I bought a Toyota Yaris 2 weeks ago. When I bought it, the person I test drove with did not clearly explain the the functionalities of the three lower gears (L, 2, 3) aside from the D. Never mind why, the guy had some kind of disability and plus I couldn't understand his English either.
I had been a Toyota Corrolla (automatic) driver for 10 years. Then I moved to Manhattan and didn't drive for about 5 years. About 15 years ago, I used to drive a Honda Civic stick shift. The Yaris seemed to me llike a halfway stick / automatic to me.
So I started driving in gear 3, which is vertically at the same level as D. To the right is D, to the left is 3. In fact, if you don't look in the dashboard , you can't tell whether you're in D or 3. This is not incrementally vertical automatic transmission as in Corolla.
Of course you'll know from the engine revving what gear you're in. Overdrive isn't possible from 3/2/L, only from D. But what is the point of having it right next to D? I drove about 200 miles in 3, and even in 2/L at speeds ranging from 25-65, before realizing I had better be in D. You can imagine my alarm when I switched to 1 and the engine revving and the RPM zooming all the way to the red zone. I hope I didn't do any damage.
Anyone else thrown off by this and the failure of the owner's manual to clearly explain the transmission system ("engine braking").