“Don’t it always seem to go,” sang Joni Mitchell, “that you don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone?” Indeed. Looking back at the cars available twenty years ago compared to what’s available now makes you realize just how good we had it. Gone are the small cars, the simple trucks, the affordable two-door coupes—and the friendly, characterful little wagony things. And we’re worse off for it.
Those twenty years were not kind to some cars, like the cheap SUVs we looked at yesterday. From the sound of it, a lot of you liked the Dodge Durango in theory, as a V8-powered beast of burden, but the rust on that particular example scared you off. The much cleaner Mazda Tribute took an easy win.
I think that’s the right call. Realistically, both of these are best suited as sacrificial cars, bought only to spare some other, nicer car the ravages of winter. Run them in the snow for a couple of seasons until the rust gets too bad, and then send them off to the great used car lot in the sky. And for that purpose, the Mazda is the one I would volunteer as, um, tribute.
It’s hard to predict what’s going to become a cult classic. Some things just don’t catch on at first because they’re too weird, but then become better understood and admired as time goes on, like Twin Peaks. Others are a complete flop because they’re terrible, but their terribleness ages well and they gain fans despite (or because of) it, like Xanadu. If there’s a car equivalent to Xanadu, it’s probably the Chevy Vega or the Yugo; they have a couple of redeeming features (the Vega’s styling, the Yugo’s rev-happy engine, Electric Light Orchestra), but overall, they just don’t really work all that well. And yet, their fans adore them. The cars we’re going to look at today are more like Twin Peaks; you may not have gotten them back then, but now you look at them, and it all makes sense. Kinda. Let’s take a look.
2005 Scion xB – $4,499
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5 liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 198,000 miles
Operational status: I’m going to assume it runs and drives fine
It’s hard to create a youth-oriented brand. Get it right, and you get Red Bull. Get it wrong, and you get Steve Buscemi holding a skateboard. Toyota’s Scion brand wasn’t quite wearing a “Music Band” T-shirt, but it didn’t send throngs of young folks flocking into dealerships, either. Its most well-known model, the rectilinear xB, based on the Japanese-market Toyota bB, found more buyers among older folks than it did among first-time car buyers.
As is common among imports to America, we only got the larger of two engine options here, a 1.5 liter four making 108 horsepower. Japanese buyers could also choose a smaller 1.3 liter version of the same engine. Japanese buyers were stuck with automatic transmissions; here in the US, the Scion xB was available with a five-speed stick, but the majority of them, including this one, are automatics. It’s just shy of 200,000 miles, but we all know Toyota’s reputation for building engines that last. Sadly, the dealership selling it couldn’t be bothered to actually mention anything about its mechanical condition, only its features. Seriously, guys, how hard is it to type “Runs Good?”
One thing I never really liked about the Scion models was the center gauge arrangement. Toyota did the same thing on the Echo and Yaris, and it just feels awkward to me. I suppose you’d get used to it after a while, though. It’s in really good condition inside, but we all know how stain-resistant these things are. It’s shockingly hard to mess one up.
Outside, it’s that pewter color that so many of these were, but it’s nice and shiny at least. And it still has the lower valance on the rear bumper, which is often missing. It has hubcaps on one side, but not the other. It reminds me of a Bronco II that an ex-girlfriend owned; it had pinstripes on the driver’s side, but not the passenger’s. Hey, you can only see one side at a time, right? If it were me, I’d just ditch the hubcaps on the other side. These look pretty good on plain black steelies.
2005 Honda Element EX – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.4 liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Odometer reading: 200,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Hey, so, I know we already make a compact crossover SUV, but we’re gonna make another one. Except this one will have weird doors, and the rear seats will sit about a foot higher than the front. Oh, and it will look like it’s waterproof inside, but it won’t be, really. And it’s going to look like one of those Rubbermaid storage tubs you keep your Christmas decorations in. Doesn’t that sound cool?
The Element actually makes a lot of sense in practice. It uses the same basic platform as Honda’s CR-V, with a 2.4-liter K-series engine and available “Real Time” all-wheel-drive, which this one has. You could get it with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic; this one has an automatic. It runs and drives great, according to the seller, and has just completed a cross-country road trip.
Even if you can’t actually hose it out, the Element’s interior is pretty tough. A friend of mine had one for years, and the only thing he couldn’t clean out of the interior was some glitter his niece spilled in the back. Damn thing had a sparkly back seat from that point forward. This one looks good inside, no glitter to be seen, and the seller says the air conditioning works great.
Based on the photos of the interior, I think this Element used to be orange, not silver. The door sills still are. It’s a shame, because that “spicy orange” color was one of the best colors of the mid-2000s. It looks OK in silver, I guess. At least it’s shiny where it’s supposed to be shiny.
I suppose, technically, there are plenty of cars like these around these days, smallish two-box wagony things with tall seating positions, but they just aren’t as charming as these are. I know a lot of you are going to say these are both overpriced, but the fact is that both of these cars are still in demand, and I bet both of them sell. But what about you? Which one are you willing to spend the money on?
“I like square butts and I cannot lie . . .
… So your girlfriend rolls a Honda, playin’ workout tapes by Fonda
But Fonda ain’t got a motor in the back of her Honda’
As has been mentioned, the Honda looks to be a shady listing. I’m taking the Scion.
The Element listing is very fishy. The interior shots seem to show an LX, not an EX. A reverse image search finds the same interior shots in a listing for a 2003 in CA. I’m highly suspicious that they would repaint from orange to silver without painting the jams, that would stand out like a sore thumb with the large panel gaps. Also, AWD badging is missing.
I just went through this exact lineup a month ago looking for a new commuter beater. I didn’t end up going with either an xB or an Element, but I looked at both but couldn’t find one in good enough shape and low enough mileage for my limited price bracket.
For the cars above, I voted Scion simply because the Element might be hiding a crash history under that silver paint (or wrap).