Scion tC - What are your thoughts?

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ZeeSpeed
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Post by ZeeSpeed » 25 Jan 2008, 10:53 am

I have seen a 2005 Scion tC (by Toyota) for sale in Dubai for 50k AED. Its a manual too :) For those of you who don't know what it is please check it out on http://www.scion.com

I haven't seen any others at all in the UAE. What are your thoughts on this car? It is powered by the same 2AZ engine found in the humble Camry, but there are absolutely tons of tuning parts available off the shelf in the USA from HKS Exhausts, body kits that are mild to completelywild to GReddy bolt on Turbo kits!

I know out of the box this car is still no match compared to a DC5 Integra/RSX but its a rare sight on the roads in the UAE.

Is it worth going for? I'd love to have a car that is very exclusive in this country and at the same time it is a Toyota still!

Also would I have trouble selling this car on here? How much should I be looking to pay? And also I haven't driven a manual in Dubai yet, is it really that big a deal people here make it out to be? I enjoy driving so want to change gears my self and my daily commute to work is usually traffic free. To put it into perspective i have regulallry driven in very bad traffic in London so am used to stop start driving in a manual??

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TNT
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Post by TNT » 25 Jan 2008, 12:44 pm

I've seen a Scion tC here on the roads before.
It is a pretty nice car, really famous among the Y-Gen in the US because of its availability of customisation parts and because at the end of the day, it is a cheap and reliable Toyota.
I'm not sure if its worth going for, depends on the availability of spare parts (apart from the engine) which I guess is zero. And yes, you will eventually have trouble selling this car here.
I have no idea about how much you should pay, I got a US price quote online for a 2005 manual tC and it came upto 44k AED.
If you've driven a manual in bad London traffic, I guess you are pretty much prepared to drive here.
If I was you, I would rather look for something else.

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prossett
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Post by prossett » 25 Jan 2008, 1:27 pm

One check would be to pretend you need parts and see how easy it is to get them here, and how much they cost.

Let's say - brake pads and rotors, radiator and rear left light cluster. Try phone the Toyota dealer and a couple of parts dealers.

See if they have them in stock, see if the prices are reasonable.

If Al Futtaim says they won't support it, and the parts shops don't have the parts, then you know that you will have to order everything on the Internet, and that means cost and time problems.

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Post by ZeeSpeed » 25 Jan 2008, 5:49 pm

Hi Guys,

I''ve seen another one for sale in Abu Shagara, Sharjah. This one has a 'pre-serious negotiation' asking price of 40K. Its 2005, dark red, manual and get this only 415 miles on the clock. It even has a new car smell inside.


The dealer was honest enough to tel lme that the headlight and fender had been changed and I haven't yet check the history yet on Carfax.

Maybe the dealer has had serious problems in finding a buyer due to reasons you guy's have talked about.

Parts availability I think will always be an issue in the UAE with performance cars whether its for an AE86, ST205 or a Scion Tc. Chances are that Al Futtaim won't support the parts & local parts shops wont have anything laying on the shelves.

There can't be anything else better value at approximately 35k ???

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prossett
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Post by prossett » 25 Jan 2008, 6:37 pm

Specs are looking good:

2.4 liter with VVT-i producing 160 HP at 5700 rpm and 160 lb-ft torque at 4000 rpm with almost 1400 kg kerb weight.

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Post by masabgt » 26 Jan 2008, 2:29 am

As for engine parts there is no problem because Scion Tc's uses 2AZ-FE engine which is also used in 'most popular' Camry (Y)

Ya as for other accessories, might have to do some out sourcing :wink:

Just my 2 cent

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Tamu
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Post by Tamu » 26 Jan 2008, 6:30 am

i agree with masabgt..
if its running on the same engine as camry then you got no problem in parts :) ...

its a really nice car, and in the that part of the world its pretty rare. i dont see any reason why you shouldnt buy it.

However if ur thinking of letting it go after a while then its better u dont buy it.
since there arent to many of them and probably 60% of the population doesnt even no what scion is, so it will be hard to sell....

maybe you should look at some other cars in ur budget. Check in the for sale section, ahmed.vtec i selling some really nice cars which where just bought in from america...

if ur willing to spend 50k on the scion, then i am sure within that budget you can get something really nice

good luck n let us no how it goes

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FQ400
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Post by FQ400 » 26 Jan 2008, 8:26 pm

@zeespeed...

You have almost all the info..I dont see any room for confusions.. :)

I think ive seen the Tc that you spotted in AbuShagara..Its a pretty nice car but I think it shouldnt cost more than 35-36K!
Dont ever believe the dealers in Shagara when it comes to mileage, 90% of the cars have tampered Odos!

There's also a pretty nice Altezza/IS300 lying around in Shagara, you might want to see that as well...Its a MUCH better car and shouldnt feel the need to arrange lots of $$ for that.

Like you mentioned, the Tc isnt very quick out of the box, but I dont think it would be a very nice option for modifications either. Its not very sweet when it comes to handling, and say something around 350 Nm of tq. would mean lots of irritating torque-steer.
The only good things about the car are the good looks, and rarity in our part of the world.
Basically its one of those All Show - Less Go cars!:)
If you're looking for an adventurous project..you might like to buy the TC...

BOTTOMLINE: I'd rather go for something else! :wink:

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Post by ZeeSpeed » 27 Jan 2008, 5:50 pm

OK, I agree with you its all show/no go but then again there aren't many decent japanese performance machines officially available in the UAE; Evo, S2000, 350Z...

For practicality i'd have to dismiss the 350Z & S2000 although I think they are great cars... and as for Evo IX, i'd happily part my cash for one if it was in good condition and had a mature owner not someone who reckons a few mods will give 400Bhp!

I ran a car fax report on a IS300 i saw a while back in Shaggara, US Spec, salvage title... and i guess a lot of them there are non chassis damaged salvage-title cars. The Scion however came back clean and the details on the Carfax didn't suggest any anomalies...

I did spot an old pathan dealer with his own personal 1990 Corolla SR5 Coupe... he's after 7k for it, 8 months registration left, maybe that would be a good base to start from a do a 4AGZE conversion!

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FQ400
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Post by FQ400 » 28 Jan 2008, 7:11 pm

The EVO 9 again is one helluva car if you can afford to buy one in good nick and maintain it...

Corolla with 4AGZE...hmm...hot stuff!

best of luck (Y)

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GTtwinCam
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Post by GTtwinCam » 28 Jan 2008, 8:16 pm

ZeeSpeed wrote:I did spot an old pathan dealer with his own personal 1990 Corolla SR5 Coupe... he's after 7k for it, 8 months registration left, maybe that would be a good base to start from a do a 4AGZE conversion!
That ae92 is one tough car, but if you really want to do a 4AGZE conversion I'd prefer you get a later model such as an ae101 hatch or the normal saloon.

There are a lot of original ae101 corolla GTs and Levins with 4AGE 20v standing at the Aweer used car merket but all JDM, the levin might be a problem but a Corolla GT converted to LHD wont be a problem to register and insure as long as the conversion is done professionally and isnt noticable.

Or try to trace a ae120(2001-2007) USDM Corolla S, not the one with 1ZZ-FE(1.8L 135~145 bhp), but the one with 2ZZ-GE (1.8L 191bhp 6-speed manual). But again this car is very rare and tracing the spare parts will be a problem as this engine didn't come in any GCC specs car.

Or as @FQ400 suggested, go check out the Altezza...

ZeeSpeed
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Post by ZeeSpeed » 29 Jan 2008, 1:36 pm

GTtwinCam wrote:
There are a lot of original ae101 corolla GTs and Levins with 4AGE 20v standing at the Aweer used car merket but all JDM, the levin might be a problem but a Corolla GT converted to LHD wont be a problem to register and insure as long as the conversion is done professionally and isnt noticable.

Or try to trace a ae120(2001-2007) USDM Corolla S, not the one with 1ZZ-FE(1.8L 135~145 bhp), but the one with 2ZZ-GE (1.8L 191bhp 6-speed manual). But again this car is very rare and tracing the spare parts will be a problem as this engine didn't come in any GCC specs car.

Or as @FQ400 suggested, go check out the Altezza...
Are you sure I could register a AE101 Corolla GT ?? I'm sure LHD conversions are not allowed!!!!! How can they be approved for a corolla?

With Regards to the US Corolla you mentioned, the car is actually Corolla XRS with around 160bhp. The 2ZZ is actually tuned slightly differently to the Celica and European T-Sport models...

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GTtwinCam
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Post by GTtwinCam » 29 Jan 2008, 7:59 pm

ZeeSpeed wrote: Are you sure I could register a AE101 Corolla GT ?? I'm sure LHD conversions are not allowed!!!!! How can they be approved for a corolla?
Hmm...gimme a day and I'll confirm it from a friend who imports JDM cars...

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FQ400
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Post by FQ400 » 30 Jan 2008, 7:11 pm

@GTTwincam..

I heard that LHD converted cars wont be registered from Jan 08 onwards!...true yea? :D

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FQ400
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Post by FQ400 » 30 Jan 2008, 7:13 pm

@zeespeed..

Bro..the US rolla XRS GTtwincam is talking about came with somewhere around 180 horses and a 6 speed shifter...I'm pretty sure... :)

but these cars are VERY hard to locate..



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