View Poll Results: Which do you like better, the old xB or new xB?
Voters: 81. You may not vote on this poll
Which do you like better, the original xB or new xB?
Senior Member
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 787
From: Chicago...ish
you ASKED for comments :)
Somebody on the Gen 2 board actually made the claim that most early Gen 2 owners were Gen 1 owners who had "traded up." 
So, back in 2005, I was in a movie theatre when I saw my very first Scion ad. It was the transforming cars one, and I was SERIOUSLY ANNOYED, because I had no idea what it was an ad for. The gen 1 xA and xB looked so weird that I didn't even realize it was a car commercial. That's the "wow" factor - if people can stare right at it and can't really describe what the heck they're looking that, congratulations, your product is exciting.
I actually never meant to buy an xB. I had researched them, determined I could never get over the looks, and moved on. I had even gone so far as to purchase a GMC Sonoma from Cramax, but the engine caught fire a day later (this was the exact moment I totally gave up on GM vehicles), and after I returned it I needed a car RIGHT THAT SECOND.
Enter...the Scion. I test-drove it, noticed I was eye-level with people in SUVs and minivans, and bought it. It was an agonizingly difficult choice to make, but it was right from a financial standpoint: I needed a reliable, functional car, and even if I hated the way it looked, I was gonna take it.
So, two years ago, I would routinely walk out to my driveway and think "I actually paid money for this thing?" Today, you can take this car away from me when you pry the keys from my cold, dead fingers. And even then you'd have to fight my boyfriend for it, and he's got a mean right hook.
That's the old xB: it earns your love. It doesn't ***** itself out. It says "I am what I am...if you like that, let's hang out, if not, whatever."
So, then the new ones came out, and as people on this board can verify (BBTuner, I'm talking to you!) I was one of the biggest advocates. My dealer had gone over the features with me, and I was excited about those, and the whole time I was thinking "This is Scion! They made a car just for me...would they REALLY screw us over in the name of greater sales?" So what if it's put on weight and lost mileage. So what if the massive windshield and funky instrument cluster - two of my favorite features - were now seriously "mainstreamed." So what if the only people interested in them were Baby Boomers with two college-age children who were looking to replace their f%$king Explorers and Caravans. HOW BAD COULD IT BE, I howled, with a twinge of desperation in my voice?
Then came the Truth About Cars article. And the author said everything I had kind of sort of been thinking all along. If the original was unique and special BECAUSE it's small and ugly and bizarre, why would you make it big and mainstream? If it's a badge of honor and admission to a community just to drive one, why would you take that feeling away? Why would you worry about making something "more appealing" when you couldn't keep it on dealer lots in the first place?
The TTAC article also uncovered a sad truth: there is technically nothing wrong with the new xB. In fact, I predict they will sell even better than their predecessors. It's a crappy successor to the genre-starter that was the xB, but people will still like them. Yes, it will be boring, unoriginal people in their forties, people whose favorite store is Wal-Mart, people who up until now have driven Escapes and Dodge Rams and whatever other boring piece-of-crap happened to be in front of them at the time, people who were too chicken to even test-drive the original...but they'll sell like crazy.
Now then. Even in the face of all this, I wasn't ready to give up. You have to remember, I have driven nothing but poorly-manufactured, gas-guzzling, piece-of-crap American cars since I learned to drive. Scion saved me from spending 1/3 of my salary on gas, from driving just another boring cute ute, and from mechanical failures every 20,000 miles. I wasn't ready to betray them just yet.
Then I saw the Diahatsu Materia. It's the left-hand-drive version of the bB, and ye gods, if you haven't seen one, look it up. It's everything the new xB should have been but wasn't. It's got our beloved dimensions, but it's still funky and wacky and cute-ugly, but in different ways. It's an update, not a rethinking. It's a 2005 Scion xB with crazy styling and side airbags, and I WANT ONE.
This was it. This was what I'd been searching for to fill the gap. Until that moment, I saw the xB2 as something I'd drive if I really had to, because every day I face the very real possibility that some idiot is going to plow into me and I'll have to get a new car. Right then, I gave up on even that.
At this point, I just hope that my hypothetical car accident holds off long enough for the xD to come out, because if I can't import a Materia, that's my next car.
As for the new "xB"... I wouldn't ____ on it to put out an engine fire.
So, back in 2005, I was in a movie theatre when I saw my very first Scion ad. It was the transforming cars one, and I was SERIOUSLY ANNOYED, because I had no idea what it was an ad for. The gen 1 xA and xB looked so weird that I didn't even realize it was a car commercial. That's the "wow" factor - if people can stare right at it and can't really describe what the heck they're looking that, congratulations, your product is exciting.
I actually never meant to buy an xB. I had researched them, determined I could never get over the looks, and moved on. I had even gone so far as to purchase a GMC Sonoma from Cramax, but the engine caught fire a day later (this was the exact moment I totally gave up on GM vehicles), and after I returned it I needed a car RIGHT THAT SECOND.
Enter...the Scion. I test-drove it, noticed I was eye-level with people in SUVs and minivans, and bought it. It was an agonizingly difficult choice to make, but it was right from a financial standpoint: I needed a reliable, functional car, and even if I hated the way it looked, I was gonna take it.
So, two years ago, I would routinely walk out to my driveway and think "I actually paid money for this thing?" Today, you can take this car away from me when you pry the keys from my cold, dead fingers. And even then you'd have to fight my boyfriend for it, and he's got a mean right hook.
That's the old xB: it earns your love. It doesn't ***** itself out. It says "I am what I am...if you like that, let's hang out, if not, whatever."
So, then the new ones came out, and as people on this board can verify (BBTuner, I'm talking to you!) I was one of the biggest advocates. My dealer had gone over the features with me, and I was excited about those, and the whole time I was thinking "This is Scion! They made a car just for me...would they REALLY screw us over in the name of greater sales?" So what if it's put on weight and lost mileage. So what if the massive windshield and funky instrument cluster - two of my favorite features - were now seriously "mainstreamed." So what if the only people interested in them were Baby Boomers with two college-age children who were looking to replace their f%$king Explorers and Caravans. HOW BAD COULD IT BE, I howled, with a twinge of desperation in my voice?
Then came the Truth About Cars article. And the author said everything I had kind of sort of been thinking all along. If the original was unique and special BECAUSE it's small and ugly and bizarre, why would you make it big and mainstream? If it's a badge of honor and admission to a community just to drive one, why would you take that feeling away? Why would you worry about making something "more appealing" when you couldn't keep it on dealer lots in the first place?
The TTAC article also uncovered a sad truth: there is technically nothing wrong with the new xB. In fact, I predict they will sell even better than their predecessors. It's a crappy successor to the genre-starter that was the xB, but people will still like them. Yes, it will be boring, unoriginal people in their forties, people whose favorite store is Wal-Mart, people who up until now have driven Escapes and Dodge Rams and whatever other boring piece-of-crap happened to be in front of them at the time, people who were too chicken to even test-drive the original...but they'll sell like crazy.
Now then. Even in the face of all this, I wasn't ready to give up. You have to remember, I have driven nothing but poorly-manufactured, gas-guzzling, piece-of-crap American cars since I learned to drive. Scion saved me from spending 1/3 of my salary on gas, from driving just another boring cute ute, and from mechanical failures every 20,000 miles. I wasn't ready to betray them just yet.
Then I saw the Diahatsu Materia. It's the left-hand-drive version of the bB, and ye gods, if you haven't seen one, look it up. It's everything the new xB should have been but wasn't. It's got our beloved dimensions, but it's still funky and wacky and cute-ugly, but in different ways. It's an update, not a rethinking. It's a 2005 Scion xB with crazy styling and side airbags, and I WANT ONE.
This was it. This was what I'd been searching for to fill the gap. Until that moment, I saw the xB2 as something I'd drive if I really had to, because every day I face the very real possibility that some idiot is going to plow into me and I'll have to get a new car. Right then, I gave up on even that.
At this point, I just hope that my hypothetical car accident holds off long enough for the xD to come out, because if I can't import a Materia, that's my next car.
As for the new "xB"... I wouldn't ____ on it to put out an engine fire.
Senior Member
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Team N.V.S.
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 13,706
From: Sacramento, CA / Nor*Cal
I really wouldn't have much of a problem with teh new xB if they had simply changed the name. anything other than lengthening our nameplate into a fat pig of a car. it's a different type of vehicle. and truthfully is nothing like the original xB
the nmateria and new bB are ugly to me. but at least they can still rightfully run the bB nameplate as they are similar vehicles.
the nmateria and new bB are ugly to me. but at least they can still rightfully run the bB nameplate as they are similar vehicles.
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 130
Personally, I love the 1st gen xB. I have since Day 1. It's got a style of it's own..
The 2nd Gen is a nice vehicle, but I think they've taken the "xB" outta the xB.. It's body lines are too much of a departure from the 1st Gen. And the larger engine is nice, but it takes gas milage away from it, which the 1st Gen is known for (along with the xA)
I truly think the 1st Gen xB is a one of a kind vehicle. Like another poster said, you couldn't pry the keys outta my dead cold hands. I'm keepin' this baby until it's turned to dust..
The 2nd Gen is a nice vehicle, but I think they've taken the "xB" outta the xB.. It's body lines are too much of a departure from the 1st Gen. And the larger engine is nice, but it takes gas milage away from it, which the 1st Gen is known for (along with the xA)
I truly think the 1st Gen xB is a one of a kind vehicle. Like another poster said, you couldn't pry the keys outta my dead cold hands. I'm keepin' this baby until it's turned to dust..
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 818
From: Raleigh, NC
I'm kind of like ZOMGXB. I never actually intended to buy an xB (1st gen). However, now that I have one? It's never leaving. It's performance has been remarkable, and it's looks have grown on me.
I have nothing bad to say about the new xB. It is what it is, but it just doesn't feel like an xB. If they had changed the name to something else, I think it would have been better. I think the new xB is the perfect vehicle for the family of 4, with the possibility of becoming 5, who are weighing the choice between a Camry or a Caravan... and they work at McDonalds.
The one big turn off about the new rectangle, is that my American v-8 luxury car gets better gas mileage. So does a Corvette,,,
I have nothing bad to say about the new xB. It is what it is, but it just doesn't feel like an xB. If they had changed the name to something else, I think it would have been better. I think the new xB is the perfect vehicle for the family of 4, with the possibility of becoming 5, who are weighing the choice between a Camry or a Caravan... and they work at McDonalds.
The one big turn off about the new rectangle, is that my American v-8 luxury car gets better gas mileage. So does a Corvette,,,
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 833
From: Seattle, WA
I'd been trying - kinda - to reserve judgment until I'd actually seen one, I couldn't help but think most of the negative things about the new design that you've already read all over the place.
Now that I've finally seen it in person, I gotta say I still feel pretty much the same way. 'Nuff said on that score. (And I lovelovelove ZOMGXB's testimonial!)
Now that I've finally seen it in person, I gotta say I still feel pretty much the same way. 'Nuff said on that score. (And I lovelovelove ZOMGXB's testimonial!)
Junior Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 29
you all are right, There is nothing like the 1st gen XB. The new model is ok but true enough the 08 is not as eye catching as the 1st gen. I like the additional horespower on the new XB BUT when it comes to the gas mileage you've got to give a bit to get a bit.
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Fail, INC
TOCC
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,052
From: Ico, Arkansas
I've actually yet to see one on the road, but I know the dealer here has sold 1, one of the guys I work went with me on a trip to the dealer, the first words from his mouth were "is that a camry wagon?"
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,170
From: Los Angeles
Re: you ASKED for comments :)
Originally Posted by ZOMGXB
Somebody on the Gen 2 board actually made the claim that most early Gen 2 owners were Gen 1 owners who had "traded up."
So, back in 2005, I was in a movie theatre when I saw my very first Scion ad. It was the transforming cars one, and I was SERIOUSLY ANNOYED, because I had no idea what it was an ad for. The gen 1 xA and xB looked so weird that I didn't even realize it was a car commercial. That's the "wow" factor - if people can stare right at it and can't really describe what the heck they're looking that, congratulations, your product is exciting.
I actually never meant to buy an xB. I had researched them, determined I could never get over the looks, and moved on. I had even gone so far as to purchase a GMC Sonoma from Cramax, but the engine caught fire a day later (this was the exact moment I totally gave up on GM vehicles), and after I returned it I needed a car RIGHT THAT SECOND.
Enter...the Scion. I test-drove it, noticed I was eye-level with people in SUVs and minivans, and bought it. It was an agonizingly difficult choice to make, but it was right from a financial standpoint: I needed a reliable, functional car, and even if I hated the way it looked, I was gonna take it.
So, two years ago, I would routinely walk out to my driveway and think "I actually paid money for this thing?" Today, you can take this car away from me when you pry the keys from my cold, dead fingers. And even then you'd have to fight my boyfriend for it, and he's got a mean right hook.
That's the old xB: it earns your love. It doesn't ***** itself out. It says "I am what I am...if you like that, let's hang out, if not, whatever."
So, then the new ones came out, and as people on this board can verify (BBTuner, I'm talking to you!) I was one of the biggest advocates. My dealer had gone over the features with me, and I was excited about those, and the whole time I was thinking "This is Scion! They made a car just for me...would they REALLY screw us over in the name of greater sales?" So what if it's put on weight and lost mileage. So what if the massive windshield and funky instrument cluster - two of my favorite features - were now seriously "mainstreamed." So what if the only people interested in them were Baby Boomers with two college-age children who were looking to replace their f%$king Explorers and Caravans. HOW BAD COULD IT BE, I screamed desperately?
Then came the Truth About Cars article. And the author said everything I had kind of sort of been thinking all along. If the original was unique and special BECAUSE it's small and ugly and bizarre, why would you make it big and mainstream? If it's a badge of honor and admission to a community just to drive one, why would you take that feeling away? Why would you worry about making something "more appealing" when you couldn't keep it on dealer lots in the first place?
The TTAC article also uncovered a sad truth: there is technically nothing wrong with the new xB. In fact, I predict they will sell even better than their predecessors. It's a crappy successor to the genre-starter that was the xB, but people will still like them. Yes, it will be boring, unoriginal people in their forties, people whose favorite store is Wal-Mart, people who up until now have driven Escapes and Dodge Rams and whatever other boring piece-of-crap happened to be in front of them at the time, people who were too chicken to even test-drive the original...but they'll sell like crazy.
Now then. Even in the face of all this, I wasn't ready to give up. You have to remember, I have driven nothing but poorly-manufactured, gas-guzzling, piece-of-crap American cars since I learned to drive. Scion saved me from spending 1/3 of my salary on gas, from driving just another boring cute ute, and from mechanical failures every 20,000 miles. I wasn't ready to betray them just yet.
Then I saw the Diahatsu Materia. It's the left-hand-drive version of the bB, and ye gods, if you haven't seen one, look it up. It's everything the new xB should have been but wasn't. It's got our beloved dimensions, but it's still funky and wacky and cute-ugly, but in different ways. It's an update, not a rethinking. It's a 2005 Scion xB with crazy styling and side airbags, and I WANT ONE.
This was it. This was what I'd been searching for to fill the gap. Until that moment, I saw the xB2 as somethild I'd drive if I really had to, because every day I face the very real possibility that some idiot is going to plow into me and I'll have to get a new car. Right then, I gave up on even that.
At this point, I just hope that my hypothetical car accident holds off long enough for the xD to come out, because if I can't import a Materia, that's my next car.
As for the new "xB"... I wouldn't ____ on it to put out an engine fire.
So, back in 2005, I was in a movie theatre when I saw my very first Scion ad. It was the transforming cars one, and I was SERIOUSLY ANNOYED, because I had no idea what it was an ad for. The gen 1 xA and xB looked so weird that I didn't even realize it was a car commercial. That's the "wow" factor - if people can stare right at it and can't really describe what the heck they're looking that, congratulations, your product is exciting.
I actually never meant to buy an xB. I had researched them, determined I could never get over the looks, and moved on. I had even gone so far as to purchase a GMC Sonoma from Cramax, but the engine caught fire a day later (this was the exact moment I totally gave up on GM vehicles), and after I returned it I needed a car RIGHT THAT SECOND.
Enter...the Scion. I test-drove it, noticed I was eye-level with people in SUVs and minivans, and bought it. It was an agonizingly difficult choice to make, but it was right from a financial standpoint: I needed a reliable, functional car, and even if I hated the way it looked, I was gonna take it.
So, two years ago, I would routinely walk out to my driveway and think "I actually paid money for this thing?" Today, you can take this car away from me when you pry the keys from my cold, dead fingers. And even then you'd have to fight my boyfriend for it, and he's got a mean right hook.
That's the old xB: it earns your love. It doesn't ***** itself out. It says "I am what I am...if you like that, let's hang out, if not, whatever."
So, then the new ones came out, and as people on this board can verify (BBTuner, I'm talking to you!) I was one of the biggest advocates. My dealer had gone over the features with me, and I was excited about those, and the whole time I was thinking "This is Scion! They made a car just for me...would they REALLY screw us over in the name of greater sales?" So what if it's put on weight and lost mileage. So what if the massive windshield and funky instrument cluster - two of my favorite features - were now seriously "mainstreamed." So what if the only people interested in them were Baby Boomers with two college-age children who were looking to replace their f%$king Explorers and Caravans. HOW BAD COULD IT BE, I screamed desperately?
Then came the Truth About Cars article. And the author said everything I had kind of sort of been thinking all along. If the original was unique and special BECAUSE it's small and ugly and bizarre, why would you make it big and mainstream? If it's a badge of honor and admission to a community just to drive one, why would you take that feeling away? Why would you worry about making something "more appealing" when you couldn't keep it on dealer lots in the first place?
The TTAC article also uncovered a sad truth: there is technically nothing wrong with the new xB. In fact, I predict they will sell even better than their predecessors. It's a crappy successor to the genre-starter that was the xB, but people will still like them. Yes, it will be boring, unoriginal people in their forties, people whose favorite store is Wal-Mart, people who up until now have driven Escapes and Dodge Rams and whatever other boring piece-of-crap happened to be in front of them at the time, people who were too chicken to even test-drive the original...but they'll sell like crazy.
Now then. Even in the face of all this, I wasn't ready to give up. You have to remember, I have driven nothing but poorly-manufactured, gas-guzzling, piece-of-crap American cars since I learned to drive. Scion saved me from spending 1/3 of my salary on gas, from driving just another boring cute ute, and from mechanical failures every 20,000 miles. I wasn't ready to betray them just yet.
Then I saw the Diahatsu Materia. It's the left-hand-drive version of the bB, and ye gods, if you haven't seen one, look it up. It's everything the new xB should have been but wasn't. It's got our beloved dimensions, but it's still funky and wacky and cute-ugly, but in different ways. It's an update, not a rethinking. It's a 2005 Scion xB with crazy styling and side airbags, and I WANT ONE.
This was it. This was what I'd been searching for to fill the gap. Until that moment, I saw the xB2 as somethild I'd drive if I really had to, because every day I face the very real possibility that some idiot is going to plow into me and I'll have to get a new car. Right then, I gave up on even that.
At this point, I just hope that my hypothetical car accident holds off long enough for the xD to come out, because if I can't import a Materia, that's my next car.
As for the new "xB"... I wouldn't ____ on it to put out an engine fire.
Where do I submit my vote for "Post of the Year"?
-THE DON
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 8
I saw some on the lot the other day and decided to stop in and have a look. I liked the dash layout a little better but that was it. The look of the car to me is just plain ugly. I think that it will appeal to a broader group of people though. I like the fact that some people think my car is the ugliest thing they ever saw. I wouldn't want a car that everyone liked. So, for my it's the first gen Xb all the way!!!
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 260
From: Havertown, PA
Re: you ASKED for comments :)
Originally Posted by THE_DON
Where do I submit my vote for "Post of the Year"?
-THE DON
--
I didn't buy the xB for the looks. My parents and I visited India pretty much every summer, and I spent many hours in a Tata Sumo. I never really thought it was an 'out there' design - realistically, you get the most cubic space from a box, ergo the box.
It's a nice daily driver, which can also be taken on road trips. I don't carry a lot of 'stuff', but I do have a lot of people in the vehicle with me (generally) so the leg room for all passengers + massive headroom + excellent gas mileage = win.