Well, it has been decided. I test drove the Scion last week, and it will be my new project. The only downfall was that there were no manuals available to test drive. I had to take the automatic for a spin. Nothing against the automatic, but for me, manuals are just more fun.

My question for all of you is- Is shifting comfortable? In the automatic the lever seemed a little low to the floor for me. Not that i'm encridibly tall, i'm only 5'7''. In the manual, how high is the shift lever in reference to the seat?

If anyone has a pic, that would be great!!

here's a pic of mine... I think its comfortable, more so than the stick on my s10...
http://members.aol.com/nosympathy2k/private/interior.jpg

Well I test drove the manual, I'm 5'11 and I was very comfortable. The shifting was really easy and smooth.

Get the manual. Way fun. 5'8" and way comfy

I was worried about the height of the shift lever myself, almost ordered an aftermarket, but the lever it turns out, is more than tall enough. I'm 6-3, you'll be fine. =)

I test drove both and while usually manual is fun for me, the xB seemed to run out of breath too quickly for the manual to be useful to me. The shifter was also too close to my knee... I'm 6"2.