Hey guys! Been snooping around. Am about to get a 2012 Scion xB with a manual transmission. Had a couple of questions...

1. For those financing with Toyota/Scion, how are you liking it? Do you pay via website? And are there any weird trickery or funny business with the financing or is it pretty straight forward? Looking to take advantage of the $500 off military. Used to be $1000. Sucks I know.

2. How is the manual transmission after driving it for a while. I'm about to test drive it soon. Hopefully it shifts like butter. I haven't driven a manual for about 5-6 years. Last one was a Saturn 5-speed.

Was about to get a base vehicle and they took off $1,500 MSRP and $500 rebate.

Mark

 

ToyotaFinancial has been good to me with several Toyota and now my xB. You can make payments on their website and pretty much view all your account details. Scion has what it calls Pure Pricing which means no haggling. My experience was pretty much painless and straight forward. There was no going back and forth kind of deal.

The manual transmission of the xB serves its purpose. It is easy to drive. My only gripe is that it sometimes gets notchy but overall smooth. It is a peppy ride for what it is. I think you will like it.

 

SoCalxDeux:

Thank you for the response. I appreciate it. Looks like my decision is pretty easy. Wife had a 2011 Auto xB and it was a decent ride. I like being able to squeeze into any parking situation. Regret selling it. I secretly loved the car. This is coming from a guy driving a Challenger.

The ride was stiff and a little harsh, but I loved that part about it. Any issues with your 2012 so far? How's the standard bluetooth working for you? Standard speakers were acceptable before you upgraded?

 

I understand. I traded in a 2008 Mustang GT for my xB. I actually am impressed with it for what it is. As for the bluetooth, It works fine. I changed my phone to a Motorola Droid Razr Maxx and I was having issues pairing it. I had an HTC Thunderbolt before and it worked fine. But I now have have new Pioneer sound system and have no issues.

 

Just test drove the last manual available here for 2012. Does the clutch location bother you? I think it Los too close to the middle. I have to keep my leg towards the middle near the brake. I hope there's a way to adjust it

Besides that I found the shifting to be pretty damn smooth and quieter Han the automatic version. I love the car. Just not crazy about the location of clutch. I wonder if I could get some kind of extension welded on to make it go more to the left.

Do you mind taking a picture of your pedal set for me? I didn't get a chance to

 

just chiming in with my relevant experience. i have a 3-week old 2013 xb and have been using the bluetooth for both playing music and making/receiving calls. i have had zero issues with it and absolutely love the ability to answer calls easily while driving. the best part is that you can pair multiple devices - so far i was able to pair my iphone 5, my moms iphone 5 and my old ipod touch to the unit and will be pairing an ipad mini to it soon. the head unit lets you decide which device to use which is very useful. i remember only a year or 2 ago, you could only pair one device on some bluetooth-enabled head units which got annoying really fast so this is a nice, not so obvious feature.

as for the stock speakers - i have the base/stock stereo system with the exception of an after market amp + sub. i think the stock speakers are great for the price for both music + calls. the only time I can tell the speakers are "cheap" is when i have the volume north of 50 (out of 62) when you start noticing some crackling in the music. this is definitely not a complaint - im trying to convey that the speakers are perfect for the price you pay for the car. and this is only when im blasting music, i dont think you will have the volume at 50 for a phone call for what it's worth.

 

You guys with the manual transmission don't feel like the clutch is too close to the brake? Does anyone mind taking a quick picture for me? It just seemed like it was too in the middle for me and not enough to the left.

 

I don't have any issue with the pedals. Nothing has changed since the 2008 model besides minor cosmetic stuff and different seats materials.

 

If you are ether active military or former military you might try exploring what one of the credit unions catering to the military have to offer.

My youngest brother is in the Navy and when it came time to buy his 2009 XB in 2009, he went to Navy Federal Credit Union instead of dealing with Toyota Finance and got a sweet rate. Plus they seem to work with you better.

In my experience a credit union is the way to go. I have perfect credit and the lowest Toyota and GM were able to give me was 6% APR. I went with my credit union and got a rate of 2.99. The biggest seller for me was i have been banking with my credit union since the 1990's and I trust them. I don't trust dealerships(especially the scumbag dealerships in Maryland)

I would look into your local credit union before putting pen to paper with Toyota Finance.


As for the clutch pedal position, in both my test drive of a manual XB(2012) and drives of my other brother's 2009(we have 3 XB's in the family(2 2009 and 1 2011) ) I found the pedal position (relative to the space between it and the brake) fine. However I find that the clutch pedal sits higher then the other pedals and has a strange engagement point in relation to other stick shift cars(such as my Pontic Vibe(aka Toyota Matrix) It feels like I am driving a truck due to this BUT that is my perception, my brother has owned it since new in 2009 and has no issues with it.

Other then the transmission type and that bluetooth radio there is no real difference between the 2011 your wife owned and the 2012 you are contemplating

Good luck

 

If your brother was military, he didn't take advantage of the $1000 military rebate? Is the Toyota Financing that bad? I've always done USAA. But I wanted to take advantage of the $500 off right now.

I was torn about that earlier on.

 

Well about that rebate, yes and no. He did not get the $1000 rebate due to not financing with Toyota but the dealership near where he was stationed(and still is) does a lot of sales to military folks and their families so they gave him an extra $750 off the price of the car.(called it their military discount)

Car buying tip: Wear your uniform when you go to look at and buy the car, they might give you a bit more discount(you know support our troops and all that(which is how it should be) )

I don't know much about Toyota financial but remember that entity is setup to maximize profit for Toyota car sales. USAA is going to make some profit off you for the loan but USAA will take care of you better. My credit union has taken care of me in the past and I have a high degree of trust in them.

What kind of rate is Toyota offering? What can you get from USAA? Odds are in the long run USAA will do you better. If USAA has worked out for you then stick with it

For me $500 off the price of a car is not enough of a savings to venture off to a car maker's financial service instead of my tried and true credit union.

Good luck with your purchase

 

Yeah, that was my feeling as well. Thanks.

 

As far as the audio system, for oem it's pretty darn nice IMO. Good luck

 

Their website if very good to make payments along with the information you can access about your loan.

I'm not sure what their rates are now with Scions, but they were pretty horrible back when I got mine. With a 750 credit score, the best they could give was a 6.5% interest rate. I took it because I wanted the car right then and being 21 and my first new car didn't help to fully understand what an interest rate was.

I would say go Credit Union and get a much lower interest rate.

As far as the transmission goes, it's not the best in my honest opinion. I was use to butter smooth honda b-series transmission prior so I've never been 100% satisfied with it. The oem fluid is terrible and I'd swap it out for Eneos MTF. But its the only way to go in the xb, the auto was pathetic when I test drove it (I almost didn't buy an xB because of it).

 

Have Driven VW Beetles all my life.... Nothing I have driven has a Brake and Clutch closer together.... and ZERO floor around them.

 

I had the same feeling with the pedals. Took about a month to get use to it. Kept getting my foot stuck. Raised the ole blood pressure a few times..

Four months later and I can't even remember which foot got stuck..lol. lil learning curve is all.

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