2008 Scion xB consumer reviews

My wife totaled her car in 2017. A Scion xD. Cool car too, but just too tiny. We found this 9 year old 08 with 164,000 miles on it for $1150. it had some minor body damage to the front bumper and driver fender. Those of you that know these cars know that the 2007-2013ish Toyota 2azfe engine cars are prone to use oil. This is a toyota problem. This wasn't a huge deal until in 2019 when it started using a quart ever 200 miles or so. At 216,000 it needed a clutch, so we just did a new engine and new clutch. This wasn't even necessary. The oil consumption issue can be largely fixed by a (or series of) Berryman's B12 piston soaks. I did a Youtube video on this. So really, the engine was savable. Oh well. Anyway, that car now has 351,000 miles on it and over 200k on that engine as well. I did the treatment to it twice and it uses very little oil now. Pros and Cons. Pro. Plenty of room! Even if you are over 6 foot tall. Lots of headroom. It's the world's biggest small car! Tons of cargo space. Even though it isn't rated for towing, it can tow 1500lbs just fine. Decent fuel economy. Comfortable for long trips. Handles like it is on rails. Getting used to the center gauges was irritating at first, but once you do? You will not want them any other way. As tall as I am I struggle in other cars seeing them all no matter how I have the wheel positioned. So that's a win. Well designed and EASY...so easy to mod and repair. The dash pad can come off in about 5 minutes if you need in there too! Cons. Totally unacceptable road noise!!! Tires notwithstanding I find the road noise intolerable. Paper thin metal on the fenders will dent just laying against it doing service work. Way too thin. The roof being thin like that too is also why it is noisy. In the early cars the seats are not bolstered well, and frankly, very ugly. The console is the worst offender because it's so small to allow for that idiotic arm rest. That thing is a joke! Easy enough to fix because you can take one from a 2011 and bolt it right in. Same with the seats which I did. Not a big fan of the single reverse light. I swapped a 2.5 model bumper instead there too with the later tails with dual reverse lights. A little more work, but worth it. Toyota paint is very consistent so it looked factory. The stock bubble grille...it's just so...horrendously ugly. Also an easy fix with a mesh aftermarket one. Oh and let's not forget the fuse box inside the car. It is not on the side of the dash. It's under it and facing straight up. You really need to be a contortionist to get to it, and the fuses are those really small irritating ones. Bad design there. The serpentine belt is VERY difficult to change. Don' t think for one second you can do it without the proper tools. Not going to happen. ---------------- The best thing about this car? The reliability is OFF the charts!. It's not the only one I own either. So, the Scion xB in my opinion is one of the best cars that Toyota has ever made. I highly recommend it. The only thing I can say is that be mindful of oil consumption. It is not a death sentence for the engine. Do the treatment, watch it closely and don't worry about it too much. These engines can absolutely for hundreds of thousands of miles. So, the wife's 08 is still rolling today wearing 2011 sheetmetal and bumpers with all the later upgrades and my wife puts 1000 miles a week on it. For 351,000 miles it is just a stellar car. My friend I sold the 09 to. He just loves it. Still got plenty of life remaining. I missed the 09 so much I got me another 14 model RS!

I have a 2008 and my hood hinge never worked well hood fly up I had to replace the entire hood. Now engine fails. Oil leaking terribly

Only bad things I have 2 burns oil and parts are doubled compared to any other scion models good running and handling car has an eco in the interior that is annoying

My 2008 Scion xb has been an incredibly good car. Nothing has ever needed fixing except new tires, and brakes wore down. Kind of expected in 12 years of daily use! I have hauled a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood (with the hatch open) a dining room table and so many other large cumbersome items it is crazy. Tall people have often commented on how much head room in my car. Two oddnesses that haven't been troublesome but are strange: First, there is only one back-up light. That's how it was designed. Second, there is only one key hole in the entire four-door car and that is in the driver's door. Not things I would recommend in car design but very minor compared to 12 years of worry free driving and 8 years of no car payments!

Love the styling. Easy to get in and out of and very comfortable. Kids love the roominess in back. Great on gas and has some punch. Only problem is the oil burning issue. Bought used with 99k. Burned about half a quart between 5k oil changes. Has about 150k and now is burning about a quart of oil every 1000 miles. This is a problem with a design of piston ring but I wasn't aware of it until after purchase and although Toyota acknowledged their design flaw the criteria for repair was set up that I wouldn't qualify. So now I'm stuck with it. So I can't speak on the reliability of the typical high quality of Toyota products but we'll see. I'm just gonna monitor the oil and keep adding it as needed and see what happens. But it runs great for the most part. Idles rough at times during a stop but overall pretty good. Other than the oil burning issue I would highly recommend this vehicle for an affordable economical roomy vehicle.

Scions are amazing cars. Very roomy, reliable, and has all the comforts I needed. Great cargo space and sound system was adequate. It drives smoothly and never gave me any mechanical issues that weren’t routine maintenance items. My previous car was also a scion XB and I was T-bones by a drunk driver in a Ford F-150 running a red light at 60mph And my car was smashed, but I was totally fine. No major injuries. I credit my life to the car that night. Highly recommend scion.

Very good vehicle for our IT Techs. Good vehicle to wrap with company name. Would have bought more if they did not discontinue them. Went to KIA Soul

It's a car. It runs well and gets the job done. I would buy this car again because it has plenty of space and decent features.

I owned the 22008 and it met all my needs. Fast off the mark, great gas mileage and compares with most SUVs for space. The areas of the engine I need to get to (oil wiper fluid air filter) are not hidden and easily accessed. Great in Wisconsin winter.

very good car. toyota is very good. 2008 is a very good car. for the money is liable. the repair is very good. 12k the a very nice.