Hi guys -

I first hit the alt.autos.toyota n/g, & now found this board.

I locked in a deal to hold an Xa 'till Saturday. It's for my wife's home-health-care (nursing) business. Got the color she wants, & it's basically bone stock w/just an automatic tranny (she's death behind the wheel w/a 5spd) & mat's. Straight up price, as posted on the website, and no x-tra fees. It's perfect for her purposes....

EXCEPT - I'd like another 20+ ponies, or so. Maybe something like the 130HP 1.8L from the Corolla. Since she'll be driving the car nearly 100% of the time, the stock 108HP engine is a compromise we can live with, 'cuz the car is otherwise perfect for her business.

But if Toyota did an engine upgrade w/i the next coupla' months, I'd be kinda' disappointed that I bought the small engine. Otherwise, if they upgrade in the next model year or longer, it wouldn't bother me, 'cuz that's the way things sometimes go between model years.

As far as hot rodding, I'm gonna' leave her engine stock. Been there & done that wayyy too many times w/my own rides, over the years. Her ride's gonna' stay pretty much a basic stock 'work' car, until she starts needing R & R'ing of the suspension/tires/brakes.

Does anybody in-the-know have any idea if there's any OEM engine upgrades planned for the immediate future (not the TRD aftermarket stuff)???

TIA

Strat

 

Hey man! Welcome to the boards and congrats on the car!

As far as an OEM upgrade, we have not heard antything specifically but honestly I don't think they will put in a different engine on the Xa or the Xb for that matter, so I think you are safe as far as you are concerned....

Hope this helps! and again congrats! :D

 

congrats add 1 more xA to Scion Life...woot woot

as a quick question what made u decide xA over xB or tC...very very curious

i own a rsxa1.0 myself :D

 

Thx for the welcome, guys.I'm just the Purchasing Agent//Test Driver//Financier (AKA as *husband*) for the Domestic Manager (AKA as *wife*)!

Actually, she picked it out, and I'm just negotiating the deal. To answer your question: I'd say primarily funtionality, styling, & aerodynamics. With funtionality & styling first (she luvs the way the thing looks). She's a visiting nurse, and needs a small hatchback. She originally wanted a MiniCooper. But we both really like Toyota products, and we were a little afraid of the costs of BMW's maintanence. I also was a little distrusting of the Cooper's CVT Tranny (my wife wanted an automatic).

She primarily wanted a small run-about that was a good pocket-rocket commuter that could hold some of her nursing supplies for work (including a fold-up wheelchair), but yet also could fit 2 or 3 of her g/f's for shopping sprees to the mall on weekends.

To her, the xA is kinda' a 4 dr Toyota MiniCooper, and actually, from the rear, it looks a bit like a Mini. She's driving all the time, as a visiting nurse, and we live in the near north Chicago 'burbs, so her driving runs the qauntlet: From tight close-in city streets, to mixed suburban roads, to high speed far-out-suburban freeways.

With the little engine, and a very boxy shape, we weren't to sure how well the xB would cruise the freeways at 80 - 90MPH, especially when passing, or in heavy crosswinds.

She may get called to work anytime, anywhere, at a moment's notice, irregardless of the weather. So we felt the xA might do better at high speeds & during storms & crosswinds, due to its better aerodynamic shape (IMHO).

The tC didn't have the functionality of a hatchback she needed for her nursing work. She wanted a hatch.

We test drove a RAV4, but didn't like the handling. It drove too much like a clunky truck, in our opinion, and we both like light. tight, nimble handling cars. My wife's a petite young Asian girl, but dayemmm, behind the wheel she turns into Mario Andretti!!!

The RAV4 was just too "clunky" & truck-like.

The RAV4 AWD woulda' been really nice for the heavy part of Winter, though, but that's only ~3 mos of the year, & we only had enough $$$ to blow for one car, so we went w/the aX.

In a way, I'm sorta' glad she didn't get the Cooper, & that the aX only has a 108HP engine, 'cuz I'm getting tired of paying her speeding tickets!

105 U$D, just last week...again!

Yishhh...

Strat

 

ayyt thas cool, hope ya'll like it, and it does look like a 4 door mini, everyone tells me that also...what color did u get? or plannin on getting?

 

Giver her NOS

 

if she's happy w/ the car as is, i wouldn't mess w/ it. i bought the xa because it appeals to me and gives good gas mileage so i couldn't careless if scion has an engine upgrade unless it gets the same mileage or better. the little 108 hp engine has more than enough to commute on the public streets, roads and highways imo.

 

Christmas is around the corner.....maybe the Mrs. needs a radar detector :D

 

Hey, my wife thinks too, at certain angle, the xA does look like a Mini. Plus we were considering the Mini, then switched to xA. The one thing I like about the xA is Japanese built Japanese vehicle, vs the Brazil made Mini, unless you go for the top Mini model.
As far as power goes, yes the xA lacks it, but I don't find it terrible even with the Echo engine. Pick up from stop is acceptable. With an intake/exhaust upgrade, the result should help out highway pickup, and then it's a perfect and cute Japanese car with an inexpensive price tag.

 

I had an '02 Mini Cooper 5 speed. I traded it in after 1.5 years because it had problems. My friend had the Mini S with the supercharger and he Lemon Lawed the car. He had HUGE proplems with it. His replacement car is an xB.

After the Cooper I had an RX8 (impulse buy) which is a great car and lots of power. The problems with the RX8 were bad gas mileage (16-19), a few recalls and it's worthless in the winter.

...so I find myself here with a xA RS1.0 :D The xA has more torque, especially low end, than the Cooper. The CVT Cooper is even slower.

Bottom line... form, function and "Cool" factor... the xA is a great choice. Exellent quality and it's cheap.

 

damn epitrochoid, r u bein serious? my next car was going to be a mini and then i was gonna go to an RX-8. i guess i should just learn to appreciate my little xA a lot more. i was wondering, what were these "problems" u mentioned?

 

LOL!!!

Yeah, I do things in a messed up order. :D

The Mini had a new tranny put in at 10K miles and mine was one of a bunch the dealer had to replace. This years Mini has a different tranny in it. It had squeaks, rattles and a lot of faulty sensors (DSC, air bag and TPMS) . There aren't that many Mini dealers and the hour plus ride each way became a major hassle.

The RX8 was a great car as long as you don't mind feeding it often and putting it away when Old Man Winter comes knockin'.

 

Purchased my rs 1.o mainly to do home health visits also ,the practical side of me should have just purshased a bone stock one , but i wanted something that looked good so the impractiacl side of me bought the rs 1.o , just made my first payment and have 3600 miles, so I will be the first to know if this car dosn't hold up well. expect to put 35 to 40 thousand miles the first year, purshased extended warraty also so lets see what happens , hopefully this car will hold up better then my 2002 ford focus. :twisted: #377