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hi. we are after a small runabout as a second car and don't have a lot of money to spend. We're looking at a toyota vitz 1999 (also known as an echo). it's done 160,000 kms and has a 1000cc engine. what are the common things to watch out for on a toyota of this age? we are planning on getting an AA check done. i'm a bit worried about the safety rating on it as we do have two preschool children... it only has the drivers side airbag. i think dual airbags were an option for this model but this one doesn't have them. can you retrofit airbags?

From a reliability perspective, the Echo/Vitz has a good reputation. However, there is always risk when buying a car of this age and mileage and obviously, the budget is such that there will have to be some compromises. Overall though, this model is less risky than most.
Regarding the airbag, we would always advise having the children travel in the back, so the lack of a passenger's airbag in the front should not be a huge problem for you.
It's not really possible to retrofit an airbag.