A friend and I were talking about the tC and the TRD SC finally being released, and he said something interesting... "Good timing since the new 06 civic SI is due out very soon"

So this got me thinking, yes TRD has finally released the SC, and no doubt this will help our tCs to be more competitive against the new 200hp civic SI. Then my friend said... "A lot of people will probably get the SC installed at the same time when buying a new tC from here on out"

Now here is where it gets interesting... Does Toyota/Scion really care about performance and keeping up, or beating Honda and the SI? If they do care, why is it that the SC can not be financed with the car? More people would certainly be able to pick one up if this was allowed. Or better yet, why wont they just package some SCs, already bolted on the car, and offer a supercharged version of the tC? Toyota did this back in the day when the first generation MR2 was out in the late 80s, so why not do it now?

This would lead one to believe that toyota is more concerned with selling cheap cars to people on a budget, such as a corolla, rather than actually move forward in the sport compact battle. And furthermore, why has Scion spent ALL this money to push and advertize the tC as a performance machine if they dont really believe in it being a real performance contender?

If you believe Scion does care about performance and competing with Honda and the rest of the pack, how do you explain the fact that they will not make the SC available via financing options when the car is bought new?

rant on....

 

I first want to point out that Scion has NEVER advertised the tC as a performance machine. They advertised it as a "hey young people who want style and everything you'd get in a lexus, look at me!" type of car. Toyota knew what they were doing when they put 160hp in it. They wanted a car for the younger set with enough power to be called zippy, yet not enough power to be called a car that would bankrupt a 17 year old with a totalled car under his belt (I speak from experience). And I'm sure undoubtedly the Honda civic (I want to make the backward c darn it!) Si would eclipse the tC in a shoot out, but honestly I'd rather have a car with european styling, a gigantic sun roof, a decent sound system, and decent power (which is ALREADY enough to get me in trouble, although it hasn't yet, knock on wood) rather than a sport coupe that looks like a wedge with 4 wheels. The customization of Scions is really what sets it apart from the Si as well. I must say that I've NEVER seen a styled civic look as nice and classy as a stock tC. The supercharger would help a lot with the competition from Honda, and I'm half beleiving that it was a marketing thing to release them as SOON as the new civics came out. -scratches chin at the fact that the Si has 200 HP and that is the HP that Scion was trying to get at when making the supercharger- But I do beleive a factory turbo'ed or S/C'ed tC would be nifty, wouldn't hurt sales any. I think the RS2.0 should come with factory SC. I beleive in the process the RS1 was suppossed to come with a factory SC...that is until toyota canned the idea because the SC wasn't ready. but yes, I'm done rambling now, thank you for reading, and I hope that most (if not all) agree.

 

That is all Toyota is concerned about, you don't become the #2 (watch out GM) automaker for nothing. With great power comes great responsibility. Scion aims at a young generation, a young generation that loves killing themselves in car accidents. They don't want the knowledge of their SC aiding in the deaths of moronic teenagers with an invincibility complex, they instead prefer safe, inexpensive, fuel efficient cars. This is my opinion, those who don't like it....well I don't care.

 

Reliable plain cars sell very well and many people have no idea about anything in there car beyond it gets me where im going every time. High powered cheap cars killed muscle cars because insurance is too expensive for the young people that want them. A 200+ hp tC for 20k means a lot of young people can afford it and will wreck them. People will think its unsafe because of high accident rates even if its not the cars fault.

 

I talked to my regional director today about the SC. He said according to Scion you shouldnt finance the SC with the car purchase. Now he also said according to Toyota Financial Services there is no policy against financing the SC. If you want to finance the SC just tell your dealership at time of purchase. It all comes down to the finance manager working your deal. If they can get you financed with the SC then youre fine.

So as of right now you can finance the SC... ...just tell the dealership thats what you want to do. You might have to wait an extra day for the approval.

 

... that sounds like a plan, but will it work? i went to my local scion dealer and they were like, blah blah blah we're not getting the SC for a while... blah blah blah... then i ask about financing it and he shoots back with the all assuring.... "i doubt it". anyone recommend a better dealer in the so-cal area? (pm me)

 

With the release of the new SI, the s/c did come out in time. More ppl looking towards the SI might now reconsider. Scion is aimed to bring a "different style" car to the market, one u can "customize" yourself from the start. The s/c will help with that, but these dealers that keep pushing away customers who are interested in these performance products bugs me. that is a potential, if not already customer, and by giving them the run-around, u hurt urself and the dealer. i don't see how hard it is to take the time to sit down with a customer, or someone who has a question about the s/c, or if they can finance it. i kno the Scion dealer i just walked out of, will finance the s/c for you, they actually trying to get customers to finance the s/c instead of buying it straight up, it allows you to get more things you might want with the car as well. i keep hearing of these dealers who say the s/c is never coming out, or you can't do this, or ou can't do that...i mean seriously, they must be the ones who aren't that interested in taking care of the customer, or getting involved in the scion community at all. MOST dealers want to make their dealer name known, that anyone who has a scion (xA/xB/tC) should go there, they know wut they are doing, they are
"THE DEALER" to turn to for all your scion acc. needs. it just bugs me that these dealers aren't taking advantage of this s/c release. Im sure Honda will gladly take those customers turned away by stupid scion dealers, and put them in a new SI.
and word of mouth can be a b***h!

 

toyota does not care about performance compared to honda... who also doesnt care about performance. outside the s2000 (nsx goes out of production in 05), the best they have to offer is what? two 200 hp front wheel drive semi-econo coupes? neither of them really give much of a care towards higher end performance cars because they just dont sell. i used to work at a honda dealership about a year or so ago, and on a given weekend, we'd sell 15-25 civics and accords. over the 6 months i was working there, during my shift of friday/saturday/sunday, there were 3 s2000's sold and ONE of the hatchback Si's. they're neat cars, and the s2000 is a fantastic sports car for that niche market, but they just dont sell and do not make much income for the dealership or manufacturer. toyota learned this a while ago, and dropped their mid-to-top tier cars like the supra and turbo MR2 and focused only on the average econoboxes and sedans with fantastic results business-wise.

fact is, performance isnt the issue with these cars. honestly, how can you call any car with 200 hp or less and front wheel drive a performance car? i mean... i suppose you could TRY to argue modability, but out of the box, cars like that are just slightly more zippy than your average car, but will get dusted by any real performance car unless lots of $$$ has been invested.

you could say that the new Si is certainly trying to target the same demographic as the tC, but the problem is that it costs upwards of 4 grand more; and thats a lot (2 grand more than my RS1). honda just trying to grab the attention of young hip kids with 20 grand to come buy this reletively quick little coupe, but for most people buying such a car, it usually comes down to price, and a lot of people (myself included) will sacrifice a little hp for a cooler-looking (IMO) and less expensive car thats still just as good at driving to class/work and back while still being fun.

hmm... i seemed to have just rambled together some random thoughts that may or may not have been relevant.... i appologize.

 

the problem i have with toyota (scion) as opposed to honda is their marketing scheme for the tc! look at all the comercials for it ads and brochures they all allude to it being highly customizable and even encourage you to do so, then you go to the dealer and ask about performance ad ons and the dealer says huh? what cai? what s/c? so you do what you can.. go aftermarket..only to find theres not much you can find there either..my point is toyota marketed it with the intention of it being upgraded and didnt give it any support to do it, whether its aftermarket or their own (lame) performance division T R D, hondas new si will probably have more aftermarket parts within the first month for it than our tc has now! and why would toyota have to compete with honda? they are the number two automaker honda is what 5th ? its honda that has to compete against toyota.. bottom line toyota does not give a crap about honda only GM who their trying to overtake, and that unfortunately does not mean going all out for us tc owners.

 

I don't think Toyota needs to, seeing how the both of them aren't exactly "performance oriented".

Toyota and Honda are selling mainstream cars if you haven't noticed. Sure,the scion brand isn't, but they sell a lot more Toyota corollas and camrys and trucks, too.

The thing with Honda I think is that they are lagging behind Toyota in terms of that aspect. Not only they don't have a V8 plant, but they don't really have a truck, well..recently they got one. But Nissan and Toyota already have trucks/V8s and I think a lot of Americans want that.

I think BMW, Mazda, and Nissan cars are more performance oriented than Toyota or Hondas

 

Toyota used to be about high-performance... Remember the turbo MR2? Supra? AWD turbo Celica?

Fact is... it didn't sell well. The cost of developing the powerful engines didn't pay off in the long run. Buying a car for the "everyman" is where the money is... They've been without a powerful sports car for nearly 10 years, and the result of which was #2 manufacturer

 

sad but true

 

first off, if GM didnt own 9 different companies, toyota would be #1. Im sure if toyota had a sports car it would help some, but theyve been out of the game for a while.

To me a toyota sports car would be aimed to the younger (30's-ish) with money. Older people that are looking for the sports car would tend to look at corvettes, mercedes, porsche, etc. but anywho... Toyota needs to come up with something, its the only category they fall short in.

\/ \/ \/ (and yes the supra...thats been in the works for a while)

 

cough...2007 Supra...cough

Probably will be called a Lexus and have 500 lbs of extra luxury crap piled on it

 

its apparently coming out as lexus
but oh well.....

 

What does it matter if Toyota is #1 or 2? It makes no difference in the cars they produce and might actually make things worse. All GMs brands overlap and steal sales from eachother so it doesnt help them sell more cars.

Toyota is coming out with a sports car. It was at the autoshows last year. I think it made 500 hp and does about 200 mph. That puts it in a class with the Z06, Viper, and GT. Its out of anyone on heres price range but they may make a lower output version off the same chassis that is more affordable with something closer to the base Corvette price which is something a 30ish person with money might be able to afford. Chyrsler has thought about making a cheaper car off the Viper chassis with a V8. Cheap sporty cars are hard to sell because young people wreck them and make the insurance very high for everyone. Also the Supra may come back. Hopefully they cant keep the costs down for it.

 

power is nice, but these days with gas prices companies are smart to product sharp looking cars, semi power and good mileage. I get a good 24-32mpg on my tc depending driving style. I want the SC, but im worried that will drop down to 16-24mpg after the supercharger. I get around 330 a tank just before my light comes on, I guess it will go down to 250 or less a tank if I supercharge it...

People want fuel efficient cars that look good, at a fair price. I'm guessing Toyota is doing it for reasons such as this. The tC looks awesome, is affordable, and good mileage....Toyota isnt know for a fast car company...just having TRD and letting u customize and make it a little better if you want to....