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.

 

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.

 

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 to tide me over.) I see them all over...

 

The xB is made by Maytag right?

 

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?

 

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.

 

 

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!

 

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?