B is not as much of a car person as I am. I love cars. I love concept cars, new cars, old cars, funky cars. So we’ve known we had to get him a car so we can give back The Tiniest Buick, and we’ve actually had the breathing room to even think about it lately, and so several times B’s asked me, “what kind of car should I buy?”
I would shrug. “What kind of car do you want?”
He would shrug. And that would be the end of the conversation.
But he asked again last week, and I said, “I don’t know. What about a Scion xA?” (warning: flash) I’ve never actually noticed an xA on the road so far, but I see the xBs all the time, and I love the xBs and wanted one for myself, so I selfishly suggested he get the other one.
And he came back the next day and said he’d looked at them online, and had liked the look and fuel economy and price, and the reviews were all really good, so he submitted a credit application online last night.
While we were out at breakfast, the local Toyota dealership called and said his application was approved, so we went over there.
Scions are packageless; you buy the car, and you add what you want, and there’s an actual price tag on each thing. No haggling. The base car is actually very nicely stocked; these are Generation Y-marketed cars, so the extras are almost entirely bling: fancy wheels, monster sound systems, lighting packages (like the cupholder lights that change through 8 colors), plus a few “normal” upgrades like upholstery. Because they’re more or less custom cars, Toyota doesn’t keep but a couple on their lots. You pick out your stuff, they get the car in about a week.
B wanted a manual xA, and they had a manual on the lot, so we took it out first. I can’t drive stick, so I didn’t drive it, but it was fine. They’re inline 4s, 108hp, so they’re not road hogs or anything, but for a 4-banger it was a decent ride. For an economy sedan, the xA has really impressive room on the inside. Our knees didn’t touch the dash in the front, and the salesman’s knees barely brushed the back of the driver’s seat when it was all the way back.
We’d already told the sales guy that if we liked the car we were coming back in a few months to get me an xB, so I test-drove the one they had on the lot. If the xA is acceptably roomy for an economy car, the xB is enormous. Part of it is the shape of the front window, so that you really have a front cabin - you could wave your arms in the air like you just don’t care all you want up there.
And in the back seat the sales guy’s knees were nowhere near the seat. This was a huge sticking point for us, because the Jeep’s back seat is worthless. The door openings are small and the legroom is nonexistent. It’s really uncomfortable sitting in the back.
And it was zippy, again surprisingly so for a 4-cylinder. Both cars had an economy amount of body roll on turns, but not any worse than the Jeep.
Halfway through our test drive, B wanted to drive. By the time we got back to the lot, he was buying the xB.
And we bought that one instead of ordering. Keyless entry (my requirement) was standard, and this one had a wheel upgrade and a big ass subwoofer in the back. It was the subwoofer that got him, and the “black cherry” color. I’d been pushing for silver, because dark cars in Texas are miserable in the summer, but since *I* am getting silver, I was all “yeah, black cherry, what a great color, go for it.”
When he mentioned getting a Scion to a friend of ours, the friend said, “you’re not getting the one that looks like a washing machine, right?” Well, we did obviously end up getting the washing machine, but at least it’s not white. Because those really do look like a Maytag on wheels.
(He called our friend and said, “yeah, I got the washer. And we’re getting a dryer later.”)
So here’s our brand new purple washing machine on wheels:
It’s our half-anniversary present to ourselves.
I was so taken by the room inside this car, I took several demonstrative photos. That big cannon in the way-back is the Bazooka subwoofer.