Just for the helluvit, She, who must be obeyed & I drove one yesterday. We happened to be passing a dealer, who had some out front. We drove the most expensive model, which really isn't expensive at all.
It's easy & fun to drive. The ride is a lot like the ZX3's. Maybe it's a little smoother, & it's definitely quieter. Acceleration was weak. It might be better with the 5 spd, but the only one they had was an ATX. The seats are wonderful! They're really comfy, especially compared to the stock ZX3 seats. Handling is nice. There's almost no body roll, squat or dive. Traction control & ABS are standard. Visibility is superb. Clear views in all directions, and the mirrors are great. The one we drove had just about everything & stickered at $17,500.
Aside from the seats, the interior bothered me. Fold the seats down, and you realize there's really no more storage room than there is in a ZX3/5. The roof is taller, but that's all. We had a tape & measured. The XB's storage space from the driver's seat to the hatch is 2" longer than my ZX3's. The dash is just weird. Period. The instruments/gauges are in the center. Hello??? Nobody sits there. The speedo is easy to read, but the tack is about the size of my watch, & definitely not where you could keep your eye on it. The odometer is seperate from the speedo. It's an lcd digital displar about 6" to the right of the speedo/tach. Just stupid, IMO.
Over all, the car exudes typical Toyota quality, which is to say amazing. The car feels like it's been carved from a single block of steel. Positively no rattles, squeaks, or shakes. It's almost bank vault like.
I couldn't live with it, though. The Focus is noticably faster, more fun to drive, gets the same gas mileage, and will haul as much. Looks are always subjective, but why drive a brick, when you can drive a car?
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Pretty much sums it up. There are quite a few of them on the roads, so they must be appealing to enough people that are willing to lay out the money for one.I would have thought that there was more room in there than there actually is.Funny thing about it and the Honda Element is that I thought the target market was the mid 20-mid 30 group but I haven't seen one been driven by anyone under 50.
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A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams...John Barrymore
I test drove a XB also and it is what it is. Is's a commuter plain and simple. No acceleration and underpowered to be in the same get up and go catagory as the focus. Maybe the same as the SPI focus but I never drove one of them, just test drove a 50K mile used one once.
It seemed roomy and definatly had the Toyota quality feel and the thin doors and seats.
I think they're cool looking if I needed a little commuter like that. It'd be fun.
I did NOT like the interior materials. the textured consoles etc. that they used really was not appealing to me. I also didn't like the center mount guage. The pick up was so so, it was an Auto, so I'd like to try the Manual. I didn't like the seats - I found them to be uncomfortable for extended drives. I wouldn't take it on long trips. A daily grocery getter maybe.
The quality - no question it's a Toyota...I was impressed w/ the secure feeling of it and it was nice and quiet for an entry level vehicle.
All in all I'd own one if someone bought me one
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