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

[dpbsmith at verizon.net]

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.