Anyone Own A Scion?

I’m curious if any of you Dopes own a Scion, whether it be Xa, Xb, Tc or Xd.
Are you happy with it?
Getting the mileage you thought you would?
Any problematic issues with it?

I own an 06 Xa (it’s tiny) and I’m mostly pleased with it, aside from a couple things.

I’m interested to see if other owners have the same issues with these cars that I have.

Thanks!

Steve

Since the OP is asking for opinions, this is better suited for IMHO.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

I don’t own one… just wanted to say that I love the tC but I can’t get one because only women buy them.

And I’m insecure.

I also have a 2006 Scion xA, and I love it. I’ve been averaging between 35 and 36 mpg for local driving. Since I only travel nine miles each way to work, I only need to fill up once every three weeks!

I do have some problems with the automatic transmission in colder weather – the car has trouble shifting into second and third gear when I first start driving. Toyota says there’s nothing wrong, but I’m not convinced. I may ask my regular mechanic to take a look at the transmission for me.

I have an xB and it is very nice. It gets 33 mpg in my driving, it has more cargo space than our Jeep Patriot, it has nice upright seats (better for my back), and Consumer Reports says it should be extremely reliable. And it is a great pleasure to drive, with an excellent view in all directions and a small maneuverable size that is amazingly easy to park. Only thing I don’t like about it is that it has an automatic transmission, but I was buying used and the manual transmissions are very hard to find. Also, the doors and hood and body have a very light and cheap feel; seems like it would be very easy to put a big dent in it just by closing something wrong. But this hasn’t happened yet, and I chose to believe the statistics about reliability rather than assume what felt cheap to my hands would necessarily fail.

I don’t have one, but I do want to say that Hallgirl1 has the TC. She loves, loves, loves it. The gas mileage is good, she says (although I don’t know the numbers) and it has an amazing amount of space inside the vehicle. Last weekend, while home, she bought an apartment sized washing maching and a portable dryer and was able to take them both home in her car! (Plus, two baskets of laundry in the front seat!).

I had a tC for 2 years (apparently I had to trade it because I am not female). Very nice car, but had a couple of cheaper parts. The rear latch broke immediately, and it took 6 weeks to get a replacement since the car had just come out and the part had to come from Japan. The stereo speaker setup is pretty cheap, as I found out when I had them replaced and the installer showed me how there was nothing behind them so most of the sound went out the back of the speaker (Toyota was too cheap to put sound dampening behind them).

But driving was nice, especially on the interstate. I wavered between the tC and the Mazda3 (which is whe I now have); the tC is much more composed on straight highway, while it’s not great on turns. Plus you get the reliable, smooth Camry base engine (the new xB also has that 2.4 engine). I got about 30 mpg on my 95% highway commute. I got rid of it because I needed a 5 door hatchback, but it’s a decent car that mostly feels more expensive than it is ($18,600 out the door) other than the above issues.

I had an '06 Xa. I liked it a lot, though I had that problem with the auto transmission shifting into second gear as mentioned upthread. I bought it in June '06 and totaled it in Feb '07. Total, total bummer.

Here’s the thread I opened about it.

Here’s a link to the pictures…

By the way, I’ve still got the Yak racks. PM me if you’re interested in buying them. They are in practically brand-new condition and obviously will clamp right on to your XA. Cost new was over $450 plus a couple hours to install. I’ll sell them for $300 (or BRO) and your installation will take three minutes. Racks include locks (with keys) and one bike rack. Sorry for the sales pitch, but I could use the $$. :slight_smile:

I was speaking to a friend yesterday who’s a parts manager at a Toyota dealership so in passing I asked him about your car and he said no major problems with them so far.

I have always wondered about the Scion line, because it seems 9to me) that you get a better-constructed, heavier vehicle for a few $100 more, in a Toyota. The model mentioned Xa0 seemed to me to be very cheaply built-with flimsy hardware and body panels. it looked like a really cheap version of a Toyota corolla- On the test drive, i noticed a lot of steering wander-and the car was very susceptible to wind gusts.
I know Toyota targeted the line to young adults, but i can’t say that i see them as comparable 9in quality) to the regular Toyota line.

I deliberated these exact points before buying the Xa (the value issues, at least). Essentially what it boiled down to was I was looking for a cheap car, and wanted the most bang for my buck. I could have spent a fraction more for the low-end of the Toyota brand, but I would have ended up without auto, air and power, which was all included in the Xa I purchased. I thought the interior finish was cheap and flimsy, but didn’t have any beef with handling (and didn’t observe the steering trouble you mention).

My whole family still misses that car, a year later. It was a very cool little buggy and my wife and I both loved driving it. The low-end Toyota I could have “stepped up to” is a really generic-looking, forgetable, zero-style ride (like my Accord). Driving ought to be fun, I think, and that Xa definitely filled the bill on the cheap.

I think Toyota did a great job on that car.

Remember that the Xa is taller than the Corolla (60.2in v. 57.5in), despite the Corolla’s greater ride height.

Its increased cross-section, in addition to the skinnier wheels and tires, are responsible for the tendency to wander and susceptibility to crosswinds.

Also, it’s based on a smaller platform than the Corolla. The tC, on the other hand, is based on the Euro-market Avensis, and drives a lot more like a Corolla- predictable, heaps of understeer when pushed hard.

Also, a lot of the flimsy trim can be attributed to the fact that the entire Scion line is supposed to be infinitely customizable - they’re designed with the expectation that a lot of buyers will opt for factory- or dealer-installed options like carbon fiber or brushed steel dash inserts, “custom” gear selectors, drilled pedals, and so on.

I have an '06 tC and I’m a guy the last time I checked. It is my commuter car. My wife has a Toyota Corolla that is her daily driver. We also have a Dodge Caravan that we use for carrying the whole family.

I like my tC a lot. I get @30 mpg and haven’t had to do anything beyond change the oil and an air filter in the 56k miles I’ve put on it. The tires will need to be replaced by the time winter rolls around and the radio will occasionally change stations if I turn the wheel all the way to one side. I wish I had gotten the spoiler though, I think that makes it look much better IMO.

I also have an xB and I think this is a perfect description.

My only complaint is that I’m used to pulling up to those concrete parking space dividers until my wheels hit them, and the Scion doesn’t have enough clearance to make that feasible. I’ve scraped the bottom about 32 jillion times so far. I do recogonize, however, that this is more about my inability to park correctly than the design of the car.

I also love that it still sparks conversation at drive-through’s and parking lots. “Zat your Scion?” “Yep!” “Do ya like it?” “Yep!”

The middle speedometer display freaked me out when I first drove her home as I hadn’t noticed it prior to driving off the lot. I got about a mile and half and panicked. “OMG THEY FORGOT TO PUT A SPE–Oh, there it is.”

I love my car. I call her “Pandora” or, if I’m feeling a bit frisky, “Shan’s box.”

Except for the roof racks, your car looks (er, looked) just like my Serenity. I’m glad you weren’t badly hurt in the accident.

The sales manager of the dealership that I used really pushed for me to customize my Scion. I was tempted to ask him if I looked like a 12-year-old boy. (“Cool! Let’s get flames painted on the doors!”)

Man, did you miss out.

My son has an xB. The only trouble he’s had concerns rocks thrown into his windshield. Like the original Chrysler minivans, the xB’s windshield is upright and quie far forward, making it very vulnerable. I’ve advised him never to drop “comp” from his insurance.

As to the transmission, most modern computer-controlled automatics stretch out the shift points when the vehicle is cold to simulate what manual shift drivers have always done to get the engine to warm up faster.

Chrysler and GM automatics completely lock out overdrive until the trans.fluid gets warm. Toyota probably does likewise.

You’ll probably see some reference to this buried deep in your owner’s manual, just as this info was pretty much buried inside the manuals of my Dodge Caravan and its Pontiac Aztek replacement.

I looked at a tC recently when I was shopping for a new car. Consumer Reports said it was a good value. I really liked the drive, but the dash/gauges were a deal breaker - they are red/orange against a silver background. I’m not color-blind, and they were almost unreadable. Bad design and potentially dangerous. (I eventually settled on an Impreza hatchback, and got a great deal.)

:smiley: I was thinking something with a little more color. Maybe red and orange. The decals have to stand out against the silver background, you know.

That’s good to know. This is my first new car (the previous two both had transmission problems), so I had no idea whether the shifting problem was normal. I’ll look through my owner’s manual and see what I can find. Thanks!

>pulling up to those concrete parking space dividers until my wheels hit them, and the Scion doesn’t have enough clearance to make that feasible

Malkavia, you are right about this one. I made a rude noise backing into a parking spot in high grass by finding a miniature Materhorn with the exhaust pipe. Maybe if it had bigger casters, this would not happen. But, it’s not as if it has caused me any trouble or inconvenience, and 99.999% of the driving I have done has been on roads.