About.com Rating
The Scion Xa 5-door hatchback is the entry-level car in Toyota's new entry-level brand. Though designed for and marketed to the Generation Y crowd, the xA (and boxy stablemate, the xB) has become a surprise hit with us thirtysomethings. Evidentally you don't have to wear hip-hugger jeans or a backwards baseball cap to appreciate a $12,995 car that's fun, frugal, eminently practical, and bulletproof.
Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles total car; 5 years/60,000 miles powertrain.
First glance
Europeans call them "superminis": tiny 5-door hatchbacks built for $4-per-gallon gas and 500-year-old city plans. In Europe, buying a small car is a matter of practicality, not prestige. Here in the US, bigger is better and small hatchbacks are supposed to be college-kid cars. So it makes sense that when Toyota... er, Scion, built a proper supermini, they would market it to the youth crowd. Whoops! Turns out we 'Muricans are a bit more European than the marketing folks thought: The average Scion xA buyer is about 36. Me, I've always loved superminis (I drove a bunch when I worked for a car mag in Britain), and the xA is about as good as they come. Scion market research showed that buyers wanted simplicity, so that's what you get. The xA's base price includes power-operated windows, locks and mirrors, A/C, antilock brakes, and a CD/MP3 player. The only functional options are an automatic transmission ($800), side airbags ($650), and keyless entry/alarm ($459).
The rest of the options are what Scion calls "accessories": loud stereos and flashy gee-gaws that have little function aside from raising the Scion's price. Witness my test car, with a sticker north of $17,000. Does anyone really need multi-color illuminated cupholders?
In the Driver's Seat
Get in, close the door, buckle up, and... hey, where the heck is the speedometer? Oh, there it is, in a small pod centered on the dash. The idea is that you don't have to move your eyes as far off the road to check the speedo; it works quite well, once you get used to it. But if Scion was so concerned with helping the driver concentrate on the road, why does the stereo have so darn many buttons? It takes way too much attention to operate when you're supposed to be paying attention to the road. I consider this a serious design flaw. The stereo should be simple, straightforward and safe, like the air conditioner: three big dials, a button for A/C and a slider for recirculated air. Speaking of the way things ought to be, kudos to Scion for the Xa's back seat, which is tall, supportive and reasonably roomy, considering the Xa's size. But the accomodations come at the expense of trunk space: a week's worth of groceries will fit just fine, and there's even a retracting cover to hide valuables, but if you want to haul anything bigger you'll have to dispense with back-seat passengers and fold the rear seats down. (That big lump stealing 1/3rd of the trunk space is one of the Scion accessories, a $379 Bazooka Tube subwoofer.)
On the Road
It's in the city that the xA really shines. The energetic 1.5 liter engine (108 horsepower, impressive for such a small motor) feels sprightly and strong, even with the four-speed automatic (which, by the way, is the best auto 'box I've ever encountered in an economy car; the upshifts are so smooth, you'd think the tranny was borrowed from Lexus). With its sub-13-foot length (two feet shorter than a Corolla) and 35-foot turning circle, the xA squirts through tiny holes in traffic and squeezes into seemingly impossible parking spots with room to spare. There's one chink in the xA's urban armor: the huge rear-seat headrests block the view out the back window, making it hard to see cars just off the rear fenders. If you do a lot of highway driving, the xA probably isn't the best choice: acceleration to highway speeds is just adequate (and rather noisy), the ride gets choppy above 70 MPH, and there's no cruise control, not even as an option. Regardless of speed, the xA handles nimbly, although the steering is a bit vague just off center. If you want your xA to corner like a slot car and don't mind giving up some ride comfort, your Scion dealer can hook you up with sport springs, shocks and tires.
Journey's End
It's no wonder the Scion xA is a hit with us children of the Nixon era. This car is concentrated practicality: inexpensive to buy, easy to drive, and cheap to run. And if nothing else, its youth marketing has imbibed the xA with a refreshing dose of style and character. I'm 32, I've got kids and bills, and I loved this car. Would I spend my hard-earned money on one? You bet. The Xa is fun to drive, perfectly suited to my suburban-dweller lifestyle, and it even appeals to my environmentally-friendly liberal heart. Most importantly, I could actually afford one on a modest writer's salary. George Bernard Shaw coined the phrase "Youth is wasted on the young." Fortunately, the Scion xA isn't.