Most of the time, Regular Car Reviews only checks out older models with rust holes and quirks that allow him to make potty jokes. The only exceptions are Mustangs, Camaros, and other typically American ponies.
But the Scion iA has plenty of weird qualities, from its conception to the brand it used to belong to. And since it's a subcompact, you can also call it slow and joyless without anybody batting an eye.
As the story goes, Toyota and Mazda signed a partnership a couple of years back. Part of the agreement was for the then all-new Mazda2 sedan to be shipped from Mexico to the States as the Scion iA.
The Scion brand has been discontinued this year because the millennial generation which it was aimed at never cared about cars that much. The only thing they got right was the FR-S, but that's a $25,000 coupe, which is hard to justify for somebody still struggling with his Pokemon Go account.
So you could say the iA sedan makes a lot more sense as it's about $16,000 when new. Many reviews have said not to buy a brand new subcompact until you've tried this one, and they are right.
Even Regular Cars guy admits that the interior is pretty nice for what it is, and that it puts some Scions to shame. But he also makes an interesting point about Toyota getting lazy, allowing others to do the work for them like Chrysler did in the old days.
The part that's not fantastic about the Scion iA and the Yaris iA that subsequently replaced it for the 2017 model year is the drivetrain package. Something wrong must have happened, because when I drove the 5-door with a mere 1.5-liter engine, it was like subcompact version of the MX-5, pure joy on wheels. Meanwhile, the sedan is supposed to be dull and lifeless in your hands.
That must have something to do with the 42 mpg highway this sedan gets. It's a shame, because, with a standard short-shift manual, it could have been a frisky little thing. Remember, the MX-5 is actually sold in Japan with a 1.5-liter, though one that makes 130 horsepower.
Like many of Scion's projects, the iA suffers from the ugly face syndrome. Many people with they could just buy the Mazda version the way it was supposed to look from the start. You can buy the JDM badges for it on Amazon for a couple of bucks, but the bumper is an entirely different issue.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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