What price uniqueness?
Written: Mar 03 '04 (Updated Jun 17 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Unique "styling," passenger room, fuel economy, low price, standard stability control and ABS, Toyota rep
Cons: Unique isn't pretty in this case, acceleration, mediocre interior materials
The Bottom Line: If you just love the look, then the passenger room, fuel economy, and standard features justify the price. Or maybe even if you hate it but are very tall.
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| mkaresh's Full Review: 2004 Scion xB |
The Scion xB is one of those things you either get or you don’t, and I don’t. Perhaps at 36 I’m just too old. Toyota created the Scion brand to attract twentysomething consumers. So far two models have been introduced in a limited number of states, the forgettably mainstream xA hatchback and the tall box on wheels xB. The latter at least seems to be succeeding in its mission. While people my generation or older tend to find the xB hideous, many younger people find it appealing. Why is this? And beyond the styling issue, how good is the Scion as a transportation device?
The Scion does not officially go on sale in Michigan until June. However, a number of Toyota dealers have jumped the gun and brought some in from California to sell as used cars. Well, the xB at least. The dealer I visited had three.
Scion xB Reliability
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Styling
The xB is about anti-style. It is quite simply a tall box on wheels, with no artful curves to speak of. I imagine the whole point is that beautiful vehicles are so common these days that none is distinctive. To be distinctive you’ve got to go ugly, or at least plain. The xB’s standard hubcaps reinforce this impression. Supposedly the idea is that the Scion represents a blank canvas upon which buyers can layer body kits, graphics, trick wheels, and so forth. But to me a tricked-out box is still a box. I don’t get it. But clearly others do.
Inside the xB is similarly minimalist. The speedometer and tach occupy a pod perched atop the center of a spare though interestingly textured dash. The blackness of the interior is only slightly relieved by a minimal pattern on the seats.
Honda similarly went after the youth market with the Element, but I kind of get the Element. It has more going on stylistically, both inside and out. It seems I’m not alone. The average Element buyer, despite Honda’s intent, is in his or her early forties. So the issue is not so much boxiness and the whole blank canvas concept.
A decade or so ago the Chevrolet Astro minivan enjoyed a minor cult following in Japan. The Astro is much less a minivan in the conventional sense than a downsized old-style van. At one time customized vans were all the rage here in the United States. I imagine that what the xB is is such a vehicle writ small. It somewhat resembles the Astro, though even the boxy Astro appears curvy in comparison.
Accommodations
From a functional standpoint the xB’s strongest attribute is passenger room. All of the seats are mounted considerably higher than in a normal car, so legs do not have to stretch far forward to find room and rear seat thigh support is better than in most larger cars despite the xB's short 98-inch wheelbase. A huge amount of space for feet beneath the front seats would be similarly welcome in many larger cars. As in Honda’s Element, the view forward through the upright windshield is expansive and headroom is vast.
The specs tell the story. In the front seat, there are 46 inches of headroom and 45 inches of legroom. No other vehicle of any size comes close to these numbers. Heck, even after driving the xB I did a double-take when I checked out the specs. (It felt very roomy, yet still not as roomy as these specs suggest.) What these numbers mean is that if you're very tall (I'm not) and have had trouble fitting into every car you've ever owned, well, a car for you has finally arrived. With the front seats positioned for adults of average height the rear seat is equally spacious.
How is this possible in a 155-inch-long vehicle? (The xB is about three feet shorter than the average midsize sedan.) A few years ago VW ran an ad that stated that a sphere is the most efficient shape, then cut to the Beetle. Well, a sphere does contain the most volume for a given surface area, but surface area is not the point here. (Anyone who has sat in the back seat of a Beetle can attest that the logic in the ad is flawed.) The real issue is the most volume for a given amount of ground area, and here the champ is a cube, preferably a tall one. Apply this logic to a vehicle, and you get the xB.
Update: When I first wrote this review I stated that very tall people might have insufficient legroom, because I'm 5-9 and drove the xB with the driver's seat all the way back. Then while writing the review I saw the specs, and deleted this statement. I figured I must have gotten the xB confused with another car I drove that. But I just sat in another xB, and again I can easily operate the pedals with the seat all the way back. So the 45-inch legroom stat seems fishy. Forty inches seems more like it. On the other hand, the 46-inch headroom stat seems spot on when in the car.
The seats both front and rear area very comfortable for a sub-$20,000 car. The front seats’ lateral support is a bit better than the class average.
Behind the rear seats there is just enough space for two rows of grocery bags. Folding the rear seat opens up considerably more volume.
On the Road
Both Scions are based on Toyota’s former, failed attempt to attract young buyers, the Echo. They share the Echo’s powertrain and chassis. I was none too impressed with the Echo when I drove it a few years ago. The xB faired marginally better.
I would have preferred to test a manual-transmission vehicle, but one was not available. Paired with a four-speed automatic, the 108-horsepower, 1.5-liter four struggles a bit to accelerate the xB’s 2,400 pounds. In traffic the transmission downshifted frequently. I suspect the stick is considerably more fun to drive. On a positive note, the Scion is rated to get over 30 miles to the gallon.
The xB does handle a bit better than the Echo, with flatter cornering despite its five inches of additional height. It bobbles a bit over uneven surfaces, but no more than other similarly tall vehicles, and less than most. The steering effort is too light for my tastes, with a distinctly econo-car feel, but could well be spot on for the typical owner. The steering ratio is quicker than average, lending the xB a touch of sportiness. Still, at least in blank canvas form the xB is clearly no sports car. At a minimum it needs wider, more performance-oriented tires than the 185/60R15s it comes with.
Aside from the aforementioned minor bobbling, the xB rides well. Even over nasty pavement the ride never turned ugly. Noise levels are moderate. My Mazda Protege5, though it might feel considerably more substantial, is certainly noisier.
Pricing
For quick, up-to-date pricing, and especially user-specified price comparisons, check out the website I created: www.truedelta.com. Why yet another vehicle pricing website? Well, I personally lacked the patience to keep using the others. They were too slow and required too much effort, especially when trying to compare prices. So I taught myself some programming and created a site where there is no need to dig through option packages, prerequisites, and the like one by one -- the TrueDelta algorithm figures these out for you in one swift pass.
The following is from when the review was originally written:
Supposedly Michigan dealers initially charged $22,000 for the xB. At the time of my test drive the dealer was asking seventeen and change. The salesman said this was just sticker plus $700 for shipment from California, but I’m not seeing this. The xB I drove might have had the optional side airbags, but otherwise lacked options. Without the $650 airbags, the automatic xB starts at $14,965. Edmunds suggests dealers do not discount this price. The standard features list is extensive considering the price, including air conditioning, power windows, power locks, and even stability control.
I suspect that stability control is standard not because it will appeal to the target driver, but because this is a tall, mildly roll-prone vehicle likely to be driven by inexperienced drivers. In other words, Toyota likely wanted to avoid even the possibility of becoming a target of the American bar. That said, I personally find this standard feature appealing. But then I’m well into my thirties. So its possible that Toyota was thinking beyond the desires of the target drivers to those of their target buyers, said drivers’ parents.
Choices at this price level are slim, at least comparing sticker prices. The next-up box in the Toyota line-up, the similarly-equipped (save the stability control) Matrix XR, lists for about $3,000 more. Even with a larger discount on the Matrix, the gap remains sizable. A Honda Element will set you back about $5,000 more.
One big unknown with the xB: how long will the car remain hot? As long as its in demand, resale values should be healthy. If it is merely a fad that passes, though, buyers will be hurting come trade-in time.
Last Words
Ultimately, what the xB has going for it is Toyota’s reputation, a very generous amount of passenger space, and distinctive “styling.” Not enough for me. I’m all for unique styling, but the antithesis of styling isn’t my preferred mode. It’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I also have no need for 46 inches of headroom. The 39 or so found in most cars suits me well enough.
On the other hand, I recognize that some consumers will consider nothing but a Toyota or Honda, and that for some of these people conventional cars are passe. For this niche, the xB is easily the most affordable tall box in town.
This all assumes you're not unusually tall. If you are, and either don't want or cannot afford to spend a lot on a vehicle and gasoline, then interior space alone will probably move the xB to the top of your list. Feel free to give it another star or two.
To learn more about my reliability research and sign up to participate in it, visit www.truedelta.com.
My Reviews of Related Vehicles:
Ford Focus SVT (I haven’t reviewed the regular Focus.)
Honda Element
Hyundai Accent
Hyundai Elantra GT
Mazda3
Toyota Echo
Toyota Matrix
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 14,965
Model and Options: xB automatic
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