Good morning! Today we’re looking at a couple of cars that at least some of you might actually want to buy. Think of it as a mid-week palate cleanser, a sorbet of halfway decent options between absolute crap.
And yes, I fully admit that yesterday‘s options were pretty much crap. I’d rock the Cobalt, but it certainly wouldn’t be my first choice of small FWD stickshift coupe (that would be an old Geo Storm) or my second (a Ford ZX2). I don’t know how many of the votes for the Cobalt were under duress, or for the lesser of two evils, but it took home a solid win.
And frankly, the less said about that Mustang, the better. I just found it interesting enough to write about, but there’s no way in hell I’d actually spend money on it. Forty-two percent of you seemed to like it, though, and as far as I’m concerned, you can have it.
So let’s move on. Today’s choices are the same basic idea, separated by a decade or so of development. Neither one is in pristine shape, and they are closing in on half a million miles between them, but the prices are decent, and either one should have some life left in it. Let’s check them out.
1992 Mitsubishi Expo LRV – $2,700
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Riverbank, CA
Odometer reading: 219,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
It’s hard to believe, looking at their lineup now, but once upon a time, Mitsubishi used to be prolific. In 1992, it offered two economy cars, a midsized sedan, a luxury sedan, two sports cars, an SUV, a pickup truck – and two similar but different little wagony things. There was the Expo, a five-door wagon with traditional rear doors, and the Expo LRV, a smaller version with a sliding door on the passenger’s side.
The LRV is powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder of no particular distinction. It’s just a power source, better than some, not as good as others. This one has a five-speed manual, at least, but that doesn’t make it fun, exactly. It is durable, though; this car has well over 200,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs great. And it’s not the only Expo I’ve seen with that many miles.
Someone has visited a terrible crime upon this particular LRV, however: it left the factory in teal, the unofficial car color of the early ’90s. It has since been painted in this matte gray, which isn’t unattractive, exactly, but I think covering up teal on a 1992 model-year car violates some automotive statute. Or at least, it should. At least they haven’t messed with the Funfetti upholstery.
It also has two big-ass subwoofers taking up cargo space in the rear, and I have a suspicion the “new stainless muffler” mentioned in the ad may make a bit more noise than one would like, but there’s always some previous-owner stuff you need to undo on a used car.
2005 Scion xB – $2,950
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Odometer reading: 231,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Little wagony things fell out of favor for quite a while, but then in the mid-2000s a whole bunch of them hit the market. This car was one of two sold by Scion, Toyota’s short-lived youth-oriented brand. The xA was actually more of a hatchbacky thing than a wagony thing, but the boxy xB, sold in Japan as the Toyota bB, could only be described as a wagon. Toyota’s marketing backfired a bit; instead of young buyers, the xB found favor with elderly drivers, much like Kia’s Soul. It was also voted “Best Car To Eat Messy Food In” by two guys in hazmat suits.
The xB is mechanically similar to Toyota’s Yaris subcompact, with the same little 1.5 liter engine, in this case backed by a five-speed manual. Toyotas are well-known for their ability to pile on the miles, and this one is no exception: its odometer reads 231,000. It runs great, has a new clutch, and just passed a smog inspection.
Inside, it’s holding up pretty well, but if one of these can survive being coated in soup and calzone filling, normal usage shouldn’t present a problem, I suppose. The air conditioning works, the seller says, which is not always the case with cars this cheap.
It looks all right outside, too. The paint is a little dull, and I personally am not fond of the black wheels, but the trim below the rear bumper is intact, unlike half the xBs I see on the road. I don’t know why, but most of them are missing that trim, or worse, missing half of it.
A lot of the cars we look at here are specialty vehicles, the sort of thing that would be fine as a weekend toy, but you can’t really call them useful. Not these two. Little wagony things are about as practical as cars can get, and when they’re reliable and efficient too, they could easily be your main – or only – car. Which one would you drive off in?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
Scion, both because I’m a 40-something who likes the style, and because of the grey paint over teal travesty of the Mitsu. Totally should be a crime.
I’ve never been fond of the xB (nor the later xD for that matter), but it’s criminal what the previous owner(s) did to the LRV.
Teal + funfetti is the 90s combo I’d crave for, but this isn’t it and I don’t feel spendy enough to undo the cheap gray re-spray on a $2.7K car. You know, I already need to look for an OEM steering wheel and shifter knob but that’s as far as I’d go.
So I guess xB for me
Well, this is easy: since I hate the Scion cube, will take the Mitsu”bitch”i, and be happy
Yes, the rational choice is Yoda, but it’s ugly in my opinion, and PUT THE FUCKING SPEEDOMETER STRAIGHT IN FRONT OF THE WHEEL!
Old Yoda for the win! It’s great!
A friend of mine had an xB (with an automatic). I drove it around town a couple of times to help her and her husband out. Never took it for a long drive on the freeway, so I don’t know if it’s something in which I could spend 12 or even two hours behind the helm.
But around town, it was pretty entertaining! It felt like a low-powered go kart with a roof and two rows of seats. It felt very chuckable, but since it was a friend’s car, I didn’t really explore its limits of adhesion or anything like that.
Its competitor (or at least I thought so) was the Nissan Cube. It had some interesting styling in the rear. I never drove one, but I like Toyotas more than Nissans.
I owned an ’84 Tercel 4X4 and it was a simple but very competent little car. Loud as hell on the virtually cobblestone freeways around Seattle when I owned it, but unstoppable in the snow.
Most of the freeways around here have been repaved and it hardly ever snows here anymore so…
I have owned (and currently own) a couple of Hondas and if a nice Civic Wagovan had been available at the time, that would’ve been my choice.
Anyway, the xB is an easy choice.
The xB is just my car wearing a funny cuboid hat, and a manual to boot. Easy choice, especially with the fun paint on the Mitsubishi (faded/burnt as it may have been) covered up.
That Colt was such a clever package, but the xB is a far better vehicle, even though I never liked them.
They made the xB with a manual?? I was already solidly on team xB but the manual makes it a no brainer.
This is an impressive illustration of how sometimes the parameters don’t matter. Two functionally identical vehicles (WRT body-style, size, equipment, location and mileage) but like nearly 90% of us, the minute I saw the xB I scrolled down to mash that vote button.
This is the most lopsided “fair” contest I’ve seen here, and it’s fascinating.
Let me explain myself: it is not that I liked the Mustang (I did not), but the Cobalt was too fucking yellow.
Having let that out of my chest, I really like Expos, but the subwoofers and exhaust suggest that the matte painting was not the only stupid decision the owner made. Sad no.
This leaves the xB. At least I can impersonate one of my favorite writers (no, I’m not talking about 105 years old Juan Filloy).
The LRV would be interesting if it was a top trim – I think they had about 130 hp and a 5-speed – but Scion xBs are nearly indestructible.
Xb, painted red and black to match my Flex
hands down, the xB is the only possible choice here.
keep up regular maintenance and it’ll easily last for the next 200,000 mi.
the modular nature of the brand means that things are cheap and easy to fix and parts still easy to find.
No contest, xB all the way.
Buy the Scion and paint it teal to restore some balance to the universe.
Yeah, this isn’t really a contest. Those xBs are bulletproof, and low-key cool. One in that good of condition, that cheap makes me suspicious, but there’d have to be a lot wrong with it to not be worth buying. Predicting a massive win for the Scion today.
Newer model xB long term owner here. Old xB wins this for me.
Engine area looks spotless, a good sign. Engine is Toyota so runs well, forever.
Parts, factory and aftermarket are everywhere. Good dealer support.
Newer, and has air bags.
For the extra $250 it’s an easy decision.
What am I missing, and why is the xB so ‘cheap’?
It’s a Yaris, but fun-styled AND with more space, so it’ll drive to the ends of the earth along with cockroaches and Corollas.
I wish ‘I would rather walk” was an option. I choose the LRV because is cheaper.
‘I would rather walk”
You must not live in LA.
Nope. Not on my top 100 places to live. Both are terribad in my view. I can get a better ride.
For that price?
Better in the sense one I like. Both of them make me go “ewww”. One example in my area https://nh.craigslist.org/ctd/d/hillsborough-2003-toyota-camry-nice-car/7770751336.html
To each their own. I’d take the Scion over the Mitsubishi as its going to be the safer, more reliable, more economical and roomier option but I’d have no problem with a rust free version of that Camry. Hell at those prices why not both Toyotas?
Ook. This scratches the monkey brain and activates neuron. Grey shitbox vs grey shitbox.
The xB sounds more fun, even if I irrationally hate the “box” design. It’s dorky-cute. The buttons are so perfectly Y2K, it’s making me want to stay up for Adult Swim again.
The weird little Mitsu seems fun but I bet finding parts for it these days would be a pain, and if I picked up one of these it’d be so I had a cheap easy run around town car, not something I want to spend hours watching eBay for an vacuum hose.
This is a lead pipe cinch. Scion all the way. That Mitsubishi has been ruined. It’ll be a bitch to find parts for too.
“bitch to find parts”=Mitsu”bitch”i
I’ve thought these were cool since the day they came out. Practical size, economy, probably a ton of vintage customization bits you can find, Yota reliability.
I’m gonna go dig my Minidisc player out of the closet and hook it up to the AUX in the Scion.
xB, no brainer. They sound uber durable based on the article from the guy that bought the Torch/Autopian one. Plus we know you can leave one at a large Detroit auto plant and no one will bother it.
I rallycrossed it on the 20th and got 2nd in the fwd class. A built XJ destroyed their front suspension and a H3 blew out all their side curtain airbags on the same course, but the rallyxB handled it like a champ. Needless to say, this xB gets my vote.