Sounds like Scion is getting overhauled.

I wonder if they will stick to their roots?

http://m.autoblog.com/2014/07/28/scion-xb-iq-auris-toyota/?ncid=edlinkusauto00000016

Is that the scion version? It looks exactly like a corolla hatchback.

Even has a Toyota logo on the front.

The only part of that article that interests me is the last line

If they are supposedly oriented towards younger people why do I only see old people with handicapped placards in xBs? That and 90% of tCs are driven by teenage girls.

Is that a clone or sister car to that Lexus hybrid thing? Only without the hybrid crap in it?

moparman76_69 wrote: If they are supposedly oriented towards younger people why do I only see old people with handicapped placards in xBs? That and 90% of tCs are driven by teenage girls.

My handicapped Father looked into the xB. With his artificial hips, he found it very easy to get in and out of. He just wanted something bigger so he didn't get it

irish44j wrote: The only part of that article that interests me is the last line

" Finally, as first rumored last year, the little iQ will likely"

That IS interesting. The iQ will likely what? What will it likely do? Who was phone? TELL US ABOUT THE BERKING GOLF SHOES !!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmtVFQ3WF8

Knurled wrote:

irish44j wrote: The only part of that article that interests me is the last line

" Finally, as first rumored last year, the little iQ will likely" That IS interesting. The iQ will likely what? What will it likely do? Who was phone? TELL US ABOUT THE BERKING GOLF SHOES !!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmtVFQ3WF8

"....will likely be a rebadged Lexus IS-F with a 6-speed manual and exhaust tips that don't look dumb."

Knurled wrote:

irish44j wrote: The only part of that article that interests me is the last line

" Finally, as first rumored last year, the little iQ will likely" That IS interesting. The iQ will likely what? What will it likely do?

... Likely attempt to jump Snake River Canyon in a rocket propelled motorcycle?

Wally wrote:

Knurled wrote:

irish44j wrote: The only part of that article that interests me is the last line

" Finally, as first rumored last year, the little iQ will likely" That IS interesting. The iQ will likely what? What will it likely do?

... Likely attempt to jump Snake River Canyon in a rocket propelled motorcycle?

irish44j said: "....will likely be a rebadged Lexus IS-F with a 6-speed manual and exhaust tips that don't look dumb

Of those two options, the Snake River Canyon jump seems more likely. I picture it launching, then just tumbling end over end in the air. Like a baseball

I loved my first-gen xB (2006). Slow as E36 M3 but damn it was fun, suspension-tires-catback-CAI-springs made it more fun, and I could carry a crapload of stuff. I made many friends in a local Scion club that I still hang out with and do stuff together even if we don't all have Scions anymore. We just met at Quaker Steak last night actually.

Some of them have moved up to newer xB's but I wasn't interested, one has an xD and she loves it. Early Scion days were great, shows, events, corporate sponsored major events, ... Now the FRS seems to be the only thing keeping the brand alive, except the elderly/disabled buying new xB's I guess.

I'm with Jerry, heck I won my 1st gen xB through Scion Corporate, drank the Kool-Aid, went to events, met friends (that I also still keep in touch with even though only 3 of us still have Scions and none of us go to scion only events any longer). I echo (no xB chassis pun intended) the sediment that the FRS is the only thing keeping the brand afloat, and seeing that Toyota also has it branded as the 86, I see them pulling the plug on the brand. There's no reason to rebadge and rebrand Yarises, Pruis V's. I'm honestly surprised the brand held on as long as it did, I always felt that the FJ cruiser should've been a scion model and felt that the fact they chose not to brand it as such meant the end was, at the very least, being considered. I guess the business model and plan has run it's course as Toyota doesn't seem as stuffy when compared to Honda as it previously did, although I feel that a portion of that equation in Honda's product development and not Toyotas.

Well, the original concept of 'using the brand as an incubator for ideas too radical for the toyota and lexus brands' still makes sense. The problem is that those ideas arent even making it to scion.

Scion's cars aren't 'out there', they're just mostly boring and bad. The xd was atrocious, the xb lost its flavor and economy, the TC is a good car that enthusiasts are 'too cool' to admit is good (that is kind of tragic for scion), the iq gets E36 M3 mpg..

The FRS is the only example of a good concept followed by a good execution that they still sell. I consider the TC a pretty good product but it seems kind of cursed as far as enthusiast acceptance and at the end of the day you cant JUST be selling coupes.

Also i think the fact that the Prius C is not a scion was a bad sign. I understand the desire to keep it branded as a Prius but outside the name and the fact that it's a hybrid it seems more like a Scion in its youthful bent and styling etc.

Sad that the original intention has fizzled. The original xB was SO outrageous when it first came out. It was such a radical move and they sold a ton of them.

If they just turn it into Toyota's small car division, it's just not as cool. Granted, I'm curious to see what they build on that Mazda2 platform.

I was looking at the tC sitting on our back lot. 2015 tC, $23k. It has 179hp 2.5 and weighs almost 3100lbs(technically 3082). What the hell? You could have had that in 2002 from Hyundai. They called it a Tiburon, which coincidentally is spanish for "Shark".... exactly what Toyota has officially jumped with the Scion brand.

I still drive an '05 xB. The odometer is just approaching 80k. Aside from highway manners, there isn't a thing wrong with it. It even tows my 500 lb. homebuilt camper just fine.

I'd like to get something better for road trips, but the damn thing just keeps going. The only thing that's failed early was the sway bar end link bushings. It still gets 35mpg around town with the a/c off, and the depreciation is the only thing slower than the car itself. I see them on CL all the time with 120k for $6000. I could probably sell mine for $7k, but why? I can likely drive it for 4 more years and still get $4k for it.

If that Auris thing was a real wagon, I might consider it, but it looks like a 5-door hatch to me. Shame, the brand once had so much promise.

So the Xb might going away? Just read an article confirming 2014 is the last year for the Nissan Cube in the US. Both promising at first but both left to wither on the vine by their manufacturers. Or maybe the Kia Soul just opened a can of whoop ass on them both and shut them down. It's a shame anything a little different (odd) never seems to do well and we are left with a sea of silver/grey SUVs that all look alike and are cookie cutter in shape.

In reply to Feedyurhed:

The Soul should do quite well having received small refinements opposed to the sweeping overhaul that the xB did, which in turn ruined all the things that made the original fun. Honda killed the bigger box too, the element, which surprised me.

I still wonder if Kia has any plans to release a turbo Soul as had been rumoured. I always thought that if Nissan dropped the DI turbo 1.6L from their parts bin into the cube that they'd have a hit. Truth be told the original xB really only needed 2 major improvements for the 2nd generation (opposed to the trainwreck they came up with) a 6th gear for reduced highway rpms and a 2nd gauge cluster the same size as the existing one, directly in front of the driver to split some of the functions and to have a center driver facing tach.

It'll be interesting to see if any other box cars come out, most of the ones them came to market are being culled before the best engine platforms for them were ever implemented. (Toyota never did a hybrid xB, chevy never the diesel from the cruze into the HHR, although it did get the SS treatment).

I almost bought one of the newer xB's. Mrs. DX approved of it and then I jumped on the Mazda 5. She saw an xB at an auto show and said to me that she is glad I got the 5 instead of the xB. She didn't like the looks of it in person.

My '06 xB had about 170k miles when I sold it in January. Besides consumables the only thing that ever went wrong/bad? Water pump. And even that gave me like 2 weeks warning with a bearing that got louder and louder until I decided it had given me a E36 M3load of warning & if I died on the highway it would be my own damn fault.

I was even ok with the single gauge cluster, it was where my eyes naturally looked onto the road and being off center nothing was hidden by the steering wheel (unlike the MR2, which I couldn't see anything behind it's wheel).

Put the 2nd gen engine/drivetrain in the 1rst gen, maybe another gear, and they'd STILL be selling like hotcakes.

Vigo wrote: Scion's cars aren't 'out there', they're just mostly boring and bad. the TC is a good car that enthusiasts are 'too cool' to admit is good (that is kind of tragic for scion) The FRS is the only example of a good concept followed by a good execution that they still sell. I consider the TC a pretty good product but it seems kind of cursed as far as enthusiast acceptance and at the end of the day you cant JUST be selling coupes.

You think it is a good car? I agree in the sense that it is reliable, reasonably practicle, and that it gets good MPG (I'm assuming here)... But honestly, as far as the driving experience goes I think that I enjoy my Fiance's 2004 Corolla more than the TC.

But I only drove one in a parking lot, and it wasn't an autocross.

mtn wrote:

Vigo wrote: Scion's cars aren't 'out there', they're just mostly boring and bad. the TC is a good car that enthusiasts are 'too cool' to admit is good (that is kind of tragic for scion) The FRS is the only example of a good concept followed by a good execution that they still sell. I consider the TC a pretty good product but it seems kind of cursed as far as enthusiast acceptance and at the end of the day you cant JUST be selling coupes.

You think it is a good car? I agree in the sense that it is reliable, reasonably practicle, and that it gets good MPG (I'm assuming here)... But honestly, as far as the driving experience goes I think that I enjoy my Fiance's 2004 Corolla more than the TC. But I only drove one in a parking lot, and it wasn't an autocross.

3100lbs. 170hp. FWD. How is that a "good car" for "enthusiasts"?

Toyota intended the brand to have stylish, cheaper cars, but I don't think they made cars attractive enough for people to keep wanting to buy them, especially since all their first generation Scions didn't look good to most people. I haven't driven any of them because they looked ugly to me but they did start making the tC look above average, not to mention the FRS is a gorgeous car.

Scion has become a failed Saturn, wait...

Seriously though Scion really just followed the conserative line of its parent company just with a few bright colored cars tossed in there. This is the opposite of what it was supposed to be however I understand following the money as enthusiasts aren't exactly the best demographic to sell cars to.