saw my first xB on the road today

It certainly catches your eye. I was surprised by two things ... I expected that it would be small, but it is really small. And, this one had a guy that looked to be in his late 40's driving it. I thought it would be about the size of a CRV or something, but it looks tiny. I can see why they thought teenagers would like this concept, but we'll have to see.

Although this one is not on my list of must haves, I like the idea of small interesting commuter cars. The pictures I've seen of the coupe coming out look pretty good.

You see them all over the place in LA. Odd thing is it seems that it's mainly middle aged people buying them.
:confused:

I've seen one xA (with Cali plates) and one xB here in Kansas City. I've seen the xA several times driving around, but only spotted the xB once. It's definitely interesting. I like it better than the xA, I think... I guess from what they said in the Auto section of our paper our K.C. Scion dealership is due to open this summer. We'll see how they do. It seems like every "Youth" market car ends up in the hands of 40 year olds - Toyota Echo (named for the "Echo" boomers - Generation Y) has an average buyer in their 40s. Honda Element aimed squarely at the same folks has mostly buyers in their 40s to. Youngsters can friggin' SMELL what's marketed as "young" and hip" and they avoid it like the plague. They want to define their OWN young and hip, not be told what's young and hip. Like Bunkie" Knudsen said, "You can sell a young man's car to an old man, but you'll never sell an old man's car to a young man." That said, the Scion I think might do well is the xC. It's not super exciting, but a fairly clean design screaming for a little personalization. If it comes in where they're saying price-wise with the supercharger it has potential.

Originally posted by guionM
You see them all over the place in LA. Odd thing is it seems that it's mainly middle aged people buying them.
:confused:

I know what you mean, neighbor bought one so I have one outside 24/7 everytime I look out the window (neighbor accross the street has a zr1 vette :bow: to tide me over.) I see them all over...

The xB is made by Maytag right?

Originally posted by guionM
You see them all over the place in LA. Odd thing is it seems that it's mainly middle aged people buying them.
:confused:

I don't think that was unexpected. As the old saying goes, "you can sell a young man's car to an old man, but not an old man's car to a young man." By pretending to target the hip Gen-Xers, Toyota and Honda sell boatloads of Scions and Elements to the people with real cash who want to pretend they're young and hip: yuppies.

Even in today's affluent society, not many young kids are buying brand new cars. They're buying 5-year-old Civics and hopping them up as their finances allow. Gen Xers simply don't represent a huge new car market.

i like both,and the upcoming TC looks cool too.i sat in the both the bean and box at the nashville auto show and both had tons of room and the interior seemed like it was good quality,overall everything felt like it was screwed together really well.they come with everything you'd need for 13-14K,not bad.the TC shouldn't be too much more,and it looks like a mini-3 series.

As a young and hip 21 year old, I can say that the xB will never be anywhere near my driveway unless one of my friends plays a nasty practical joke on me.

what is an xb?

Originally posted by guionM
You see them all over the place in LA. Odd thing is it seems that it's mainly middle aged people buying them.
:confused:

Thats because they started selling them there a while ago...then they moved in a few dealerships to the southern part of the country. The east coast and mid western parts of the country is next (according to an old Motor Trend article). I have yet to see one on the road.

Originally posted by Z28x
The xB is made by Maytag right?

:lol: :bow: :lol:

Originally posted by Z28x
The xB is made by Maytag right?

:D

Have you been to a home improvement store lately? The new washer/dryer combos are REALLY getting wild looking... and big.
What with the huge curvy panels and DRLs (on the new washers), they DO bare resemblances!

And CRIMONY... $2000 for a W/D set!
Maybe I'll buy the XB and just throw the clothes in a jug the backwith some soap, and drive to/from work like a mad man!

Originally posted by 6Speed
what is an xb?

Yeah, what's an xB? I follow cars pretty closely but this one doesn't ring any bells.

Originally posted by dream '94 Z28
Yeah, what's an xB? I follow cars pretty closely but this one doesn't ring any bells.

It is a Toyota that looks just like a refigerator with 13" rims

Is that the Scion? The element's equally ugly twin?

I have yet to see one in person, even at the dealer here in town. Not that I want to see one... :p

I saw my first Scion xb yesterday also. Seeing it in person did not
change my mind about it's looks. It is still UGLY! IMHO, the Honda
Element and the Scion xb are uglier than the Aztec. It irritates me
how the automotive journalists all made a big deal about how ugly the Aztec was, but I have yet to read anything the same about the Element and xb. Typical import bias again. :mad:

Originally posted by 3TAS4ME
It irritates me
how the automotive journalists all made a big deal about how ugly the Aztec was, but I have yet to read anything the same about the Element and xb. Typical import bias again. :mad:

I could not agree more with that statement.

Originally posted by 3TAS4ME
I saw my first Scion xb yesterday also. Seeing it in person did not
change my mind about it's looks. It is still UGLY! IMHO, the Honda
Element and the Scion xb are uglier than the Aztec. It irritates me
how the automotive journalists all made a big deal about how ugly the Aztec was, but I have yet to read anything the same about the Element and xb. Typical import bias again. :mad:

I bet you if you slap a honda or toyota bagde on the Aztec, you would see more of them on the road. You have to remember, most consumers are idoit lemmings

heh.. Scion cracks us up.... We're here stuck with this 1997 Geo Tracker 4 door (http://home.comcast.net/~ynnek8883/oregon/tracker.jpg) We're always keeping an eye out for something to replace it with.. If only it wasn't so dang reliable and practical, then we would have good excuse!


Now, I can't imagine that people this is hot.. Repackaged with some extra bells and whistles, and some fancy marketing....... Perhaps Geo/Isuzu was just 10 years ahead of its time? lol

Originally posted by guionM
You see them all over the place in LA. Odd thing is it seems that it's mainly middle aged people buying them.
:confused:

Haven't seen any yet...

Wasn't the Element also geared towards the Gen X? I've yet to anybody younger than ~40 to drive one. And I don't think they were just on a ride in their son's/daughter's car... :think:

TS

Originally posted by R377
I don't think that was unexpected. As the old saying goes, "you can sell a young man's car to an old man, but not an old man's car to a young man." By pretending to target the hip Gen-Xers, Toyota and Honda sell boatloads of Scions and Elements to the people with real cash who want to pretend they're young and hip: yuppies.

Oddly enough, this is pretty much exactly what I said in my response immediately after Guions. Guess ya skipped that one ;)

I just saw one at the dealer today.

A year ago I felt that Scion was an illconcieved notion....now I've changed my mind.

The xB is no beauty queen in my eyes....but you get an awful lot for your money (about $13 grand)....and you can't deny that it's different. They will also get massive support from Toyota's TRD division. The one I saw had the TRD 5" lowering kit and 18" wheels.

Like I said, I've done a 180* turn on Scion....I think they'll be very successful.

What cracks me up is that while they are pushing the personalization issue their magazine ads (have you seen those, with the two twins and how they customized their Scions to be different?) they have a disclaimer along the lines of "Modifying your vehicle may be dangerous and may void your warranty...blah."

I think part of their strategy is to get you to buy ALL of your accessories from TRD.

The TRD parts won't void your warranty.

Yeah, I understand the strategy, but the ad has non-TRD parts. If modification in the means it is shown in the ad may make your car not street legal or void the warranty as they say, it would seem to make a better point to show "Look at all you can do with TRD parts and accessories" or something.

What is a Scion TRD? And do you pronounce it....TURD? :o :p

the xb is an odd vehicle, it seems so much bigger in pictures. I'm not a huge guy, about 6'2, but i stood next to the little thing, and the roofline barely came to my chin, and it looked about 4 feet wide, but looking inside, it looked pretty big. i suppose its not bad getting a brand new car for that little cash, but 1) it looks like a box with wheels, and 2) ITS TINY!
also stopped and looked at an xa, looks like a 4 door mini, with less room in the hatch. actually kind of attractive in a mini-matrix lovechild sort of way