Currently, Scion offers three products in the U.S. The box-on-wheels xB sharply polarizes opinion. Love it or hate it, everyone notices it. The tC sports coupe is as swoopy as the xB is boxy, and generally attracts admiring glances. A price lower than that of the late Toyota Celica seals the deal, making it Scion's best seller. And then there's the xA. A fairly conventional, tiny four-door hatch, unlike the other two it's all but invisible on public roads.

But what if all you want is dependable, economical basic transportation at an affordable price? While visiting a Toyota dealer to check out the new Yaris, I took an xA automatic for a spin as well. How does it stack up against newer small cars like the Yaris and Honda Fit?

Styling

I've already mentioned the xA's relative invisibility. But the exterior does have a few distinguishing details, most notably prominent wheel arches. The new Mercedes S-Class has similar bulges on all four fenders. Well, I don't like them on the big Benz, and I don't care for them here either. The rear one looks especially odd. On a positive note, they do lend the car a bit of style while disguising its 60-inch height. And I am much more forgiving at the Scion's much lower price point.

Then again, maybe not. After writing this review my opinion of the xA's styling has been sinking. Every time I see one I cannot help noticing the extreme height of the nose and the odd way the tail lamps curve outward as they extend upward. Why?

The Yaris hatch is more attractive, at least to my eyes, but is only available with two doors. (The U.S. four door is a sedan.) The Honda Fit that much of the auto press is currently crazy about is considerably less attractive.

Inside I find more to like, especially compared to the Yaris. The small Toyota looks and feels like a budget car inside, with a hollow feel to the panels, plain textures, and little in the way of detailing. In contrast, the xA's interior includes more solid feeling panels, textured surfaces, faux metal trim, and various small details like the round climate control outlets to lend it a more upscale and more fashionable ambiance. As a result, this interior doesn't constantly remind you that you're driving a cheap car.

Accommodations

Like many recent small cars, the xA employs a high seating position to extract a surprising amount of interior room from a cabin of limited length. Perhaps too high--I would have liked to be able to lower the fixed-height seat an inch or two. But this high position does provide excellent visibility--good for keeping an eye out for rampaging SUVs. Though centrally-located instruments leave the instrument panel ahead of the driver bare, said instrument panel is less deep in the xA than in the Yaris and the windshield is not as raked, so I did not find the view forward nearly as offputting.

Thanks to the high seating position, rear legroom is more than adequate for adults (at 37.8 inches it's in midsize sedan territory) and the cushion is high enough to provide decent thigh support. Best of all, because the front seats are so high off the floor there's plenty of room beneath them for the rear passengers' feet. The rear seat in a Honda Fit, Dodge Caliber, or Mazda3 is significantly tighter. The cushion itself offers only so-so comfort, but what do you expect at this price? One negative: because of the xA's short wheelbase, the rear wheelhouses intrude on each side of the seat.

Cargo space behind the rear seat is limited; a single row of grocery bags might be the limit if you want to insure that nothing gets squooshed. The rear seat isn't as fancy as the two-way device in the Honda Fit, but does fold to create a nearly flat floor. You need to remove the headrests first, though. The front passenger seat does not fold, unlike those in a growing number of functionally-oriented vehicles.

On the Road

With a 1.5-liter engine that eekes out 103 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, don't expect thrilling performance, especially not with the automatic. Still, acceleration is generally adequate. People who remember how slow economy cars used to be back when they had 50-odd horses might well be surprised. The Yaris has a similar engine, but it feels peppier and more refined in the Scion. It doesn't hurt that a tach is standard in the xA. When I can tell how fast the engine is spinning it sounds less frenetic, at least to me.

Fuel economy is of course a strong point. The EPA ratings are 31/38. Still, the more powerful, larger, considerably cushier Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla earn similar ratings.

To keep body lean under control despite the xA's additional height, the Scion's suspension is distinctly firmer than that in the Yaris sedan (but still less firm than that in the Fit). This lends it a crisper feel, but, especially when paired with a shorter wheelbase (93 vs. 100 inches), it also yields a choppier (though still rarely harsh) ride. Around town the xA feels nimble and can be fun to drive. But push it and you'll find more lean than in a Honda Fit and fairly low limits.

If performance and handling are priorities, find the extra cash for a Mazda3, or at least a Focus (if you can overlook the Ford's cheapskate slapdash interior).

Scion xA Pricing and Price Comparisons

The salesman pointed out that, while the Toyota Yaris starts out lower, the xA in base trim is much better equipped (tach, power windows, Pioneer audio, ABS, and so on), so it generally ends up lower. Equip the Yaris with the Convenience Package to get a very basic stereo (none is standard) and the xA still includes about $2,400 worth of extra features in its slightly higher price, yielding an adjusted difference of $2,200 at MSRP and $1,900 at invoice.

The salesman also pointed out that Scions are not discounted, while Toyotas are. So the actual difference is probably closer to $1,500, still in the Scion's favor.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the xA:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/xA.php

Last Words

The performance of the xA is merely adequate, but the roomy, relatively ritzy interior and boatload of standard features make it a fairly good value. As with other cars in this class, my general recommendation is to spend a bit more money to get something from the next class up. But if you want a lot of features and Toyota's rep for reliability while spending as little as possible, the xA could well be the ticket.

A note on Scion xA Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy an xA rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Scion xA reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the xA--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. For non-participants, this access will cost $24.95.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

If you're a member, and you want to receive an email when I post a new review, click here.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Dodge Caliber review
Ford Focus ST review
Honda Civic review
Honda Fit review
Kia Spectra5 review
Mazda3 review
Scion xB review
Toyota Corolla review
Toyota Yaris review