Sayounara Scion

Toyota kills Scion

It's always seemed like the brand never quite did what Toyota was hoping it would do, so not really a surprise.

So does that mean I now own an orphan car?

The Scion brand never made sense to me. Good little cars, though. Call them Toyotas, move on. On the other hand, I am still a little sad about the deaths of Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Mercury, and Plymouth.

Seems like the plan was to market restyled Corollas that have no real advantage over regular Corollas to young people that have no money to spend on new cars, and are less and less interested in driving at all, in an effort to make Toyota seem less beige. Kind of backfired since most of their buyers were middle aged, and the cars weren't especially sporting, full of tech, or all that affordable vs regular Toyotas.

Does that mean we can get a GT86 in the US?

Toyota owners are dying. Literally. Toyota's average ownership age used to be higher than Oldsmobile (which had all it's owners die and is now dead itself.) It was 62 in 2011. Scion was supposed to bring a youthful market to build brand loyalty to Toyota. It worked somewhat as the average Scion owner was 43, but with creeping prices, stagnant/low wages saddled with high college debt on the demographic Toyota was trying to attract, the brand didn't work as well as hoped. Not to mention the Tampa Florida singles set thought the xB was the bees knees.

I hope they don't kill the cars. I think they would be nice being pulled into the Toyota lineup. Maybe now we can have a Toyota badged 86 , that I still won't be able to fit in

Scion made a huge splash with the original xB. I always felt like that xB was to be the beginning of something larger and by larger I mean a stream of great cars were to follow.
The reality was that everything that followed it was a little less innovative and a little more disappointing. Said another way, to me, it seems that the launch of the brand was the peak of the brand rather than the launch of the brand only being the beginning of greatness to come.

I do think the original xB will continue to grab a cult like following for many years to come. When I hear the name Scion, an original xB is the image that comes to mind.

If the plan to get young buyers before Scion was Project Genesis and Scion was Project Exodus, is the next thing they try going to be Project Leviticus? Yeah, that sounds like it will go over great with younger buyers.

I always felt like the XD was really the writing on the wall of where the brand was going. Granted the cars were never inspiring but I enjoyed owning my 05' TC and the XB while strange to most, had a fair amount going for it especially if you liked the quirkiness of it.

Yeah, just saw the news. Time to buy an FR-S?

Knurled wrote: Does that mean we can get a GT86 in the US?

Probably just means that they will kill it off. They had been considering doing so for a while as the sales plummeted after the first 2 or 3 years and the BRZ never sold in any great numbers to speak of.

I always felt the writing was on the wall when the FJ Cruiser was made a Toyota as opposed to being branded as a Scion to simply be called the FJ. Styling wise the white roof and color match center console surround fit the brand and a desire to expand the brand's lineup had been expressed by toyota brass at that point. That combined with a lack of evolution and growth of the brand past the initial 3 model offerings painted a clear picture in my mind.

Is it too early to hope for a Saturnesque used-price slide this year?

In reply to ssswitch:

Depends on the model, I think that FR-S and 1st Gen xbs will hold their value and may even see a bump in their comparative value over the next 3-5 years. Other models, including the xa which is a fantastic little car, will fall through the floor.

Hey...My FRS just disappeared!

Never understood the Scion thing. Trying to be Hip automatically disqualifies you from being Hip, so there was no way they were going to win.

I feel the greatest success was how popular small "box" cars have become and the variety in the class. I was looking for a soul when I bought my civic.

Maybe the early stuff was ahead of it's time like the Aztec and crossovers.

My wife's DD is an xb. She was 50 when we bought it a decade ago. They kind of missed the mark with their demographics. It's a quirky car, but the most dependable thing we've ever owned. When the time comes to replace it in a few more years I have no idea what she'll want to get, but I'd bet a used ,low mileage xB will be on her list.

I think if the FR-S was a hair bigger on the inside it would have been a better seller. I spoke with a guy, about 6'2" who has and SCCA sticker on his. I asked him what he thought about it. He said it was a great little car that needed more headroom. His helmet rubbed the headliner. If he had it to do over again he said he would have bought a Mustang with a track pack.

In the end, it may be a car that truely missed it by that much.

The FR-S is staying, it will just be a Toyota now.

Honestly I'm not surprised. I thought their lineup was pretty cool back in '03 when I was in college. Hell their cars were perfect for college kids.

Problem was, it attracted the opposite demographic from what they were trying to attract. College kids couldn't afford new cars, but baby boomers could and the rest is history.

The original xB was pretty awesome and different. The original tC was also cool and they used them for awhile in the Long Beach Celebrity Race, so they definitively showed potential.

Unfortunately Toyota took the peppy, upbeat brand and made it just as beige as the rest of Toyotas lineup, even though they tried hard to still appeal to college kids.

IIRC, TCs at one time were one of the best HP/$, and stock power/weight vehicles on the market (at the same time even). I want to say that was near the end of the Gen1 run, but I dont have any specifics except a recollection of an article I read years ago in maybe SCC. Essentially, the took a new example off a dealers lot, added rubber and brakes, removed the rear seats, and the spare and jack and other ancillaries, and entered it into a 24hr enduro. It was highly competitive in that race, until a random race-induced failure (hit debris or something) ended the campaign. The (Pro...i think) driver gave it great marks in stability and control.

I kinda always wanted a 1st gen TC...perhaps this news might put them in challenge range sooner...

4cylndrfury wrote: IIRC, TCs at one time were one of the best HP/$, and stock power/weight vehicles on the market (at the same time even). I want to say that was near the end of the Gen1 run, but I dont have any specifics except a recollection of an article I read years ago in maybe SCC. Essentially, the took a new example off a dealers lot, added rubber and brakes, removed the rear seats, and the spare and jack and other ancillaries, and entered it into a 24hr enduro. It was highly competitive in that race, until a random race-induced failure (hit debris or something) ended the campaign. The (Pro...i think) driver gave it great marks in stability and control. I kinda always wanted a 1st gen TC...perhaps this news might put them in challenge range sooner...

Are we talking about the same TC? 160hp and 3100lbs? They made the Tiburon look fast.

I never understood the Scion brand. The cars were largely half-baked attempts at "sporty enthusiast" cars, saddled with wheezy Camry and Corolla engines, and no one but old people bought them. My sister had a 2007 TC, and it was a complete pile of FAIL. It seemed ok at first, but after a few years, it had a lot of problems, including recurring brake issues, the glass roof mechanism binding and shattering the entire roof (that was a $4000+ fix!!!), the hatch trim where the hatch lift button was ripping off, etc.

I do like the Toyobaru, and the new Matrix replacement at least looks nice, so at least those will migrate over to Toyota. I also liked the original xB for it's quirkiness, but that is long gone.

Still miss my Toaster some days.

In reply to SilverFleet:

I thought that a glass roof delete option would cut down on the weight while lowering the center of gravity on the 1st Gen TC, all while likely lowering production cost.

The only model that is getting the axe is the tC.

I wonder what they will call the iA and iM. They could always use the JDM name for the iM - the "Toyota Auris". I imagine there's a chance FR-S will be renamed the "Toyota GT86". It is slated to continue production.