Toyota created the Scion line to attract a younger crowd of buyers. With inexpensive price tags and unique styling, the Scion xA quickly became popular. It was marketed to show off its unique style. Having more than 30 accessories available at the dealerships allowed new owners to really customize their Scion, which appealed even more to the young market. Even with its style and uniqueness, the Scion became known as being reliable and a good buy.
Available in the US between 2004 and 2006 and was replaced by the Scion xD for 2008. Scion created limited-edition xAs that included special accessories and bright paint colors. Because of the limited quantity, dealers only got a few of these cars and pre-ordering was based on first-come-first-served. Even with the limited quantities and high demand, dealers did not enjoy a mark-up on price because of Scion’s “Pure Price” MSRP. This forced dealers to honor the price without mark up due to consumer demand.
The Scion xA was a subcompact hatchback with four doors. Although a hatchback, there wasn’t much cargo room in the Scion with only 11.7 cubic feet. The rear seats fold down to achieve 32.8 cubic feet.
Scion xA Features
Features in the Scion xA were abundant. Every xA came standard with air-conditioning, power windows, locks and mirrors, rear wiper and window defogger, auxiliary input jack, CD/MP3 player and antilock brakes. Optional features included an iPod adapter, 8-inch subwoofer and satellite radio. Also available was an airbag package that included full-length side curtain airbags and front seat-mounted side airbags. Dealer-installed accessories were also available with every Scion xA and included 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels, wide range of wheel covers, rear spoiler, shift knobs and sport pedals.
The exterior standard features included tinted glass, complex surface lens halogen bulb headlights, mica paint, fixed intermittent wipe windshield wipers, fixed rear window with defogger and luxury trim alloy look on doors and on the inside dashboard. The car also had a strut front suspension with independent stabilizer bar and a rear suspension with rear suspension rigid torsion beam.
Scion xA Performance
The Scion had a 1.5 liter inline four-cylinder engine. This engine pushed 103 horsepower and came standard with a five-speed transmission with an option of the available four-speed automatic.
Performance wasn’t a big selling point with the Scion xAs, but it was decent and got good gas mileage. The EPA estimated city mileage was about 31-32 mpg and the highways estimate was about 37-38 mpg. This was with either the manual or automatic transmission. For most Scion buyers, these numbers made up for the lack in power. If a new owner wanted more power, the maker of the Scion, Toyota, had its in-house performance department make some parts including shocks, lowering springs, intake and exhaust, performance clutch and other parts.
Scion xA Safety
The Scion xA had a range of safety features including four-wheel antilock brakes, integrated safety belt, pretensioner, stabilizer bars, rear seat head restraint, rear center lap/shoulder belt, energy management feature, adjustable upper belt, driver and passenger airbags, integrated safety belt and child seat lower anchorage.
