2006 Scion tC: My First Impressions #TZJblog

So from an earlier post I made, I mentioned that my father hit me up one day (during work I do believe) and mentioned that he was looking at a Scion tC. He even went so far as to tell me in advance that he may have had to borrow some money from me to get it (which he hasn’t). From what I was told, it needed bodywork and the transmission looked at, as it slips going above 60mph. Then no more than a few minutes before writing this post, my father takes me to see it.

And I came to this: a white 2006 Scion tC. He bought the car for $1000, which considering the condition of the car, is a steal, precisely what my father likes (along with Japanese cars).

Looking around the car, it’s apparent that sprucing up the exterior of its many blemishes will take a bit of time and cash, but again, it seems to be well worth it.

My father has taken quite a bit of time off the next 2-3 weeks so he can really get the tC cleaned up. He bought the car from a co-worker of his who had the car sitting for quite some time. It actually has quite a bit life in it still, having about 125,500 miles on the odometer, only about 3,000 miles more than my own car and just under 10,000 miles more than my father’s current Escort ZX2.

With it being white, it won’t be such a pain in the rear to touch up, so we’re fortunate enough for that. The front bumper will need a little something to get it properly fitting again.

Under the hood, we have the 2.4L 2AZ-FE motor pushing 160HP @5,700rpm and 163 lb-ft of torque @4,000rpm from the factory. With that power combined with the tC’s relatively hefty weight at just under 3,000 lbs, it has a fuel economy of 20mpg city and 27 highway, with a fuel tank capacity of 14.5 US gallons, so it still has a pretty nice range of just around 400 miles in between refuels. It even beats my own Focus ZX3 in terms of range by just about 10 miles or so thanks to its larger tank. And it does have a 4-speed automatic.

Taking a look inside, you can see that the interior is still in great shape, with a few things just needing a really good cleaning. While the interior is nothing special in particular, it is nice and simple rather than ugly or complicated and overdone.

The rear seats are more than capable of seating 2 grown, fit adults. Whether it can do 3, I can’t say just yet. But on the inside, much like my own car, there’s a lot more interior room than the exterior of the car lets on, which is fantastic as always, especially when the tC has such high crash safety ratings. I’ve sat in the likes of the Dodge Challenger being only 5 foot and 10 inches tall to find that their interiors are not so spacious as their massive bodies would lead you to believe.

One thing with the interior that I found pretty neat is that it has not one, but two sunroofs: one for the front driver and passenger, and one for the rear passengers. Pretty convenient and worthy of appreciation if you ask me.

Opening the trunk, in the interior, you’ll find that it has no trunk release. Instead, you need to unlock the car and squeeze the rubber trunk release pad on the roof of the rear plate housing to get in there.

You’ll then find yourself opening a trunk hatch, which means fitting larger objects back there will be easier, and there is a decent amount of trunk space back there for most things such as boxes and bags. It’s very obvious that this car was designed for younger people when it skimps a bit on trunk space to further maximize interior space.

Getting behind the wheel, sitting down, you’re met with comfortable, supportive seating that should prove great for longer trips (when the transmission gets fixed). The instrument cluster isn’t your average, boring group of standard gauges. The steering wheel is light and thinner than your average steering wheel, but when steering, its directness and small diameter makes it feel great for about any size of hands, wth smaller hands having something to work with and allowing larger hands to have plenty of wheel to wrap its fingers around for extra grip. I forgot to take pictures, but the window sill sits higher than your average car’s, so it gives the illusion that you’re sitting lower to the ground and/or you’re driving a car with a chopped top/lowered roofline for added sportiness. Despite, this, visibility looking out was pretty alright still. The side mirrors are a bit on the smaller side, so as long as we drive the tC with attentiveness, the slightly compromised visibility won’t be a problem.

One thing I can definitely say about driving the tC is that not only does it handle nicely for its weight/size combo, it has the power to scoot through town. Putting it in reverse to back out of the driveway and putting it in drive to pull in to the driveway, I had to adapt to using less of my toes on the throttle to get it moving smoothly and slowly, as it’s very peppy. Giving it some spirited half-stomps, once it selects its gear, it pulls pretty nicely, so overtaking on the highway is nothing to be worried about (when it’s able to, later). As of current, it shakes a little at idle, so it’ll need a tune-up. Pressing on the brakes, despite the car needing new brakes as the car took longer than usual to make stops, I could tell that with fresh brakes there’s plenty of stopping power to be had with a progressive but strong brake pedal, unlike new cars nowadays where even the slightest press of the brake pedal practically sends your face into your steering wheel (which I’m not a fan of).

So to wrap up my thoughts of the car in a nutshell (compared to my father’s current Escort ZX2), it handles great and direct (ZX2, not so much), has adequate power for most situations (ZX2, again, not so much), has a pretty nicely put together and acceptably designed interior (ZX2’s is cheap and a bit ugly), and overall is a nice package capable of seating and transporting its driver and 3-4 passengers in comfort, while offering decent trunk space for bags or suitcases (ZX2 is ok by these regards, but the tC beats it out there, too).

I can say for certain that once it’s all fixed up, this tC will be a welcome replacement for my father’s ZX2 for the both of us. Sure, I’ll wish it was a 5-speed manual at points given what it comes with, but honestly, even in automatic form, it moves. And if you’re looking for a tC as a first car or replacement for a crappy car you may own, it’s a solid choice.