2006 Scion tC Test Drive

Scion Nails Young-Buyer Bull's Eye

What Target is to discount shopping, the Scion tC is to entry-level coupes: sleek design, loads of features and a level of quality unexpected for the price.

Exterior

The tC looks nothing like the stubby Scion xA hatchback or the boxy Scion xB wagon. Its slab-sided shape is distinctly modern, if not progressive. Elements of luxury vehicles lurk in the details. There are hints of BMW in the headlamps and C-pillar design, and the protruding grill looks like something from a Volvo.

This is not to imply that the tC is a messy hodgepodge of luxury car cues tacked on to a hatchback body. In fact, its looks elicited a deluge of positive response while road testing in the New York metro area, especially from the young early adopters that Scion is so eager to lure into showrooms.