2008 Scion XB: A lot of car for a little bit of money

Note: My review only covers what I purchased which is:

2008 Scion XB, hypnotic mica, automatic transmission, with stock stereo, six star wheel covers, cloth interior, factory alarm without auto ignition, with 100,000 mile extended warranty.

What I paid?...about $19,000+ .

What other cars I considered:
2008 Honda CRV
2008 Honda Element
2007 Mazda CX7
2008 Dodge Caliber

What car was I driving before my Scion purchase? I had a 1997 Honda Civic DX with 182k miles on it. Although, I could have ran it for another 100k, I felt I deserved a new car.

Why did I pick the Scion XB over the others?

1) Price-The only one of the above that comes close is the Dodge Caliber. The only problem is that the Caliber doesn't have a History yet to base performance on.

2) Features-You get a lot as a standard including abs, ac, cd/w/ipod mp3 input, camry 2.4 liter 158 hp toyota camry engine, power doors with keyless remote, power windows.

3) Sales methodology and customer service-The price is "no hassle" which means you don't have to deal with negotiations and a sales person going back and forth to meet with his manager. Believe me, this saves you a bunch of time. Everyone at Scion of Seattle knew what they were doing and worked with me as a team instead of vultures. I worked with three associates (Desmond, Josh and Lynn) all of whom made me feel like a valued customer all along the way.

Power and handling
The Scion XB's 2.4 liter 158 HP engine has plenty of power to get you where you want to go. The engine has a very nice hum to it. You can shift between 3rd and 2nd gear to give you more of a manual type feeling. The car feels really grounded on turns. I'm also impressed with how well it handles in adverse conditions. I live in Seattle where it rains a lot and recently with ice on the roads. My new Scion XB feels in complete control to give me the confidence that I can make it from point "A" to point "B" safely. In comparison to earlier XB's, the 2008 model grew a foot, lost three inches of height and gained over 700lbs. With the weight gain, they added a larger engine and lost about 5 miles to the gallon. This is probably the most controversial part of the 2008 model.

Exterior/Interior
On the outside, you get a nice shiny pain job (in my case, hypnotic mica), turn signal lights nicely integrated into the side mirrors, and probably the brightest high beams I've ever experienced on a car!

On the inside, I have to admit, it doesn't seem too luxurious with a lot of plastic all around you. However, the instrument panel has moved over a tiny bit on the 2008, but is still pretty much in the middle. You might want to purchase a portable gps unit and put it right above the steering wheel where an instrument panel would normally be on any other car. It took about 5 minutes to get used to and I actually like the way things are positioned and placed. I especially like the ipod and mp3 jacks locate on compartment along the floor by the emergency brake. It's all hooked up to the stereo, and you can control it with either the head unit or the controls located on the steering wheel. All of the controls, speedometer, odometer, gas gauge, etc. are all digital and in bright red. Also, I'm shorter than the average person but the driver side seat can be raised easily (without burning a sweat!) to compensate. All of the doors including the rear can be opened and locked using the key remote. To add, the rear door has a very sensitive rubber button to which you can manually release the door to open it. The spare can be accessed through the back door. It does have storage spaces located above, so if you ever needed to access the spare which you had stuff stored, you would have to remove everything in order to get to the spare.

So many options!
One of the really cool things about Scions in general is how many aftermarket products you can buy! From exhaust systems, shift knobs, etc. Most of them, you can add on as an option before you drive it off the lot! You probably will have to bring your car back to get all the stuff installed, but it is pretty cool the way you can trick out and personalize your ride from day one.

Sales experience
Unique to buying a Scion is their very cool sales process. If you ever purchased a car off a lot, you usually purchased a little more than you hoped. You might have picked a certain color to find out that it had leather seats, or AC, or turbo. With Scion, it's the reverse. They keep it simple. All of the cars start with standard features (which in most cars are options). Then you build what you want to put in it. the cars on the lot don't have a stereo or wheel covers. You pick everything to your taste. I picked out the standard cd/radio and six star wheel covers which didn't add any cost to the car. What did was the automatic transmission, the car alarm, fitted floor mats, and a 7 year 100,000 miles extended warranty upgraded from the 3 year 36,000 mile one. Scion of Seattle was really great. I couldn't have asked for a better bunch to work with.

My initial sales person (Desmond) helped me decide which car fit my needs, then another specialist (Josh)took me on a test drive and explained ALL the features of the XB and how it rated with similar cars. Then I was introduced to a finance person (Lynn) who clearly explained different programs to purchase. It wasn't candy coated, he told me everything up front as far as total cost after interest.

Finally, when it came time to accept my new Scion XB, the specialist took out all the manuals, keys, ipod connectors and went through everything to make sure I knew what I needed to know in order to drive safely off the lot. At one point, I had mentioned that he didn't need to go through it if he had other customers. He told me that he set this time aside especially for me so that I would have a great experience with my new car.

Functional Website!
Scion has a great value add in addition to the manuals in your glove compartment. You can watch "how to" videos on the website to program your stereo, program your auto lock settings, etc. For those who are visual learners like me, I'm sure you'll enjoy this feature.

In the 650 miles that I've driven my car, I am absolutely thrilled with my 2008 XB. I can't say enough good things about this car and I am a raving fan of Scion of Seattle!