The Scion is very inexpensive and reliable, with good fuel economy and looks that stand out. The cars come pretty loaded, especially for how cheap they are.

What's bad about them, again? "they're ugly"? They're not so bad, I actually kind of like the xA. The looks are subjective, but at the core the cars are a good idea. Toyota could always reskin them if the styling proves to be an obstacle.

 

12K to 15K bucks for a stylish car with toyota reliablity,loaded with everything you need standard,and with a ton of accessories(tacky or not)ready to go.what's the problem?they're getting good reviews,they're underpowered sure,but lightweight,so i'm sure they're zippy to drive.
if they don't find their target audience,the scion will still be a neat car,i'd buy a XA,and if it proves successful,it will put other brands on notice as to what a inexpensive car can be,they can be fun and they don't have to look like every other car on the road.IF they do find their target,which i think they might,brand loyalty is tough to shake if it starts early,if it's a good car,then their next car is a corolla or celica or camry or future supra.the focus is good,but GM just neglected the entry level car market,a sunfire or cavalier won't cut it and certainly not a rebadged daewoo.remember,not all kids want a muscle car or truck,this could be a huge hit.

 

The only HIT with Scion will be how fast its sales HIT zero.

Toyota will have to dump the Scions and sell them really-really cheap to keep the brand afloat for a few years. After they see that they have completely missed their target audience and see that its canablizing there own low-end Toyota sales then the Scion experiment will end.

Toyota will have to completely abandon the low car market completely and give it to Scion in attempt to keep it alive and therefore making the new Scion brand defunct since its not creating new sales (its whole purpose for existing) and its just taking sales away from the Toyota brand. Toyota might realize the stupidity in this pseudo-new brand since they didnt give its own real dealership like their own Lexus-brand or even GM's Saturn and this will make it easy to kill-off the Scion experiment. When Scion is dead Toyota will spin-it in their favor and state "Scion was all just a test-bed for future Toyota products and marketing anyway".

 

Like I always say, people's expectations about cars today are SO LOW, that it never ceases to amaze me. I just don't understand how someone can look at either of the two Scion models and not feel the urge to gag. I guess people are so out of touch and they don't remember what car culture was like 20 - 50 years ago. I guess everyone's too busy multitasking, too busy asking their friends what to buy to be accepted.

Good thing I'm on the east coast.. I have yet to see one at all, and I hope it stays that way. The Element is bad enough.

It's like the manufacturers come up with a pathetic, disgusting, weak design and decide to try it out anyway, to see what people will swallow up, and the people are always eager to eat it all up, then the manufacturers go out on a longer limb and make something even worse than before just to see how tolerant we are, and we are there once again to buy the latest clown-mobile.. I'm getting a headache again.

gt

 

That's exacly what I noticed when I went to the LA show.

If the car's aimed for trend setting young Californians, and the car is repudiated at ground zero (Los Angeles), it doesn't bode well for not only the Toyota's intentions here, but the rest of the country as well.

Though I don't believe the cars will disappear in 2 years, I think they have a great future as vehicles for Parking Enforcement, UC staff, and City and County pool cars.

 

Toyota has failed many times before...it just makes them try harder and eventually get it right.

 

You mean like how they tried again with Scion after the Echo failed to be a hit with the younger crowd?

 

Kids in next few years wont want little commuter cars they will want big luxury sedans instead.


Watch the kids start putting 20 inch DUB's on these older/used Luxury sedans and add killer sound systems and they will park at home next to their moms new Scion and all the neighbors will be so confused (as well as all the know-it-all marketing gurus @ the big-3 Auto Corps)

Here's a ton load of 1990-2000 Caddy V8's that can be had for under $10,000 and this is just in my local area @ http://www.autotrader.com/findacar/r...arch_type=used

The one thing great about used luxury cars is that they are usually driven mildly by older people and they usually have less miles on them then cheaper used commuter cars of the same model year.

 

Reminds me of my gf's Geo Tracker. We both had a good chuckle when we saw the Scion.... Geo was ahead of its time!


This Tracker gets the thumbs up in my book though, since its survived the trip from Washington to Lousiana to Oregon fully loaded with no drama.. Although merging onto highways was interesting fully loaded.. we actually needed the whole merge distance to get up to speed..