Toyota Scion xB is tough to miss

It's tough to miss the new Toyota-made Scion xB as it drives along the freeway.

Maybe it's the abnormal shape of what is essentially a rectangle on wheels. Rather than sleek curves and an aerodynamic design, the xB proudly sports lines, edges and corners.

Or maybe it's the way the car pulls away in your rear-view mirror as it putt-putts along, struggling to keep up with fast-moving traffic.

The folks at Toyota would have us believe that the Scion xB offers new style and versatility for car-buyers motivated by an affordable $14,000 sticker price.

Personally, I don't buy it.

Toyota is advertising the Scion by giving out music CDs with the Scion logo, and some of the promotional brochures double as pop culture magazines. Photo by Bilaal Ahmed.

That's unfortunate, because Scion executives are setting their marketing strategies toward a younger crowd, mostly young men in their late teens and early twenties. They want a guy like me.

They're advertising the Scion xB by giving out music CDs with the Scion logo, and some of the promotional Scion brochures double as pop culture magazines featuring stories and photos about young people and their interests.

But with a 1.5 liter, 4-cylinder engine, the Scion xB doesn't have much under the hood for a teenage guy to gawk at. Merging onto the freeway is a fight against the engine, and flooring the gas pedal offers about as much power as a lawn mower on steroids.

It's the kind of car that forces you to drive the speed limit. But I don't want to obey the law just because I'm driving an ugly rectangle that can't keep up. I want a car that I have to hold back to drive safely, but one that would let me hit higher speeds on a wide-open highway. Not that I would ever do that, of course. If I were in a Scion xB, I wouldn't have that option.

The Scion xB has the same engine as an Echo, Toyota's low-priced, economical car. But compared to the Echo, the base model Scion xB sits higher off the ground, weighs more, definitely looks more unusual, and starts at $3,000 more than the Echo's price.

You'll get some extra storage space in the back of the car and more headroom than the Echo, but I have to ask myself whether that's worth another $3,000.

The dashboard does have a fresh, unique feel to it. The gauges have been moved to the center of the dashboard, no longer in front of the driver's eyes. The makers of the Scion say that the new location helps drivers keep their eyes on the road instead of the gauges, but I think it's just another gimmick to market the Scion xB as unique and stylish.

On top of that, some of the options, which might be attractive to some younger buyers, will boost the price even more.
I just can't justify spending another $879 on a red-lighted footwell and lighted cup-holders that - oooh, aaah - change colors.

I would be more inclined to spend that sort of money on the premium stereo system, which also has backlights that change colors and a Bazooka-tube sub-woofer. The bass on that system comes in two modes: hear and feel, which allows the driver and passengers to hear the low beats with the rest of the music or to feel the bass in their feet or chest. That package also includes a six-disc CD changer that's within arm's reach of the driver.

And, of course, the gas mileage is decent. The Scion delivers 30 miles per gallon in the city and 34 on the freeway.

Still, it seems that the makers of the Scion xB are trying to put a new wrapper around the same old product and sell it for more. But what a weird wrapper it is. It feels to me like Toyota is saying, "Hey, look at us, we aren't conservative, yippee!"

If I were looking to drop $14,000 or more at a Toyota dealership, I'd walk past the Scions and head straight for the faster, better-looking and similarly priced Corollas instead.