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I test drove a 2006 1G xB today. The gearing must be short like a Yaris', as it was turning 2500 rpm at 50 mph, 2750 rpm at 55 mph, and 3000 rpm at 60 mph.

I looked through the mileage logs, and found the following owners of 1G xBs out there.

There are 2006 and 2005 ATs getting 37.2 mpg and 37.3 mpg - average 37.3.

There are three 2006 MTs getting 36.3. 37.0, and 40.4 mpg, four 2005 MTs getting 43.9, 38.0, 43.0 and 33.7 mpg, and two 2004 MTs getting 33.4 and 38.7 mpg. Average for the MTs is 38.3 mpg, only 1 mpg higher than the ATs.

There's only one 2G 2008 xB, a MT, getting 30.5 mpg with its 2.4 L engine.

I looked at other cars using Toyota's 1.5 L engine, including Tercels, Echos, and Yarises, but I need a car that can hold a telescope groundboard, mirror box, and rocker box that's 27" wide X 28" deep X 32" high. Most small wagons like the Scion xA and Matrix aren't tall enough. The newer matrix is nearly an inch shorter than the older ones. RAV 4 is big enough, but is a gashog. Ditto HHR, PT Cruiser, minivans, and SUVs.

Any other suggestions? I'm not too impressed with the reported mileage from our users, but most of them (xB and other cars included) aren't hard-core hypermilers, so I figure I can get 40 mpg out of an xB.

It's hard to go wrong with the xB. If you can keep it under 60 MPH, mid 40's are easily obtained with basic hypermiling techniques. Because of it's boxy shape, higher speeds hurt it's economy more than most other cars.

yeah actually you would be surprised how hard a lot of xb drivers drive them, also a lot of them are modded, and i dont mean grill block i mean giganic wing, cold air intake, huge exhaust that kind of thing

theoretically you should be able to get milage a little below a yaris at both city and highway speeds because of the extra weight and giant brick coefficient of drag

however it is an amazing trade off for a lot i mean a lot of practicality, i dont know if you have sat in the back of one, really roomy and with the seats folded lots of cargo

in the us i can think of few other alternatives of which none are nearly as good, i dont know if the nissan cube was going to make it to the us, bu that should be an option (although i think it gets s bigger engine)

How does a Fit, err, fit? I don't know, but that back end looks pretty tall to me.

I never really liked the xB, but given only that and the Element as choices, I'd take the 2wd SC Navi or EX Navi

The Element only gets 20-21 mpg EPA combined. That's FSP territory. It looks like a more substantial vehicle, but I don't want to pay the FE price.

Scion xB is EPA 26 city, 28 combined, 30 highway 2008 estimates (30/31/33 originally) in 2006 model year, 27/28/31 (31/32/34 originally) in 2005, and 27/29/32 (31/33/35) in 2004. Toyota must have gone the comfort/frills route over the years to lose FE every year of the car's existence.

I've hated that car with a passion from the moment I sat behind the wheel for the first time, I thought it was kind-of cool before that. This was when I was working for the Acura/Toyota/Scion Dealership, I'd actually transferred those same opinions to the Element until I was able to drive one that wasn't dirty and slimy (an uncleaned trade) once I was able to sit in the seat without worrying about catching a disease I was able to appreciate the potential of this vehicle (I am squarely in its target market too)

Dirty and slimy, Kacey? Not the car's fault! My neighbor has the Element, I have the 06 xB and they are very different cars--like comparing an Accord to a Yaris. We took his car across town the other day and it amazed me how much wider and longer it is. I'll stick with my stretched Yaris. It holds 90% as much, has a higher weight capacity rating, and is so much simpler to operate--normal doors and seats are much quicker to fold and open. It is true though that buying used xBs must be done with caution as so many owners mod/race/thrash their xBs. I bought new and the resale value has been so high (despite the poor shape many used ones are in) that I feel it was a sound decision.

Sentra--yes, the xB gearing is terrible for highway (my only real complaint w/ the car). The auto is geared slightly better, which is why the numbers are similar overall. But of course a dedicated hypermiler will still do much, much better with the manual. I actually bicycle commute (1 car family) and so my fiancee is the one pulling down 37 every tank on her 12 mile urban/suburban commute by doing nothing special beyond driving the speed limit and DWB a little. 40s are very doable on a regular basis with reasonable effort. No, not spectacular numbers, but like you said, the cargo capacity is a worthy trade-off. It was for me, as I needed one car able to haul a lot and be efficient, and be cheap. And the xB has been dead reliable, both in my anecdotal experience (3 trouble free yrs) and in consumer reports. Overall, a very inexpensive scope-hauler! Or in my case, bikes, books, couches, camping, fishing, etc. I'm 6' tall and have even slept in it when tenting was a poor option (seats fold more or less flat from dash to hatch).

Other cars--yes, the Nissan Cube might be appealing, will be a 6 speed later this spring/summer so the potential might be higher for mpgs but you'd have to buy new. Honda Fit has similar gearing issues but is the closest direct competitor (not the Element!). Kia Soul might be another new car to watch for this summer, based on the Rio. But going used, the xB is the best as long as you can find one you know--from the service history/previous owner--was treated well. But that's true of all used cars...

Odd the EPA ratings declined from 04 to 06. No idea why. Only 3 changes AFAIK, none were drivetrain related: the stereo was switched out and the late 06 models have stereo controls in a slightly different steering wheel; seat fabric; paint options. I wouldn't search for an 04 over an 06 based on those EPA numbers, but evaluate based on condition & price of what's out there.

You might be able to fit that mirror box in a Honda Fit making use of the rear magic seats.

It seems I have seen that avatar picture on Cloudynights.

I'll probably go out and look at the Fit later this week. I don't think it will work, as a friend has an ultralight 22" scope, and is barely able to fit his inside the older Fit. Apparently the newer Fits are slightly smaller in some critical dimension, so when he totaled his first one, he had to buy a used one as a replacement. My 18" is nominally smaller, but a LOT larger in bulk, since it's not an ultra-compact.

We found the same shrinkage in the Matrix. We were looking at a used one whose rear hatch height was only 30" (I need 32" to clear the scope's altitude bearings), so the salesman suggested we look at the newer Matrixes, as he thought they might be larger. Surprise! The hatch height was 1" lower.

would the drop in epa have anything do do with their having changed mpg standards? anyone?

Materia--
Nope. Full data at www.fueleconomy.gov. Who knows why, maybe the OEM tires changed and that was enough to lose a mpg. The new "translated" EPA ratings are only 30 combined. I had one tank just under 30, come to think of it--road trip with 4 big guys in the car, roof rack on top, and I was sleeping much of the way across Nevada from east to west, into a stiff headwind and my friend driving 70+mpg over the mountain passes.

PS--cool car, just realized you have the 07 Materia (what I wish the 08 xB would have been based on!). Good luck Sentra in your quest for the scope hauler! Probably impossible to get a bigger hatch opening on a subcompact than what the xB has though.

Sorry this has been so off-topic--long day I guess!

thanks a lot, im glad you like it, i love it
you and so many pre 08 xb owners, including myself, toyota made a mistake with the new one, the second gen bb is a lot more like the 1st gen (xb)

sorry, im off topic too and perhaps we are biased but you can see that we both really like our boxes, they are really good and we cant feed you lies, facts are facts we havent denied any of the negatives (which are very few and really small, like a few less mpg over a yaris)
its the car that best fits your equipment for the mpgs you want (which are really really high) and its really affordable, plus if you are into it, it looks really cool

Not to sound like a pest or picking at you in particular, on many FE or hybrid sites people mix up MPH & MPG, there is a difference and on this site especially it may really be silly high MPG I've written out my speed in MPG before and been totally serious, but just for the newcomers I try to stick to measuring speed in units the rest of the world uses, that are fairly repeatable.

Not picking, it was a discussion another few members and I had in person.

Posted from my Windows Mobile Phone

who are you referring to?

Maybe me? Re-reading my last post, looks like I meant to write 70+ mph but had a typo in there. Too late for me to edit/correct it. Hopefully from the context of worst case scenario mpg in the xB it is clear to all readers that I intended to say mph.

Anyway, Sentra, keep us posted on your search!

I visited a Honda dealership today and looked at a Fit. It only has 30-3/4" clearance between the trunk lip and the hatch opening top. My scope's largest unit weighs 65 lbs, and it rolls on wheels with wheelbarrow handles attached. To clear the 30-3/4" hatch with my 32" altitude bearing height, I'd need to be able to tilt the box abruptly, and I can't really do that with the wheels several inches in front of the box. So the Fit, or anything else with less than about 33-34" height, is out.

and the winner is..........

the scion xb

now all you have to decide is what color you want, jk, but really, its hard to beat the xb

All I have to do is save up the money. I'm going to Peru in May, and taking a Summer vacation to Branson, MO, so an auto purchase will have to wait until after this Summer. My 22 year old van needs a lot of work, but it can still get my scope to dark skies once a month.

When I was at the Honda dealer, the salesman had me look at a Dodge Caliber. It was lower than the Fit, and about the same height as the Matrix.

All I have to do is save up the money. I'm going to Peru in May, and taking a Summer vacation to Branson, MO, so an auto purchase will have to wait until after this Summer. My 22 year old van needs a lot of work, but it can still get my scope to dark skies once a month.

When I was at the Honda dealer, the salesman had me look at a Dodge Caliber. It was lower than the Fit, and about the same height as the Matrix.

Being that i own both an xB and a Caliber, i can tell you that the Scion has a LOT more vertical space. The Caliber does hold longer objects, especially with the front passenger seat folded forward, but the box has a higher roofline. Neither one is as good a cargo hauler as my Pt Cruiser was, but the Scion does come close, while getting 12MPG better economy.

2005 xB.
Looking at my mileage logs, my xB would be sitting closer to 37.5 mpg if not for 3 reasons:
-2 bad tanks before I knew anything about hypermilng,
-another not-great tank when I made a 2-hour trip on mountain dirt roads
-some unseasonably frigid weather absolutely murdering one tank and hurting two others.

The vehicle is geared low and when I have to go highway speeds mpg suffers.
If I can go on level roads and hit every other light green in the ideal 35 to 40 MPH speed zones, I'd be turning in low 40's consistently.
Unfortunately, I hit the highway occasionally and have a chunk of uphill/downhill to contend with.

One of my good legs was 11.8 miles/44.8 mpg and this over uphill and level roads with no real downhill.

When I hit the downhill legs, I can get over 40 mpg without trying hard.
This is in-town driving, Fort Collins is a 110k population with stoplights every mile on the best roads and every few blocks on the worst.

The XB might be your best bet(eyeball a Mazda 5 also)-the others either can't fit that bulky an item, or they are gas hogs.

The Mazda 5 might work for you. With the seats down it should be able to handle you big item. It isn't as FE as a XB of course- no free lunch.

Charlie

It's going to be a Scion xB. I just don't know which one. It'll depend on whether the dealership is ready to deal. The one I'm looking at is an 06 MT with <32,000 miles, in good condition, and a Toyota Certified Used Vehicle. KBB trade-in value is $9400. Private party Blue Book is $11,260. Blue Book retail is $14,110. Dealer has a $13,998 price on it. Tax is 7.75% in my county. I'm going to start at $10,000, which is roughly $11,000 out the door with license and taxes. That only gives the dealership a $300 profit, if you figure the TCUV value is at least $300. Realistically, it's probably going to want more of a profit, and TCUV may be worth more. My upper limit will be about $10,400, or $11,400 out the door. There are private party xBs for $7900-8400, but with higher mileage in the 80,000 mile category.

I had time to research the dealership, which is not encouraging. It has about three times the complaints of its competition, and paid out millions to customers who overpaid more than advertised prices. On the good side, it's the third largest volume dealer on the west coast, so I'm not likely to get stuck with a dealer bankruptcy.

Good luck with the dealer. That sticker price of $13998 is crazy--In two weeks I will have owned my 06 MT for a full 3 years and the MSRP was right around $14250. I would have thought those kinds of used prices had gone away after the price of gas deflated. Maybe the positive flip side to the high resale in the Bay area is that there are also plenty of xBs for sale.

The salesman was off the past two days, and I'm leaving town tomorrow for the weekend. I'll negotiate next week, if the xB is still unsold. Thanks for the info on the MSRP, Kinder. xBs seem to hold their price well in the Bay Area. Most cars lose $3000-4000 in depreciation the minute you drive them off the lot.

Well, my purchase will be delayed a month, until I have enough money to buy the Scion outright. I don't want to have to deal with financing. Meanwhile the dealership may or may not move the car I'm looking at. There are plenty of others available, with similar mileage and prices. If the xB at the local dealership is still available in a month, I suspect they'll be happy to deal to get it off their lot.

SentraSE-R- You are right-stick to your guns price wise. Another great deal will always come along if you are patient (especially in this terrible economy). I've bought/sold about 60 cars/motorcycles- there is always another deal if your patient and keep looking.With our current economy high dollar used items that are usually financed are probably going to drop in price. Paying cash isn't a plus for a dealer, but selling anything in this economy is!

Luck,
Charlie

Another choice has entered the picture. It's the new $13,990 Nissan Cube, with 6 speed MT, and Nissan's 1.8L engine making 122 hp. The same powertrain in the Nissan Versa gets 26/31 city/highway mileage, which is nominally better than the 2006 Scion xB with 5MT. If the Cube doesn't turn 3000 rpm at 60 mph like the Scion does, it's likely going to do far better as a long haul car for 1000 mile drives. It's 20" shorter than the xB, and the seats don't fold flat. I hope it's large enough to carry my scope inside. I don't expect the 28" W X 29" D X32" H box to be a problem. With the Cube being as short as a Mini, my 5' stepladder and truss poles and loading ramps may be too long to fit inside. I hope I don't have to strap them on a Thule rack.

the cube seems really cool, and in every way except actual size seems a bit better, plus you get a brand new car, if you dont mind spending the extra cash and it actually fits what you need it to, it could work really well, although i am curious as to their mpg comparison when each is hypermiled, the 1nz-fe seems to have a lot of potential
i do also suspect demand will be high, and nissan is offering reservations on the car so if you want to get your hands on one soon you might want to decide quickly, but i might be terribly wrong

what about the Suzuki SX4? Nobody has mentioned them yet......I don't know much about them though. Kind of a tall wagon design. - Not sure about fuel economy though - with the AWD it would probably be low.

I'm taking my wife for a drive down auto row tonight. We'll top at every dealership and check out all the hatchbacks to see if anything else with decent mileage capable of carrying my 27"W X 28"D X 32"H box is out there. The Suzuki SX4 is only rated 22/29 EPA, about the same as my Nissan.

I've pretty much ruled out the Cube and Soul. They're going to cost $5,000 more out the door, and neither company has put out dimensions. I'll have to wait until May before I can decide I don't want one.

have you considered an older CRV or rav4 with a manual transmission? There might be some possibilities there. Any wagons that might fit the bill? Used of course to fit in your price range - what about a Forester - those can be had with a MT. My mom has one with an AT, and she can get about 27mpg in mixed driving....the manual would have to be better.

You've probably already searched a lot on the internet....but here is a search of MT xB's, CRV's and RAV4's in your area. priced under $12,000. Maybe something you can use.
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?num_records=25&search_lang=en&page_location=findacar::ispsearchform&search_type=both&distance=50&address=94102&marketZipError=false&style_flag=2&make=SCION&model=XB&make2=TOYOTA&model2=RAV4&make3=HONDA&model3=CRV&start_year=1998&end_year=2010&min_price=1&max_price=12000&seller_type=b&transmission=Manual&engine=&drive=&doors=&fuel=&max_mileage=&color=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&keywords_display=&sort_type=priceDESC&x=37&y=12&body_code=0&certified=&advanced=y&highlightFirstMakeModel=&showZipError=n&default_sort=priceDESC&awsp=false&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&systime=&rdm=1236786975440

The RAV-4 is 21/27 EPA mileage. It suffers from Toyota's upsizing philosophy that gave us the 2G Scion xB with the 2.4 L engine to replace the FE 1.5. The EPA fueleconomy.com website doesn't show the RAV-4 offered with a MT.

The CR-V is worse, at 20/26 EPA, and it doesn't have a MT, either. The Element is worse than that, with 19/23 EPA estimates - worse than my hot rod car. Both of them have Honda's 2.4 L engine, so they're not FE cars by design.

Your search yielded a lot of Scions that I hadn't seen before. I'll have to frequent the Autotrader site more often. Thanks.

No problemo - I know for sure that some of the older CRV's and Rav4's were offered with MTs I've seen 'em with me own eyes, I have. arrrr. Aye - Autotrader be the best car search engine on these seven seas.....

Glad it was useful for you, happy hunting.

I've driven them, well the CR-Vs anyway, both are fine choices.

I went to the dealership and made them an offer on the xB that I looked at back in January. They turned me down. I figured $1000 over KBB wholesale price, which was $500 under private party blue book, and $1500 under dealer blue book. Maybe they paid more than wholesale for trade-in or at auction. Maybe they wanted more profit.

Now I'll take my time looking for used Scions, and maybe wait until Summer, after the Kia Soul and Nissan Cube are out.

What was the difference between what you were asking and what they'd priced the vehicle at?

The difference between their asking price and what I offered was $3600.

KBB wholesale was $9400 in January. It's $9000 now
KBB private party price is $10,900
KBB retail price is $13795
Dealership is asking $13988. The car is Toyota Certified
I offered $10,400

I took the prices above in my mind to the negotiations, but made a couple of errors. I didn't notice the car had a sun roof, so I should have added $200 to my estimated values for that, and I figured the Toyota Certified warranty was only worth $300.

The dealership apparently assumes excellent condition. I consider the car in good condition, as it has some obvious paint scratches on both sides.

Unrealistic buyer expectations notwithstanding, I know I was pushing their bottom line, and pushed too low. There are plenty of others with similar mileage available with dealers asking $11900-$12,400, and the occasional private party xB for $6500-8500

The certification is typically 600-900 to activate the cert in the manufacturer's certified program, also the vehicle must pas a 160-170 point inspection,where any part that fails must be replaced, not repaired with OEM parts. (The manufacturer is on the hook for a 100k warranty and they don't like surprises)

If we had any I'd offer you one, good luck on your search. I'm ready to help if you need anything else.

I figured I might have undervalued the cert. That's a lesson learned. I'll have to decide whether it's worth that much. $900 will pay for most repairs short of catastophic failure. I should do some more research on how badly xB owners trash and thrash their rides.

Darrell,
The xB did not come with a factory sunroof, so that one had to be have been installed after the fact. Some of those installs are fine, but many are triuble. I would stay away from that car just for that reason alone. Plenty of xB's out there.
I would look for one for sale by a private party whose owners are at least 35 YO. Not all young people beat on their cars, but enough do that i play the odds and stay away form them. Again, there are plenty of cars out there to choose from, you don't have to settle. If i was selling mine right now (2006 xB 5 speed 27K miles, babied by me and my 50yo wife) i would be thrilled to get $10,500-11K for it. Remember too, that Toyota put a 6/60 powertrain warranty on the xB. It may very well be transferrable. I have an extended bumper to bumper zero deductable service contract on mine, and i know it is transferrable.
The xB is a great car, and as you can see by my sig, it gets decent mileage.

Thanks for the well-thought-out advice, Blackbelt. I wasn't aware the sunroof wasn't a factory option, and I think your advice is sound.

Thanks for the well-thought-out advice, Blackbelt. I wasn't aware the sunroof wasn't a factory option, and I think your advice is sound.

Your welcome. One correction, i checked my manual, the powertrain warranty from Scion is 60 months/60,000 miles, not 6 years.

Does anyone have direct experience with Internet pricing? It seems the dealers aren't asking for as much profit there. Some asking prices are below Kelly Blue Book private party prices, so I'm wondering how much lower I should aim for. I'm targeting KBB trade-in prices, and adding up to $1000 additional as my top price. That usually puts me about $1000 below KBB private party price. Is this unrealistic to expect from a dealer?

The good deals go fast. One private party xB was about $2000 below KBB ppp. It was sold before I called, and it had all the danger signs - premium wheels, spoiler, and suspension kit.

Talk to MaxxMPG. He's brutal in his negotiations.

Does anyone have direct experience with Internet pricing? It seems the dealers aren't asking for as much profit there. Some asking prices are below Kelly Blue Book private party prices, so I'm wondering how much lower I should aim for. I'm targeting KBB trade-in prices, and adding up to $1000 additional as my top price. That usually puts me about $1000 below KBB private party price. Is this unrealistic to expect from a dealer?

The good deals go fast. One private party xB was about $2000 below KBB ppp. It was sold before I called, and it had all the danger signs - premium wheels, spoiler, and suspension kit.

The xB has a fairly strong resale market, so the resale values are high. IMO, if you could get a dealer to sell you one for KBB PP value, that's a petty good deal for you. Edmunds shows the PP price on my car (an 06 5 speed with 27K) to be 10,600. Trying to get one for much less than that from a dealer is going to be hard. You may be able to find a PP one for under 10. Keep an eye on ebay also, there is a fair number of them on there. I can't remember if you are looking for a manual or automatic,but there are a lot more autos than sticks out there.
Not sure how important this would be to you, but there was a mid year change in the 2006 xB where they started putting steering wheel mounted audio controls in as standard. Mine has then and i love that feature from a safety standpoint.

Does anyone have direct experience with Internet pricing? It seems the dealers aren't asking for as much profit there. Some asking prices are below Kelly Blue Book private party prices, so I'm wondering how much lower I should aim for. I'm targeting KBB trade-in prices, and adding up to $1000 additional as my top price. That usually puts me about $1000 below KBB private party price. Is this unrealistic to expect from a dealer?

The good deals go fast. One private party xB was about $2000 below KBB ppp. It was sold before I called, and it had all the danger signs - premium wheels, spoiler, and suspension kit.

What d'ya know, this is what I do for a living. (internet sales)

It depends on how the dealership is setup, some like mine are designed for volume, very little markup, some cars you can negotiate on, others, you push too hard and the manager will ask you to come back when you are serious.

Now some other dealerships, have $5-6k markup in their cars and they view the haggling as part doing business and they just try to hang on to as much as they can, this mentality started the haggling in the industry, seriously, I can't walk in to Wal*Mart and say I'll give you ten percent less than you're asking for, for that gallon of milk there.

Do your research, if the vehicle is priced fairly, it won't hurt to ask for a discount but don't let your feelings get hurt or your pride to cost you a great deal. If the vehicle isn't priced fairly, you can probably beat them into submission at a reasonable price.

KBB is just a guide, and a slow moving one at that. Most dealers and banks use Black Book and NADA prices (still just references and faster moving), they also use auction data and their own historical information with that particular type of car.

Don't forget that cars in good condition and cars with low miles demand a premium, and there will be someone after you looking at the car so you still have to keep the dealer interested in doing business with you, if doing business with you is too costly, they won't do it.

Also, most of these people really are just normal folks trying to provide for their families and pay their car and house notes. Don't be the first one to be a jerk, some of them are jerks, but why would you want to give your money to a jerk? If the salesman or manager gets abrasive, let them know you don't appreciate that tone, or them being condescending or whatever, if they continue, let them know, you won't be doing business with them, if they then make you a crazy offer, hold your ground and walk out and don't return.

Thanks, Kacey. It's a buyer's market out there. I could buy a Scion xB right now from a dealer, but thought I'd wait to see if I can catch a bargain private party car during the next few months while waiting for the Nissan Cube and Kia Soul to come out.

I treat salespeople with respect, and expect the same from them. We should all know it's a game where they're trying to get maximum profit, and I'm trying to get the best deal. I know they're not going to let a car out the door without making the profit they want, and they know I'm not going to pay more than I'm willing to pay.

I'm going to the Texas Star Party in a month, and then to Peru for a month in May and June, so it's not like I'll be doing a lot of driving with the new car anyway in the next couple of months. I'm targeting late June or early July for the purchase, as I'm planning to take the bigger vehicle to the southeast this Summer, pick up my middle granddaughter and my wife's grand-niece, fly my wife out to meet us, and drive them all to Miami or Tampa to go on a Caribbean cruise. I'll need the bigger vehicle for carrying the four of us plus our luggage.

I recently gave my beloved xBGen1AT to my stepdaughter. It was one of my all time favorite cars. I had NO problem getting 38-40 mpg with "basic" easy driving techniques.

Speed is it's only nemesis. Keep it at 60 or lower (50 is great) and you can really milk out some mileage. I took lots of back road trips with the wife, kid, and gear while running A/C keeping the speed 52-55mpg and got back 40 mpg.

43,000 perfect trouble free miles.

I highly recommend it.

I
Speed is it's only nemesis. Keep it at 60 or lower (50 is great) and you can really milk out some mileage. .
That because it has the aerodynamics of a barn door.;)

That because it has the aerodynamics of a barn door.;)

Yeah, i think I had that one figured out!! ;-)

I hear you both. The van I'll be replacing is a 22 year old Chevy Astro, with similar aerodynamics. I get 15-17 mpg at 70 mph with that van, and 22 mpg at 60 mph - roughly a 50% mileage improvement by slowing down just 10 mph!

I hear you both. The van I'll be replacing is a 22 year old Chevy Astro, with similar aerodynamics. I get 15-17 mpg at 70 mph with that van, and 22 mpg at 60 mph - roughly a 50% mileage improvement by slowing down just 10 mph!

Yep, slowing down is a big deal for saving fuel. Works in every car too!!! I wonder what kind of MPG you could get in a Jetta TDI if you cruised at a steady 55 mph?

I found my xB today. It's a 2006 Release 3.0, in great shape, only 37,000 miles on it, and I'm getting it for $3500 under private party Kelly blue book price. That's $5000 under the before-tax price of a new Nissan Cube, and $6000 under the price for the new Kia Soul.

Congrats on a good find!!

Sounds like a great deal. Is it a 5 speed? 3.0 is the envy green with the DVD screens on the back of the headrests, plus other goodies. 2200 built. Nice find!

Thanks. Yes, it's a five speed, Green Envy color, with the two DVD screens at the rear of the driver/passenger headrests. This one is # 750 of the 2200 made. The seller just had a fourth child, and had to "upgrade" to a mini-van. He needs to sell the xB to help pay for the van.

I remember we got one of those when I worked at the Acura/Toyota/Kia store, sold it the day it got in, very special edition-ish.

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh131/Alex-Alina/IMG_0133.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh131/Alex-Alina/IMG_0136.jpg

It does resemble a rolling Animal House ;)

Nice color!! :thumbs_up:

Very nice! I'm green with envy. Can't wait to see what your results are. Looks like it was well worth the wait.

hmm, and if you ever want a more subdued color, let me know!

Considering how popular the automatic was, i think you have a rare one there D

Thanks, everyone. I knew what I wanted, and the right deal came along. The guy I bought it from only owned it for a month and a half. $8500 is a great deal for a 2006 Release 3.0 with 37K miles. This special edition has:
Unique Color Keyed front radiator grille
color keyed rear spoiler
individually numbered badges
new wheel covers
alpine dvd audio/ video reciever iPod compatible and steering wheel audio controls
premium alpine speaker system
vizualogic dual headrest monitors 7" with headphones
radar intrusion sensor equipped security system
xm satellite radio tuner with cover

I plugged in my ScanGauge for the 70 mile drive home, and used a 15% correction factor just because I didn't want to reset it all the way to zero from the correction factor that I use in my Nissan. I got 39.7 mpg indicated.

The xB doesn't have cruise control, and I haven't established a P&G regimen, so I just did DWL and some NICE-On coasting down hills. There aren't many hills in the delta. So, depending on what the real correction factor is, I'll be somewhere in the 40 mpg area with this box.

Darrell, $8500 for a 37K mile Release 3.0 isn't a 'great deal'

It's an absolute frickin STEAL! WOW!! You could drive that car a year and sell it for as much as you paid for it with problem.
My hats off to you! Well done indeed!!! Now enjoy your box. They are easy to love.
Now get one of these stickers for your
http://images6.cafepress.com/product/275952666v3_350x350_Front.jpg

Blackbelt,

Your comments coming from someone who owns and knows xBs, I guess I done good ;). The seller psyched himself out, I think. I searched for his phone number, and found he'd listed the car in two Sacramento websites for $7900, then canceled both ads and listed it in San Francisco for $8900. What he didn't realize is that all locals assume SF cars are dinged up from SF's tight on-street parking, and most of us breeze right by city ads for suburban listings. That's why the xB was still available 6 days after he posted the ad I responded to.