Scions and Academics

[jimkeller]

I drive a Scion xA

Comments

[bovil]

They're small, reliable and get good gas mileage. Oh, and they're cheaper than a Mini. Which is another small car popular with academics.

[jimkeller]

And for larger-sized academics like me, it's possible to get behind the wheel of an xA, unlike the Mini...

[astro_babe]

Our parking lot for building 34 at Goddard (astronomy & planetary science) also has 4 or 5 in the lot including mine.

[jimkeller]

Yeah, I remember ours weren't the only ones at Caltech, either...

[eain]

When I bought my car in 2011, if I could have bought an xA, I would have. The Mazda 2 I bought was as close as I could get in features and general feel. I'm quite happy with it.

[jimkeller]

If I had to replace mine, I'd most likely end up with a Honda Fit, for the same general reasons. When Chris bought his Mazda 2, it was a tough call between the two, and the decision came down to which dealership had a manual transmission on the lot to test drive. (It's amazing how many dealers think we'll buy a car we haven't test driven.)

[eain]

I ultimately went with the automatic, because the entire purpose of the car was to drive in stop-and-go traffic. ;)

[stacymckenna]

There's an employee at our grocery store who drives an xA. I think people poor and smart enough to care about gas mileage, reliability, and purchase price sought them out despite the difficulties. We settled on color because the first dealer we tried (technically the largest automotive dealership in the world) had the manual transmission we wanted on the lot. When the world's largest dealership doesn't have the color you want... well...

[jimkeller]

Yeah, the red would have been my last choice of color, too. We also settled for color with the Mazda, for the same reason. I sometimes think that some basic market research would reveal that people who want manual transmissions want colors are either the practical sort who don't want to have to wash a car every day or the sporty set who want something fun that isn't "ticket me" red...

[stacymckenna]

The worst part? The one at the grocery store is the blue we wanted. Frankly, I'm happy with anything that isn't one of the five shades of grey...

[jimkeller]

I actually wanted the grey. It's probably good I didn't get it, though, because I'd've felt compelled to hire my friend who does custom modifications to do a sweeping red light for the front and to replace all the "Scion" logos with ones the same shape that said "Cylon."