Fuelly Forums - Owner of the Blue Box (2004 Scion xB)

Since I've been lurking at the edges on here for a while, I don't think of myself as a complete newcomer, but it's probably time to introduce myself and my car.

I'm 47, married, and the father of three. My oldest will be starting to drive this year and I think I'm impressing on him what a good thing fuel efficiency is.

Over the years I've owned and driven quite a number of different cars. The most recent before this one was a Chevrolet Lumina sedan. It actually got pretty good gas mileage for a car of its size but I promised myself that its replacement would absolutely have to get 30 mpg or better (among other characteristics).

The first time I ever saw a Scion xB was on the streets of San Diego in 2003 and its looks sort of shocked me. It was so very different that I almost didn't know what to make of it (good, bad, or otherwise). I began to look into this odd, boxy little car and grew to like what it offered.

By early 2004 I had decided that I was ready to buy one if my bicycle could be fit into the back without lowering either side of the rear seat, so my son and I went to the Cleveland Auto Show in February with a tape measure and some figures. After we sat in one and made the measurements we found that everything would work out and just had to wait for Scion to begin marketing in this part of the country. (Ohio dealers were not to have any until June, 2004).

In May, 2004 I was getting impatient and Scion xB's with manual transmissions were in short supply everywhere so I found that a dealer in Cranberry, PA had two dark blue ones with automatic transmissions. This dealer is just 2 miles from my brother's house, so I headed out there after work and bought mine.

This didn't start out as just a drive for maximum fuel economy, but I've always tracked my car expenses and after a while it became more fun to work on improving.