The days of the cheap and cheerful kiddie cab, the budget-friendly runabout, the bare-bones grocery getter…well, they are nearly done.

That reality slapped me in the head as I took the measure of a brilliant blue 2016 Toyota Yaris sedan with an as-equipped price of $19,861.67, fees, freight, prep and automatic gearbox included.

The number still staggers me. To finance such a car, taking advantage of Toyota’s offer of 0.49% financing, the monthly payment comes to about $470 for 48 months, taxes and the rest.

Nice as it is – and this little car is quite pleasant — that’s a pile of cash for a small commuter car with a 1.5-litre engine (106 horsepower), air conditioning, cloth seats (heated up front) a decent sound system and Bluetooth capability. The performance here is uninspiring but thrifty (7.2 litres/100 km city, 5.6 highway using regular).

Now the danger with a car like this is not that it lacks crashworthiness (it’s a Top Safety Pick+ by the IIHS or Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), but rather the entire package is so ho-hum, so tedious, so ennui-inducing, it might put you to sleep. At least there is comfort in the knowledge that your Yaris surely will run and run and run, causing you no headaches for a decade and a half.

But my bigger point is this: Toyota no longer offers a truly cheap car – cheap in the best sense. The Yaris starts at nearly $15,000.

If you’re really a penny-pincher, your first and best new-car option is the $9,988 version of the Nissan Micra, a four-door hatch with a five-speed manual gearbox and all the charm of a toaster oven – despite Nissan’s best efforts to sex-up the Micra by sponsoring the Micra Cup racing series.

(For the uninitiated, the Micra Cub is a series for giddy, usually aging, wannabe-racers. They compete in 109-horsepower econoboxes and it can even get dangerous.)

Perhaps someone has bought a $9,988 Micra, but that would be an achievement. If just go for the automatic transmission option, you’re required to put it in a package of extras that comes to $3,460 (including floor mats, cruise control, silver accents, a tank of gas and floor mats). With freight, you’re up to $15,000 just like that.

The Yaris sedan is a quieter, more refined subcompact than the even smaller Micra. If you not an enthusiast and you have little experience comparing a Yaris to a Micra or to a Hyundai Accent or Ford Fiesta – if all you want is the automotive equivalent of a refrigerator — then a Yaris loaded up like my tester will almost certainly feel rich and sophisticated.

I was happy enough tooling about in my Yaris, and was thrilled when it came time to fill up. For the price of a couple of Starbuck’s lattes, you can zip about the city for a week. Yes, the electric steering is numb and if you take a corner too swiftly you’ll feel the roll and lean – the product of a very bare-bones suspension.

But the person who buys a Yaris really wants Toyota reliability, airbags, child seat anchor points, a USB input and electronic driving nannies – stability control, anti—lock braking, traction control and such. All that was standard on my $20,000 tester, plus power windows, door locks, side mirrors and the like.

Exciting? No. Sensible? Certainly.

2016 TOYOTA YARIS SEDAN 6AT

THE LOOK:  Quite nice. The proportions are good and there is just enough detailing to catch the eye.

THE DRIVE: Uninspiring, unless you get really worked up about excellent fuel economy.

THE NUTS AND BOLTS: Toyota loads up the Yaris with the kind of safety and convenience gear buyers of this sort of car want.

THE CABIN/STORAGE: Four adults can fit comfortably inside and the rear bench folds flat 60/40.

THE BRAND: Bulletproof.

WHY BUYS? People who want a reliable and safe transportation appliance.

Base price: $18,200. As equipped: $19,861.97.

Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (106 horsepower, 103 lb-ft of torque).

Drive: front-wheel.

Transmission: six-speed automatic.

Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 7.2 city/5.6 highway using regular fuel.

Comparables: Ford Fiesta, Nissan Micra, Nissan Versa Note (hatchback), Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Chevrolet Spark, Mitsubishi Mirage, Fiat 500.