A Review From the Driver's Seat of the 2004 Scion XA

It's cute and it's zippy, but the 2004 Scion xA has a few features that make it less than user friendly. The main problems in the design are a lack of good rear-view visibility and the inconvenience of several control panel buttons, mainly the radio and the mirror adjusters.

I bought a Scion several months ago feeling really great about the purchase. It has some nice safety features like side airbags and side panels that double as impact shock absorbers. The car gets 32 to 38 miles per gallon, and I totally dig the hatchback. However, in driving it over the last few months one of my frustrations has been the visibility.

Looking out the back window (which is small to begin with) is hampered by the back seat passengers' head rests. After several near-accident experiences, I opted to remove them completely, thereby eliminating two significant blind spots.

The side mirrors, I find, are a little bit too small. Even when they are properly adjusted, any change in slope and your visibility suffers. And adjusting the mirrors, especially while in motion, becomes an entirely different problem all together.

I'm a big advocate of people keeping their eyes on the road and only looking away when it's absolutely necessary. The buttons to adjust the angles of the mirrors make looking away necessary. They are located to the lower left of the steering wheel, just slightly on the underside of the dashboard. When the steering wheel is turned straight ahead you cannot see the buttons at all and have to duck down to find them. They are only visible when the steering wheel is turned left or right, and let's face it, should you be adjusting your mirrors in the middle of a turn?

I have a few beefs about the stereo as well.