I drove a xA and xB today. Both of them are ugly, but I prefer the xB, because it seems like the xA was, at least half-heartedly, meant to be cute.
Anyway, the last thread I found on this was about 4 months old, with 1 relevant reply. I figure a few more people have bought or considered them since then.
If you have one, how do you feel about it? Any weird ergonomics/design issues we should know about that don’t crop up until you’ve had the car for a while? Maintenance issues?
If you considered buying one, but decided against it, what were some factors in your decision?
There’s also the tC.
It doesn’t seem to be as hideous.
We bought ours (xB) a couple of weeks ago, and we like it so far. Obviously too soon to tell what maintenance issues may arise, though we’ve noticed here in south-central TX the a/c isn’t quite as heavy-duty as we’d like (of course, the standard black interior doesn’t help). As far as engine power, it feels a lot like my old Ford Escort hatchback, but you get used to the limitations.
The interior design is pretty well-thought out. Excellent visibility and the seating is very comfortable for me (5’2" tall), but the seats are a little narrow for my 6’3", 250 pound husband (plenty of headroom!). Very little wasted space, lots of storage in unexpected places, though the cup holders are a little low. We can fit two carseats in the backseat with no problems, but there’s not enough cargo space for a big trip to the grocery store. Bottom line, it’s a great vehicle for commuting or in-town driving, but probably not a great choice if you do lots of highway driving or need to haul around kids and lots of stuff at the same time.
My problem? Yeah I have a big one. :rolleyes: Toyots is stopping imports of the cool-but-underappreciated Celica sportscar so that scion can sell another generic-cookiecutter-saturn renamed the tc at your local dealer :smack: . (Though maybe they’ll bring the next generation Supra here 
)
Otherwise, no, I’d trust them they come from good people.
The most recent Consumer Reports reviewed both the xA and the xB. I believe they gave a postive recommendation to the xB, but acknowledged that it had some limitations. They were less positive about the xA and didn’t recommend it.
I test-drove an xB today. It’s very cute, and I like the features, but the inside feels really sparse in comparison to my current vehicle. I wouldn’t consider buying one without cruise control, which I understand can be added on. I would also prefer a moonroof which I understand is also possible, but pricey.
One thing that does make me wonder is the cargo room. I could see getting a good number of grocery bags across that space and piled on top of one another, but the cargo net – at $50 – becomes necessary, at that point. I was pleased when my husband was able to get into the backseat, sit there and them climb out comfortably. He’s very tall and muscular and backseats are regularly too small. That was a pleasant surprise.
This line is geared (per the specially trained Scion salesguy I dealt with today) toward young people, new college grads and first (new) car buyers. The neon lights and decals and sound systems are clearly not meant to attract fogies like me, and the gas mileage is supposed to be a boon to environmentally-sensitive youth. (Yeah, whatever.) I am torn between the sentiment of “leave it to the kids” and the kitsch value of driving around in a small (but comfortable) rolling box.
But I’m probably going to end up in a Subaru Forester so that I can have side protection airbags for my kids.
Yeah, that was kind of weird. Flooring the accelerator and having absolutely nothing happen. It has pretty good pick-up from dead stop, but past 45mph it seems to take input from the gas pedal purely as a recommendation. That’s the only thing about it that really bugged me. Oh, and the tires look too small.
Is it just me or is the little one (xa?) a rip off (design-wise) of a Mini Cooper and the boxy one (Xb?) a rip off of the element?
At one time, small, boxy cars were all the rage in Japan. They’re just trying to see if they’ll take off in the US.