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Scion tC
libertycat
Member Posts: 593
This will be a convertible. Does anyone know about this upcoming model?
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I bought a used Miata and would have at least considered something like this were it available at the time.
It has to be light, though, that's the key to the current Scions. The engine has little torque. Convertibles add weight, so that's a bad combination.
And puh-lease kill the dorky center-mounted speedo. They should be above the steering wheel. People rejected the Echo for this reason (and others).
-juice
One problem is it may not have Scion-like pricing. In the UK the pricing ranges from £14,200 to £21,700. This is definetly not in the same price range as the Scion xA or xB. Either way I find it appealing and hope they bring it over.
What does everyone think?
Here is a review from 4car that will give you some info on what the Avensis is about. It's available in sedan, hatchback, and wagon variations. This will appeal to a broad range of people, but again seems to not really appeal to the youth crowd in my opinion.
http://www.channel4.com/apps26/4car/jsp/main.jsp?lnk=231_2&re- viewid=779
Nothing is confirmed yet though, so this car may not be coming. The project leader is an audio buff so the Avensis has a very good stereo already in place, so that covers the prerequisite good stereo that all Scions are suppose to have.
Yeah I thought about that, it could definetly steal sales from the Camry. One way around that though is to not offer the 2.4 engine. The next engine is the 2.0 which has 145 hp or something like that. It only weighs around 2800-2900 pounds though so it'll be close to the Camry in speed even though it has less HP because of the less weight.
Still a lot of Americans buy HP and even though I haven't compared the exterior dimensions, the Avensis is probably smaller on the outside as well. This may be reason enough to have a lot of people still want the Camry. Also by the time it comes out (and hopefully it will) the Camry redesign will be a year or two away, so after the Avensis is on the market for a year or so the new Camry will be close to coming out.
If they play their cards right they can keep it from hurting Camry sales too much. To me though the Avensis seems to be a better overall car than the Camry.
Camry buyers' median age has crept up there, I'm just not sure how this would attract younger buyers, besides lower price?
-juice
The car will be named "tC" and not xC.
It will indeed be a 2-door coupe. Some say it will sort of look like the civic coupe, others say like the solara or celica. Basically I can't find any consistent info about it's looks. Word is though it will NOT look like the ccX concept.
Platform? Can't find any info but a double wishbone suspension is being thrown around. The Avensis platform has struts in front and double wishbone in back so maybe this is what Motor Trend was talking about.
Optional turbocharger/supercharger from the factory.
Engine will be either 2.4 in Camry or 1.8 in Celica.
Will have a glass roof. One of those panoramic sunroof type things. Didn't the ccX concept have this? Most info says it will have this but at the same time will not look like the ccX concept.
Price will come in barely under $18,000. I believe this is Scion's top limit on pricing. The car will have a lot of standard equipment and come in under $18,000.
Will be officially shown in January at the Detroit Auto Show. Will be out April-June 2004. Word has it the Scion brand will not be released to the rest of the country until this time or possibly as late as July or so. It looks like everything is planning to happen in the middle of next year though.
17" alloys standard
6-speed manual or auto
Personally I think the glass roof thing is a big mistake. That must add on significantly to the price and some people simply won't care about having one. It should be an option and not standard. All the info I read from people who were there at the unveiling or heard something from someone (I know, take all this with a grain of salt) said something about the glass roof being on it.
I think under $18,000 with a lot of standard equipment is a good price, but the glass roof must add at least $1,000 to the price. Again that would be a big mistake in my opinion. It needs to be an option, not standard.
Bottomline is though the Scion tC has been shown to a significant number of people so I think at least some of this info is accurate.
So what's this mean for the Celica? What was a Corolla Levin?
It would be better to cheapen the base price and make it optional, that way people who simply don't want it or want to save some extra money can get one without it.
~alpha
If it does get a glass roof, it had better have good A/C!
-juice
~alpha
http://www.toyota.co.jp/Showroom/All_toyota_lineup/Allion/index.h- tml
The two back ends are very similar.
-juice
I think it would be odd to add yet another hatchback to the lineup when the xA is already there. Young people like traditional coupes as well, so why not have a coupe in the lineup instead of some funky looking hatchback with a glass roof? You also have the Celica and Matrix as well. How many more of these cars do you need?
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-juice
And the conservative looks also leave a lot of room for aftermarket add-ons.
Who knows... could be a winner.
~alpha
I know I'm in the minority, but I'd rather have a smaller engine... a 1.7 @ 130hp would be fine for me.
Now Honda and Toyota are already talking about hybrids that not only have better fuel mileage, but also have more POWER (hp) than the conventional trim versions. The best of both worlds in one neat package!
~alpha
Toyota needs to sweat the details in its promotional literature.
~alpha
The marketing was 2nd only to the Mini Cooper booth, which was awesome, but that's another story.
I like the tC. Looks like what a handsome Corolla SR5 coupe would look like if they still built it today. Remember those? Small and sporty, but more practical than a Celica.
I was at NAIAS during the industry preview days, it opens to the public on the 10th. They were out of brochures, all over the place they were out. Press kits were hard to come by also. Bummer.
Scion had a good show, though. Compared to Kia and Suzuki, which failed to grab any attention at all.
-juice
It makes me wish we had Scion up here in the great white north!
Anyway Does anyone else see some similar lines to the Audi TT on the tC? Especially from the side?
Also there are a ton of standard features on this puppy. For a company all about adding options there doesn't seem like much I'd want.
And whoever said they wanted 130 hp for better mileage needs to check what he's smoking.
Also, any thoughts on whether this car will kill the Celica off for good? The tC has more torque, more innovative features (tilting rear seatback, panorama roof), more room, better styling inside and out (subjective, yes), and offers a supercharger. The Celica is waxing geriatric, and in light of the expectations for this car, overpriced. I want this kick-butt new Scion to steal sales from the overrated Acura RSX, but if so, it will likely be stealing sales from the stale-ish Celica as well.
~alpha
I don't know if it's all that smart. This car will probably come in around $18k. I thought Scion was about the younger buyers. Can many of these younger buyers even afford $18k cars? Then you have a big percentage of them that are going to want the supercharger option which will bump the price even higher.
I think there would have been enough demand to have a non-sunroof, no 17-inch alloy wheel, etc. version. A lot of the kids want to change the wheels anyway but they already paid for nice 17-inch ones. Some don't care about a hole in the roof. These things are only pushing the price of the car higher.
Any word on where the car is being built? If it's in Japan then I can't see how the car will be under 18k, if it is it'll be just barely. And with Scion's no-haggle pricing like Saturn this is going to be an expensive car for a lot of younger people.
And don't forget the $500 SE regional fees that toyota dealers charge in the southeast US. This car is going to be out of my price range, I won't be looking at it. I can't imagine a lot of younger buyers, especially in this economy, that can afford $18k cars.
If the Celica goes away then this coupe won't be hurting other cars in the Toyota line-up except maybe the Solara. This car should help Toyota's image with younger buyers but I'm wondering how many can really afford the car if it really does turn out to be 18k or more.
Actually 18k is pretty good if you can haggle and knock it down a $1,000 and/or get rebates. I don't think this car is going to be made in high volumes (I think I read about 30,000 will be made a year) and include the no-haggle Scion pricing and being 18k or more is simply too high, at least for me.