I am looking at the Scion Xb and Xd but understand they are both going to be discontinued. As I usually keep a car 6-8 years does it make sense to buy a car that is being discontinued? Will I have problems getting parts in the future?
Thank you for any advice.
With these cars it is probably an advantage, in that the price will likely be lower. I would expect Toyota to provide parts for these cars for many years to come and would not expect problems in the future.
I’d have no trouble buying a discontinued model from an ongoing Toyota brand, you’ll be able to maintain/repair it for many years to come. This is different than buying, say, a Saab, which doesn’t exist as a company any more.
We still can get repairs and parts on a 03 discontinued Windstar, basically even if the model continues on, that does not mean parts are interchangeable.
Go ahead and get the vehicle ,it will probaly run its normal span without any major problems ,body panels can be repaired,used to watch the old Corollas and B210s running around here,with 300K on them,werent much of a body left-but the things still ran reliably.Out of date vehicles arent that much of a problem-Kevin
Every automobile eventually becomes a discontinued model. My first car was a 1947 Pontiac that I bought in 1962. The body was completely different and the engine was completely different. Pontiac had discontinued the inline 6 and 8 in 1954. How about a 1949 Ford? By 1954, both the flat head V-8 and flat head 6 were gone.
I wouldn’t be worried at all about buying a Scion XB.
@Triedaq “I wouldn’t be worried at all about buying a Scion XB.”
Except that it sure is an ugly little thing…
The only thing wrong with a Scion is that it’s a Scion…Drive one before you plunk your money down…
They are both closely related to Toyota models that have been around for generations and aren’t being discontinued. Parts should be readily available and cheap, not to mention that these are straightforward, reliable cars. This is very different from buying a Saab.
I’m sure that Toyota will provide parts for Scions for many years. If you like either toaster after a test drive, buy it.
Mechanically, I doubt if you could tell either one of these models from a Corolla. The motors of each, the 1.8 and the 2.4 are lifted directly fom the standard Toyota motor parts bin and there should be little other then body panels that differ from anything they will continue to make for years to come. I would be surprised if just about every other mechanical component wasn’t lifted from the Corolla or some other Toyota brand model either.
The model T and model A Fords were discontinued many years ago. I still see them on the road from time to time so I would have no hesitation in buying a discontinued vehicle. At least your neighbors won’t have one like it.
Ha! Most of the cars I’ve owned in my lifetime were purchased used, well after the particular model was not being made any more, or had undergone a redesign. I never have had any problem finding parts, and many of them have needed a lot of parts… Of course if you insist on owning a Peugeot or Renault, your experiences may be different…
When Studebaker stopped making cars, back in the mid-60s, many folks worried about parts availability.
Well, believe it or not, there are still some genuine Studebaker NOS parts available, in addition to aftermarket parts for these cars. Obviously, the supply of NOS parts for Studes gets smaller every year, but there are still even NOS fenders and some other body parts available from specialty suppliers–if you search for them.
Instead of the Japanese management style of “just in time” parts delivery, apparently Studebaker had a policy of building up huge stockpiles of parts, and since their mechanical designs changed little over their last 20-25 years, this allowed for very good parts availability in later years. Of course, this type of stockpiling of parts was probably one of the corporate policies that led to Studebaker’s downfall, but it has been a boon to Stude owners several decades after the marque disappeared.
All of that being said, it is highly unlikely that any modern mfrs will leave as big a supply of parts as Studebaker did, but I doubt if a discontinued model from Toyota would be problematic for parts supply several years from now. If you buy a Saab, you may be taking a big chance on parts availability 5 years from now, but…with a Toyota? Not likely that you would have a problem.
I was still able to easily and cheaply get any part I wanted for my '89 Toyota 18 years later. You can buy an xB or xD with complete confidence that you’ll be able to easily get parts for many, many years to come.
The only thing you won’t be able to get is the Haynes or Chilton’s manuals. They never upt them out for Scions. However, keep the following links handy and you’ll be able to find any technical data you want.
http://tijil.org/Scion_Docs/05_tC_Shop_Manuals
http://tijil.org/Scion_Docs/Scion_06_misc_docs/
“This is different than buying, say, a Saab, which doesn’t exist as a company any more.”
I was watching Top Gear last night and there was a segment on the demise of Saab. Jeremy Clarkson said that someone will (not might) start building parts for Saabs. And that’s a good thing, because there are apparently a lot less GM parts in late model Saabs than you might expect. Saab never used more than 1/3 GM parts in their cars. That’s probably the biggest reason why they never could make money.