles on it and I was about ready for a new one. I
> like Toyotas and I wanted good mileage, and I checked Consumer Reports and,
> for me, the choice sort of came down to a $14,000 Echo or a $22,000 Prius. A
> colleague at work owns _two_ Echoes and likes them.
> 
> But... I had recently run across this item in Wikipedia:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
> title=List_of_commercial_failures&oldid=12519168
> 
> "List of commercial failures: Toyota Echo - Sales of the US version of the
> Yaris subcompact car fell from 50,000 in 2000 to just 3400 in 2004. Sales in
> Canada of both the sedan and hatchback versions remain strong." The
> referenced article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Vitz , says:
> 
> "The initial year of almost 50,000 sales was promising, but after the Echo
> sold just half that many for 2003, the product was no longer stocked at
> dealerships. Sales for much of 2004 have reached just 3,593, with another
> year of production left before the product is replaced."
> 
> So... I crossed the Echo off my mental list.
> 
> I remember my wife saying to me at one point "Weren't you thinking about the
> Echo" and replying "Well, I was, but I guess it was a big flop and is
> probably not even available this year."
> 
> As I started to get more serious about the car-shopping process I did a
> little more checking.
> 
> As nearly as I can tell, that statement is just plain wrong. Consumer Reports
> said nothing about the product being replaced. As of 2005 a local Toyota
> dealer had them in stock, and other dealers were advertising them. There were
> no firesale prices to get rid of them. There is a 2005 Toyota Echo website at
> www.toyota.com/echo/ and a review at http://cars.about.com/od/2001/fr/
> 05_echo_tst.htm that gives no hint of it being replaced or not stocked.
> 
> I removed the item from the Flops article and left a query on the talk page,
> so far unanswered. (I suppose I should do something in the Toyota Vitz
> article too).
> 
> I'm 99% sure it's misinformation. (Possibly a result of confusion between the
> sedan and hatchback models?)
> 
> It's not like it ruined my life or even affected my buying decision. Hey, it
> was really the Prius I wanted, anyway. Having the Echo still available just
> meant I needed to work harder to find a rationalization for the Prius.
> 
> But it does give me pause to realize that a little tidbit of Wikipedian
> misinformation actually got past my BS filter and lodged itself in my brain,
> even if only briefly.
> 
> How many bits of Wikipedian misinformation have gotten past my BS filter and
> _stuck,_ I wonder?
> 
> Oh, well, in my life I'm sure I've absorbed quite a bit of misinformation
> (it's dangerous to go swimming for thirty minutes after you eat... you need
> to drink 64 ounces of water every day... suntans are healthy... the
> continents don't drift...). A little bit more can't hurt.
> 
> 
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