Scion xD, revamped xB
To the right are some of the very first pictures of the newly redesigned Scion xB and the new model, the xD. My feelings on these two vehicles have ranged from severe disappointed to mild enthusiasm over the time that I have had to reflect upon them. Overall I feel a little let down and at this point I am still not sure if it is because I expected too much or if Scion is just morphing down to plain old re-badged Toyotas. Don’t get me wrong, Toyotas are awesome cars, but the company’s previous attempts to target a younger male market were just horrible. I am speaking specifically about cars like the Echo and the Corolla S. Not bad cars, just a little girly and nothing that would make rush out to buy one.
With the introduction of Scion, they hit the nail on the head. The xB was incredibly unique in the U.S. market, the xA was a superbly affordable hatchback with some pretty cool features for its pricerange and the later addition of the tC brought a budget sports coupe with a killer sunroof into the mix. I had hoped that any addtions or redesigns to the Scion line would be more along the lines of the impact of the xB and the tC on the U.S. market and less like the xA. The first time I had every laid eyes on the xB I said “whoa!” Seeing these first pictures of the new Scions made me say to something to the tune of “inspired by Corolla.”
I think to give proper perspective on my relationship with Scion, I had better give a little background on my interest in the company and their cars. To start, I do not currently own a Scion but this has not always been the case. I saw the Scions in San Jose, CA by chance when they were on a nationwide tour to promote the company. They were letting the public test drive them and I knew after seeing and driving an xB that I wanted one. In a move quite uncharacteristic for me, I went to the dealership about two weeks after they came out and bought an ‘04 xB. The ‘04 Scions were only available in California which is where I lived at the time so I was quite the early adopter.
The rest of the story goes something like xB was fun for a while and fit our family of four quite nicely except on extended trips where the shortage of cargo space meant for some creative packing of baggage (thank goodness the twins did not need any legroom at that time!). Well, our family of four became a family of five and long story short, the xB got traded in for a minivan. I was sad and still am to a certain degree.
I liked the uniqueness of the design in the xB and did not care when I was told it looked like a shoebox, toaster, it was the ugliest car one had ever seen, etc. I know that asthetics and looks are subjective (who in their right mind would ever buy a Pontiac Aztec???) so the negativity just bounced right off of my ears. For every negative comment I had on the car, I had four positive comments. When I moved to AZ, the cars had yet to come out there so they were even more rare. I had folks old and young approach me in parking lots asking about the car. At one point, I had a basic spiel I had memorized including brief background on the Toyota-Scion relationship (like a Lexus, only cheaper!), approximate gas mileage, and MSRP.
I do not get any of those same feelings or emotions welling up inside of me from looking at the new xB and that is why I am disappointed. Sorry Scion, maybe your next round will get back to your roots.