Scion tC

masstorage

Can anyone tell me, does the tc uses regular or premimum fuel?

I ordered a flint mica color, but don't know if i should have factory install alarm, anyone have any suggestions (factory or aftermarket)?

stickguy

It uses regular.

 

IIRC, there were 2 versions of the factory alarm (and actually, I don't even remember what is standard beyond keyless entry). I think the TOyota ones tend to be expensive, but I am really leery of aftermarket on a modern car. Too many chances to screw up the electronics.

 

Also, the keyfob functions are integrated into the key (a neat feature), and I asume an aftermarket system will require a new remote.

 

If you really need one, I would try to go factory.

markg4

regular 87 octane is recommended for the tc

markg4

anyone have an idea when the 2006 tc's will be available? i know the 05's came out around june 04 but i haven't been able to find any info on the '06's. thanks!

gtw

Go to Ebay for the mats and the wheel locks

ndtriathlete

You can find the same new original Scion tc floor mats on eBay for around $80, I think. I'd get them there. Good luck and enjoy your new tc!

azn.sf

is the clutch super soft? will it harden over time? hard clutches are a pain to drive. i drove the celica gt-s & the clutch was super soft but some said it got a lot harder with time.

 

maybe i'll jus get the automatic cuz its a lot easier to drive & clutch gets annoying in trafic. what about the first year glitches?

 

its true most dealerships r very rude & dont kno comon curtesy. they tel lie after lie. call u names. stare at u. never smile. act like they'r doin u a favor for even talkin to u. the hayward 1 mite b a lil better. jus dont get the indian salesguy.

i went to fremont toyota & this old filipino guy jus stared at me & said stupid rude stuf. they didnt even hav busines cards @the front desk. i hav a discount cuz i work for toyota so i had to talk to a specific salesguy who was busy. & the 1 in hayward said i couldnt get a discount even tho a co-worker said he's gettin $750off.

 

its tru the celica costs way mo $$. & dont even think its made in japan.

 

i went to the sanjose toyota & the vietnamese man jus told me lie after lie. i asked if the car is good in a crash. he said very good. i said "really? how can it b good if it was never government (or anyother) crash tested?" then he didnt want to get me the invoice price. so i left.

 

the matrix costs a lot more too. toyota has the best quality in the world. those jappers kill them selves if quality isn't good. they work longer & harder then most americans.

 

wats the ground efects kit? any sugestings for wider tires? the bigger 18" doesnt mean its beter rite? i jus love wide tires.

 

u cant realy order a scion the way u want it. the web pages (buyatoyota.com)sends u to local dealers. who get allotments of a few new cars every so often. then if u want a color or options, they hav to swap wit another dealer. & its tru they want to sel u wats on the lot, even if it costs less, & realy what u dont want.

 

the no haggle price is cool. less stressful. less lies etc. i like the xB too, the boxy scion. wish it had the 160hp engine.

 

the xtra aceleration helps when an 18wheeler doesnt slow down for u during merge. & think of the xcitement in the corners & off the greenlight.

 

it sounds like scion is aproaching lexus in quality. but with the price tag, if u dont like it, u can trade it in in a few yrs & stil not lose that much $$.

 

dublin 6months order

bobotheclown

You can visit sites like mcgeorgepart.com or partznet.com for scion accessories.

quaffapint

Anyone have any ideas how the tC is in the snow/ice? I don't get a lot of it here in PA, but I drive some curvey, rural roads, and would like to be safe when it does snow...

 

Thanks..

leadzero

I'll let you know (live in Minneapolis) when I actually get mine... I put a deposit down late last week saying I'd likely test drive it today (and buy it long as there were no problems). I get a call today saying the part for the XM radio didn't come in and they wanted a full day to install it. So, now thursday at the earliest. The waiting game when you don't have a car and are on the verge of finally getting one is the pits. Taking the bus to/from work gets harder every day!

scoopny

I picked up my tC on Friday. It drives like a dream, definitely leaves me with a smile on my face. I put a deposit on it two weeks ago and picked it up a week later. A great experience all in all, I liked the no-haggle pricing because I've never been good at negotiating for a car. At least it was a good deal.

leadzero

Picked up my tC yesterday. Haven't had a chance to drive on ice/snow yet. However, I did discover a slight flaw in the radio.

 

It seems under extreme temeratures the LCD on the radio has issues. This morning when I got in my car the outside temp. was -13. The segments on the LCD do not update as fast as they do when in normal temperature conditions. Even changing the volume it would take about 5 seconds for the numbers to fully illuminate. Note, the other LCDs in the car do not suffer from this.

 

Other than that though my cold weather complaints are at a minimum. The tC warmed up quicker than I would have thought. When cold the shifter (manual trans) is extremely stiff, but after a little bit of driving it's fine. (I don't think this can be avoided in any car.) The buttons on the environment controls are a little hard to press when you have thick gloves on, thick knobs seem to be the only solution to work well. But I like the buttons better, it's only this cold a few months out of the year.

 

I have two other general complaints so far though.

 

1) The radio lid is the best radio anti-theft device known to man. If I can't open it, a theif sure as hell can't. I've yet to find a combination of moves that successfully opens the lid every time. It seems completely random whether it will open or not.

 

2) Maybe it's my vehicle, but the driver's seat seems a little picky about the reclining lever. I have to take all my weight off the seat back in order to then lean back and recline. I haven't tried this while driving, but I'm not sure how easy it would be. Perhaps I just need more practice.

 

One other thing I've noticed that is almost a complaint. The passenger compartment is very quiet. I like it, but I found myself wondering how well I would hear things like sirens or horns. Coupled with an extremely quiet engine I've found myself missing a couple shifts because I couldn't hear the rev. (Note, this might just take some adjusting on my part, I learned to drive and drove a F-150 with a 5 liter, engine manual transmission for the last 6 years.)

 

All things considered though, I love the car. And the college grad program is really nice.

iluvmysephia1

very cool about this car. I have read several people (including journalists)comment favorably about the cabin noise lately.

genee

1) The radio lid is the best radio anti-theft device known to man. If I can't open it, a theif sure as hell can't. I've yet to find a combination of moves that successfully opens the lid every time. It seems completely random whether it will open or not.

 ... this is a forever "problem." I am on my third lid and none have been any better than the first. I have contacted Scion and supposedly they are working on a fix (TSB). So, you and I aren't the only ones complaining.

axiomowner

I live in a coastal community where you frequently awake to frost on the windows. While driving, I have experienced sounds eminating from the rear roof that sound like styrofoam rubbing together. I believe it's ice crystals rubbing against each other and being heard as the roof flexes during driving. Once the car warms up, the sound disappears.

 

I've also noticed the auto transmission doesn't shift normally when the engine is cold. It gives higher rpm's when it's cold. I.e. 3200 rpm at 50mph when cold vs. 2000 rpm when warm. Since the car warms up quickly, it doesn't last long. I'm not sure if the transmission has a problem or if this is by design to warm up the engine quicker.

jrct9454

Re: Engine revs when cold - that is indeed a design feature, as you deduced, to get the engine warmed up to operating temp faster. Most of the harmful emissions coming out of the tailpipe occur when the engine is below its designed operating temp - many car makers use this approach [holding higher revs and lower gears longer] to get the engine warmer faster. Our Mercedes '02 V6 holds its lower gears much longer until the engine warms up; this was also true on our last two Honda Accords.

genee

After spending a weekend with freezing rain, I went to check about chains at the largest tire outfit in the area. I was told NOT to use "real" chains - I was looking at easy-on easy-off Z-pattern links - but use only cable chains ... and then expect the wheels to get chewed. Anyone have any input on this? The other option is $200 Spider Spikes as used in Europe.

mackabee

That's normal behavior for a display under such extreme cold temperatures. Once the interior and the radio warm up the displays works normally.

           : )

          Mackabee

azn.sf

they dont want to sel me the tc without floormats $145 firm. i told themican get it for $75 on ebay. they say the manager wont let me buy a plain tc without mats. wtf.

but my auto tc is comin into port LA, ca & a few days to com to SF.

pcr

If you ordered it without the floormats, give Scion a call (1.866.70.SCION) and register a complaint. They should straighten the dealer out.

azn.sf

thnx. dealer being cheap. but i'm happy i'm gettin 1 of the few white auto tc's in san fran area.

cullens

So I'm persuaded. The tc is quick enough for how I'll ever drive it, has all the features I'll need or want in a car, and interesting enough looking. Also, the price is wicked fantastic. I've made all the comparisons that have been discussed in this forum and some not yet discussed (including to the Infiniti G35.) I get that many of these cars are, objectively speaking, quicker, more powerful, or more luxurious. For me, though, the incremental benefits that other cars provide in those areas are either benefits I won't use (e.g., I don't care if it takes me 6.2 seconds to get to 60 or 7.2, I don't drive that way) or are not great enough to justify the massive price swing ($35k for G35 or $17k for tc).

 

My last lingering concern is whether a 36 year old man is really cut out for this car. Is this car so out of the norm that it would be foolish for someone like me to be seen in it? Frankly, even if the answer is yes, I suspect I'm going to buy it because having judged the car so favorably, I doubt I'll pass on it because of some stranger's hypothetical disfavor.

 

I'd appreciate the forum's thoughts on the aesthetic question and then, too, on this notion. Cars twenty years ago had such a wide gulf between small economy cars and luxury cars that big price spreads made sense. Now, though, most of the functions most people want in a car (good engines, reliable manufacture, safe maneuvering, good radios, power windows, sunroofs, air conditioning) can be had in almost any car. Does that mean that the differences between high priced and low priced cars is, more and more, a function of marketing and not so much a function of quality?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

mackabee

Who cares what anybody else thinks! If you like the car buy it! Heck I just turned 49 and I'm thinking of buying one if I can just get one that's not pre-sold.

                 : )

  

azn, if the window sticker shows the floor mats as an item you have to pay for them. If they are not on the window sticker you don't. Did you order the car or was it a unit that was already on their lot?

                Mackabee

pcr

It's always been the case that, the more expensive the car, the greater the profit margin for the manufacturer and the dealer. So there's always been some decreasing marginal utility in paying more.

 

Oh, and, at 36, you'd look silly in it. You have to be at least my age (43) to pull it off.

stickguy

I'm 42, and if I look silly in it, no one has told me. I probably don't look any sillier than I did in my Miata! PLus, my kids think it is really cool.

 

I did the same type of analysis. LOoked at the G35, Volvo S40/V50, and various other nice cars that were all +/- 30K, vs. 16.5K. The difference, to me, wasn't worth the money.

 

I looked at it as buying the tC for cash, or putting the same money down and paying $450/month for the next 3 years too!

 

Even beter, the tC will likely (hopefully) hold it's resale value better too!

axiomowner

Same here. I'm 35 and my kids think it's a cool car too. I did spend the extra for the leather and it's still an incredible value. When I test drove the more expensive cars, I didn't see how the extra money was worth it.

azn.sf

if i was older & not too concerned about a sports car & g0in fast, i'd probably buy a matrix or camry!

but i luv the styling, engine is fast enuf for me. 0-60 7.5secs & its built in japan!

idealy u can get it without the floormats. dont think its on the sticker. i ordered the car. they wanted $500 deposit. i got away wit $350 refundable.

would it b cool if i got a white car with a diferent color body kit?

it tok about 4weeks for the car (white) to come from japan. nearest white 1 was 100 miles away. they wanted to drive it to san fran, but i dont trust some 1 else driving my car 100 miles! so i jus waited for it to come from the ship.

 

oh & the dealership in san jose wanted $500 nonrefundable deposit but can guarantee choice in color & asesories in 6-8weeks. the nonrefundable part raised my eyebrow. i'm sure the car wud b what i wanted but jus in case the stereo sucked or the moonroof had problems i didnt want to buy the car with defects or b stiffed 500.

 

ok. the auto tc with floor mats is after taxes (8.75% in alameda co.) $19,100. this includes license & processing fee etc. i thought the tax is 8.50% $18.6k total. so i'l hav to do the #s again. they stressed the no haggle policy. but didnt some 1 on here say they got the mats for free?

 

on the test drive i beat the hell out of their cherry black auto. i floored it & slammed on the breaks. almost hit a truck mergin on the highway. gues the blind spots r true. after awhile of test the brakes, slammin them, the salesguy said i wasnt usin the brakes right. dont kno if i like the ABS cuz u cant slide lock them up like the old style brakes. i gues they'r supose to slow u down with out screechin.

 

havent seen any tc's on the streets here. loks like i'll be parkin a mile away from other cars when i get it. cant they make any rubber anti dent strip doors?

artwolfe32

Does anyone else in here have gas mileage issues with their tC? I just traded from a V6 1997 Camry auto and I was getting the same gas mileage as I get with my four banger manual tC. The V6 had more HP and was an automatic.

 

I got 316 miles to a single tank on the tC compared to my 360-380 on the camry. Today on my way to work I am hovering at the R line with 246 miles. I am not driving it hard and unless I'm on the highway I try to keep the RPMs between 2000-2500. Anyone else see my issue? Or have any suggestions?

 

I am aware that I have four less gallons in the tank, but come on!! Less than 300 miles to a tank is ridiculous!

cullens

I'm not sure you can make a fair comparison unless you have the miles per gallon number. 316 miles on a tank, assuming you used every drop of the 14.5 gallon tank (which is pretty unlikely), means yougot 21.8 miles per gallon (or right at the the mpg rating for city driving for the manual transmission). If you filled up with a couple gallons still left in the tank (i.e., got 316 miles on 12.5 gallons of fuel) which is more likely since most gas-gauge lights go on with about 40 or 50 miles left in the tank, you averaged 25.3 miles per gallon or about half-way between the mpg rating for a manual transmission tc (22 city, 29 hwy.)

 

The automatic has a slightly higher rating of 23/30 c/h. I read somewhere that those ratings are accurate within some margin of error, which may be as high as four or five miles a gallon.

 

All of which is to say that my guess is you are getting about the right mileage out of your tc. I've seen others in this forum, though, say they were getting 30+ on the highway.

artwolfe32

Your reply is much appreciated! Your MPG estimates are actually right on. 25.3 MPG on an entirely highway drive, between 75 and 80 MPH the whole way. Are these cars intentionally geared as low as they are? 70MPH brings me to 3200 RPM!

 

I guess I am not as much disapointed by the MPG as I am the miles per tank. Trade off to a smaller car? Perhaps...but I am having a hard time becoming accustomed to a car with a smaller engine getting worse miles per tank than a Camry V6. Especially since I've been told I am driving with a camry four banger.

 

My suggestion to Scion is to increase the tank size!

pcr

My suggestion would be to add a sixth gear.

 

Not that I'm complaining. Our Miata is a much smaller car, and gets about the same mileage with a tank roughly half the size.

azn.sf

tank size doesnt matter much to me. i usualy drive with less then 1/2 a tank anyway.

6th gear is pretty much useless. wut about a 5gear automatic.

axiomowner

We got 3 feet of snow this week on Cape Cod. The Tc handled better than I expected. It's no Hummer. But, it's definately better in the snow than my RWD SUV was.

 

But, then again, I'm not trying to win any races either...

exzur

Sixth gear will definitely increase the mpg. Most of the improvement is in highway driving.

cullens

The only other thing I'd mention, and I'm not sure how much stock to put in it, is that I've heard that a car's engine gets broken in, over time your mileage may improve modestly.

Sylvia

Hi exzur - multiple requests have been made of you to contact the Hosts and provide a valid email address in your profile. This has not been done. Please email me if you would like to continue posting.

 

Thanks!

jrct9454

I have been mightily amused by the continued attempts by car manufacturers to produce "targeted" products. I'm 60 years old, and think the TC is an excellent car, and a real candidate for our next one. It never occured to me to be very concerned that I might upset Toyota's marketing plans, or that I might have to start using hip-hop slang to get in the showroom door. Glad to see from the above posts that I'm not alone.

 

Honda thought that the Element was targeted at jobless 20-somethings still in school, with someone else paying the $20k price tag [the witless parents, it is presumed]. Instead, the car is selling briskly to the AARP set, and Honda wonders what it should do next - apparently, a revival of the 5-door Civic, and a US version of the Fit are the latest answers. Guess what? Both of these cars appeal to me, too - and I haven't been in college since 1967....you have to love marketing...

stickguy

I would have been all over a 5 door Civic myself (as a more practical alternative to the tC I bought).

 

As to mileage, the big culprit is the gearing. No way did this engine need to be geared so short. It's more of a torque motor than a high RPM screamer. If they dropped the overall gearing 10% (or at least added a 6th gear with a deep OD), mileage would go up quite a bit.

 

Still, I just filled up last night, and got 21+. Thats a tank with a lot of sitting in the garage, interrupted by short trips, lots of idling (waiting at the bus stop, stuck in traffic, etc) and nothing passing for an open run.

 

I think my around town MPG has gone up about 2 mpg overall with a few miles on it (up over 4K now). Should get even better in the spring when I don't sit idling as much, and it's not so cold.

 

I have gotten as much as 24 on a local tank. Best trip leg was 32, which I can live with.

jrct9454

...given the short gearing, the fuel consumption is pretty much what I would expect with this engine. Comparisons to Camrys [yes, even V6 Camrys] miss the point that the highest gear with all of the Camry drivetrains is much "longer legged" than the TC, especially the manual TC. And yes, a 6spd manual and 5spd automatic would sure be welcome, and are probably inevitable somewhere down the line.

stickguy

I can live with the highway MPG, mainly because I don't use the tC for long trips, but I would really like longer gearing so that the engine isn't buzzing so fast.

 

It's more psychological than anything else. Even at 3,200 rpm the engine is smooth, but you can tell it's there, plus the tach gives it away.

 

If nothing else, I find myself cruising slower in the tC than I did in my other cars. 65-67 seems to be a natural zone for it. 75 just seems like I'm pushing it (as the revs climb), although it buzzed along real nice at 75-80 the last time I took it on a trip. just have to remember not to look at the tach.

mackabee

That's one thing I do not miss not being on the sales floor. Why would someone in their right mind want to abuse a vehicle that is not theirs and will belong to someone else? I remember the time this woman from Ca was visiting family in Va and they decided to go test drive the new Matrix. I ended up with the Ca woman and as soon as she got on the freeway she wanted to see if the car would actually go 100mph. "Not with me in car it won't" I told her. The she got upset and said she wouldn't buy the car then. I said "Fine, pull over. I'll drive back to the dealership".

                       : )

                    Mackabee

k9kreationz

Hey Everyone,

 

Well, it looks like I'll most likely be getting a tC. And to the 36 year old poster, I'm 30 and I was wondering the same thing. Will I look like some freak driving a "kid car"? Oh, who cares, I'm in a Honda Civic now. lol.

 

Anyhow. Most likely mine will need to be ordered, how long will it take, on average?

 

And yes, I'm being way too lazy to search all these messages and posting instead.

 

Thanks!

~Cher

k9kreationz

Mackabee,

 

This question reigns up there with, "why do people trash hotel rooms". The answer, "because, they can and it's not their own property".

 

I'll drive a sports car hard if I test drive it. Why? Because, I want to make sure it handles how I want, otherwise, I won't buy it.

 

~C

gee35coupe

If there are no cops around. People do it all day. Was the car competent enough to do that speed? If not, she should not have bought it if that's the way she drives. My Si does 100 no problem. 5000 rpm and all.

azn.sf

my car wil b here in a week. dont think i'll hav enuf for the insurance tho. the TC is a semi sports car so i dont see why peopl r complainin about the gas. the low gearing is for performance. if u want mileage get a civic.

cullens

Well, I bit the bullet and bought a tc two nights ago. At the very last minute, I was momentarily tempted by a Passat and a Mazda 6 and was actually leaning towards on of those. Then I got to the scion dealership and was reminded of why I ordered the car in the first place. Quick, nimble, feature-loaded, quiet, great looks, and fun to drive. I know there's been some knock on the mileage, but I'm getting out of a Ford F-150 which got just under 13 mpg. Anything that has a whisper of a promise of 30 mpg on the highway is like joining Greenpeace as far as I'm concerned. Imagine waiting 36 years for a car like this.

axiomowner

Yeah. It's not the speed. It's the sudden stop. When that happens, it's called Darwinism.

gee35coupe

And since the lady was in the car with you, I doubt she would place herself in any danger. Driving 100 mph may be illegal, but that doesn't make it inherently dangerous.

mackabee

U guys misunderstood my point. If you want to drive 100+ mph be my guest! But not until the car is yours and I'm not in it. You don't have to drive a car "hard" to know if you are going to like it or not. Maybe I'm from the "old school" but I respect things that are not mine. A test drive is just that it does not give one "license" to abuse a vehicle.

gee35coupe, this woman was dead serious (no pun intended) she actually looked at me and said "Well if I can drive it that way I'm not going to buy it" and got mad. My MR2 does that all day long too, I just don't like to put myself or others in danger by driving that way cops or no cops. I have been in a car at 130-140 mph, but it was in Germany and it is allowed and the other drivers know how to drive at that speed also.

                    Mackabee

gee35coupe

If you wouldn't let me drive the car like I would have wanted to. As long as I wasn't pulling donuts in parking lots or playing chicken on the expressway. I've been on several test drives where I was encouraged to "let's see what she'll do". That was in cars that will go FAR above 100 mph.

 

I live in GA where the cruising speed is 80 mph, it's pretty easy to hit 100 for extended periods on many interstates here. I too owned a MR2 a 1991 Turbo. It topped out at right around 145...many times. I'm still here posting. And I'm not maimed or arrested.

 

Like I said, she probably just chose another dealership to buy her car from. I would've. It would tick me off to buy a car and find I just can't stand the way it drives at that speed. If I spend any amount of time there. The TC is supposed to be able to do 130. Be glad she didn't want to "test" that.