richard_rsp

Hey everybody!

I was shopping for an inexpensive semi-fun car to daily drive and decided to pick up a Scion iA this past Friday!

It's "Sterling" silver, 6-speed manual , and is a pretty nice car. I was replacing my 2015 WRX (financial reasons) and wanted something that I could at least enjoy driving.
I had a 2011 Mazda2 once upon a time and loved it, so the Scion was a natural option (once I heard about it).

Any other iA owners yet?

BlingSlade

Sweet ride you got there RR!..and it's a 6 speed manual too!

Some quick questions:
1. How's the car noise?
2. Are you getting over 40MPG?
3. How do you like the interior? specifically the dashboard layout?

richard_rsp

Thanks! So far, I'm pretty impressed!

To answer questions:
1. There are a few sources of noise on a typical car. a) Wind noise, b) road noise, c) engine noise. Wind noise is fairly pronounced in the iA. No so much that it is irritating, just you know it is there. Similar with road noise. Engine noise is almost non-existant unless you rev it to higher RPMs. Overall, I am impressed with how quiet this car is. It's definitely quieter than my WRX or my wife old xD (particularly road noise) was, and my wife said that she could barely tell I was on the road while using bluetooth. I'm happy with that.

2) According to the fuel economy display, I have gotten right at 40mpg average on the interstate. I'm still on the first tank, but the average is 36.1 mpg overall right now (and I do about 70% city driving). Again, I'm pleased.

3) I absolutely LOVE the interior - minus the gauge cluster. The dash, doors, seats, etc is all awesome. The vents in particular are so nice - like they belong in a much more expensive car. But that gauge cluster is a bit cheesy and the digital tach is not bright enough to see in direct sunlight. Overall, I wish they would have kept the Mazda gauge cluster. It's taken me a bit to get used to the controls being in the center console, but I'm starting to figure it out. I have had a hard time understanding why they have such a large screen for the entertainment system. There is a lot of blank space on the screen during most driving/listening (you think they could have made a multifunction screen that shows radio, gas mileage, etc all on one screen). I actually am buying the Navigation SD card once its available at my dealership, so that will likely help.

Anyway, hope that answers somewhat.

BlingSlade

Thanks for the reply RR, it's great to hear from an actual owner of an iA.

Okay, car noise def seems tolerable. 36.1MPG is outstanding if you ask me because how many cars really get over 35? To me it just sort of proves that to get great gas mileage you can't have a car with 150HP, you need a small car with a small peppy engine 125HP or less.

I'm really glad you're so happy with that interior. To me it's the most intriguing thing about this car. I have a few complaints myself like no sun roof option and I'm not too keen on the push button start as that seems like a planned obsolesce ploy for Scion to make big bucks down the road when that thing breaks. Yes that gauge cluster could be better but overall for the price of the car the interior is excellent.

I guess you have to pay $400 for that SD car to make the navigation work. I hear you get free maps for 3 years but after that you have to pay, is that right? If so I guess that's another way for Scion to make money down the road that's why I always like to rip out the factory stereo and install my own car DVD w/Nav but I don't know if you can do that with this car.

All in all it seems like you got a great car for the money. I don't know of many other cars that give you so much for so little. Thanks again for posting RR!

richard_rsp

I actually am a fan of the push button start. I have had a couple of cars that had to have the key cylinder replaced due to pressure and weight from my keys over time, so I had gotten in the habit of keeping my car key separate from my normal keys. However, with the push button I don't have to remove my key from my keychain, which is nice. Plus, no keys dangling on my leg!

The stereo was a concern of mine. With Apple CarPlay and Android Auto becoming more available, I was very cautious about buying a car that had a non-replaceable radio. Overall, I realized two things: 1) most cars are going to this style. Very few actually follow the standard DIN sizing of radios. And 2) this radio has everything I really want anyway. Yes, the Navigation Maps will only have updates for 3 years, but for $400, that's not a bad deal at all! I have seen several cars with $1200 navigation and NO free updates!

So overall, in happy. looks like I might get through my first tank of gas today, so I can hand calculate my mileage.

BlingSlade

Those are good points about the advantages of the push start button!

Yeah, for $400 that's not a bad deal for 3 years of free maps. I'm glad it's a 7 inch screen - very important to me, I'm not a huge fan of those 6.2 inch double din's that Pioneer/Kenwood/JVC/etc. sell.

So you've got a 7 inch touchscreen with navigation/free maps, backup camera, bluetooth, USB ports, and a few apps.

Hate to bug you but I've got a couple of more questions:
1. Can you use the touchscreen while driving?
2, If not, is the command center easy enough to use?

Thanks!

richard_rsp

Not bugging me at all! That's the point of forums and I love talking cars.

No, the touchscreen is disabled while driving. I am getting used to the controls in the center console, but it's taking some time. Some tasks such as going to certain screens or selecting an app is easy. Other tasks that normally would be easy (such as skipping to the next song) is a multi step process. I have to remember that steering wheel controls are available for some tasks too (such as the forementioned skipping songs), and are much easier.

The biggest irritation I have is that the **** mutes the radio, but doesn't turn it off (that's in a menu), and that the fuel economy screen can't be set to default (so if you answer a phone call or have it read a text message, it goes back to the main menu screen). I wish they would have put a multi function screen that plays music, has fuel economy info, and maybe even shows your next turn for GPS. But oh well. I can make it work.

BlingSlade

Yeah, there's always a trade-off you have to endure with a factory installed system. In my case I know I'd fork over the $400 for the Nav/free maps and once the 3 years is up there's a very good chance I'd upgrade to another car. The technology is changing that quickly!

criminaltc

It's a Scion Corolla. I just don't get it.

richard_rsp

Thats fair. Its not for everybody, and I am totally cool with that. Just curious: Why do you say that? Because it's a four door, 4-cyl sedan?

I actually am digging the sedan more than i thought. Would i have preferred a hatchback? Yeah of course. But I also would have preferred a Mazda badge on the front.

But since it is smaller and ~450 lbs lighter than a Corolla, I actually think it would be closer to a Scion Yaris. But it is much better than a Yaris (and yes, I have owned one). When I had my Mazda2, I was pretty active and had fun in Autocross. Hopefully I will be able to do the same in the iA!

BlingSlade

Hey RR, looks like MotoMan really digs your car!

criminaltc

The look/design. It's a Mazda3 more than anything, but yeah, I hear you.

Gottabolieve86

Hey richard_rsp,

I recently purchased a Scion iA myself and I love the car!

One thing that is bothering me is the text messaging portion, I would like to know if you tried using it because it doesn't work for me, I've paid my phone via bluetooth and I can't select notifications or text messages, it's obviously distracting to use while driving but I would like to try it.

richard_rsp

Awesome! Congrats!

What type of phone do you have? I have an iPhone and I had to go into my settings to allow the car to read my texts. It reads them fine now, but I can't respond (which is probably good).

tegwin

I think i saw you on another iA forum, but i have one too, im averaging 35 city by computer, im also heavy footed haha

zzbear

Just bought a new iA and my first impressions are good. I've been driving an xA, so road noise was a huge improvement. The only negatives I've seen so far is a very touchy 2d gear which I'm sure I'll adapt to, and no place to strategically mount or secure my phone (Samsung Note). The only negative I've researched is some paint chipping issues, so I'm going to do a monthly hand wash/touch up paint. Overall impressions - handles great, enough power in the manual (test drove the automatic and thought it was too slow from a stop although it was better than I thought it wo.uld be for 102hp), great ergonomics and loaded with features you don't get for what I paid (under 15.5k). I'll update if my impressions change.

zzbear

I can't imagine finding another car with so much to offer at this price point. I adapted easily to the controls for the media center and find even receiving texts and emails easy and not distracting. I am now utilizing Stitcher and Pandora and the apps make it easier than just bluetooth audio - you don't have to use your phone to change your stations or songs. It also continues where you left off if you're listening to a podcast or book on tape (I use the Audible app) and even though it doesn't have a dedicated app for it in the media center, I was able to control all of the functions.

Just took my first long distance trip and found plenty of power for such a small engine and I am now AVERAGING 42mpg mixed city/highway and I NEVER shift when it tells me to (which is annoying, but I do appreciate the "suggestion"). That 42mpg is for the first 1500 miles. My journey took me to the Western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is very hilly and the roads can be very curvy. It was a blast driving up there - the car hugged every curve. I did have to downshift out of 6th gear more than once or twice, but isn't lack of power/max fuel economy the purpose of 6th gear? I had to downshift to 4th once to make a quick pass - but the car quickly responded and I was by the guy in no time.

One item I wanted but it didn't have was automatic headlights, but since I run with mine on most of the time anyway, I just leave them on - they shut off automatically when the car shuts off, and turn on when I unlock the car, which is great for me since I work at 5am each day and it lights up the driveway.

I miss not having a hatchback, but other than that, no complaints. The first week I had issues with second gear - I either have adapted or the car did (I'm guessing it was me...) - and my wife commented that if she had her eyes closed, she wouldn't know I was driving a manual because it shifted so smoothly.

Completely sold on this car so far. However it came to be - a weird Mazda/Toyota partnership for one car model - I glad it did.