February 8, 2007

Scion & Camry Sittin' In A Tree: They Mucked Up The New xB

2008_scion_xb.jpg

Grr. Last week I finally went to a Toyota dealer to give the Scion xB a lookover you just can't do when it's someone else's car parked on the street. [Quick take: The interior is plenty big, but super cheap and would require some irrationally expensive upgrades like new leather seats. And it's kind of weak, but is probably fine for city puttering. And it could really use some more storage space, and flat-folding seats.]

So it's kind of annoying that Toyota solves some of these major problems with the new 2008 xB--it's a foot longer, has a redesigned interior, and gets the standard Camry 2.4-liter engine putting out 55 extra horsepower--while wrapping it in a weirdly rounded, snub-nosed, Bangle BMW-y mess.

Maybe I'll grow to love the xB's new design, which at least one commenter on Jalopnik pegged as being much more cheap-Camry and much less distinctively a Scion. Or maybe slightly used 2007 xB's will become so cheap, dropping a $3,000 leather interior and a Camry 2.4 engine will make financial sense. I want my bread truck back.

2008 Scion xB Introduction at the Chicago Auto Show
[windingroad via jj daddy-o]

4 Comments

I agree. The old Scion xB was ugly in an amazingly cool kind of stylin', head-turning sort of way. This is just the normal kind of ugly, like the offspring of a Pontiac Aztek and a Nissan Stanza wagon.

hopefully they put side curtains in this one - otherwise they just cannot compete with all the wagons+ and crossovers out there.

[From the press release about the new model:]
The xB comes with generous and upscale standard features including power steering, windows, door locks and mirrors; remote keyless entry; air conditioning; four-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS) with Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA); driver and front passenger dual stage airbags; front seat-mounted side airbags; front and rear side curtain airbags ; Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with Traction Control (TRAC); first-aid kit; and tilt steering wheel with audio controls.
[Sweet!]

[and here I am complaining that it's taken this long to get an iPod jack. I feel like a jerk -ed]

My partner loved the xB so much when she first saw it that we had to sell our one year old Sonata for it. We call it the toaster. One of my favorite things about the car is the enormous head room which makes the car feel much bigger and provides for a lot more storage space, looks like they chopped the top of the new one which is a big disappointment in my book.

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