Taking a car out for a test drive is one thing, having it around day-in and day-out for a period of months is quite another. It sometimes takes a bit of time to really figure out what really does and doesn't work for you. Several months ago, I was in serious car shopping mode, driving a lot of different rides, and kicking a lot of different tires. I ended up buying two new cars: a 2005 Honda Pilot for the main family car, and this vehicle, a 2005 Scion xA as the commuter car and general in-town beater ride.

When I was test-driving cars, the Scion xA wasn't my first choice for our backup car. I actually thought the 2005 Honda Civic was the best overall economy car for 2005. I still think the Civic is a great vehicle, but after 6 months of daily drives in the Scion, my opinion of the xA has only gotten better. I also feel that for our family's car needs, the Scion xA was an excellent choice.

The xA has proven to be very reliable with no breakdowns and no significant defects popping up. It's been comfortable and spacious enough for short, in-town, typical family and commuter usage. And most important to my cheapskate heart, it's been just as economical and easy to operate as I'd planned (and it's expected low total cost of ownership is THE reason why it's parked in my driveway today where I'd originally thought a Civic would look good). Anyway, let's take the xA out for a spin...


Body Styling and Construction...
This is a 4-door hatchback style econobox. To call the car "ugly" is to be charitable. But styling matters about zilch to me.

From the front end, the thing bears an uncanny resemblance to a cockroach, with its pointy little front end and suggestions of aerodynamic sleekness. In fact, if you turn the xA upside down, it's little wheels will spin and flail until the thing dies. At least that's what happens in my imagination. I have no idea what happens in reality because the manual says the car weighs 2,340 pounds (just 7 pounds lighter than my mother-in-law). From the side or back, I think it (the car, not "mom") reminds me a bit of the Mini Cooper's configuration.

Ugliness aside, the fit and finish is generally good. The hood feels kind of flimsy when I open it, and the doors tend towards thinness, but I suppose that's to be expected in any small economy car. Overall though, I give the xA generally high marks on the body.


Interior Configuration and Comfort...
For a basic small car, the interior is quite nice and I like that Toyota has given it at least a dash of style and sophistication, I mean seriously, how much money do you save on those chintzy, cheap plastic interiors like they use on the low-end Echo? Evidently not much if Toyota can price the xA not much above the price of an Echo. A little bit of fake metal trim on the edges of the dashboard and console goes a long way towards reducing the cheese factor.

And speaking of dashboard, I'm actually getting used to having the instrument cluster stuck in the center of the dashboard instead of right in front of the driver, like it is on 99.3% of autos in the driving world. For a while, I found it odd to have to keep glancing to my right to check the speed or the gas gauge, but I do understand the ergonomic basis for moving it there, and I find in practice, that it actually works pretty darn well.

While the seats aren't exactly going to coddle anyone or bathe them in luxurious comfort, they've got enough support to them and are contoured well enough to make them comfortable for shorter trips. I doubt I'd want to do many long trips in this car, but for my purposes, the comfort is good. I find the front seat leg room adequate (and I'm 6 feet tall), though again, it's tighter than I'd want on a long trip. Naturally, the back seat is really only spacious enough for one single adult sitting crosswise, though two kids have no complaints at all (and are happy that the front seats are within easy kicking distance).

Suburban Dad-Man says, no problems fitting a basic child car seat in the back seat, although the rear doors are on the tight side and it sometimes seems like you're doing yoga contortions to get Junior strapped into place. I did find the seatbelts placed a bit too tightly to handle my niece's car seat, which has a fat plastic base on it. But with enough will power and appropriate use of swear words, we eventually got even that behemoth into place.

The cargo space behind the back seat is much too tight to fit a cooler full of beer, though it will handle a brief case (but I'm a boxer man!) and a kid's school backpack. Not much else though. If you've got a lot of stuff to carry, you can always fold down the seats. With the seats down, you should be able to carry up to 5 Igloo coolers full of beer. I'm not sure what to do with the kids in that case, since the xA doesn't even have a good roof rack like Toyota gives you with their Matrix econobox.


Power and Performance...
I ought to go into comedy...sometimes I just crack myself up! Here I am, actually using the words "power" and "performance" in a review of a Scion xA. Funny stuff, eh?

Seriously though, if you want any kind of power, you are seriously in the wrong part of the auto showroom. The Scion kicks out a whopping 108 horsepower, which should get you up to 60mph within a few days. That's plenty of "get up and go" for the suburban Dad Man who really would rather be "laying down for just 5 more minutes", but it ain't gonna give nobody no adrenaline rush.

In typical driving scenarios, I can accelerate more quickly than a city Metro bus or a moderately loaded down Mack truck, though immigrants in beat up 1972 Chevy vans still smile smugly when they blow past me at 33 mph. I can live with that.

General handling is very nice. I love that I can do a U-turn on a city street without jumping the curb and knocking over too many newspaper boxes, and I love being able to get into parking spots that other cars don't even think exist. The steering feels tight and competent and the car feels smooth and solid at every speed I've ever driven it. Braking is quick, and the car comes with anti-lock brakes on every model.

Overall, the car does very well in every typical city-driving experience that I can imagine. It isn't a race car, it's not really what I consider a "fun" car to drive, but it does turn on a dime, stops on a nickel, and gets you there while saving big bucks.


The Bucks Factor: Pros and Cons of the xA Compared to Similar Cars...
When I looked at small cars earlier this year, I'd also considered the Toyota Echo and Corolla, the Honda Civic, and even some of the small GM offerings, including the Saturn Ion and the Chevy Cavalier and Aveo.

Although the xA is essentially a Toyota Echo with a modified body and different trim, the Echo can't help but feel cheesy and underequipped next to the xA. The Corolla is better, but still lacks class in the trim department. I've owned Corollas in the past, and always appreciated their relatively low overhead, but I thought that at their higher price level, they didn't deliver any real extra value to me over the xA. I liked the Civic completely, but as with the Corolla, it's higher initial price point put me off when stacked up next to the fairly good set of creature comforts and styling that Toyota packs into the xA for a lower price. GM does beat the xA price handily on several low-end 4 cylinder boxes, but all of them struck me as feeling low quality --- especially the two Chevys. GM has recently had some very tempting incentive programs going, but the biggest incentive for me to buy a small car is good reliability coupled with low total cost of ownership. On this count, this year, the Scion xA is, in my opinion one of the best overall values in small cars. It delivers a good set of features at an affordable price.

One interesting option that's been getting some press lately is high efficiency hybrids: namely, the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid.

I'll admit, the prospect of driving the most technologically advanced vehicles in the world is tempting, and the prospect of 60 miles per gallon does have me salivating like Pavlov's dog. BUT these cars are priced considerably above any of the vehicles I seriously considered. At well over $20K, the Prius will probably clock in with an out-the-door price roughly $10,000 above a nice xA. When I first did the math, gas cost about $1.65 a gallon, and I figured the Prius would save about $330 a year in fuel costs over the xA ---- BUT it would take 33 years for the acquisition cost to pay for itself!

Now, with gas in Texas costing about $2.65 a gallon, it will still take about 25 years to pay for itself. Even factoring in the $2,000 tax credit that Uncle Sam will give you to buy a Prius, it's going to take a good 15-20 years to make up the difference. I say let the early adopters pay those outrageous R&D costs associated with hybrids...

I think the xA is priced exactly right. It's not the cheapest car on the market, though it is one of the smallest. It gives you some nice extras that you'd want added anyway to lower-priced vehicles, and it delivers a fairly low depreciation rate. Price the car any higher, and the Honda Civic becomes the overall "value" leader or the Nissan Altima starts to look more attractive with its richer feature set. But, at $13K, the xA is hard not to like.


Bottom Line...
I've been very happy with my xA experience to date, and recommend this car to anyone looking for basic, affordable transportation. It's not luxury, it's not sporty, but for what it is, it's about as good as it gets...

Until next time, see you on the road. You might laugh when you blow me past me in your performance rides, but I'll be the guy laughing when I write the monthly payment checks and see that each year, the xA saves me enough to vacation in Cancun. I promise not to scoff at y'all too loudly as I order up another cool margarita...





Amount Paid (US$): 13500
Condition: New