2008 Scion xD: A Lot of Ugly Car for the Money

Whether or not Scion’s xD is a good choice for you depends entirely on your priorities. First things first, this is a relatively inexpensive car, and it gets great gas mileage. If those are the top two things on your list, it’s a fantastic choice — provided that, as one passenger put it, “you don’t mind driving around in an ugly car.”   

Aesthetics aside (for now), this is a lot of car for the money. It starts at $14,550 with a bunch of great standard features, including lots of safety gear and an iPod input that allows you to control your player through the stereo — which, by the way, sounded great. Factor in the 32 mpg I averaged in a week of driving in the city and on agonizingly crowded freeways, and the xD is a good bargain-basement choice.

The catch, of course, is that there’s not a lot of space in it.

The rear cargo area was big enough for my needs, but with the driver’s seat in a comfortable position for all 5 feet, 3 inches of me, there was very limited legroom in the second row. The backseat does slide back 6 inches, but if you have a load of people and their stuff you’re going to be very short on space. With the seat moved forward, I could drive and another me-sized person could sit behind me, but add in anyone with a few more inches of height and it’d be a bust.

The seats themselves are highly uncomfortable. Two passengers commented on their stiffness — which bothered me as well — and one called the head restraints “wretchedly painful.” I can’t disagree. Perhaps it’s another height issue, but they seemed to somehow push my head down whenever I leaned back. As nice as Scion’s gauges are, I’d rather look at the road when I’m driving. 

I think this car just wasn’t designed for someone my size. The clutch felt exceptionally far off the floor, meaning that every time I drove it without heels on I had to shift into neutral and readjust my foot virtually every other time I came to a stop. The seat sits fairly high, which is great for your view of the road, but somehow the precise mathematics of its height, the placement of the clutch and the length of my legs added up to a Bermuda Triangle of driving ergonomics for me.

Within a week, I’d adjusted everything enough that the car no longer actively annoyed me, as it did at first, but it was never ideal. The tiny rear window left me feeling like I was driving in a tunnel every time I looked out the rearview mirror, and small cars next to me sometimes disappeared below the xD’s short side windows — not what you want when you’re parallel parking. 

I hated the lack of a center console, and the car’s quirky looks didn’t grow on me. The nicest observation anyone made about it all week was that it was “ugly in a fun kind of way,” which just barely edged out yet another person’s comment that “at least it isn’t as ugly as the other Scion,” referring of course to the boxy xB.

When that many people hate the way a car looks, there’s a good chance just as many others will love it. If you fall into that category, try the xD on for size. If it fits you better than it did me, you’ll likely find very few strikes against this car.

This is the first in a series of posts in which other voices from the Cars.com staff will share their experiences with new cars we’re given to test. Beth Palmer is a copy editor in Cars.com’s editorial department.