rishio

I'm on the waiting list for the 2008 Scion xb and went to the backstage event in San Diego with a lot of hope and excitement. Unfortunately, I was pretty let down and went back home with a mixed feeling.

My biggest disappointed was not the xb, but the scion employees at the event. Infact, I think the event was so poorly done that it rubbed off on the vehicle.

The presentation was one of the worst I've ever seen. I thought scion was about substance but instead the presentation felt like a salesman trying to stuff a monkey down a vegetarian's throat. It felt kind of like this:

SCION PRESENTER: SIR... you must have had old cars back in the 60's.. weren't they hard to steer?..

OLD MAN:"well..not really.."

scion presenter: YUP... THATS RIGHT... HARD TO STEER.. DON'T WORRY SIR.. THE NEW SCION XB CHANGES ALL THAT.. NO MORE HARD TIME STEERING CRAPPY OLD CARS

or he would come up to me and say...

PRESENTER: YOU LOOK LIKE YOU WANT POWER

ME: well actually I was more interested in Miles per Gallon....

PRESTENTER: DON'T WORRY MY FRIEND.. U GOT MORE POWER THAN U CAN HANDLE UNDER THIS BABY.. AND I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING.. YOU WANT MORE POWER..

me: actually..no

PRESENTER: WELL WITH JUST A FEW MODS YOU CAN GIVE THIS AMAZING STATE-OF-THE ART ENGINE EVEN MORE POWER

At the end of the presentation, the presenter said.. "does anyone have any questions?" I was about to raise my hand but then he said.. "well I don't have any answers but there is this handsome tall guy out there who knows everything about this car. He's the XB Guru."

The so called XB guru didn't know a thing about the XB. For example, the seats on the display XB didn't recline fully and he told me that it's not supposed too but the seats in the XD do. I made him look in the car manual and it turns out I was right... I think they don't recline because they are early prototypes... but it was pretty pathethic that the so called scion guru was telling me that the xd reclined fully (when it does not) and the xb doesn't (when it is supposed to)

I knew that asking him about the AVN unit was pointless because he just gave me a blank stare and said something like.. "almost anything you want is possible with mods..."

I went to test drive both the manual and automatic versions of the xb. I immediately put the automatic xb in sequential mode and the guy got all frieked out.. he didn't even know what that was. That said, sequential mode seemed pretty promising. The manual transmission was pretty nice.. The clutch was as light as butter to the touch and the changing gears was precise and solid (at least compared to my old car...)

I came out of the show feeling all fluffed out. I always thought Scion was about intelligence and substance but I guess I was wrong. The only knowledgeable person at the event was Rich from the Scion Dealership.

In the end, It's possible I might get the new xb.. It's not love at first sight but it's not hate at first sight either. I feel like it's 6 inches longer than I wanted. The decision maker will probably end up being the gas milage and I bet they aren't talking about it because it's probably nothing to get excited about..

Enjoy the pics.. I would have taken more and better pics but the event didn't inspire me much.. I just left early instead and went swimming..

SquallLHeart

that doesn't sound like any of the individuals i came across during the first 2 events.. (and that's for both days each. (4 days total worth))... that i have been to scion backstage.

they have two teams split up and i went to the very first one where both teams were there to have like a "training" event type of deal.

the people there were quite knowledgable about the vehicle.. yet i can agree some weren't entirely "gurus".

most i spoke to knew the vehilce... the fact that the ones on display and test cars were pre-production and were going to lack some features.. they knew.

i am curious as to the name of the aformentioned presenter.
i've gotten to know a few of the people from just being well.. there 4 days at 2 different events one after the other.

i did hear that the san diego one was moving a little slow and they closed up early, resulting in some conflicts... i'm gonna have to ask a few people about that a little more.

Tomas

The scion folks are usually better than that - sad to hear they weren't up to standard this time.

The xB2 is a great value, and if it meets your needs, you would have a very difficult time finding anything else near it's value at near it's price.

Tom
"Waiting for the xB3."

Bigfieroman

The black one looks wierd...like a dark grey metallic. Is black sand pearl actually grey?

I was planning to put gloss black wheels on it, but I dont want the wheels and color to be significantly different.

THE_DON

That's kinda how I've felt since the new xB came out.

-THE DON

Big_Bird

i pretty much had the same problem at the NYIAS, not one person in the scion booth was helpful or even knew a darn thing about the xD and/or xB. I was very dissapointed in their attitudes too. You could tell they were just there because they were told to be and to make some money, not to push the scion brand and help people trying to decide on wheather or not to buy a scion. Scion is def slipping, i hope they can turn it around

SquallLHeart

Scion isn't always able to send real knowledgable people around because of lack of personnel.

in times like this, they'll hire an agency that will send people... where they'll go thru some "rigorous" training aimed more at marketing the vehicle.
ALL auto manufacturers will do this... so it's not an uncommon practice... and not uncommon to run into people that know little info.

even salespeople that work at dealerships, who work for scion, don't always know alot about the vehicle... most stuff they know is.. i have to know this.... it'll make me money.

as always and i tell people all the time.... the consumer needs to do research prior to even going to a dealership to purchase a vehicle.

rishio

I think it was more like black sand pearl.. not black but close. I didn't like the blackberry crush or the teal at all. The black sand pearl one looked nice but if I were to get one, I'd probably get a white since it's more my color (though i haven't seen a white one yet..)

rishio

I guess I was let down because I came to the event thinking they would know more than me.

SquallLHeart

ehhh.. i knew i knew more than them when i got there... lol

Tomas

Trung, running into car salesmen (of any brand) who know little about their vehicles is fairly common, but the BackStage wingding is intended not just to introduce folks to the new models, but to begin the training of some of the dealership folks.

The people representing Scion there are not just representing some dealership and trying to sell cars to put bread on the table, they are representing Scion Corporate and are supposedly the experts.

Personally I believe they should be held to a higher standard.

Tom

ElChupacabra

So much wheel gap....

xhrhx15x

when I was there some lady asked what colors the xB came in. and the guy standing by the xB said "right now only the 2 colors you see." (which one of them was the orange-yellow that is not a production color and the other one was Hypnotic Teal Mica) I shot the guy such a look, then butted in and told the lady and showed her the book (of which you think the guy would have atleast told the lady to check out). the people at the scion area were definitely there just o get paid, not one of them knew anything about the cars.

onemat

Sounds like the real Scion employees couldn't make it and they stuck a couple of dealer guys in who unfortunately don't know about the product including the products ability to sell it self, if in the hands of somebody more qualified.
I hope they do better in Nashville...
Matt

SquallLHeart

yeah... they should and from what i had seen during the first two events.. were held to a higher standard. these type of events are always held as dealership training and this was the first i have ever heard where the public could attend.

i don't know what happened or the specifics of San Diego's Backstage, but it seems that most of the complaints i have heard about unknowledgeable people stemmed from that particular event.

as i mentioned, there are two teams that are supposed to be touring the nation.. both of which i have met. team A, i think it was, was the one that ran OC.. and should've been the same that went down to SD... (i know that team at least knows their stuff)

if somehow team B switched places and took SD.. they should've still known their material, but i didn't get to know them as close.. as i only saw them at the very first event.

they were hired by Scion Corp from an agency based out of Chicago.. and i'm still confounded at the issues mentioned. but for sure even some of the experts there that were trained by Scion Corp didn't know everything..

i've had to correct a few minor mistakes on their information.. (that was supposedly from Corp!?)

rishio

Not only did they not know their stuff.. they also seemed to not really care. I had the feeling that the xb guru was kind of annoyed by my questions and just enjoyed chatting with his friends more. When I asked him if I could possibly get the car manual he had, he told me sure.... got my hopes high... and then said... it comes with the car (with a grin on his face) making me feel pretty stupid to ask that question...

I'm pretty convinced that the Guru's training was simply to take the car manual and use it for any question that is asked.

todasiracing

You must be some omnipotent Scion freak that has nothing better to do with your time than to judge the personalities of other people you know nothing about. I was at the Scion San Diego event and had a great time. Did I expect them to be Scion engineers, No, but everyone I talked to was very polite, they gave relevent information about the car, not to mention a bunch of free stuff and food. I guess you could be right, as I never asked how many spot welds are in the new xB, bet that Answer Bar guy couldn't of answered that. I guess Scion really screwed up that one as well. What were you talking about the xD? I didn't even see one there.
Like I said, I was at the San Diego event and have an absolutely different opinion of the event. You must just be a basically negative kind of person, and nothing will ever really please you.
People are just weird sometimes...

rishio

Okay.. looking at my posting.. I was a bit overly negative about the event and the people there. They are probably nice people going about their jobs.. The car is a great value and I'm sure it will sell well. That said, I did mention that one scion employee there, Rich, was very knowledgeable, polite and helpful so I wasn't all negative about everyone (mainly just 2 main people I interacted with there)

I suppose I just raised my expectations too high after hearing about the event.. It was definately overly hyped and the company itself I now see is just like any other car company sending out the normal marketing illusion one expects.

I have money deposited for a 2008 xb (first one in SD) but I'm not as excited about it anymore so I'll probably just wait on the sidelines and let the dust settle.

todasiracing

Like I said before, I really enjoyed the Backstage event and had a completely different experience, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. You posted some great pics, the car looks great.
After re-reading your post, did you actually ask the xB guru for his owner's manual? If that was me, I would say heck no! Did you expect the guy to have memorized over a 1000 pages of info and say "Here, you can just have it?" I don't understand that? Oh well.
My biggest let down from the event was not having an xD there like I said earlier, but I guess they couldn't get one. I was also disappointed with the # of people there, I was hoping more people would show up, but I guess they should do a better job promoting it more. Posts like yours wouldn't help their event much or get other people excited about going to the events.

Too bad, there are a lot of Scion people looking forward to see the new xB and drive it and one person can ruin it for so many......

SquallLHeart

well hopefully after all this we can forget what happened.

all the individuals involved in making this happen deserve alot of gratitude. this type of event has never been remotely possible for the public to go to before.

sometimes we have our ideals and expectations that don't get fulfilled going into something.
i know my mind was in shock when i watched a movie i was so hyped up about over 2 years waiting for it to come out... only to walk out of the theatre ____ed off and wanting my money back. (it's only happened once.. and i think many people were disappointed as well)

at the time i didn't know what to do as i've never experienced that type of feeling before... but nonetheless it was because of expectations that i had prior to going into the movie.

after that.. i pretty much learned not to expect too much out of anything... why set yourself up for disappointment? ehh.. *shrugs*