I'm curious as to how Toyota sells the tC so cheap, are they taking a loss for every one sold? It's a high quality car, decent performance, nicely equiped and made in Japan. Cars made in Japan (obvious higher quality) usually cost more to make. Japanese labor is not cheap and exporting is an extra cost. I compared models from different brands.

I'm curious because some of its competitors below:

Acura RSX 2.0L 155hp- similar performance, less equiped, starts at $21,000
Chevy Cobalt SS (non-sc) 2.4L 170hp- similar performance, less equiped, starts at $18,600
Honda Accord LX 2.4L 166hp - similar performance, less equiped, starts at $21,000.
Hyundai Tiburon GT 2.7L V6 172hp - may slightly edge out the tC, starts at $19,200.
Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 2.4L 162hp - not sure about performance, nicely equiped, starts at $20,300

sell for more money, but IMO, not up to par with the tC, and tC starts at $15,000!

Nobody better say "magic".

 

the thing you have to take into account is that no one pays MSRP for those cars, you can get an rsx for close to the same price, and most of the others you can talk down a lot. i used to have an 03 accord, and talked it down to basically the same price as the tc. i love my tc, but i feel in a way it's very cheaply put together, but i don't mind.

 

The tC is a US only based car and If Im not sure if its built here or in japan and ported over but im sure someone will chime in.

 

they are built in Japan, sent over for US sales... and I think all the Scions are pretty cheaply made having owned a tC and now an xB. Nothing feels "nice" but it does its job as a blank canvas for us to modify.

 

the cars are build and manufactured before shipping to the states. Once here they add on the mirrors, steroes and such, but the car itself is already assembled and ready to go before it leaves japan

 

Thanks for Clearing that up L4rry, I wasnt sure if they were shipped over or not.

 

tC's are made in Japan. That's why many ppl need to wait 4~6weeks for their tC. I think cars like Camry are made in U.S. or Canada, so there are lots of stock at dealership.

 

yuo, i feel the same exact way, cheaply made, but great as a DD. honestly, even the civic "feels" nicer. anyway, nice av, haha

 

Hey guys, just a quick note about how you know if a car is came over from Japan. If you look at your vin numbers......if it starts with a J it was made in Japan. Both my tC and my Honda have a J and were "born" in Japan.

 

I dont know how you can say its a high quality car. Its very cheaply put together with the cheapest plastics Toyota found. That + the fact that you cant haggle down the price is how they can sell it for so cheap.

 

The reason they are sold so cheap is the fact that they market the scalability of the car to it's potencial buyers. The fact is, Scion designed this car "cheaply" b/c they knew almost everyone would be buying the aftermarket parts. Now, you may say "Yeah, well I'll just get it all aftermarket." You can, and that's what I did b/c I can install it all myself, but for the rest of the buyers, about 75%, they want to keep their warranty. Because they offer installation of their "performance" parts from the dealership itself, they also offer to keep those parts warrantied through them. It's a snag though, b/c their parts are higher but yet you still keep your warranty. Just depends on what you can do on your own or if you just want the dealership to do it and keep your warranty. I chose to do it all on my own.

 

It's all about beating suppliers for any cost reduction.
and get them to use safest cheap parts.
Camrys are made in kentucky, corollas are made in canada and Fremont, CA...

 

yea, it's a great car, but honestly, there are other great choices if you'd like. i think the reason it's so popular is because the MSRP is so low and it looks decent, but then again, that's the price you'll have to pay while other cars have higher msrp which steer the younger crowd away. when i bought my tc back in 2004, the new civic wasn't out yet, otherwise i'd most likely be driving one of those...

 

i think alot of the savings is due to part sharing since the tc is based on a chasis from the avenis the toyota sells in europe, and the engine just come from the camry as we all know. then, because all scions come nearly all identical with only minor differences such as manual or automatic, and with or without curtain side airbags, they maybe get a walmart type bulk discount. this cuts costs and keeps things simple, while it costs other companies more to have so many trim levels with different packages. blah blah blah economies of scale yadda yadda yadda. maybe also with the no haggle prices, and the fact that you don't see alot in stock a dealership, they are making a good profit. also scion is aimed at younger drivers cause the average age of a toyota driver is 40 years old, they made the scion name to attract younger drivers to build brand loyalty and increase customer lifetime value. start them out with a scion, move on to a toyota when they mature, and then a lexus when they've made it and so on. man i do tend to ramble on don't i...

 

Oh, and yes, tCs are built in Japan. Read the driver's side door sticker. Right next to MFD it says built in Japan.

 

When I say "high quality" I mean the ENTIRE car, not just looking at the dash material. Engine, tranny, drive train... everything else says high quality. To those that don't think that's important, go back to the special olympics.

I've actually found other cars that sell for more that use crappier materials. I sat inside the new Civic, looked at the price, thought about its performance... and I got a belly ache from laughing.

 

Quality on the tC would just be the engine itself. The transmission leaves a lot to the imagination, the Drive by wire setup is not something they thought of for beginning drivers, the suspension is ok but could be stiffer and the overall quality and comfort of the car could be emphasized a bit more.

No doubt, it's a great car for the price you pay, but still leaves a lot to the imagination. And not to what they expected to be the "aftermarket" area. There's only so much you can and should do to a car before you realize you might as well have bought the more expensive car that had better features and overall performance. Just a thought.

 

you know you could probably get $5k off that msrp you saw on the civic. the general rule i've seen is to at least take $3k off any msrp price and go from there. i helped a friend go to a dealer and buy a $21k new camry for $16k. overall a much better/practical (but more boring) car for cheaper than what i paid for my tc.

 

When I was looking at the Element, I looked over the Civic section to find one that's comprable to the tC. The closest one was the EX. It had moonroof, cd/mp3/ipod connector, alloys, power everything and looked at the sticker... $19,600 ROTFLMAO!!!

 

Just remember, they can sell Hondas higher b/c of the higher demand.