2005 Scion tC consumer reviews

We bought the first year 2005 TC and have loved this car every minute. It still looks as good as the day we bought it. The styling is awesome! It has been totally reliable! For the money it had so many extras. Gas millage great! We have replaced brakes and tires and that is it. I agree with the review that the seat material is hard to keep clean. Driving it now is as much fun as it was 10 years ago!

Had this car for almost two years now i grow to love it more each day. You can do what you please to this ride; system,rims, lights etc the cars sleek and compact for its age it still catches attention from most on the road. Love my ride!

I came to look at their cars and at first i was very impressed with the cars. All of the cars are newer and are very eye catching. I was particularly interested in a couple of cars but as i looked closer i and a friend who is a car mechanic noticed coverups everywhere plus a very bad oil leak on one of them. Still i was very excited to test the cars out so we test drove them. They all seemed to drive fine but these are the things that threw up red flags. The first car i drove was a beauty but it had three lug nuts on one tire and the bumper u could tell had been replaced and was a little shaky missing clips the side skirt was not completely attached and the the rims were so abused. The other car i tested looked perfect nothing but one dent. This is were it gets interesting. I go to talk to the dealer and express my interest in the car that was in great shape all around and asked if it had a salvage title answer was no. Also let me say this was the worst customer service i have ever come in contact with my whole life. They ignored me for like the first two hours i was there, i was so polite. I went home and looked up the VIN numbers to find out that both cars had salvage titles and in multiple wrecks. I looked up more of there cars on the lot and same thing. This is why the prices are lower. The cars also are not well taken care of. When you go to look at a car it should be clean inside and detailed but these are dirty as heck. Please make sure to take a trusted mechanic with you when purchasing a car from this dealership or you may end up with a headache. I am not against salvage title because i once owned one but its the fact that they keep it hidden from you.

Bought a 2005 TC for my 17 years old's 1st car. Nice little sports car. My mechanic said it was in great shape (67k miles) and it was a good car. It is fun to drive and "looks cool" (which is so important to a teenager). Back seat head room limited (no 6 ft boys will fit, which is a good thing). So far I am very happy with the purchase.

It's worth the money that I spent. I would recommend my friend to purchase one of those. It works good in every aspects. The car looks as good as a new one.

I've had my 2005 tC for almost four years. I bought it used with 35k miles. I now have almost 97k miles. But, it drives the same now as it did back then! The only thing I've had to do, aside from routine oil changes, is replace the brakes. I'm now in the market for a new car, but only because I'm a mom now and I feel like I need a "big girl car." I absolutely love my tC though, and if I could, I would keep it until the wheels fell off. It's a blast to drive (I like to dig into corners on country roads), and, most importantly, it's exceeded my expectations as far as reliability. I feel like I could drive this car across the country twice without a care. And, everyone who drives it raves about its "peppiness." For a car in its class, the ride is relatively smooth. The road noise is there, but it's acceptable compared to other cars in its class (try the Tiburon...you'll run to the tC!). The only complaint I have is the material used for the seats. It's impossible to get clean! Other than that, absolutely no complaints at all. For the money, you just can't beat it, especially in terms of the Toyota reliability. I will miss this car so much!!

This was my first time buying a used car. I bought a 2005 Scion tC with 60,100 miles on it and I was nervous about suprise repairs. It is now 90,000 miles and the car runs just like the day I bought it. Even now, as I shop for another car (I have kids now so I need a 4-door), I am shocked by the good value of trade-in I am getting from the dealer. The car never had any mechanical issues (Toyota reliability) and was always fun to drive. I got the manual transmission which really helped driving around tricky parts of New Jersey streets while contending with all the traffic. Because of my experience purchasing this scion, I will always look at used cars from reliable brands before considerying paying thousands of extra dollars for a new vehicle.

I bought the TC new in August 2004, paid $19.2K including taxes, few upgrades (ground effects, sway bars, metal shifter, metal pedals, lip spoiler and 6 CD changer), etc. The car is now 6.5 years old and has 100K on the clock. KBB rates the private value at over $8K for a 6.5 year retention of about 44% (from total incl. price), and I frequently see used 2005 models advertised for well over $10K ... excellent for any car. The TC has been a lot of fun over the years, it corners very well, is plenty quick (7.2-7.6s to 60, great for the class), nippy, has some go-cart qualities and is luxurious for a car of this price. The best of all is IT HAS NEVER HAD A PROBLEM ... it is now serviced at Sears (inexpensive and good quality service), the brakes have lasted with only the front pads changed, and it looks like new - under the hood (no rust), under the car (no rust - even the exhaust looks recent), on the outside (couple of dings and chips) and inside (when I can be bothered to clean it). Features I use often that do not appear in (most) other cars are the large moonroof and small rear roof window, the single press up/down windows (great touch), the reclining rear seats (good for long trips with friends who are sleepy), the back seat is very roomy and has cup holders and storage, and the flat fold down seats from front to back to carry large items (2"x4"x8's, doors etc., when my Explorer SUV is off the road; the TC can actually haul longer items). I do not know what the EPA smoke, but my TC has always got greater than 27mpg. 27-29mpg in suburban East Bay CA and 28-32mpg in my commutes in East TN; my last two fill ups recorded 32 and 31mpg. Features I wish it had are improved seat fabric (in terms of dirt and dog hair repulsion), a 6th gear (to increase acceleration and also to reduce engine speed at 75+), electric seats and a rear wiper. These, of course are minor for a car of this class. I love the way the car looks, especially the front end, however, the one thing I would like is the rear to be be less portly or bulbous ... and in fact the whole car to be slightly smaller and thus lighter. At this time I am debating if I should trade it for a BMW 135i ... but I am so happy with the TC, it is a great little car. Part of the worry is that if I trade it, I may end up with a car that requires several trips to the dealership or a car that wastes money; money that can be invested in retirement or something else. Lets face it, all cars are money pits, the extent to which it is a money pit should determine a purchase. Having a six figure salary does not necessarily determine that you should buy an expensive car i.e. a 135i at $40K , when you know it will lose $20K of that it less than 5 years and probably will require some after-sales repair and expensive servicing. If I keep the TC for 5 more years I will save $40K; and I think it will keep going for 10 years. If you are considering this as a used vehicle with a known and good history at around $10K, buy it, it is a great car and you won't be disappointed!

I've had my "Cylon" for 3 months now. I bought it with 38K miles on it. It's OK. It certainly isn't a head snapper; acceleration is just ok. But it's only 160 hp anyway. The plus side is I have consistently gotten 30 mpg, which is better then I thought. And it's an auotmatic! It handles nice, I'm not crazy about the seats; they feel tipped backwards and there is excess lumbar support. The auto windows are annoying. It's hard to manually control them; they want to go all the way down or all the way up. It's difficult to unlock all the doors from outside. I also wish it had day time driving lights. ALso, the brake is sub-par, but maybe I need new pads. I have to check them. I haven't driven it in snow yet so I may be back to update this in a few months. But overall, for the price it has been a good little car. An economical sport coupe that has lots of cargo space if you fold down the rear seat. It has a hatch back too which is important to me. Decent little car.

Just bought this car a month ago, used, manual, with 72K miles on it. Runs great, handles perfectly. I had the rear windows tinted and a system installed, and the head/tail lights tinted. It's sleek and quick, and decent on gas, getting about 27 mpg. I did not expect as much room as it gave me for the small 2-door size of the car, but without looking like a hatchback, it is. This helps a ton for golf clubs, tennis rackets, etc. The only thing I did not like, is the amount of space in the backseat. I never ride back there obviously but my old Pontiac Sunfire seemed to have more room in the backseat, yet this car seems bigger all around. Either way, this car is definately worth the money, and very fun to drive.