spydersocal

I am about 6 months away from buying a new car and I am saving up for a home so tC is a natural choice on my short list. TC is lacking a few key options that keeps it from a complete car. Overall I think it close to a PERFECT car for a sporty 2 door at that pricing point. I can say this is a watered down Lexus because the design. However following are the things that are available in the competition:

1) Xenon headlight (no longer this is an exotic option, it's quite common nowdays even Mazda3 has it) It would be nice to see Scion to offer a factory version. At least revise the current halogen style light bulbs to projector type so it at least look like xenon type. My current 25K VW passat has these non-xenon projector type.

2) DVD Navigation (Mazda3 has them) why can't Scion offer it as a standalone for those who wants it since the car is inexpensive, there are alot of us wants to buy it but at least for now Toyota is losing money to aftermarket makers

3) Leather Seating (again, not an exotic thing. Just offer it. If one can get leather in a Hyndai then one should get leather in a Scion. Just doesn't make sense to see dealership add in aftermarket leather at $1500 mark up. This makes Scion look bad)

4) BOSE sound (Pioneer? Com'on, get real. Love the subwoofer option but hate the headunit, give us some true high fidelity here, I don't mind paying extra for it).

I know tC is not suppose to be a luxury car but there are a large following for tC outside Scion's typical demographics.. I am 33 and make good money but is saving for a house so this elegant beautiful glass roof coupe is a watered down Lexus to me. What doesn't make sense to me is that for $24k before negotiation for Mazda3, I can get Xenon, Navigation, speical saddle brown leather and a high quality interior but can't get these with tC. Having said that, I happen to think tC is one sweet ride with a gorgeous exterior, and nice interior, awesome 18s wheels and engine. It could easily be badged as a small Lexus. That's all the problems I have with it.

Oh by the way I know all these options can be had with after market but I am just not savvy enough to do all the reseach and then find quality installer to get them in. Factory offered options are all covered under warranty and all nicely intergrated. So if they are there I would order them!

yellot00tr

iTrader: (1)

dealerships around me use katzkin and give a 3 yr warranty. i'm gonna get the katzkin leather at the end of summer, and i really like it. the dealer buy my house also offers a dvd navigation pacakge-the eclipse avn. because eclipse is the supplier of navigation for toyota, the dealer told me that they would warranty the eclipse unit in the tc for 3 years, and u still have the eclipse factory warranty on top of that. as far as speakers go, trd sparks sells a speaker/amp upgrade for like a hundred something dollars. or better yet, u can get components that'll sound much better than that speaker upgrade. if u're gonna get dvd/nav, who cares about the pioneer head unit? the head unit should no longer make a difference.

HKSpeed

i think youre looking at the purpose of Scion all wrong. Scion was created to attract new youthful customers to the Toyota brand. Customization and low price are key factors to attracting younger buyers. Adding leather, dvd, and xenon light options jack up bottom line costs. Scion is targeting 16-26 year olds. Toyota motor corp, hopes Scion owners will move up to a Toyota later, and eventually a Lexus. Calling a TC a "watered down lexus" is not a fair statement. You should be calling the Solara that.

reagulator

why dont you just get a mazda 3 then

emiller

Those cars cost more than the tC. Young people Toyota want cant afford it all at once. Yes lots of people will add it later but only 1 thing at a time when they have the money not all at once when they buy the car.

STATUS

YOU CAN DO ONE OF 3 THINGS
1. GET A MAZDA 3
2. BUY THOSE OPTIONS YOURSELF
3. OR FIND DEALERSHIPS THAT OFFER THEM LIKE ONES AROUND ME DO.... WITH HID, LEATHER, AND NAV

Kwiksilver

based on your list it sounds like you don't really want a tc, or even any scion for that matter.

cfusionpm

yeah, it would be "neat" but thats about it. these things look like stadium lights compared to my eclipse's tiny candles. the lights are fine as they are, and making them xenon would only drive up the costs. the purpose of this car is to be a fun, CHEAP car aimed at people in their late teens and 20s.

again, a cool idea, but first of all its not really necessary, and most of the idiots who buy cars with nav systems dont know how to use them properly. (i worked at a honda dealership last year, and i couldnt even begin to tell you about all the people complaining about the most user-frienly nav system on the planet). also, again it would drive up costs of the car by EASILLY 2000$ or more. the standard hav packages run about 2000$ from ANY dealership. if you want nav, go look at an aftermarket one. you can pick up a fantastic nav system for as little as 500-600$.

again, would be nice. in fact, i miss the leather on my eclipse, but its just one more thing to drive up costs, and its certainly not a necessity. i love my black/red cloth. (though it doesnt touch the black/red leather on either the s2000 or rx-8; both 30k+)

from what i heard from of the 350Z's system (made by BOSE) is that it sucks. i personally love the head unit on the tC, and my only gripe is that the volume is too sensetive; it takes too long to raise or lower the volume. other than that, the speakers are fantastic, and as soon as i move my 12" JL subwoofer from my eclipse, i'll be done. no need for a new deck or new speakers as in my eclipse.

now, while all of those are good for general concerns, the tC is not for you if it is these things you seek. throw those kinds of things on a tC and suddenly its costing 20-25,000$ or more. what you would want if you can settle for a 4-door would be something like the acura TSX. it has pretty much everything it looksl ike you want, but costs 27 grand (29 with nav).

these opinions brought to you by a 20-year-old college student who just sold a 1998 turbo eclipse for a 2005 scion tC.

BlueBox

I would never pay dealer price of those options mentioned...way overpriced.

I can get a decent aftermarket navigation system, Xenon light, and Leather interior at half the cost or even less.

Scion was made for personal modification. Scion is based on affordability and quality...not top of the line model car..that's what Lexus is for.

apexjr

Ditto on what BlueBox said...

Mainrodax

I would like the xenon and leather to be dealer installed accessories. They are both expensive, which is why the whole idea of getting a tc as a blank canvas and adding on whatever stuff you want at the dealership is nice. If these were factory, it would make it even harder to get the tc with the factory stuff and price you want. As it is i think the only dealer option should be transmission and the side airbags should just be made standard. (It's coming anyway so whatever)

toby3002

buy a used is300 if your that whiny about wanting a lexus

slipknot490

hmmm

spydersocal

Boy, I think most of you guys missed the point I am trying to make. First of all, if I think tC is a cheap car like many of you referred your car to then I wouldn't call it a watered down lexus. Calling it a lexus is a complement not an insult. Some of you should stop calling this car cheap, it's far better than 90% cars on the road costing thousands more. And yes I get what you saying about Scion is supposed to be affordable and I agree they've done a wonderful job of keeping within reach of younger guys and gals. I GET IT really, but you didn't hear what I said. All these options I love to have are easily had in similar priced cars like Mazda, Hyndai etc. These options are NO big deals now, it was big deal a couple of years ago. I am not asking laser guided cruise or keyless entry (with keys in your pocket) anything that exotic.
Living in So Cal you need a navigation, leather are not expensive to offer. Plus when you buy several options from factory they are cheaper, only bimmer trying to rip you off. On this site the amount of mods I seen people do could easily top several thousand dollars more. Lastly, i didn't say add these option as standard and increase the price what I said was it would be nice to have the option to buy them if needed.
Again, don't get me wrong I've been through college and understand what budget is.

I only noticed tc missing few things that its direct competitior offers. Lastly, I have to say I have full time job schedule is always full so I won't have time to find out who installs what and what is compatible.. if they offer these option there will be no guessing games for buyers like me.

Take a look at German car, they can all be configured from very affordable to very expensive depending on one's preference. If Scion is truly about mods then they should put ALL options on the table for buyer to decide.

Again, this is not meant to put down tC. I wouldnt' be here if I didn't think this is an awesome car. And PLEASE don't call it cheap, correct term is good value for the money.

mredz

BOSE = highend audio?

corey415

I guess the question is, would making these options available significantly increase the price for those who want the car without options?

With regards to HID lighting, once you go HID, you never go back. Drive at night with a car that has a good HID setup, and you will never want to go back to halogen.

For the navigation, the DVD based ones (pretty much all of them now are DVD), it covers the continental US. No need to load or reload maps while you drive.

spydersocal

Let me give you some insight to BOSE. Yes some Bose sounds in some cars don't sound all that nice. Keep in mind BOSE has in the recent years commericalized itself to sell to many car makers in order to make money. Secret is they make different quality stereo for depends on car maker's wish. My 2000 patherfind's Bose sounded ok, but my dad's 2002 Merc C Bose sounded amazing (3 D like). Why quality. So yes I agree with you, not all Bose are the same but some are far better than others. Pioneer? Now you have got to be joking. But stop and think for a sec, does Pioneer make some high quality high end stuff? You bet, of course probably sound as good as anything. Does Bose make good stuff? I let you answer that.

corey415

I totally agree with what your saying. I dont know why people have been responding so negatively. Young people like options like HID, nav, and leather. I know i do!

cfusionpm

running through mazdausa.com's build your own page, adding all the leather, sound packages, and nav and junk to the cheapest mazda 3 bumped it from a 15k car to a 20-23k car depending on packages. this means as much as 25k+ out the door. its not only more than a regular tC, but even more than the RS01 tC (but understandibly so). compared to the comperably PRICED models, the tC is much better than the mazda 3 (not to mention its a coupe, not a sedan/wagon).

Kwiksilver

the tc is an illusion. it looks like a higher class car than what it really is. but that illusion starts to get to some people and then the xenon, navigation, and leather complaints start. they expect too much of the car because it looks like something that it really isn't. what these people have to realize is that the tc is still a corolla class car, not an is 300 class car. that's why it is cheap to buy and cheaper to make. yes i used the word cheap because it is cheap. you get what you pay for, even with scion. go ahead and buy one and you'll see. i'm not saying that the tc is bad, i'm saying that it doesn't have the build quailty of a high end car, because it isn't a high end car. as for mazda, maybe you should think about how they keep the cost of the mazda 3 down with those options that you want. perhaps cutting corners in build quality is the way they do it. afterall, ford has a huge influence in mazda.