I have owned my 2006 Scion xB from new and it has been the most reliable car ever. I love everything about it. Other than changing the oil and rotating tires, virtually nothing goes wrong with this car.

Knowing that it is getting old, I would like to hear other's experiences as to what starts going wrong. I travel a lot and do not want to get stuck. I want to keep this car forever.

I want to do preventative renovation. What parts should I start replacing first?

 

I've had my 06 xB since Oct 2005. I've only put 34,000 miles on it (I retired early lol) and the only thing that broke was the water pump at the 5 1/2 year point. I had to get the brakes adjusted once and I switched to Michelin's at 30K.

I've been lazy, I've only changed the oil 3 times and that's about it. The car will run as long as you want it to.

 

Thanks. I hope to hear from others as well. Water pump may be a good place to start.

 

I would imagine all the accessories start going bad, water pump, alternator, ac condensor, power steering pump, battery. Then drivetrain items like clutch (manual) CV joints, half shafts. struts and springs. the catalytic converter etc.

 

I Bought my 2005 xB new in January of 2005. It has a little over 130,000 miles on it now. These are the things that have gone bad:

1) Unfortunately, the rear end has been in two fender benders, so, I think I have a worse than typical rear end rattle that I can not find (and may end up being the topic of another thread). I can hardly call this something "gone wrong". Cosmetically the car is fine, and opperationally the car is fine, it just has that license plater rattle sound (and no it is not the license plate) when going over bumpy washboard type roads.

2) I religously change the oil, but not at precise intervals. What I mean is, I always go at least 3000 miles between changes, but never more than 6000 miles between changes. I have had ZERO engine related issues. I have for that matter had ZERO (auto) transmission related issues.

3) I have changed brake pads once. I think front only actually.

4) I just put on the 4th set of tires recently. That is sort of more than one would expect but I buy cheap tires. Shrug.

5) The two little corner honeycomb grill pieces have dissapeared, driver and passenger side. I am reluctant to pay the dealership for them so they remain dissapeared.

6) I changed the air compressor/condensor? (IIRC) pully because it was squeaky for about 6 months. Never effected the drive or the vehicle nor the A/C.

7) The stock CD player does not like to eject CDs any more, especially home burned and labeled ones. I am replacing the Head Unit next weekbecause of this and I want an AUX port.

8 ) I have replaced the Driver Door lock actuator once and the front passenger door lock actuator once (just this weekend). The Rear passenger actuator recently failed as well and I wil be replacing it. These actuators are the single biggest gripe I have about the car, bar none. And they are NOT a big deal. It takes under an hour to replace, and a new one is about $80, and a used one is whatever you can find on ebay or a junk yard.



Honestly, if I were guessing what items are 'problematic' on these vehicles based on my own experience and the experience of others, my answer would be: "There is nothing problematic at all, but you will need to replace some of door actuators every few thousand uses, and the little grill inserts are going to go missing."

 

I have also had one of the little corner grills go away. I have half the miles that you do, so this all seems like good news. Thanks.

 

My 2005 has 210,000 on it, Will turn 8 years old in may. In that time i had i wheel bearing replace, had 1 bent axle (both on the right front), hit a deer causing $6,800 in damage. other than that only thing i change are the normal wear and tear items.

I also drive it like i stole it. Right foot is always to the floor and have used the rev limiter more times than i can count.

Very dependable car.

 

Bingo Bango. Same goes for any car. Engine accessories. Keep an eye on them. That's where your cash goes.

 

had my car for about 7 years as well. i have replaced my battery once, it went bad when i went to my deployment. i am now about to replace the rear driver side door actuator. it just went bad a few weeks ago. i have a sqeak on the drive belt when i start the car. it goes away after a few seconds. just been lazy to check out what it is. it might just be time for a serp belt replacement. other than those, i have no major issues with it at all.

 

Thank you. From the response, the car seems like it has a lot of life left in it. I'll just have them check everything out before heading off on a road trip.