2008 Scion tC Reviews

Nothing that I care about has gone wrong.

A few very nit-picking things:

My seat belt buckle squeaks sometimes.

The sunroof rattles a little when opened on bumpy roads.

Very reliable, looks good, handles well, and is comfortable on 1,500 mile road trips with me as the only driver, driving straight through. Love the sunroof.

Not as "racey" feeling as its competitors, but the torquey engine has always had more power than I've needed, and I almost never have to rev over 4,000 RPM. I can pass most people with just a little pressure on the pedal. It can get down and go when I want it to.

Stereo isn't custom quality sound, but with a little fiddling, it sounds about as good as anyone can expect a factory stereo to sound. I, unlike many reviews I read, am impressed with the output of the tiny 6" factory sub that takes no trunk space away. I would like a little more tune-ability. The speakers can put out a lot sound, but I am pretty picky about what frequencies I hear.

Seat can feel a little weird at times, but like I said, I've spent 10 hours straight in that driver's seat, and felt fine at the end of the day.

It handles well. It doesn't have that nimble, playful kind of feel to it, but it sticks well, responds how you would expect, lets you know what's going on, and feels pretty well balanced for a front wheel drive car.

Oil changes are easy to do, and that is pretty much all you have to do on this car. 40,000 feels, sounds and looks exactly like 20,000 miles. I expect big things with the Camry drive train in it.

I think my only complaint is the torque converter. I guess Toyota wanted the tC to feel sporty, so it feels like it has a slightly higher stall torque converter. You start to ease on the gas pedal, and after a second, all of the sudden, wham, you lurch forward. Driving style can be adjusted to it, but still, every so often, I slip up and look like I'm learning to drive a stick or play boy racer.

The stock clutch went out at 15,000 miles. And according to the dealer, it should last 50,000 miles or more. I took in into the dealer and had it replaced, and it cost $1500 dollars. The clutch is a wear and tear item, so driving habits reflect the damage to the clutch, but after having the clutch replaced, I took the old clutch to my personal mechanic to see what really happened; was it me or was there a fault with the car? Two different mechanics said it had to be some fault with the car. After already having the issue fixed, I didn't really think about trying to figure it out.

Sitting at 30,000 miles on the car, the clutch went out last night! Wow, we all knew that was coming.

I have been driving manual trans for a while, my old Mazda I put 45,000 miles on it before the clutch went out, but driving the Toyota has overall been a bad experience!

Recommendation -- don't buy a Scion tC, and if you do, make sure it's got an auto transmission.