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MM Retro-Write-Up: 2005-2010 Scion tC
IN A NUTSHELL: Would probably have been the ideal replacement for the excellent 6th-Generation Toyota Celica….but Toyota and Scion had other plans.
Inspired perhaps by Saturn’s famous No-Dicker sales policy, and intending to start an entire new division in the U.S. aimed primarily at younger people with relatively inexpensive products, Toyota, in 2003, founded the Scion Division in the U.S. (It was later to expand into Canada in 2010). In fact, the “Scion” name itself means “Offspring’ or Heir”….a reference to youth itself. Although Scion did not copy all of Saturn’s unique customer-friendly policies, it did adopt Saturn’s List-Price/No-Dicker sales policy, which were attractive to both young people who did not have much if any experience purchasing new vehicles before, or to people of any age who simply did not want to spend all day or all evening arguing and haggling with salespeople like in a Middle-Eastern Bazaar. For some people, time IS money….so, of course, like with Saturn, the No-Dicker policy met with a lot of success, at least at first. Unlike Saturn, which did not share their dealerships (known as Retailers) with any other franchise, Scion products were sold out of existing Toyota shops, so prospective customers could compare them directly with their conventionally-marketed Toyota siblings sitting right there on the same lots. But, also, unlike Toyota, Scion only sold relatively entry-level and low-end vehicles..…you wouldn’t see any Scion equivalents of Toyota Avalons, Land-Cruisers, Supras, Sequoias, etc….. Many young people and first-time buyers, of course, simply cannot afford new vehicles in that range, and Scion was marketing directly to them.
Scion was also unique in the way that they displayed and marketed their vehicles at the D.C. Auto Show I would attend every year. Their displays had a lot of youth-oriented forms and decoration, and, like at the Toyota displays, the Scion reps, once every hour or two, would hold a Trivia-Game for the public, asking automotive questions. They would give away small prizes like caps, pens, scarves, cell-phone cords, keychains, etc…with the Scion logo. I would take part in the trivia and, of course, ace many of the questions, not because I wanted or needed the prizes…..I only kept one of them, a cell-phone multi-cord for a charge-outlet, which I still use today. No, I did it because because I loved to take the cap, or pen, or whatever else they gave me, and then turn around and hand it to the little children there next to me, like Santa at Christmas…it was truly a joy to see their little eyes and faces light up.
Although primarily marketed at young people, a surprising number of older folks bought Scions, too….especially the xB, with its shoe-box styling, low No-Dicker price, excellent space-efficiency, good fuel mileage, and Toyota-style reliability. Perhaps even more older people would have bought them if Scion had not sold the xA and xB with the odd center-stack gauge-panel on the dash, which forces the driver to look to the right instead of straight ahead to see the speedometer, tach, fuel/temperature-gauges, etc… Auto manufacturers defended that design as beneficial for the driver, since the steering wheel could not block the view of he gauges, but they weren’t fooling anyone with an ounce of sense. It was obvious to anyone with any IQ at all (and, LOL, Scion also sold a vehicle called the iQ) that it was a cost-cutting measure designed to make the design and assembly of right-hand-drive vs. left-hand-drive versions easier, as the small Scions were sold as small Toyota markets in countries where right-hand drive version were needed…primarily Britain, Australia, and Japan.
Which brings us to the subject of this write-up…..the tC sport-coupe. Designed off the Toyota Avensis platform, and known overseas as the Toyota Zelas, it was marketed here under the tC moniker. A relatively inexpensive but well-built small coupe, It actually turned out to be Scion’s best-seller in the U.S., as the once-popular xB was essentially driven out of the market by the enormously successful Kia Soul competitor, which was similar in general design, but did not share the dash-quirks of the xB.
Though I did not purchase one, I liked the First-Generation tC quite a bit, although I did not share the same opinion of the Second-Generation tC. The severe cost-cutting of that subsequent version resulted in some of the cheapest and flimsiest interior materials I ever saw, and the whole car had a dime-store feel. But the first tC was quite nice, sold well, and made money for the division. It came with Toyota’s 2.4L in-line 4 and a choice of 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmissions. Granted, this wasn’t a whole lot of power, but the tC was a fairly small light coupe which didn’t need a lot of power for it to keep with traffic.
I had previously owned a Iris-Blue 6th-Generation 1995 Toyota Celica, which I kept tor six years, and loved it. Like with the cheapened 2nd-Generation tC, I did not like the succeeding 7th-Generation Toyota Celica at all, which debuted in 2000. It was radically downsized, looked like a toy Hot Wheels car (my brother, not me, was the one that actually used that term for it), had flimsy interior materials, was cramped for someone my size, and used a Honda 2000-VTEC-style Toyota 1.8L four that redlined at absurd motorcycle-RPM levels to get any torque. (I saw several of those engines in the Toyota service bay that had been over-revved and damaged or ruined by young kids trying to drag-race them).
So, another Celica was out of the question for me, and I moved on to a Saturn instead, but then, just a couple of years later, Toyota’s Scion division comes out with the original tC, and I thought to myself…..”Darn, here is (or would have been) the ideal replacement for the former Celica, instead of that cheapened Hot-Wheels special”. But, it was not to be, I had moved on, and that was that. And, of course, the tC did not come out quite in time to replace the 6th-Generation Celica in 2000.
Like I said, the tC did not have a lot of power (Neither did my former Celica), but, overall, it was pleasant to drive, well-built, did not have an overly-stiff ride for a small sport-coupe, and the engine and transmission operated like clockwork. It is not surprising that the tC turned out to be Scion’s most successful product, although sales naturally declined with the disappointing 2nd-Generation version. And, even back then, there were clear signs that the coupe-market was going to be declining in the future, as trucks, crossovers and SUVS were becoming more popular every year……especially the crossovers.
The First-Generation tC was sold from 2005 to 2010, and the 2nd-Generation tC from 2011-2013, when Toyota decided to pull the plug on the Scion Division itself. Like with Saturn a few years before (when they folded), Scion, at least as far as I could tell, did NOT fail because of the popular No-Dicker pricing system……they both folded because of classic mismanagement of their products by their corporate bosses at GM and Toyota.
And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Memories
MM
__________________
DRIVING IS BELIEVING
IN A NUTSHELL: Would probably have been the ideal replacement for the excellent 6th-Generation Toyota Celica….but Toyota and Scion had other plans.
Inspired perhaps by Saturn’s famous No-Dicker sales policy, and intending to start an entire new division in the U.S. aimed primarily at younger people with relatively inexpensive products, Toyota, in 2003, founded the Scion Division in the U.S. (It was later to expand into Canada in 2010). In fact, the “Scion” name itself means “Offspring’ or Heir”….a reference to youth itself. Although Scion did not copy all of Saturn’s unique customer-friendly policies, it did adopt Saturn’s List-Price/No-Dicker sales policy, which were attractive to both young people who did not have much if any experience purchasing new vehicles before, or to people of any age who simply did not want to spend all day or all evening arguing and haggling with salespeople like in a Middle-Eastern Bazaar. For some people, time IS money….so, of course, like with Saturn, the No-Dicker policy met with a lot of success, at least at first. Unlike Saturn, which did not share their dealerships (known as Retailers) with any other franchise, Scion products were sold out of existing Toyota shops, so prospective customers could compare them directly with their conventionally-marketed Toyota siblings sitting right there on the same lots. But, also, unlike Toyota, Scion only sold relatively entry-level and low-end vehicles..…you wouldn’t see any Scion equivalents of Toyota Avalons, Land-Cruisers, Supras, Sequoias, etc….. Many young people and first-time buyers, of course, simply cannot afford new vehicles in that range, and Scion was marketing directly to them.
Scion was also unique in the way that they displayed and marketed their vehicles at the D.C. Auto Show I would attend every year. Their displays had a lot of youth-oriented forms and decoration, and, like at the Toyota displays, the Scion reps, once every hour or two, would hold a Trivia-Game for the public, asking automotive questions. They would give away small prizes like caps, pens, scarves, cell-phone cords, keychains, etc…with the Scion logo. I would take part in the trivia and, of course, ace many of the questions, not because I wanted or needed the prizes…..I only kept one of them, a cell-phone multi-cord for a charge-outlet, which I still use today. No, I did it because because I loved to take the cap, or pen, or whatever else they gave me, and then turn around and hand it to the little children there next to me, like Santa at Christmas…it was truly a joy to see their little eyes and faces light up.
Although primarily marketed at young people, a surprising number of older folks bought Scions, too….especially the xB, with its shoe-box styling, low No-Dicker price, excellent space-efficiency, good fuel mileage, and Toyota-style reliability. Perhaps even more older people would have bought them if Scion had not sold the xA and xB with the odd center-stack gauge-panel on the dash, which forces the driver to look to the right instead of straight ahead to see the speedometer, tach, fuel/temperature-gauges, etc… Auto manufacturers defended that design as beneficial for the driver, since the steering wheel could not block the view of he gauges, but they weren’t fooling anyone with an ounce of sense. It was obvious to anyone with any IQ at all (and, LOL, Scion also sold a vehicle called the iQ) that it was a cost-cutting measure designed to make the design and assembly of right-hand-drive vs. left-hand-drive versions easier, as the small Scions were sold as small Toyota markets in countries where right-hand drive version were needed…primarily Britain, Australia, and Japan.
Which brings us to the subject of this write-up…..the tC sport-coupe. Designed off the Toyota Avensis platform, and known overseas as the Toyota Zelas, it was marketed here under the tC moniker. A relatively inexpensive but well-built small coupe, It actually turned out to be Scion’s best-seller in the U.S., as the once-popular xB was essentially driven out of the market by the enormously successful Kia Soul competitor, which was similar in general design, but did not share the dash-quirks of the xB.
Though I did not purchase one, I liked the First-Generation tC quite a bit, although I did not share the same opinion of the Second-Generation tC. The severe cost-cutting of that subsequent version resulted in some of the cheapest and flimsiest interior materials I ever saw, and the whole car had a dime-store feel. But the first tC was quite nice, sold well, and made money for the division. It came with Toyota’s 2.4L in-line 4 and a choice of 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmissions. Granted, this wasn’t a whole lot of power, but the tC was a fairly small light coupe which didn’t need a lot of power for it to keep with traffic.
I had previously owned a Iris-Blue 6th-Generation 1995 Toyota Celica, which I kept tor six years, and loved it. Like with the cheapened 2nd-Generation tC, I did not like the succeeding 7th-Generation Toyota Celica at all, which debuted in 2000. It was radically downsized, looked like a toy Hot Wheels car (my brother, not me, was the one that actually used that term for it), had flimsy interior materials, was cramped for someone my size, and used a Honda 2000-VTEC-style Toyota 1.8L four that redlined at absurd motorcycle-RPM levels to get any torque. (I saw several of those engines in the Toyota service bay that had been over-revved and damaged or ruined by young kids trying to drag-race them).
So, another Celica was out of the question for me, and I moved on to a Saturn instead, but then, just a couple of years later, Toyota’s Scion division comes out with the original tC, and I thought to myself…..”Darn, here is (or would have been) the ideal replacement for the former Celica, instead of that cheapened Hot-Wheels special”. But, it was not to be, I had moved on, and that was that. And, of course, the tC did not come out quite in time to replace the 6th-Generation Celica in 2000.
Like I said, the tC did not have a lot of power (Neither did my former Celica), but, overall, it was pleasant to drive, well-built, did not have an overly-stiff ride for a small sport-coupe, and the engine and transmission operated like clockwork. It is not surprising that the tC turned out to be Scion’s most successful product, although sales naturally declined with the disappointing 2nd-Generation version. And, even back then, there were clear signs that the coupe-market was going to be declining in the future, as trucks, crossovers and SUVS were becoming more popular every year……especially the crossovers.
The First-Generation tC was sold from 2005 to 2010, and the 2nd-Generation tC from 2011-2013, when Toyota decided to pull the plug on the Scion Division itself. Like with Saturn a few years before (when they folded), Scion, at least as far as I could tell, did NOT fail because of the popular No-Dicker pricing system……they both folded because of classic mismanagement of their products by their corporate bosses at GM and Toyota.
And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Memories
MM
__________________
DRIVING IS BELIEVING
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