I decided that I wanted to get the Scion tC before I had even driven it, to be honest. I had already sold my Honda Civic DX and was driving a rental Mustang...

I had a broker working with me to find a tC...no luck. I had one dealer tell me that he had some at the dock, that I could have one when they arrived, but that he would be installing leather seats and that I had no choice but to pay for them. Needless to say, I kept dialing.

I finally found one at Toyota/Scion Central in Downtown Los Angeles. My boyfriend and I took the trip down there, test drove the car (test drive was too short - just around the block!) and filled out the paperwork. She was mine!

I like the look of the car - clean lines and a nice looking front & back end. The panoramic moonroof is nice - the piece of ceiling in between them is a little big. That, or the back moonroof is too small.

The sideview mirrors don't fold in, which is a pain if you have to street park a lot. They do, however, have turn signal lights on the back, like Mercedes - nice touch. I have the auto-dimming mirror (optional) - it's a really nice feature if you highway drive at night - which I do a lot!

I wish the car had a little more pick up - it's not as sporty as it looks. It's a solid ride, but you do feel the road. The doors are heavy, which I prefer to light flimsy-feeling doors, although they're a little hard to close if you're little like me!

Visibility in the car is also a problem - maybe to do with my size. I find that the front of the car is impossible to see, no matter how I adjust the seat. I also find the blind spots to be tricky - until you figure out the size of the car, etc. Also, the angle of the back window would be nicely complimented with a rear wiper - the water doesn't run off freely.

The interior is really nice - the brushed chrome finish is sharp and the seat cloth is really swanky! The backseat isn't great for anyone over 5'8 or so - the angle of the back window gives way to hitting one's head when going over bumps. My friends tend to slouch to avoid injury. However, the backseats *do* recline, which seems to make it much roomier in the back. There's plenty of leg room if the driver and/or passenger isn't too tall.

I wish they had included the option to change the color of the dashboard backlighting. I'm bored with orange. Also, you can't reprogram the remote access function to make the car's horn beep or anything. Only the lights flash, so sometimes I have to lock it twice to be sure!

My biggest concern is that I'm not getting very good gas mileage. The manual says I should be getting 23 mpg for city driving - I've been getting about 19. When I spoke to Scion Customer Service, he gave me a runaround about the numbers being estimates, blah blah. I'm almost due for my first oil change, so I'll ask the service tech when I'm at the shop.

**EDIT** Thanks to everyone for their comments regarding the gas mileage. I'm now at about 8500 miles & it seems to have gotten better as I've broken the car in - I just drove LA-Vegas (about 300 miles) in 98 degree heat with the a/c on and got there on a full tank. A few weeks earlier, I found I was hitting the gas station every 250 or so.

All in all, I really like my new car. The price was right and the quality is outstanding for the dollars you pay!
Amount Paid (US$): 20000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: tC, automatic, fog lights, autodimming mirror