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New Scion xB Owners - Give Us Your Report

64 messages,  Last post on Oct 12, 2008 at 10:10 AM

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What is this discussion about? Scion xB, Car Buying, Wagon

Messages Page 1 of 7

#1 of 64 New Scion xB Owners - Give Us Your Report by pf_flyer HOST

Aug 04, 2006 (6:02 am)

Congratulations on yournew vehicle! This is the place to post your first impressions.

#2 of 64 by lazlo3

Jun 15, 2003 (6:09 am)

I just bought a silver xB, loaded with almost everything including the alloy wheels from the xa and leather seats. The dealership had these installed for me by some aftermarket shop. The bill came to 19,000.
It is a great car, I am very happy with it. This car will definitely be a sleeper hit like the matrix.
Everyone turns and stares!

#3 of 64 congrats by steve_ HOST

Jun 15, 2003 (10:38 am)

Loaded, for 19k? That sounds pretty good!
 
I haven't seen one around here yet. Please keep us posted as you get it broken in.
 
Any other new owners lurking out there?
 
Steve, Host

#5 of 64 19K!!!!! by delivereguy

Jun 15, 2003 (12:33 pm)

$19,000!?!?!?!! $5000 worth of options? That sounds like it really is LOADED!!! What happen to the $14,000 base price??? I thought these cars were supposed to come fairly well equiped to begin with. Leather, alloy wheels, well that explains some of the option $$$$. But 19K for a Scion?? That seems a little steep and possibly defeats the entry level youth market strategy. You could get a Matrix for that kind of money, a Protege5 with its expensive Dunlop tires, maybe even a Honda element for that matter..... I priced an XB on the Scion web site for about 15K, which seems a little more reasonable. But 19K for a Scion??
 
Anybody else bought one yet. Please post your opinions for us non-California people......ie, what's it like!

#6 of 64 The XB by lazlo3

Jun 24, 2003 (10:05 pm)

I have had mine for a few weeks now, and so far I am delighted with the car. It is everything I needed, inexpensive, and practical, yet with an incredible fun factor. I turn more heads than a $100,000 Porsche or a Hummer. There are crowds of people surrounding it when I park to buy groceries! I usually wait at a distance until everyone goes away before I approach it.
I have several hundred miles on it, and it has performed flawlessly.
My wife loves it too, we have a 6 month old baby in a rear-facing carrier in the middle of the back seat. THis works well.
There is more room in it than in my 99 4 dr. accord!
I am getting over 30 miles per gallon.
It is very quiet inside, and the visibility is excellent.
The power is decent enough for in town driving. I can tell the engine is working when I hit the freeway at 80.
The footprint of is small. I have a cramped garage with an entry from a narrow alley. My accord takes about 4 swings to cram in. The xb takes 2 to get in, 1 to leave.
I have a few minor ergonomic issues with it. I am 6'3" and have to make a goofy twist in my left leg to wedge it past the dead pedal while I drive. I have gotten used to this gimpy posture and now it doesn't bother me.
ALso I am too tall to stand easily behind the car with the tailgate up. I have to bend over like a neanderthal as I load cargo in the back. The gate doesn't flip to vertical like some hatchbacks.
Other than this, the car is ideal for tall people.
I would highly recommend the car. Even apart from the novelty factor, it is an excellent vehicle.

#7 of 64 Texas xB by texasxb

Aug 01, 2003 (5:29 am)

just bought an xB from simi valley toyota. the salesman (Leon) was horrible, didn't know anything about the vehicle and told me no 3 free oil changes eventhough the freakin warranty book from scion clearly states it as a complimentary service. but i got the lowdown from kearny mesa toyota; they're informed and got me on the right track. unfortunately, simi valley was THE ONLY dealer with thundercloud/automatic/xB on the lot so I put up with Leon's tired eyes and poor interest in selling the car. BUT I LOVE IT! Flew out to California just to pick one up and drove it back to texas. have been stopped in parking lots 5 times in three days by people wanting to know all about it. it was a smooth ride, hauled all my stuff, cd/radio was perfect, and got 750 miles on 30 bucks of supreme. it's a keeper. uh, yes, anybody know how the 50 state emissions works?????

#8 of 64 my mom just bought an xb this past week by benevolence6gc

Aug 14, 2003 (3:22 am)

Just this last Sunday we (me and my mom) went out to the toyota dealership to check out the scions (mainly xb she thinks the xa is too small).
I believe we test drove 3 different variations of xb's, the first one was an automatic since we couldnt find a 5 speed which she wanted, so she test drove that, it wasnt too bad power wise with ac blasting fully she said.
After returning she was considering the auto but then noticed another xb that was a 5 speed with chrome rims (she didnt like the rims much but hey she is in her 50's), anyways we test drove that, the wheels made it really bumpy and there was a rattle from the back i believe from the wheels but the 5 speed she said made much more of the tiny echo engine. She wanted me to test drive it real quick just to for the hell of it I guess, well it had a good amount of power I guess, not like I was out to race anyone. It was compareable to my brothers 2000 manual DX civic, with the wheels though handling wasn't too shabby for being a box.
She really liked the 5 speed a lot more so we opted for that one, sales lady said she could take the wheels off and put the standard ones back on (which proved to be a hastle later on), after waiting a little we began to look through their new inventory and what luck we found the exact same car she test drove except it had the standard wheels and 30 less miles on it.
The buying experience was relatively pain free, the only option my mom got was the keyless entry/alarm which made the price about 14,800 and after taxes and all the fee's about 16,100 which isn't too bad. The saleslady was really low key, didnt pressure my mom into buying anything she didnt want just pointed out what scion offers and thats it. Everything is no haggle so thats nice, especially when you see people right next to you argueing about the price on their camry's and Landcruisers.
Took us about 3 hour from start to finish and she left happy, you wouldnt believe how many people stare at this car! some in delight others in disgust and some in just plain awe. Anyways when we got to her house her neighbor was really interested in it (hes in his 40's) and he loved it!, in fact he just bought one yesterday so now theres two scion xb's right next to eachother, really a funny sight.
All in all I think this is a great car... with its easy buying experience, tons of room (so much room in the back seat its ridiculous!), decent engine power (I would opt for the Cold air intake but shes content) and pretty good fuel economy, also the more you look at this box the better it starts to look.

#9 of 64 our Scion xb story...continued... by zen2003

Aug 15, 2003 (12:27 am)

We just bought our scion one week ago and we'd like to share our experience...my wife and I are fond of small cars...our other car is a miata...we are not SUV fans..so we were unsure if the xb was for us...also we own an echo and are familiar with the engine (that is also why we were not looking at an xa--too similar to the echo). When you first see the xb...it immediately surprises you by how low it is to the ground...it is not SUV-like...when you climb inside the impression is that this is a much more expensive vehicle...
I was first going to buy an element and I was convinced 100% that this was our vehicle...both of us were...then we drove it...something happened and I did not feel that the element was a quality piece..the test drive made me feel that we could not be satisfied with the vehicle...
I convinced my wife to go look at the scion before committing...and we both were blown away..by the Quality of the xb...we drove home in a Camouflage after considering the Black Cherry,Blue,and Black...
we picked the Automatic and our vehicle included the 6-disc (10 color) CD ,floor/cargo mats,cargo net,silver pedals,grey leather wrapped steering wheel and our total price was $15,887--plus TTL...no haggling and were treated very nicely..we originally considered the manual but we already have one ---so I could not talk the wife into it......but the Automatic is very peppy,,as is..we are returning in a couple of weeks to add the front tower brace and the cold air induction...just for fun---because---believe it or not--it does not need it --this little box can scoot...unless you have been driving v-8's and absolutely want a fast car..
Apologies for the long post...but I hope this answers some questions...last but not least...we parked the xb next to the miata and the miata is 1 or 2 inches longer!!!!...the driving is sporty---firm but comfortable...the visibility is fantastic all around---no blind spots and since the windows are cut low ...the view is almost 360 degrees...but--the seats are elevated so you have the commanding view...very impressive...the interior is the best part...it almost feels as special as my last car ...an Audi TT---believe it or not!!!. .. we are going on vacation to Texas in September and can hardly wait...we want to cruise today...but...work...work...
we heartily recommend this vehicle to all you folks in other parts of the U.S. ...you will feel like we do...like we got over...on Toyota...I hope they don't raise the prices...I know people are interested in the ``Age'' thing...we are a ``young'' 38 and 43 years...sorry kids...if you don't want these types of cars...us older kids will snap them up..

#10 of 64 after one week of the xB... by andergtr

Sep 05, 2003 (4:15 pm)

i still love it! as far as the other topics that have come up in that time...
 
1. yes, you get used to getting looked at. you strike up conversations with strangers who are interested in the car.
 
2. the price i paid is the MSRP. i paid exactly the sticker price, which was the same as MSRP, no more and no less.
 
3. i don't know what the size is relative to the element, but it's much cheaper, and the element, while having much more cargo volume on paper, has a lousy payload capacity. then again, the xB's might be lousy, too. i don't see the payload capacity listed anywhere, though perhaps it is listed in the owner's manual. time to take a trip downstairs to the car!
 
4. the car has tons of room. you can seat five, but in reality i think four is much more realistic. it's comfortable for four people--not a problem.
 
5. people who at first thought it was dorky really dug the car when they came up to me in the company parking lot and sat in it. bond traders are a pretty tough lot of people, and you should understand that most of the guys drive nice german cars--myself included. however, once they sat inside the car and looked around, they were pretty impressed...especially when i told them about the $14K all-in price!
 
it's nice to have something that costs around $20 to fill up at the pump, compared to the $37 my BMW 325ci was costing me every time. mind you, i get 300 miles on one tank versus 400 miles on the BMW, but the xB's tank is 11-odd gallons versus the 16-odd gallons of the BMW--and it doesn't drink premium fuel.

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