exactly...they are both great cars , but with 2 very different purposes....

 

personally i think the element is ugly , its a little more soccer-mom...

 

Scion xb is the best....

 

Not this discussion again..

Cya

 

The doors on the Element make it MUCH easier to load things in/out and don't really have any disadvantages as far as I can see. I think it's a great design personally. Very clever and more ingenious vs. the usual 4 doors, much the way a hatchback is way more useful than a sedan or coupe. It makes a lot of sense actually.

 

*Ahem*
Uh...This is a sport wagon:



The xB is a utilitarian, cheap little runabout. It's classified as an MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) by the government. Same classification as minivans and SUV's like the Element. It's not a wagon and with a semi independent rear suspension and 108 hp I don't think the word "sport" enters the equation.

 

The Element, the Civic, the CR-V and the Acura RS are based on Honda's Global Compact Platform. The Element is not based on the CR-V

IMO, the Element is better than the xB if you need the 4wd, or the more rugged interior. Both cars have features that make one better than the other, depending upon your needs.

There is more headroom in the xB, but there is more legroom in the Element. More cargo space, too.

Mrs. Scion chose the xB for the price and fuel efficiency. With the traction control, I suspect that it will do fine in any snow that she has to cope with here in central NC (ie. if she's at work, and it starts any kind of frozen precip, she'll head home.)

 

Xb is a wagon, anyone that says otherwise has no idea what the xb is.

I think a mod should lock this thread, its been discussed before numerous times. Maybe they wont though, who knows.

Cya

 

Having experience with a truck with "suicide" style doors, I'll tell you that 90% of the things you will load through the sides will be people. It is extremely inconvenienty to have your passengers boxed in when they try to get out. Furthermore, (I'm not sure if the Element's design does this but) having to close the rear door first and then the fronts, and not being able to open only the rears is also a pain in the butt.

Honestly, if I were to load anything big in a hatchback/wagon, it'd be throught the hatch. And if I were going to haul anything too big for the hatch, I'd really get a truck. Even so, I've used a Tundra's, Ranger's, F-150's. . . all with shells, and havn't had any issues loading stuff. And the opening on those trucks aren't exactly huge with a shell on.

Unless I were to become too obese to fit through conventional doors, I personally will pass on suicide doors.

 

I agree

 

I parked next to an Element once:


I think both are nice cars. I chose the xB because it's cheaper, has much more headroom, and substantially better fuel economy.

 

What makes it a wagon, other than the fact that you want to call it one?

I think a wagon needs more than 12 inches of cargo depth behind the rear seats, first of all. I guess by your standard a VW Golf is a wagon too.

The EPA and DOT call it an MPV, that is why it is allowed to have the rear 3/4 tinted.

MPV. Same classification as minivans and SUV's. Sorry.

If you want to call it a sport wagon and it makes you happy though, go for it, but 90% of the people that see your car driving by aren't going to be thinking "wow, look at that sweet sport-wagon"

 

Hm, i really don't recall calling the xb a sport wagon.. No, no i don't believe i did. The Xb is a wagon, however based on the fact its a four door with a hatch, like all wagons are. While at the same time, it holds characteristics with MPV's, its still a wagon body style. Cargo room doesn't define what is or isn't a wagon, the car/body does. You don't have to have a foot and a half of cargo room behind the rear seats for it to be called a wagon. So before you start pointing fingers and calling me a , maybe you should try actually reading my posts before you claim i said "sport wagon and xb" in the same sentence.

Cya

 

We should be happy the Element and the Xb even exist. They are proving that wacky-boxy-smaller vehicles are "IN" and here to stay!

Do what my family did, buy both. I have an Xb and my Sis and her husband have a Element. And I will tell you what, during family holidays when those two are parked next to each other,,,,it is one cool site. They really compliment each other. Yep'', they do.

Oh about that Audi Sport Wagon??....I could have either two XB's or "almost" a Xb and a Element for the cost of that piece of crap. Beautiful car? yes....Drives Nice? Yes....but there is a reason Audi "has" to give you all those years of warranty and free service. I know two different people with very similar and yes'' relatively new Audi wagons and they both LIVE in the shop for the craziest or simple or intense problems more than they drive them. Doesnt matter how free the service is if they keep screwing up AND the dealers cannot fix em' right the first time either or just say "they all do that"......Forget that. One buddy is ready to ditch his at a loss and go get something else. He has had it with Audi. My other friend said she is just about done with hers too.

Give me the "alternate" sport wagons in reliable and well built XB's and Elements any day over the "Audi Wool Over Your Eyes Scam."

 

no offense to Biznox.

Im sure there are 'good' Audi 'sport' wagons,,,it just doesnt seem the odds are that great. But that car is the true epitome of a sport wagon in 'general terms' of automotive journalism...so i agree with him on that. ....but....

There are different levels and idea's on what a "sport wagon" is to "different souls and personalities". And it is the right of the owner to feel the way they want to about their car and call it what they want.

Hell''',,,,my 83 year old Dad calls his 91' Mercury Grand Marquis Colony Park "woody" Station Wagon with "white-wall tires" a "sport wagon".....so see??,,,,,,"to each his own".

 

Does anyone actually read my posts? I never said the Xb was a sport wagon, i said it was a Wagon. Theres a difference.

And by defined wagon's, the xb is a wagon. It has everything a wagon needs to have unless you are sold on the has to have so much room behind rear seats theory.

Cya

 

My mistake. I was replying to someone else in an earlier post.

Either way, I guess I just don't personally think of it as a wagon and apparently no one in the federal government does either. I don't know of anyone who would look at the xB and say it was a wagon either.

I suspect many people who have xB's just loathe SUV's and minivans and would rather think they drive a wagon.

Like I said though, if the xB is a wagon, then anything with 4 doors and a hatch is a wagon. The Golf is a wagon, so is the 5 door Mazda3 and a bunch of other cars.

Traditionally what most people think of as a wagon, means at least 2 feet of room behind the rear seats--- not less space than the trunk in a sedan! Compare a Jetta wagon to a 4 door Golf, for example.

If you don't beleive me, try asking some other non-xB owners what they would consider the xB. I'd be amazed if the word "wagon" comes out of any of their mouths. You'll hear hatchback and van and even truck before you hear "wagon". That's been my experience.

Calling the xB a wagon is kind of like calling the tC a sportscar.

Wishful thinking, in other words...

 

I know quite a few xb owners that consider the xb a wagon, this was discussed over a year ago. Most insurance companies also list the xb under 5-door wagon, including mine. Insurance companies would consist in part of government due to the fact most of their laws are government standards as far as what they can ensure, how the list each car so on so forth.

I consider a truck something with a bed, the Xb phsyically is far from a truck. Hatchback i would agree with being that its a wagon, wagon's have hatches. Calling the xb a wagon is like calling a tC a sports-car? Please, the tC has no sports car like features as far as performance goes, where-as the xb has a ton of features that include it in the wagon catigory. And yes, i think the mazda3 hatch is a wagon.

The only bit of information you provided in arguement was the fact it doesn't have 1.5ft behind the rear seats. Since when does a foot a half declair wagon vs. hatch?

Cya

 

You consider the Mazda3 hatch a wagon?

Even Mazda doesn't try and pass it off as one...

That explains alot.

I guess we just aren't going to agree.

BTW insurance companies will call it whatever they have to so they can charge you more to insure it.

The government has actual size/dimensional criteria to decide what a vehicle is.

 

hmmmm ever see the magazine"Stylewagons"?