I don't know about you guys but I have seen quite a few seniors driving xB's around and it's a bit depressing (no offense to the seniors) but I'll cruise up to another xB just to say hi and half the time it's an old lady. My wife laughs at me and I get a bit bummed.

Not to dis the older folks but I'm a little surprised they would be driving this type of car.

 

This is very true.

Although Toyota had aimed the market towards gen Y owners, an awesome value, reliable vehicle will ALWAYS be popular with the masses.

Just because people are a certain age, doesn't mean they can't appreciate a real affordable, feature packed car made by one of the worlds best known manufacturers!

 

Exactly, and also most of the time older people will probably have more money and means to buy the car. And Dealers want to make money, so they won't say "uh you're too old, you can't buy this" :D

But I definitely see what you're saying. You don't want to feel like you're driving around and Old-folks-mobile. :D

 

very true...i use to have a rav4 and that car was marketed towards teenagers but 80% of people who drove them r old people..

 

Just curious, how old is old?

 

Just look at anyone driving an element, that's too old

 

Not to dis the younger folks but you've purchased a plain-vanilla econobox that you've been hyped into thinking is the coolest thing since ice.

The fact it, the xB is a great little mommiemobile with ample room for two or three kids and several bags of groceries. It's also a good car for seniors on a fixed income who want a car that is easy to get in and out of.

That would depend upon the age of the observer. The old saying was "never trust anyone over 30", but having passed that milestone over a decade ago those twentysomethings look like teenyboppers these days!

George

 

George:

2 thumbs up to ya!!!

 

Yea, acutally I would agree with that. The very first time I saw the xB I was like, man that thing is ugly, but I thought it was so radical and different that it was cool and it really started to grow on me. I admit though that the brochure with the DVD was a big hit with me because I'm a graphic designer and it was really well designed and featured some stuff about designers etc. However, I do have two kids and the practicality mixed with the very design is what made me decide to get one.

 

Here is where our views diverge. My wife and I were laughing at how hard Toyota worked to make the brochure as "edgy" as possible, ignoring the supposed purpose of a brochure which is to convey useful information about the vehicle. If that's what is considered "good design" then I'm glad I'm not a graphic designer. I obviously don't "get it!"

George

 

I am a graphic designer, and I think it can be considered "good design." The goal was to achieve a style and tone that would speak to a very specific audience, and they were successul. The younger generation has grown up in such a visually polluted environment (MTV, billboards, ads, etc.) that wading throgh a lot of junk is not really a problem. The designers could have easily made it "simpler" for a more general audience if they wanted to. :D

 

Hmmm...I think the age thing (even tho' it's the whole marketing edge that Toyota wanted) is really only the tip of Scion's emerging popularity. The xA and xB are both great vehicles! My Dad really likes the xA and my Mom and I liked the xB. I get a kick out of my friend who "always" sees drivers older than him driving "his" IS...It must be a vanity of youth to need to possess something...no prob, I must've been that way back in my day.
I think it is cool in a very funny way to see a dropped and tuned Scion (that I assume belongs to some "yoot") being taken for a spin or down to the local drug store or to Sunday mass by "Granny" and she is looking pretty bad ___ in the driver's seat, too!
Being practical, economic and unique should not be exclusive...

 

LOL! Good call George, but you forgot one other segment of buyers...those of us "boomers" that just don't want to grow up. It's a case of: "If the car is marketed to kids, it must be cool." And I don't quite yet know why, but for those of us that cut our teeth on VW Beetles back in the day, the xB seems like the modern day logical extension of that cultural experience.

 

Thats true I see the same but I see more young of a crowd as well...its all good its always neat to see another box

 

I was excited to see another XA on the road last night, only to see 3 gray-haired ladies in it. They were laughing it up, prolly off to have a nice dinner out together. Hell, when a 19-year-old sees ME in my XA, he prolly thinks the same thing. "Hey, that old lady is driving an XA?! And it's all tricked out, too!"

Don't forget that fact that many older people are as poor off as the young kids... stuck in minimum wage jobs &/or facing Social Security and a parttime job. Any Toyota that has a great price, great gas mileage and longterm reliability is going to be attractive.

 

I'm a thirty-five year old business owner. I purchased the XB to use as a rolling billboard. Everyone looks at it. Hell it makes me another thousand dollars a week. Can't beat it.

 

Oh, absolutely! I'm on the tail end of the Boomers (What I call the "Space Age Generation") and it's very apparent that cars like the PT cruiser and New Beetle are wildly popular with this group. Nostalgia sells.

It's obvious that if you sell a car to youth, you can sell it to everyone, but if you sell it to the mature you will turn youth off. Cadillac learned this lesson the hard way.

The teens and twenties are years of desperately trying to conform to the image demanded by one's peers, so the advertiser's goal is to make sure that their product is included in that image. Note the Scion brochures which are more concerned with displaying a teen/twenty lifestyle that includes the Scion vehicles than in actually describing the vehicles.

Older folks tend to choose products more with utility in mind, and the xB is very practical. The high roofline and seat height make it easy to enter and exit for seniors and the back seat is fantastic for the children of the middle age folk. The fact that the car carries a youthful cachet is so much the better. What many Gen-Y folks don't realize is that Boomers grew up with vehicles that were boxy, so they feel right at home with the xB.

George

 

Im with tintsem, i ( started ) out buying this car for business purposes. For carrying capacity, you cant find anything remotely close, and for the price .... fuggetboudit! Now, with the release of the r.s.1.0, for a grand more, i think the xB had taken over for both business and pleasure. I cant wait to get my lil lunch box here and start driving it around. I know it will increase my business, thing is, i cant take on any more business right now, im booked! But man, its gonna be fun driving that lil orange box around.

i just had a thought for a personal plate .... something in the line of MINITMD. A rolling juice box.

 

n-e senior that has a scion just got 10 cool points with me my grandmother donts like them

 

I can't wait to see an xB set up as a pizza delivery car. It would be perfect for this!

George