We purchased our first one (light, metallic silver color) back in September, trading in an 11 year old Scion xA model that had performed superbly, but was a tad too small for serious long highway work. The new xB is excellent for serious long highway work, and is a REAL car instead of a pint-sized runabout like the xA. I love everything about the car but the 4-speed audio, since it tends to "hunt" between 3rd and 4th gear at speeds below 45 mph on hilly roads. However, while the Scion owner's manual has nothing but cryptic info about the "S" transmission mode (the standard choice would be the "D" mode), I have discovered that if you leave it in that mode (which allows for manual shifting, but also shifts automatically on up to 3rd gear) the hunting ceases. Use the "S" mode for moderate-speed city driving and you will do fine. The transmission is probably responsible for the only so-so gas mileage but it is probably bulletproof in terms of reliability, just like the engine (which was used as the standard Camry engine until 2011). Anyway, last week we purchased a SECOND xB, trading in our ten-year-old xB, which had been as solid and reliable as the xA first traded. This new one (bright white in color) has the same features (including the 4-speed auto), and seems to run as well. The older xB and xA models had manual transmissions, and it did not take long for us to discover that switching back and forth between the old xB and the new xB required more mental-operation work than we (wife and I) old timers could deal with. Now, both of our cars operate the same way. Right after I got the first one I replaced the ugly plastic hubcap stock wheels, and I will be doing the same thing with the newer one this week. I hate hubcaps, and particularly hate plastic ones. Ugh! Whatever, both cars are terrific and if they are as reliable as the two previous models we will be driving them for a long time.
