My 2005 Scion xB: Update #1

Click here for my first blog post on this car.

A little body work:

Since I posted my initial blog entry for this car in spring of 2017, I've done a few more things....
The front 2 fenders were starting to rust out. I realized the cause of this was because, for a few years, at my old house, I kept this parked outside in the summer. It was parked under a tree and plant matter had landed on the windshield area and been washed down to rest against the sheet metal of the front fenders. Flash ahead about 6 years and it started to eat through, to the outside.

the first appearance of rust bubbling.

Rust getting more advanced.

Solution:

The community college I where I studied automotive maintenance, (see below for the mechanical work I have performed), also has a body shop program. I bought 2 fenders for about $75 each, and they painted it. Free labor. I just had to pay for the paint. Total bill for everything on this job came to around $640. They repainted the whole front end, as if it had been in a collision. So hats off to them for doing a really good job. They had it for about a month. That is the only down side of this arrangement. Cheap... but don't rush them.

Just before dropping it off for the fender R&R.

The fenders, hood, bumper cover were painted, and the doors were blended.

Bonus that the bumper cover was repainted, as it had 14 years worth of rock chips.

New winter tire package.

As well as showing the finished paint results, these photos show my latest winter wheel and tire package, alluded to in the earlier post. General Altimax Arctic tires mounted on NOS factory EM-7 wheels, and coated with white Plasti-dip. Matches the body paint to a tee. this will be my 3rd winter on them, and Plasti-dip still holding up well.

Maintenance work I have done.

In the last year or two, I learned how to, and did, the following:

Serpentine belts replaced at 78k

Brake fluid drain and fill at 78k

OE coolant drain and fill at 78k

OE manual transmission fluid, drain and fill at 78.5k

OE power steering fluid drain and fill at 79k

Spark plugs at 79k

Replaced PCV valve at 79.7k

Replaced the OE battery with an aftermarket at about 77K

Current milage: 85,XXX

In My Garage: 2005 Scion xB

Love at first sight

This is my 2005 Scion xB. I think I came across the first images of it online in early 2004. By the summer, I knew I had to own one. It was the clean geometry and the "function dictates form" look of it. So in August of 2004 I ordered one from Japan. It was an even trade with my 2002 Honda accord EX V6 coupe. They even kicked in an additional $500 check. The total price was $14,668, which included my only option: the rear spoiler. I felt like this car was a good value.

I have the 5 speed manual (very short gears), which wrings the most power out of the 108 hp, 1.5 liter engine. It corners great. The steering feedback is very direct, and the low weight (2400 lbs.) makes it feel nimble, and go-kart like. It gets 34 MPG combined (for the several years I kept track of it.) I've kept this car mostly stock. I wanted it to be as reliable as possible, as this car is basically my daily driver, and my only winter car. Still run the OE battery after 12.5 years. Only 73,554 miles, as of this post.

I bought it at Don Jacobs Toyota in Milwaukee. They had a (now defunct) perk that, if you bought a new car there, they would provide free oil changes, for as long as you owned it. I get them every 6 months. Figure I have gotten $600 worth of value added there, so far.

I took the stock hubcaps off the first day.

Summer setup: stainless trim rings on black steelies.

the only power mod:

An Injen IS2100 Short Ram Intake

$220 parts and labor

Very few mods:

Injen IS2100 Short Ram Intake
AWIA head w/ AUX input
front windows tinted 20% to match the back
4100k headlight bulbs
Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 snow tires (Thanksgiving to April.)



In early 2008 I got a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50s from TireRack for what seems now like a fire sale price of $45 each, shipped. I then went and bought a used set of steelies off Ebay. After mounting and balancing the whole winter set up cost me a total of $383. I ran the steelies black for a few years, then silver, now Plasti-Dipped white. To me white steelies scream "Rally Car". That's exactly how I treat it, when the snow is coming down.

sporting the snow tire setup

Notice the chunky tread on left compared to the OE tires on right

For a couple years I sported these Camry knock-off hubs.

I though they looked very nice and OE.

I made a custom Hot Wheels version of my car, seen here cruisin' Miami 

I swapped out the factory stereo for an AWIA head with an auxiliary input for iPod then/iPhone now
(this was in fall of '04. Most factory stereos did not come with AUX input back then)
Interior is clean with a little wear and tear as this is my cargo vehicle too.

Gran Turismo 6 version of my xB

Here are some action shots of the virtual dead ringer for my car.

Courtesy of Gran Turismo 6

Time to change up the winter package:

My current winter steelies are starting to rust a fair bit.

So I bought a set of the optional EM-7 alloys on Ebay

($400 new, shipped) that I will plasti-dip white.

My next snow tires: General Altimax Arctics.

They're inexpensive and have very good reviews.
I got these for $59 each shipped.

Conclusion

A small criticism- it would be nice if 5th gear was taller so the revs wouldn't be so high when driving 70+. Only benefit of that is, that you never need to downshift to pass at freeway speeds.
The short wheelbase makes it more of a city car, than freeway cruiser. That said, it has been a good road trip car ( I've taken it out to North Dakota, Kansas, the Smokies, and South Carolina...)

I have nothing but good things to say about the quality of the car, and the job Toyota has done with this model. I've had a few expenses here and there, but all-in-all, excellent reliability.


Click here for my update post on this car.