I have had mine for over 4 months and here are my surprises and dissapointments

Suprises

1) City Gas mileage much better than anticipated 26-28 with 5 speed
2) Headlights turn off when you exit the door, this is nice because I have left my lights on before
3) Engine power is good with the 5 speed, better than anticipated for a economy car
4) I found that selecting XB and XA on the radio makes it sound much better than standard selection
5) Paint is durable and dealership put good wax on. I was able to buff out 2 scratches that looked permanent.

Dissapointments

1) Creaks near radio, sunroof and hatchback. Been extremely busy with school and work so will get this looked at near the break. Actually have been getting used to the sounds now so they do not bother me as much
2) Ride is bumpy. I think because of low profile tires
3) Air conditioner is weak, again I have not got this looked at yet
4) Gear ratios are set for power and not economy

 

I'd have to agree with most but say that the ride isn't bumpy.

Surprises:
Even though it looks small, it has a HUGE amount of leg room in the rear seat and with the seats down TONS of room just like any other hatchback.
The interior lights turn on when you shut off the car, and unlock the doors.
There is a rear interior light above the rear seats.
The sunroof is automatic.
Much more quiet then I had expected.
TORQUE! And williness to just putter along at 1500 and still got power to move. I can take slow corners in a 25mph area and leave it in 3rd during the apex. Very cool.

Dissapointments :
The 1st gear kills me, feels like a granny gear.
Handling not good enough for me, but definately good enough for stock.
I'm a bit small statured, and the seats don't offer me enough bulstering. An adjustable bulster like in my MR2 would be ideal.

 

My First Post!

I just picked up my tC yesturday and have put 50 miles on it.

I am already surprised of the torque the car has. My other ride is an IS300, and the Scion has more power than the IS when I’m going 5mph in 2nd gear (Over a speed bump in a parking lot). I am also surprised at the size of the car. It looks small by itself, but I parked next to a 4th generation prelude and the tC is a foot or so taller. I am happy with the auto up/down windows- the IS only has it for the drivers window, and I was surprised that the sunroof opens automatically (kinda, with strange pauses), but I wish it also closed automatically.

I am so far disappointed with the lateral support of the seats, especially the bottom portion, and how easily the tires start to break free around a fast corner, but at least I can fix that part.

 

i have 250 miles on mine which i picked up tues night. i have to say im surprised with the car.

dissapointments:

break-in period =)

 

psst...there;s a dial on your seat. It increases the bottom bolstering on all sides of the seat.

 

After 8500 miles.

Good Surprises:
+ More rear legroom than I first imagined
+More torque than I expected (coming from a Civic though)
+Better acceleration now than before
+Better city mileage now than before (Hwy mpg was already as advertised)

Bad Surprises:
-Not enough back support on seats (typical Toyota)
-Sunroof and hatchback creaks
-Air cond needs time to cool interior

 

bolster? my dial changes the tilt of the bottom of the seat. what I'd love (but understand that it's not there) is that on my older prelude there was a dial on the side that changed the width of the supports on either side. you could dial it in so that you were securely held in place no matter WHAT type of maneuver you did... :twisted:

am I missing another dial somewhere?

 

good suprises
-___ looking obx shifter is actually quite comfortable to use and reminds me of about the same size as the integra type r shifter.
-Very prominent bolsters in the seat back and fits me perfectly.
-almost auto sunroof open switch
-really big glove box
-Tweeters built into door handle bezel like some audi models.

Bad surprises
-Prominent b pillar makes checkin driver side blind spot difficult
-Tires suck ___
-Underpaneling of dash directly above pedal area hangs low so can catch foot while shifting if wearing big shoes.
-No efficient light source for rear interior (like a center dome light).
-Throttle body/intake manifold area of motor difficult to reach

 

Nah, it changes tilt not bolstering. And yah. The Prelude seats have always been really nice. My MR2 has that dial as well, and it kicks ___. Not sure why all seats don't have it, but whatever. Hopefully an upholstery shop can fix my seat for me when the time comes.

 

that bolster dial was *the* best thing on that prelude (198 seeing as I didn't have the 4-wheel steering and vtec wasn't around yet. I'm a pretty skinny guy, but those seats were able to come in enough to hold me in place insanely well. Seats were so comfortable (had lumbar support too) I'd get in at home and wouldn't stop till I got to school 4.5 hours away.

 

Well instead of a center dome light, there's actually TWO lights. There's one for the front and one for the rear. Maybe you didn't notice. I never noticed either until I turned it to "off" from "door" since I didn't have that many passengers anyways.

What does that mean?

 

this car is even more amazing...

surprizes:
-did u know the sunroof cover can be opened along with the class with the button?...i didnt know
-and! the one i found out TODAY...the trunk has a light!!!....mine was off...so i didnt know but one night i was feelin around the trunk (due to the darkness) found the light and turned it on!) Prior to this i was thinking of installing one.e myself...but man..that was a kick ___ day....
yeah im a retard but feels good to find these things...awesome...
peace

 

Disappointed in the tacky taste and REDUNDANT TOPICS of the forum.

The car is fine though.

 

Just saying that the car's 1st gear is insanely short and I don't feel it needs to be when it has so much low end torque. A lot of trucks have this kind of gear and it's called a granny gear to help them get moving from a stop when towing something very heavy.

 

Impressions after 1200 miles (in no particular order):

Surprises -
- No squeaks or rattles (had been expecting them after reading others' posts)
- Headlights do a way better job than on my other cars
- Torque steer isn't bad at all
- Lumbar support seemed excessive in test drive, but seems OK now
- Push-button map lights next to front dome light.

Disappointments -
- Lack of limited slip + crappy tires = really easy to break traction
- Cargo cover is a pain to store when you don't want it
- Front floor mats are great, but rear ones are cheap.
- Considering that the whole roof is glass, the interior ceiling trim blocks a lot of the view.
- New model + very young average owner age = very little good technical info on forums (no offense).

 

@ 1600...

surprises:
- adjustable driver headrest
- jump-proofing (auto shutoff headlights, etc.) You know, I spent like 300+ in the last year getting jumps for my car...
- torque!
- engine warms quickly...less morning-freeze-my-___-offs
- nooks below the trunk cover to put away all those misc spare tire belts and whatnot.
- great looks... something i didn't anticipate at all: the car looks better than the first time I saw it.
- upgradability
- handles above doors: pull it out. watch it ease back into position slowly. oooh. ahh.
- normal, even attractive people coming up to me to complement my car

dissapointments:

- a bit bumpy, especially with these streets around my home/work
- pillars too wide... few times I saw people walking from my right side like they popped out of nowhere.
- fragile bumpers
- weak acceleration on higher speeds... not quite as good as the low-gear jumpiness
- soft brakes
- heavier than preferred (I dont need that quiet of a cabin)
- hollow plastic door handles
- weird random ugly people who come up to me to complement my car

somewhere in the middle:
- no rattle... unless my trunk cover pops out of its notches. which is perfectly acceptable but i need to pull over to fix that...
- found out how to put the stereo in tc mode (it was in xA mode apparently)...which made alot of difference as now I can hear the midtones. I was considering getting a new stereo head before.
- SSP Neutral and SSP Feel are pretty much useless to me

 

Really??? theres a light in the back??? i'm gonna see first thing in the morning!!! thanks!

 

 

I can say this much.

With 15gal gas full tank my tC goes 300 miles in city and 400miles highway. I've reached 1800miles on board. What can I complain on 17K $ car? where people are looking at it at every stop light and every mall that I go to. Let's be honest now, you didn't expect to buy the perfection of auto industries for only 17k $.
Right now i'm working on getting my iPod mini hard wire to the sound system on back ports, have any of you had any success?. Good Luck
And one more thing...it's chick magnet :D
I hope my girlfrien wont read this one

 

Lol, actually it's off by default when you get the car. I noticed it when I was spraying Scotch Guard fabric protector on my back seats and while I was sitting there, I was like "holy crap, I have a light back here!"