Hello there!

I'm about to get a new Scion xB, but had a question or two I'd like to ask present owners first. I run a small delivery business doing medical courier and bank work. My route takes me around 350 miles per day through north Texas, mostly over rural roads and interstates at 70-75mph.

My current vehicle is a 2001 VW Golf TDI (turbodiesel) 5-speed manual which by all accounts has been the perfect vehicle for the job. While it's still in great shape both mechanically and visually, it has almost 300,000 miles on it and it's time to replace it. There is nothing on the market which can touch the 47mpg I get every day. After much looking, the xB is the closest thing I can find that will handle the cargo, and still get decent gas mileage. As for why I'm not getting another V Dub, they don't import the TDI's anymore, and used ones are more than new Scions. I'm also getting $6000 for my 300K mile use car.

I'm concerned, however in how the car will be to drive 8 hours and 350 miles per day. I know it's a fantastic urban car, but what about a long distance highway car? I'm looking at the automatic instead of the manual because I'm tired of shifting. What about reliability? I know it's a Toyota, but my VW is still on it's original clutch and just about everything else. What about years? I'm considering a used 2004 with 45K miles on it. Is one year better or worse than other years?

I've been on the TDIClub.com board for years, and have made tons of friends, and saved thousands of dollars through learning about my car, and getting little hints and instructions for fixing problems and preventing them to begin with. Now I'm here, and hopefully by next week or so, you'll be having to read my long posts about MY new xB.

Jeff in Texas
Future xB ownder

 

Toyota engines hold up exceptionally well. If you do the proper maintenance, there shouldn't be any reason for the car to fail.

 

The 2004-2006 xB is not a good all-day long-distance car. The ride is choppy and firm, and the seat is hard with hard bolsters. The engine is small and turns at high rpms. The automatic turns 400 less rpm so it is quieter and gets better mpg, but is not as peppy. Cruise control can be added. The car is extremely reliable, particularly if you can buy a new one. No one year is better than another, but I would be very careful about buying a used one because so many have been questionably modded and tampered with by owners. That said, I like my manual xB more than any car I have ever had for city, suburban and countryside driving. For long-distance, high-speed driving we have a large American car.
For what you want, I think the re-designed 2008 xB would be much better in terms of ride and seat comfort, power and carrying capacity. It costs about $1500 more, and gets about 5 mpg less.

 

Many thanks for the honest comments. Please keep them coming. I've been very happy spending my days in my Golf. If the first generation xB compares to either the Golf or the Jetta (they are the same car), then I'd be happy with it.

I was looking at the new xB, and if it had a turbodiesel engine, or at least a smaller, more fuel effencient engine, I would agree with you. However, at only 28mpg highway (the figures I've seen), I would be spending too much on fuel.

I also know what you mean with owners modding their cars. xB's are made to mod from what I've seen. I was hoping to get a used one to last a couple of years until more diesels hit the market, then get what I really want. Of course, if Toyota were to put a turbodiesel into the new xB in a couple of years, it would be the perfect car for what I need.

Jeff in Texas
Future xB owner...maybe

 

Go with 2nd Gen xb its would be worth it and its comfortable according to a lot of ppl on this board test drive and are for yourself good luck

 

We have been on the road for about 3 weeks in my wife's 2006 RS 4.We started in NJ and went to New Mexico in 3 days.The longest day was over 600 miles,most of them have been around 450 miles.We have been getting over 34 MPG average thats with a automatic trans and the AC going all the time.We have been traveling at about 70 mph on the interstates.The only time I wished we had more power was in the Flagstaff area.As far as the ride goes,I don't think its so bad.As a side point I'm 6'2,and 300 lb +.on top of that the car is PACKED!The XB might not be a bad choice for you.Hope this is of some help.

 

I put 300 miles on my xB yesterday driving around the DFW metro, and today my back is KILLING ME, and Im 18! I shouldnt have back pain!

 

get another turbo diesel VW or something similar.

You'll get better gas mileage and the cost of fuel is also lower for diesel.

 

Sorry to say that there is nothing similar to the VW turbodiesels on sale in this country now. VW stopped importing them and they won't be back for another year or two. No one else makes a diesel except Mercedes Benz, and I can't afford one of those. Used VW TDI's are getting top dollar on the used car market now, sometimes bringing what they cost new, especially the Jetta wagons (which I would need). As I said before, I have people lined up from all over the country to buy my 300K Golf for $6000.

Check out this list from Autotrader.com of used Jetta TDI wagon prices!!

My particular Golf has been terrific. Over 300K miles, I've had virtually nothing go wrong with it. But that has more to do with how I use it. VW quality isn't generally that good, especially the automatic transmissions. I was just very lucky with mine. The dealer/service network also sucks bigtime (again, in general). I really wouldn't recommend one to someone who just wanted to use it for running around town and put fuel into it. They are very maintainance intensive.

If I'm lucky, the dealer with the used one (a major new-car dealer in Denton) will let me take it overnight, let me run my route with it, and see for myself if it will do the job. I'm not holding my breath though.

Keep the opinions coming. I appreciate the ones you've written already, and it seems like it depends on the person. The first xB had the market to itself because there was nothing like it. The new xB now competes directly with the HHR, PT Cruiser, Toyota's own Matrix, and a half-dozen others. Too bad...I really like it.

Jeff in Texas
Future xB owner (hopefully)

 

Vintage42 brings up good points. I drive my 06 manual xB 100 miles a day, 95% highway.

You will get approx 30 - 34mpg. At 70 / 75 in the manual they will be at approx 4000rpm. My wife has an 06 auto, and hers is about 3500 rpm for the same journey at same speeds (me driving).

But, the xB is noisy at highway speeds. It can be a little short on power when you're trying to get on highways or up hills.

It can't be beaten for cargo space in it's class, and if you were doing more city, it would be fine for you, but lots of highway cruising, I'd say look elsewhere, unless you *really* need the space.

I'm actually in the process of trading my manual in, less than a year old with 25k on the clock. I'll be getting a V6 Camry Se, which is still rated for 31mpg highway (realistically people get 28mpg, which I can live with as I get 30mpg in the xB today).

 

I agree with those who have said the xB is not an all day driver. It works well in urban areas and is OK for the occasional road trip. I've driven mine up to 450 miles in one day. It wasn't terrible, but it was more tiring than some other vehicles. And that was after installing Monroe rear shocks, rear sway bar, cruise control, and an intake. xB has a short wheelbase and firm suspension which make it bouncy. It rides much better when loaded with 2 passengers and 150+ pounds of luggage. High RPMs are loud on the highway and make a subtle (or not so subtle, depending on how fast you go) buzz through the pedals and steering wheel. Boxy shape can get blown around by larger vehicles and crosswinds.

I'd look at the Honda Fit. It has better mileage ratings than an xB, good cargo capacity, and is a little more refined (quieter, less buzz, lower highway RPMs).

 

Since you do lots of highway driving due to work, then IMHO I would not recommend the xB. I dont think the ride is very comfortable, it lacks power necessary for highway driving and can gte very noisy due to high RPM engine.

I love my xB, but I use it for 70-80% city driving. Its get me great mileage in the stop and go Boston traffic and thats with heavy 18" rims and a full stereo system.

As much as I hate to say it, I dont think you will be satisfied if you get the xB for your long, highway commutes.

PS: It can get pretty tiring driving the xB on the highway too. Since it doesnt have much power, its takes some effort to hold down the gas pedal when climbing hills and such. Unless you get cruise control, which I dont have

 

Many thanks for the responses. After doing some more research, I think I might be going with a Toyota Matirx instead. I'm going tomorrow to check them out. The look like they have lots of cargo room, flat floors for loading, and it has the 1.8 engine that gets around 34mpg on the highway. Very comparable with the xB and probably more comfortable to spend the day in. Also, it's a Toyota.

Thanks,
Jeff in Texas

 

Man--I would get a new engine for that turbodiesel if the rest of the car was in good shape. You are going to be paying a lot more for gas!

 

I would just have the TDI engine rebuilt. I'm sure it would not run you more than 5k

 

I used to be a diesel fan. Bought a 3-year old Diesel Rabbit. Soon it had a cracked head which was very expensive to replace. When Fall came, it became hard to start, due to a bad glow plug or two, so I had them all replaced, very expensive.

When cold winter came, it would be hard to start in the mornings and the battery would get run down trying to turn the high compression. I bought a battery heater and ran an electrical cord out the second story window of my apartment to the car below. One night it went to -10F and the engine would not start, again. I drained the oil, took new cans of oil and heated them in hot water on the stove, and poured them into the engine. This got it started.

When summer came again, the evaporator drain plugged up and the AC dumped water into the carpets. Then the timing belt broke, and I was glad that engine was not the kind where valves can hit the pistons. The car got maybe 38 mpg, but was very noisy at Interstate speed, where it had a top end around 85. After two years of little problems, I had to get out of it, and in terms of $ per mile, it was the most expensive car I have ever owned. That was my experience with a VW diesel. I guess they have improved since then.

 

I owned both a 2003 Matrix, a 2005 xB manual, and 2004 xB automatic. Of all three, the 03 Matrix (to me) was the best vehicle for what you're describing.

We averaged about 27-28 mpg daily driving. Daily driving included driving from DE to PA (3x a week) and DE to D.C. (3x a week). We also had to deal with the crap traffic of D.C. itself. We put 60,000 miles on it before it got wrecked (in two years) and the only maintenance we ever did were oil changes and rotating the tires.

It was quieter and more comfortable than the xB for long distance trips. As someone mentioned before, there's something about the seats in the xB (cheap?). That being said, we've driven long trips in the xB. While it's louder, it does fantastically on gas (30mpg+ on the auto, 33, 34+ mpg in the manual).

I didn't buy a new matrix because they've gone up in price (I bought mine 15,5 after tax/title for the auto Matrix, no power - they're asking a lot more now). I like the xB quite a bit, but if you're going to do that kind of drive every day, I wouldn't be so quick to suggest a 1st gen xB.

I'm not too crazy about recommending a 2nd gen xB, since it just came out, and you never know what you're going to get with the first year models (I bought the first year matrix, no problems but my wife's tC has been recalled twice already).

The reliability of the xB is excellent, just because the xB was out in Japan for years before it came stateside. I have no qualms stating that this engine should last to at least 200K with proper maintenance (less than a VW, to boot).

 

Many, many thanks for all the great (and honest) comments on the xB. After much soul searching and number crunching, I've decieded to keep my Golf. Even at 300K miles, it still looks like a brand new car. No dings or scratches whatsoever. It still runs like new with no smoke or anything. It doesn't need rebuilding, but the other systems (injection pump, turbo, etc), not to mention the clutch, should have gone out long ago, but haven't. Except for having to replace the a/c compressor at around 180K miles, nothing has gone wroing with the car.

My Golf currently gets 47mpg, and I can go well over 600 miles on a tank. I'd be spending $200/mo more in fuel cost with a Matrix or xB. Add to that at least $250/mo car payment, and full coverage insurance, and we're talking about over $500/mo more than I'm spending now. I can do lots of repairs on my Golf for that kind of scratch.

Now, if Toyota would put a small turbodiesel engine into a Matrix or the new xB, I'll be all over it!! We can only hope.

Thanks again,
Jeff in Texas

 

get a prius

 

The Prius is an 'around town' car, not a highway car. The hybrid system will do me no good on the open road all day. Besides, I need a cargo vehicle.

Toyota will be importing turbodiesels in a couple of years. I can't wait.

Jeff in Texas