I'm thinking of dumping my 2005 Tundra and switching to a 1st gen XB. My wife has a brand new XD and we love it. I'm looking to keep the cost down, so I'm thinking of getting something with around 100 K on it. What issues should I be aware of?

Thanks,

John

 

Well, for one their kind of hard to find via private party and since their high demand a used car dealer will be tough to deal with.

1. Check the windshield for chips, cracks, and sand blasting. If it's never been replaced it's probably in pretty bad shape.
2. Check all the power locks to see if they're sticking, which they have a tendency to do.
3. Find out if the water pump has been changed. If so, how many miles on the current pump?

Of course be sure to find out if it's been in a wreck and it's not a salvage title. Run a carfax just to be sure you're not being lied to.

The good news is that even if the xB is kinda raggedy looking with a few scratches on the outside and a little rough for wear on the inside you'll probably won't have to fix much. It seems to be one of those cars that'll run practically forever. It's almost a perfect car in this regard..Good luck!

 

Thanks -- that's just the kind of information I'm looking for. Is the water pump replacement a particularly expensive proposition in that car?

John

 

Hey John, the water pump is one of the only "big" things that went out in my car, it went out at almost exactly the 5 year mark but I only had 25K on it. Just shows to go you're only going to get X amount of years out of a water pump. I was lucky as I bought the parts from NAPA and was able to get a military auto hobby place to install it for around 200 bucks but I would have been screwed if I didn't have that avenue to fall back on. It was hard to diagnose too, for a month I heard this grating, rattling sound coming from my engine and the repair shop thought it might be the alternator. I drove around for a month before the car died on me on H-1 - the belt tore off, the battery light came on, and within five minutes the car just stalled for good. I had it towed to the auto hobby place and bought the water pump and belt and a day later I was back on the road.

Anyway, this is just my experience with the water pump. I just think it'd be good to know the specifics(age/mileage) from the owner if you can.

I've had my xB for almost ten years, now 51K on it as I'm semi-retired. The lower mileage the better and heck, if the outside looks good and the interior is worse for wear I'd consider buying it. I've got coverkings over my seats and halfway decent floor mats and that's about all you need for the inside to look just fine. In other words, get the lowest mileage xB you can with the shell outside in good shape. Once again good luck and post pics if you find one!

bS

 

I love my xb1 and other than routine maintenance have only had to replace a belt. She is going on 10 years and recently got a cel with evap dtc. They had to replace charcoal canister and valve. Currently having problems getting the obd to reset. Unfortunately, I am just discovering this is a repetitive issue with other xb1 owners and not just xb line. Just an FYI, you may want to look into that.

 

Good luck on finding your 1 GEN scion xb i wish you all the best.FIRST OFF..NEVER EVER TRUST A CARFAX...... NEVER ! I have seen a carfax where it said no accident reported and come to find out some dude was driving home drunk hit a tree total the front bumper, side fender, bent the radiator support and the strut was tweaked.He replace everything his self and sold it free and clear,because the carfax said it was ok. Carfax only reports stuff when it is bought in for repair. Hope i did not scare you just be careful and have a second party look at it to be sure.

 

I second not trusting carfax. I wrecked my '03 matrix, and hydrolocked it, and needed the engine replaced. I claimed both through insurance, and neither incident showed up when i sold it private party, and i still got a great price for it. actually the hydrolock worked out in favor of the buyer as the new engine only had 60k compared to 120k, lol. Also, be aware of wheel bearings (replaced one), and a/c evaporators (1k$ job) crapping out on you.

 

Always, have a tech check out the vehicle.

 

Good stuff! Was thinking about getting back in the XB game, but the B I'm lookin at is an 06, 165K miles, black with AC belt goin out.
They want $3500 for it.
That's a blue-book deal. Anyone think that's too many miles? Where would you expect price to be?

My BMW has 187k on the odo and the engine / tranny have been solid, it's the little things that have me questioning the Bimmer. Trim, plastics, bearings.

 

I don't think you've got too much to lose. You'll probably have to do some maintenance on any used xB1 you buy but how much could you possibly lose if everything goes wrong? 5K? 7K? Actually if everything goes good for you you might have a nice xBox for a few years without paying very much at all.

IF you're really worried about the mileage on this one I'm sure you can look around and find one with less. I do agree mileage is one of the most important(if not the most important!) things to look for when buying a used car.

If you live in Riverside, CA I bet they've got all kinds of xB1's for sale via craigslist practically every single day!

Bs