When the Scion tC arrived for 2005 to complete Toyota’s trifecta of low-priced, youth-oriented vehicles, it was an instant hit. A small four-seat coupe with a hatchback and folding rear seats, the tC looked more upscale than its price tag indicated, and offered a good blend of style, performance, durability, and practicality. Not surprisingly, then, few changes were made to the popular Scion tC recipe during a six-year run leading up to a redesign for the 2011 model year.
The second-generation Scion tC sticks to the original formula – four seats, hatchback, four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive – and adds plenty of attitude in the form of more aggressive design. It’s still sold with a generous level of standard equipment, and buyers can further personalize the tC using a catalog of dealer-installed goodies. Scion also continues to offer limited-production Series Release special-edition variants each year, to keep fans of the brand rah-rahing about the car to anyone who will listen.
Unfortunately, it seems fewer and fewer people are cheerleading for the tC, especially now that the 2013 FR-S has gone on sale.