David Linklater.

Baby SUV has plenty of extras, but it’s missing some work on the basics, says

It’s hard to imagine now, but back in the 1990s superminisized cars were a dull, unappealing lot. Cheap boxes for city and fleet driving, nothing more.

One of the cars that really changed that was the Toyota Echo, launched in NZ in 1999 to replace the Starlet. It was really the first supermini that looked and felt like a truly desirable product.

There was a cool Kiwiproduced television advertisement (remember when people watched TV? Sooo-1990s) portraying the Echo as the Pied Piper, but Toyota NZ also offered an incredible array of very distinctive accessories for its small-car star. You could customise away with contrasting spoilers, exterior trim elements and bright interior colours. And people did.

TNZ would like to think of the new C-HR as today’s Echo. After all, SUVS are the new hatchbacks, it certainly looks striking and it is available with a massive catalogue of Echo-style accessories – most of which are reasonably priced, meaning you can go crazy ticking boxes without racking up a huge bill.

Our test car pictured here wears everything from $243 mirror covers to $2232 machined alloy wheels. Ten individual items in total, totalling $5279.

But there are a couple of problems with the C-HR’S supposed game-changing status. First, Toyota is really late to the party with C-HR, so it’s following rather than leading. There are already plenty of fashion-forward baby-suvs to choose from, including the acclaimed Mazda CX-3 and Honda HR-V (a car with which the C-HR seems to share a few styling cues).