I originally posted this in the new member introduction section:
After driving the Soul a little over 500 miles I have noticed one thing: the Soul+ is not as refined as the new generation Scion Xb. It may be a very subjective observation. The Scion is slightly heavier, has a little more power and a longer wheelbase. One detail that popped up immediately is the higher door sill height on the soul. The interior room is pretty much the same with a bit more cargo area in the Xb. The Soul has a narrower rear hatch than the Xb. The Xb rides a lot smother than the Soul. I like the feel of the Xb's electric power steering. The Soul has a lot of features I wish were on the Xb (I don't know if Scion has added these to the 2010 models or not).
1. The hands free phone is great.
2. There is a mute button for the sound system on the steering wheel.
3. Ditto for the cruise control ( the Scion has the cruise control on a short stalk that moves with the steering wheel.
4. The Soul has a USB interface (the IPOD interface is much better on the Xb and the cable was included with the car). I have found that USB thumb drives work great in the Soul!
The MSRP on both vehicles are pretty much the same. So why did we buy the Soul instead of another Xb? Our Scion dealer asked the same question. The main reason was a $4300 trade in on our '94 Ford Ranger XL. That was the deal maker. We went to Nissan. They would only give us $1600 for the Ranger if we paid the balance in cash on a base Cube
Both the Soul and the Xb are of the same genre with the original Xb being the first of the kind. I feel that the Soul is definitely overall a better car the the 2006 and earlier Xb, especially in performance and safety. I know our Soul is getting a couple more MPG than the Xb. I enjoy driving both cars. There is enough difference to make the experience interesting. Our Xb has 50K miles on it. I will revisit this subject again after the Soul gets more mileage under its belt.
