for me i'm not a huge fan of the xb shape. i only bought a new car because i had no choice i had a paseo untill the engine blew. so i know most of the stuff that goes with having a car that looks fast and is slow. the paseo was only a 1.5 too. performance wise probably had about the same amount of aftermarket as the xa or less. i like my new xa i already know that its not going to be fast but where i can keep up is in some corners when i have more money. plus i wanna do some show stuff not sure how much yet. honestly the xa doesn't pull as hard as my paseo did but i did have alot more done to it. some of driving is knowing how to drive a car in order to keep up with faster cars. you don't have to be on a straight run all time. as most have said before the xa is not fast you don't buy a 1.5 liter powered engine to be fast its just not going to happen. without doing some serious work then you might as well have bought a larger displacement engine to make more power from the start.

 

You mean other than not wanting to drive a refrigerator?

zee bunny attacks!!

 

Q: What made you pick an xA over an xB?

A: My significant other!

I probably would have been happy with an xA or an xB, but he really liked the look of the xA much better, even though he's a bigger guy.

 

I actually like the extra room and the uniqueness of the xB, but my wife thinks they're ugly.

In hindsight, after buying the xA, I'm glad I did. It was cheaper and gets better gas mileage, plus they are rarer!

 

My wife and I were in the market for a 4-door hatchback for around 15K. The xA was the only one we could find with Side-Impact Airbags. And we liked the way it looks.

 

I prefered the looks of the xA, but I made the mistake of driving the xB first. After my Jetta, I wanted something with more backseat room and as much as I liked the xA's looks, I felt claustrophobic in it after driving the xB, so I went with the xB as it suited my needs better. I still think the xA looks sharp though and I like the fact that they are way more rare.

 

The xB just reminds me too much of a potato chip van! I would have preferred a Smart car or a 2 door Yarus. Finally picked the xA over a Mini.

 

Xa is great
bought it for looks, options and gas mileage....
Why is it i only get 28 mpg on the highway?
2006 Xa 940 miles on OD

 

No offense to the xB owners out ther but I don't like the "box" look. Looks too much like a Honduh Pilot to me. Except Honduh put those crappy plastic panels on their car.

 

ALthough the xA has less storage room, I believe it looks better than the xB. Certainly the xA has a more appealing dash console to me. Legroom is not an issue as the xA has plenty. Still, this is just my personal opinion. The xB does have a certain appeal and seems more popular as a tuner vehicle. The tC really doesn't have enough pizazz to me. It is just not that different.

 

I think you mean the Element.

I thought about getting an Element, but I couldn't get over the looks or the excessively high price they were asking for it.

I see the xB as what Honda was trying to do with the Element, only Toyota got it right by keeping the design cleaner and the weight and price lower.

 

the 2006s are available without the composite panels.
i had a 2003 element and got rid of it for the xA
I can't really afford to have a car in california anyway because of the cost of insurance, but it 19mpg on the Element for the 30 on my Scion i can sort of deal with.

 

I sat in the xB, and I felt like it swallowed me whole. It was too big, and I felt like I would be driving a mini-van. I never test drove it, but sitting in it made me feel.. weird.

The xA on the other hand, when I got in it I was like.. Oooooohh.. and then I drove her, and Loved every minute of it! Though I was worried, I wasn't sure if my Significant other would like it, as he has a longer torso, so I wasn't sure if he'd feel comfortable.

he sat in it, and was really surprised at the room it has. He says from the outside it looks dinky, but it really isn't. He likes my car as much as I do.. maybe a little less. LOL But he does like it

Kaffy

 

i personally didn't like the way the xb looks, i thought the xa looks really nice! ^_^

 

^^^^^^Yup I chose the xA over the xB because I'm not a big fatass (well actually I'm lying) but at 5'10" 240 the xA has plenty of room, I don't feel cramped at all.
There is no point to get the xB for me because with the back seats up they have the same amount of cargo space. I don't drive like an _______(most of the time) so I don't need VSC and traction control.

 

The xB is just flat out fugly.

The people that want more room get the xB, but it's not that much more room and how many times do ya use it anyway?

Don't know why the xB is more popular - probably for tuning. If you want to be like everyone else, get the xB. If you want to be different, get the xA.

 

I like the B. I think it is well designed and does a great job of breaking out of the mold. I think it has a great personality. It's just not my personality. To me its all about the shape. When my 40 mpg Tercel finally died, I wanted another well built, small commuter car. I felt that the more rounded A suites my personality better. I think that over time, as the newness wears off, the A will hold its appeal longer for me.

 

You're right I ment the Element. My bad.

 

I use the extra room constantly, but that's me.

I often have myself and 3 passengers in the car, I carry my mountain bikes inside it, boxes of gear, you name it. I do something at least once a week that would be hard or impossible to do if I'd gotten an xA.

 

The xA is quite capable of doing all of that. In fact, the xA has more hip room and shoulder room than the xB (front/rear):
xA hip - 54.6/53.4
xB hip - 50.6/50.6

xA shoulder - 50.9/50.4
xB shoulder - 48.6/50.0

The xB does have more headroom, slightly more legroom, and has a slightly larger trunk area, but it is not significant.

What mattered to me is a significant lower cost of ownership (mpg and initial cost).