Test drive: 2009 Scion xB
While I'm out on the road, I've asked SUVs guide Jason Fogelson to do a bit of test-driving for me. First up from Jason is his review of the 2009 Scion xB. When the new, bigger xB came out in 2008, I loved the extra space -- but I seemed to be about the only journalist who did. So I figured this was a great time to get a second opinion. Jason may spend most of his time writing about SUVs, but he knows a good car when he sees one. So did he see one in the Scion xB? Read his test drive to find out.
For those following my trip... 
We're now happily ensconced in Seattle, one of my favorite cities in the world. After leaving Astoria, we crossed into Washington and drove up to the Olympic National Forest, taking advantage of the late sunset (it stays light until about 10pm) to check out a couple of magnificent rain forests (Quinault and Hoh) before retiring for the night in Forks. We awoke to tour the town and snap a bunch of photos for a Twilight-obsessed friend, then drove up to Neah Bay (photo at right; you can see Canada faintly in the background), pretty much the furthest point northwest that you can take a car, and walked the rest of the way to the upper-left corner of the country. Then it was back into the car to head east along the water, then south to Bremerton, where we drove the Bimmer onto a ferry for the hour-or-so crossing to Seattle.
Washington, like Oregon, is a beautiful state, but the patches of clear-cut logging were heartbreaking to see. I know, I know -- trees grow back; we saw dozens of signs put up by logging companies promising that the land would be good as new by 2045, at which time they'd be back to clear-cut it again -- but have you ever seen what clear-cutting does to the landscape? It doesn't leave a pretty meadow behind -- it leaves the land looking scarred and brutalized. Truly a sad sight to see, and I don't think I'll look at anything made of wood quite the same way again. It's almost a relief to be in the concrete-and-brick jungle of Seattle. -- Aaron Gold
Photos copy; Jason Fogelson, Robin Gold
Comments
I’m kind of curious about who really is buying the xB. We know Toyota has been trying to market it to young people. I must have seen hundreds of xB’s on the road over the past few years and, I think I’ve seen only ONE driven by someone under 25, and he had it all jazzed up with 19″ chrome wheels, a body kit, custom paint job, etc. I believe EVERY other xB I’ve seen was driving by males 45-75. Most of them were right around 55-60.
It reminds me of the Echo. This car was supposed to be bought by young people and first-time car buyers, but every Echo I’ve seen on the road has been driven by old guys and middle-age women. I’ve not seen one in the hands of a kid yet.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but I think Japan STILL doesn’t get the U.S. market. Remember these were the same marketers that said the U.S. didn’t “get” the WRX and EVO and those cars would never sell here. And they said we only liked big cars and would never buy sub-compacts like the Cube, Fit, or MINI.
It seems like they are pretty much always wrong with their marketing. Whenever they think a car won’t sell, it does. And when they think a car will sell well, it doesn’t. And it’s clear that when they think they know who is going to buy a certain car, it’s always a different demographic that actually buys it.
The xB represents a lot of different things in the car industry, but to me, it’s mostly a symbol of how the Japanese car companies continue to fail in their expectations of the U.S. market.
When studying for my MBA, we spent a lot of time analyzing the buying habits of the different American generations. The xB is marketed toward Generation Y. But the one thing that marketing experts say that identifies Gen Y in the business world is that they HATE being marketed to. They are very savvy and will pick up on it quickly if they are a target of any type of marketing.
Each generation usually perceives themselves as rebellious of the values set by the previous generation, and they say to themselves they won’t be victims of whatever traps the previous generations fell into. Gen Y sees Baby Boomers and Gen Xers as victims of mass consumerism, claiming we were brainwashed by savvy marketers into purchases billions of items that we didn’t need.
That may be true, but Gen Y sees themselves as smarter than that and declares they won’t fall into that trap. They claim they will purchase things they actually want, not things they are told they should want, and recoil when they sense they are the primary targets of marketers.
If Toyota really wants to sell these cars to Gen Y, my advice is to communicate to Gen Y that they really wouldn’t like them, they can’t afford them, their parents wouldn’t want them to have them, and they wouldn’t fit into their lifestyles. There’s nothing Gen Y likes more than to prove older folks wrong.
A strange looking car that doesn’t look that strange anymore. Too bad it’s lost its affordability as far as long term ownership due to lousy gas mileage…probably the price for that frontal boxy look and its weight gain. What it loses in customers the Cube will pick up…but will it probably gain mid-aged wanna be young agains, like I’m sure Toyota is counting on? Or will it?
You say Japan still doesn’t get the US market?
Maybe, but if they don’t get the US market then why do they sell so many cars? They seem to understand the US market better then US car makers….
OMG Twilight!
Forks yay.