laconic1

I was wondering what everybody thinks about Scion. For those of you that don't know yet, Scion is Toyota's "youth brand". I personally think the tc looks alright but the xa and xb are ugly.
www.scion.com

irseg

I'm 21. I think they're stupid pieces of shit. People my age don't want underpowered stupid little tin cans that are weird for the sake of being weird. Most young people I know drive cars like Civics, Cavaliers, Golfs, etc. In other words, affordable cars that are a little sporty looking, and have decent power while not being hard to drive or expensive to insure.

The only people I see driving Scions and Elements are older people who are likely going through a midlife crisis and thinking "This must be what all the kids are driving these days! I'll buy one and I can be young too!!" My peers tend to see them for the bullshit marketing experiment that they are.

Halx

I've had a good look at Scion since they were released here in Cali first. What can I say? The xA and xB are complete and total shit. I rode around in an xB the day after it was bought and the thing was all ready falling apart. They're cheap and underpowered, but they are selling pretty well because they are going for the modding crowd.

Now, I just saw the tC and I gotta admit - it's pretty hot lookin'. The engine is better than the xA and xB, so they took the hint there. If they continue with more designs like the tC, then I wish them the best of luck.

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silent_jay

I agree, I haven't driven one yet, but the xA, and the xB didn't make a great impression on me. Then I see the tC, and it looks pretty damn good.

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laconic1

I thought this was pretty funny. I haven't seen any Scions in Colorado yet, but Element was supposed to be Honda's youth vehicle, yet I haven't seen a single person under 50 driving one of those ugly ass things yet.

Halx

Whatever helps them feel younger. A Scion is definately cheaper than a Porsche.

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Cycler

I like the xB due to its functionality aspect, it seems as if you could pack alot of shit in that box. But if the quality isn't there no thanks, I haven't really seen one up close they are not real prevalent in Oklahoma yet.

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merkerguitars

Jeez I can't believe the quality would be that bad for being a toyota product......yeah ugly as hell.....doesn't seem to have any real function....

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Peryn

i dunno... i have mixed feelings about them. On one hand, they are ugly as sin. On the other hand, they are light, good mileage, toyota reliability, and cheap as hell.

I mean really, <$13k for the XA. better looking than the xB, 32/38 mileage (not bad at all), and just over 2300lbs (manual). Sound like a great car for a college kid. If they just did something about the looks... i cant wait for a couple years to go buy, and pick one of these up for cheap. Not gonna take too much to make 2300lbs move fast. Wouldn't take much work at all to strip it to less than 2000 lbs. Drop in a turbo MR2 engine or something smilar. i could probably deal with 5-10 lbs/hp.

Anyway, i think once they fix their look, they could hit a good market. Cheap, fuel efficient, reliable, light. Sounds like a Civic many years ago, and look where they ended up.

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wrongfullyaccuzd

I've been waiting for the tc to come out. It looks good and I read that they'll drop a turbo in it if you like...actually I'm seriously considering making it my next car.
Yeah the xA and xB are ugly as crap, no argument there. You can do some cool stuff to them on the inside, but not cool enough to compensate for the looks and the 108 hp though.

onetime2

Don't have a clue what they're thinking about the X's. The Honda Element is similarly styled and they were so off the mark in who would buy them it's almost guaranteed they will scrap the model(s) within a year or two. I was talking to a couple of Honda salesmen and they made jokes about the Element. Basically saying that if someone over the age of 60 walks into the showroom they know they've got an Element sale imminent.

And then Toyota decides to follow suit. Idiocy if you ask me.

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Zoom

I like the xB and tC, but if I get an xB, I'm stuffing a sbc in there

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MSD

The xB was originally intended at the urban youth market. I assume this means that they turned on MTV, saw kids gawking at an H2, and immediately assumed that they would buy anything shaped like a box.

Scorps

I'm also 21 and I think they are the ugliest cars ever made. I have seen better looking Hondas(im not a honda fan).

bookerV

I am impressed with the tc, it has a lot of potential. But I have to agree with the majority here and give 2 thumbs down to the xa & xb. They are craptacular.

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wondash

Most everyone I know that's ever seen an Element or xB thinks they're fugly. But in Japan, the box look is hot shit with the kids.

billege

Have you been to the website? Do they think insulting my intelligence would make a sale? The car is "dropping" instead of going on sale. How cute, Toyota is a 50's dad trying to be hip. When you build the car, the price starts at 99,999 and then does some number juggling until it hits the real price. Wow, that's fun! I should buy this car.
What is with the little group of animie fuckos that seem attached to the cars? Oh, that's right, I'm under thirty, I LOVE ANIME!

Give me a break.

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ibis

Yeah, that's gonna happen... I won't even go into details...

I think they all look shitty. I saw the xB on the road today...eww... I wanted to hit it...

I do have to admit, though, the element is growin' on me.

silent_jay

I love the Element, and I have since it came out, I see why people don't like it because it's different.

Look at GM there cars haven't changed in years until this year with the Colorado, Optima, Epica, Malibu, Equinox, not exactly great looking cars, but of course peopel will buy them because they are loyal to GM, even thought the paint has gone to shit and many other things are shoody

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josh10524

My Parents own an XB. they are old. They agree it looks like shit. They bought it because it is cheap to buy, has a tiny little engine that is very fuel effecient with gas prices the way they are, and because although it is small, it is surprisingly roomy and comfortable. I can attest to that. It handles quite well, surprisingly, although it admittedly has zero get up and go. The interior is not that of a BMW, however it is NOT falling apart, it is actually good quality, reasonably solidly built, and the seats are well-made and supportive.

NorCal_DC4

The xA and xB are certainly designs that polarize opinion. I personally lean toward the xB, because of it's basic, elemental cleanliness. And while both lack horsepower, the solutions are forthcoming.

The JDM equivalent of the xB - Toyota's bB - enjoys healthy aftermarket support, including a bolt-on turbo kit from GReddy's parent company, Trust. AFAIK, GReddy USA is in the process of smog-legalizing the turbokit for our market.

The tC is definitely the looker of the range, and with the TRD centrifugal supercharger, should be one helluva car for the money. The only things that would preclude me from buying one are:

a) Weight. Apparently, the tC weighs in at nearly 3000lbs IIRC. For sustained mountain assaults, that kind of weight is hell on brakes.

b) Front-wheel Drive. While it's clearly a result of pricing and the donor platform, I personally have had my fill of front-wheel-drive sporting cars. For twenty grand, one can pick up a myriad number of rear-drive imports and build a much faster, better balanced machine.

But aside from all that, I am impressed that Toyota is dedicating itself to such an immense task. The market sector they're shooting at is a tough one to pin down ( I should know. ), and with the addition of the tC, I think they'll nail it.

My 2.1 ¥

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etla

Well I'll go against the grain here and Say I love the looks of the xB. But I think the Element is easily the worst looking car to come out since the Mustang II.

The big strike against the xB is the blah engine. If a turbo is indeed readilly available the xB starts looking up. Some of those dealer installed turbo/superchargers from Toyota are factory warrented and don't void the rest of your power train warrenty.

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gdr2004

The tC looks REALLY sweet, but I would wait a few years to see what the general reaction is before I plop down 16K to invest into it. The movie theatre commercials for the other scion cars really suck.

choskins

I personally don't like them.

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Qazwsxedc

i like the tC.. altho it does look like a volvo front with tiburon taillights.

TopRamen66

I kinda like the xB. Toyota plucked 2 strong selling cars straight from the Japanese market and threw on some new brand name badges, so they are selling hot with the JDM crowd. I would get one if they had a different engine. A 200whp Box would be sweet!

hilbert25

If you ever have a chance, sit in the xB, and you'll see what they're getting at. They're going for the people that want to buy an escalade, but can barely afford a hyundai. Thus, inside it feels like a lowered SUV, but instead, it's a crappy, cheap little car.

BigTruck1956

ill echo the ulgy comments. However i rode in an XB the other day it was quite roomy inside. You could definately fit four 6' people inside without zero leg room. It seemed somewhat peppy to. The dash definately needed cleaning up but all in all id say the car had potenital. It just aint my style thats all!

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Halx

I saw an old lady driving one the other day. I cried myself a river.

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hirosada

Something I'll never understand is why they haven't released the Vitz for the US market. Sure Canada has got it as the Echo hatchback, but damn why bring the iSt over as the xA when they had the Vitz?

94Mobsta

i have seen so many of the xA and xB's around. and i would have to agree that they are shit. look like freaking lego cars. them and the element should be canned.

Ilow

looks aside, if they built a cheap, Toyota reliable car that was fuel efficient etc. that would be fine; but all the reports I've heard are that they are put together all half-assed taking every possible shortcut and generally producing an annoyingly inferior product and that is unacceptable. I could deal with the looks, the lack of power etc as long as it was functionally reliable.

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ggadgit

They did make a cheap small toyota car the ECHO, I got one and it is great, after about a year I'm getting about 40-43 mpg, small sporty and cheap, around 12k.

fastom

Elements and Scion XBs both look like the box a car should come in. They are a poor mans version of a Hummer H2. Why should rich mooks get all the ugly cars eh?

I too haven't seen anyone under 50 in either one.

desal75

I am going to test drive a tC. If I like it I may buy one. I have a thing for hatchbacks and wagons.

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darwiniggy

Have you seen all of the standard features that come with the tC? Holy shit! 17" wheels, moonroof, ABS, power everything.

If Toyota is offering that much stuff for ~$17K, I think the Scion will be a very successful line.

Overall, I'm not a Toyota fan, but even I would consider getting one of these.

irseg

As commonplace as those features are nowadays, it's probably cheaper just to make them standard rather than designing various parts to accomodate cars with & without them. Toyota is probably saving a ton of money on R&D and streamlining production by including everything, plus it makes the car much more attractive compared to the competition. Pretty good move IMO.

Just for manual vs power windows they'd have to design different window regulators, power window components, manual window components, different door panels, etc. Making the moonroof optional means producing two different roof stampings and headliners. Traction control is really nothing more than a piece of software in the ABS computer that looks for a wheel spinning rather than locking up, so it doesn't add anything to production costs. And so on..

ibis

THe xA and xB look like crap. THe xC on the other hand... man their nice lookin'

urbandev

for some reason my mom says that the element reminds her of nazi cars, ill ask her about this some time.

if you cut an xB up, you could fit one and a half of them in the back of my suburban.

1979 GMC Suburban: 144 cu ft cargo room with rear seat folded and third seat removed, up to 3130 lbs cargo capacity.
12MPG city 17MPG highway
340 HP
4 tons unloaded
47 gal gas tank

somehow this thing gets better gas milage than a H2...wtf

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kutulu

Whenever I see or hear about a Honda Element, I think of this from Maddox: