Another Look

2005 Scion xA: Affordable quality

The teenage princess called the 2005 Scion xA 5-door a clown car, and with good reason. Remember back before PETA when you went to the circus and watched all the clowns stuff themselves into a VW Bug or the equivalent? We did pretty much the same thing, except that in lieu of clowns, we stuffed the entire contents of her dorm room into the back of the Scion. She owes me ten bucks on the deal too, having been silly enough to bet that I wouldn’t be able to get everything inside the deceptively small-looking Scion.

I just wished I’d gotten her mother to put some money down as well. A few of those bets and I’d have enough to buy the Scion.

By now, everyone knows the Scion story, but I’ll repeat it anyway. Scion is Toyota’s attempt to infiltrate the youth market by creating vehicles that have the reliability and equipment the spoilt little brats have come to expect at a price they can afford once they’ve gotten out of college and have to stop sponging off Mom and Dad.

I can’t believe I even got that sentence out. They never stop sponging off Mom and Dad. That reminds me, I have to call my mother now…

Anyway, given that they’re not going to stop sponging off you, the next best thing is to reduce the bleeding from your wallet, and that the Scion does well. My Spectra Blue Mica Scion xA was a limited edition Release Series 2.0 (the techie numbering clearly screamed “youth” to the Toyota marketers). That meant it was individually numbered and had shiny chrome number plates and individually numbered xA Release Series badging. It also had said Spectra Blue Mica exterior paint with color-tuned (whatever that means) dark charcoal fabric, sports grille, a rear spoiler, fog lights, a blue interior LED light kit and Release Series carpeted floor mats with cargo mats. All that added a hefty $1,035 to the price. The only other option on my car was a $650 package, which included driver and front passenger seat bolster side impact airbags and overhead front and rear side curtain airbags. Add in a $515 delivery, processing and handling fee and the cost of my 2005 Scion xA 5-door Release Series 2.0 was a whopping $15,530.

Even a reporter can afford that! And they throw in a full tank of gas, now worth almost $14,306.87 in some states!

Hyperbole aside, the Scion is clearly a great deal. It seats four comfortably with seatbelts for five, if you want to try stuffing the clowns in. The rear seats split 60/40, have adjustable headrests like the front seats, and fold down easily for all that cargo space.

The Scion may not be trade bait for Mercedes S-class owners, but for what it is, it is perfectly adequate, and that’s perfect. Toyota didn’t try to make more of the Scion than they needed to, didn’t try to add flash at the expense of substance to seduce the unwary. No, what they did is build a very good entry level car at a great price, and people have been flocking to the showrooms to buy them.

If you listen to the teenage princess, it’s not the looks. She’s not quite captivated by the Scion. Actually, the nicest word she had for it was ugly. But it is interesting, and that’s how Toyota has successfully marketed it.

Good marketing, however, is useless without a good product, and that’s where the interior of the Scion shines. Again, it is a car that knows what it is and what it has to do, and doesn’t strain itself reaching beyond that. The 1.5-liter 4-cylinder, 16-valve double overhead cam engine won’t make you long for the speedway at Indy, but it gets you up to 80, I mean 55, on the Merritt with ease, and gets you off the line when the light changes. The four-speed automatic transmission does its job, governing the power to the 15” wheels. The front suspension is supposedly sport tuned independent MacPherson struts, with a torsion beam rear suspension - no James Bond cornering, but it does the job.

That $13,330 base price gets you comfortable sport fabric (that means cloth, not leather) front bucket seats, driver and front passenger dual stage airbags, air conditioning, tilt steering, power door locks and windows and a first aid kit, among other things. Adding to the fabulous quotient is the standard 160-watt Pioneer AM/FM/CD player with 6-speakers, prewired for satellite. The instruments are all well laid out. The speedometer/tachometer cluster is center mounted, but instead of being some shuzzy distraction (yes, I made up one of those words), it works, somehow falling perfectly into the driver’s line of sight.

For the most part, you can avert your eyes when you see gas stations. I drove the Scion xA for a week, and despite the fact the cheapest regular gas I could find was about $3.20 a gallon, I spent a mere $27 on gasoline. I liked that. At those prices, the kids can afford to drive back home and ask you for money.

The EPA mileage estimate for the Scion xA is 31 city, 38 highway. It comes with a 36-month/36,000-mile comprehensive warranty, plus 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain coverage and a 5-year body panel corrosion perforation warranty.

Overall, the Scion xA is a comfortable car to drive, with enough space for both passengers and cargo. You can walk out of the showroom with one for $15,000, and given Toyota’s quality reputation, know you won’t be spending much on repairs in the years to come. The Scion may not be the first thing a Porsche-loving princess thinks of, but it may well be the first car she buys.

posted by Andy Mais @ 3:00 PM