I’m interested in an xB. Aside from the lack of horse power the car fits the bill. But I would like to add things like the factory rear spoiler, arm rest, floor mats, black rims and that's about it.

For those things should I go to the dealer, ebay, local shop or online shop? If online or local, tell me what company!

Also for the rims, scoin doesn’t have black as a factory option. So what are some good brands to look into? I don’t know the good brands from the bad, so I would like to be able to walk into the shop making the impression that I know what I'm talking about. BTW what size should I get? Does the standard size of 15" in black look good enough? Also do normal tires look fine? I would like to avoid low profile tires because of their price and wear. Oh and last thing about the rims… if I get the same size rims as stock (15inch) will that have any sort of negative impact on my MPG? Or does that only matter if I go with 16-19” rims?

BTW How does this car do up a hill? Lets say coming into LA over the grape vine.

THANKS!

 

I haven't tried the Grape vine yet, but they do great over Cajon pass. I do that daily.

 

Volant Cold Air Intake...Will Get You Going Real Good

 

for scion accessories use trdspark.com other than that shop around and use the classifieds her

 

Wheels - online - where depends on what you want
Armrest - online - trdsparks.com or newscionparts.com
Floormats - online - trdsparks.com or newscionparts.com
Spoiler - dealer

 

After looking for wheels for my own xB, I came to the conclusion that buying locally was the answer. After paying shipping and finding an installer who'll install parts they didn't sell, the price gets out of hand quickly doing it any other way.

And you should have great selection in LA. I'd start in the yellow pages with tire and wheel shops, then shop 'til you find what you want... or come close, anyway.

Oversize rims matched with the right aspect ratio of tire won't change the overall diameter of the installation, meaning that power and fuel economy will be unaffected, particularly if tire width doesn't change, either...

I wanted black, too, but couldn't find it in 15" at a reasonable price, and didn't want to spring for new tires, either. I'm not a fan of extremely low aspect ratio tires simply because they're easily damaged in potholes and can have a negative effect on already lumber truck-like ride quality...

I got a nice deal on some 15" MTRacing wheels at Discount Tire- the manager wanted a sale, offered a nice deal, and they look great, even if they aren't black... I shopped around, and ended up right back at Discount, where I've bought tires for years- tough to beat.

 

as far as floormats go. if you don't want carpet, walmart has a great set of thick rubber floor mats in black. I had the same set in tan in my truck for about 7 years. they never wore out. i got front and back floormats for $25 from wally world, they fit and look great. They have some deep groves that hold dirt and water so they're functional as well.

 

With the manual, the car has some serious ***** going up hills. I can easily keep up w/ cars that have twice the HP.

 

non-sequitor?

 

ive gotten all my dealer parts from scionpartspeople.com they are much cheaper than dealer cost and i did the installs all on my own... try there for anything scion.... i also have a manual and it runs strong no matter what the road condition is

 

I dunno about the "twice the horsepower" reference, but my xB's fat torque curve and short gearing do make it a decent hill-climber. Lots of econoboxes are geared too tall for the purpose, end up at high revs/ low velocity in third because they won't hold the big upshift to fourth... forget fifth. I'm talking about the really big hills just west of here, the Rockies.

 

I have gotten several items from this dealer who is on Ebay---they are a regular Scion dealer--and you will avoid tax as they are not in CA:
http://stores.ebay.com/SCION-WAREHOU...Q3amesstQQtZkm

I got my wheels from www.treadepot.com ---The wheels came mounted, balanced, and with hubcentric rings. I just had to put them on the car. I agree that you should buy from where you get the exact rims you want...........