A good commute car: Scion xB?

I was going to suggest the xA as a commuter car, but the "three small children" kind of ended that!

Yeah, for what you want, the xBox (tip to Nat!) should be a good choice. You'll get the mileage you're looking for, you'll have room for the kids, and you'll be able to pack some bags or bring home the groceries no problem with this...uh, THING.

You might want to look at the Matrix; about the same amenities, available with AWD (if you live in a snowy areas) and the mileage you're looking for. The drawback is it will be about $17K.

The Honda Fit might also be good, about $15K, similar in size to the Matrix and in economy with the xA.

Mazda3 and Elantra get gas mileage that's below par for their class. Sentra has rock hard seats and isn't as reliable as the others, if that is a concern.

I just purchased a 2004 Civic the other day. But for your needs (especially the utility and children factors), I would recommend the Matrix.

And if you like the Matrix, consider its brother, the Vibe. It's equipped a little differently, perhaps better for your purposes, maybe not, and the Pontiac dealer might be willing to cut you a better deal - or he might not. It's probably worth a look. Same fuel economy, etc, as the Matrix. Friends get 36mpg in mostly highway driving with the manual transmission base Vibe.

Which of the above is easiest to sleep in back of?

The only downfall is that if the OP trades up every few years, a Vibe loses much more of its value over time than a comparably equipped Matrix.

I'll let others post about fuel mileage, comfort, utility, etc. Regarding safety, there are several factors that determine how "safe" a vehicle is. A major factor is mass. All other things being equal, the heavier and larger a vehicle is, the safer the occupants will be in a crash, and I believe the RX weighs more and is larger than any of the vehicles you listed. A larger vehicle will have more space to allow for a larger crumple zone, and weight has the same advantages in a vehicle crash as it does when football players clash. Of course, all other things being equal, the heavier a vehicle is, the poorer the fuel mileage will be. Agility, horsepower, torque, stability control, antilock brakes, and visibility will affect the driver's ability to avoid accidents. Features like seat belt tensioners, multiple air bags, and structural rigidity will affect the survivability of a crash.

I don't know that any of the vehicles you listed will be as safe as the RX, given its greater mass, larger size, and availability of more advanced safety features. A more reasonable criteria would be comparing the relative safety of the candidate vehicles with each other, rather than with the RX.

If you are looking at used vehicles, a 4 cylinder Camry can get over 30 mpg on the highway, is well suited for the occasional long drive, and is larger and heavier than the vehicles you listed.

LOL! Why is that? It's the SAME car! They're built on the same line!!!

It just doesn't *SAY* Toyota!

But that is the point. No matter what the truth, people believe Toyotas are better. And this is in spite of the fact that recent reliability surveys don't support this belief and that Toyota dealer are considered bottom feeders by most Customers.

Ed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In my limited experience, I can't say that Toyota dealers are any better or any worse than other new car dealers.....to me, they're all engaged in shell games and other nefarious activities.

"Just sign the paper work....we'll fill it in later......" :"One only at this price" "We'll buy your car, paid for or not" (On returning from a test drive) "Gee, I don't know what happened to your car keys....but let's talk about this deal while we look for 'em..." "The doc fee is only $45". (what other business makes you pay the wages of their employees for filling out a sales slip?" etc etc etc

And the pity is that the few dealers who really do care about their customers and are honest businessmen are swept in with the rest of the thieves. The auto business is possibly one of the few in the modern world who retain the atmosphere of a Persian market, where scamming is the usual way of conducting business. Sad. If I were a young person going into the business life, I'd just as soon tell my parents that I was working for an "escort" service as I would telling them that I got a job as a new car salesman.

Good point. '99 and '00 Prizm owners seem to be asking $3K less than '99 and '00 Corolla owners around here (source: quick look at CarSoup). The Prizm was a little different but that's quite a price differential for cars that are pretty close to clones.

Maybe a winning strategy is to buy a used Vibe. Someone else has taken the big hit for you.

I'd check CR, though, for an estimate of whether or not they both hold up equally well. Could be the GM model has different parts (starter, alternator, etc) and that could make a difference.

Well .. as a Persian I take offense .. they much much worse!

I am in the process of buying a car, the Subaru dealer would have had a sale if they just had treated me with a minimum amount of respect and courtesy .. I ended up walking out of the dealership determined never to spend any $$ on a Subaru. The jury on the Toyota dealer is still out, but I have to tell you that I detest the whole car buying process and what is involved.

Esmail

I think it was "aunko" who stated:

I can help with that, from firsthand experience; I got my '06 xB almost exactly a year ago and its main mission is commuting.

Except for the safety aspect. I haven't crashed so I don't know that firsthand. I do know that it doesn't have side-curtain airbags.

My typical mileage is 33-35 mpg for my daily commute. About 20 miles roundtrip with mostly county roads at 55-60 mph and a few miles of stop-and-go traffic at the work end. On longer trips the mileage isn't as good 'cause I opted for the five-speed transmission; the automatic does better 'cause it's geared for lower revs at speed.

If it weren't a good utility vehicle (Scion's Utility Vehicle ;^) I wouldn't have bought it, 'cause it replaced a '94 Grand Voyager. So far, it's been able to handle everything I've wanted to haul with it, except for 4x8 sheets of plywood. I'm thinking of a Yakima rackima that would extend its hauling capability.

Mine was just under 15k-bux new, with a spoiler and foglights as options. Typically they hold their value pretty well, so 12k-bux might be a tad optimistic . . . .

That depends on the children, I guess. ;^) When my kids were little, they went all over the country as passengers in a '76 VW Rabbit without any problems, and the xB is much better appointed, quieter, and more spacious than the Rabbit was. I've driven a few long drives with the xB, sometimes with my wife as a passenger, and we've found it to be quite adequate. It has a large back seat area, but somewhat limited luggage space behind the back seats if they aren't folded down.

Hop over to

and askyour questions and you'll get a LOT of answers from folks who driveeverywhere with and without kids in their xBoxen. Of course, they'renot going to be UNBIASED answers . . . ! (Not any more than my answersare unbiased, come to think of it ;^)

-Don (with a BIG xB bias!)

-- Pooder approved this post . . . .

I knew I'd catch hell from a native of Iran! No offense meant, of course, Esmail. I think you know what I mean in terms of getting hammered with 'bargains'. Perhaps I should have said "the atmosphere of a tourist knickknack store in Nogales" Wait, then I'm offending Mexicans!

I know this sounds weird but Id really like your opinion on the potential of sleeping in the back of one for car camping and such. Extended cross country touring and sleeping in back of vehicle.

Could a 6 foot man stretch out ion back of one and have room for some things?

gas mileage is an issue with me...hence the question abt using one as a make shift "RV" or conversion "van".

snipped///////////////////////////////

I ended up walking out of the dealership

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My last dealings with a new car dealer was with a Lincoln/Mercury dealer over a dozen years ago. I offered what I thought was a good price on a Mercury Cougar, was rejected and offered $100 off the dealer's price, which I said was insulting, and then did a little dance for two hours with the salesman, sales manager, etc. Finally after walking out, the salesman came running after me and offered me the car "out the door" for about $300 less than I'd originally offered. I accepted (while asking the salesman why he and they insisted on this charade for two hours, and he just shrugged. It turned out to be quite a good car and relatively trouble free for a decade, so much so that I was sorry to sell it.

The easiest way we've found to buy a car has been from a Hertz car sales office, where there's no haggle and no hassle.** We've bought two ex-rental Toyotas (a Camry and an Avalon) from the same office and have been mightily pleased with both cars.

** the downside for some folks is that they don't take tradeins, and (though we paid cash) I don't think they arrange financing themselves; you'd have to deal with a bank.

Yup, no real offense taken either .. but how often do I get to say "as a Persian .. " ;-)

Perhaps I should have said "the atmosphere of a tourist

Not the ones here on the East Coast...Cambridge, ON.

Back in the day, Toyotas were sold by family dealerships that offered 'real' American cars, and had the Toyotas for people that needed a second car, a car for college, the first car for a teenager, etc.

They were generally sold by people that liked selling them, since they could be sold when the Detriot iron was too expensive.

In the last 15 years, the Big Guys have learned that owning a Toyota dealership is like having your own $100 printing press, so the 'bottom feeders' have scooped up all the dealerships for premium prices. In my area, there are only two indie Toy dealers left, and even one of those is owned by a Saab Volvo VW dealer from out of town. They're better than most, but not like the Good Old Days... :(

I have always been leery of buying an ex-rental car. People just beat on them.

I kind of feel that ex-leased cars may be a problem too, because people don't take care of them like they'd take care of something they actually own.

On the other hand, some people don't even take care of cars they own. :-)

I always get financing through my credit union. They're way better than any commercial bank or the financing the dealer gets for you.

I had an interesting argument when I bought my last car. My credit union offered me a loan at 8% and gave me the figures for the monthly payment.

The finance guy at the dealer gave me a really hard time and kept pushing their financing. He kept telling me their loans were only 5%. However, the monthly payment was higher and the term was the same. When I pointed out that I would be paying more for their "lower interest" loan, he just kept repeating that theirs was 5% and mine was

8%.

I guess it was balanced out by the fact that this dealership simply offered me the extended warranty, undercoating, scotchguard, paint protector, and some other profitmakers, but took no for an answer and didn't try to really push any of it.