2008 Scion xB: What Makes A Wagon?

It's a wagon, most "hatchbacks" are wagons, the owners just don't like the label wagon. Just like a crossover is a jacked up wagon, a hatchback is a smaller wagon with rounded edges. The Tibby is a 2dr hatchback, the Mazda6 5-door is a hatchback, the Mazda 3 HB is a WAGON.

cx7lover hit the nail on the head. The SUV was popularized by people who "wouldn't be caught dead in a minivan or station wagon." As such, when something like the xB is thought of as cool, surely it can't be a wagon.

The way I see it, any SUV that never goes of road or tows anything should be considered a station wagon.

All i can see is that the gauges are in the wrong place.

I see it as ugly and regressive from the first generation. I guess Edmunds doesn't have a specific category for that.

Since the xB lacks a D-pillar, I call it a hatchback. Though there are some manufacturers that try to call their 4-pillared cars hatchbacks, to me the addition of a window aft of the rear doors makes for a wagon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:02-03_Hyundai_Elantra_GT_hatch.jpg

clarkma5, wagon?

To me, it's only a wagon if all the side windows are about the same length. The previous Impreza, Protege5, Elantra... not wagons to me. Hatchbacks, just like the xB.

If you look at the Volvo V50, it's got a 3rd side window at least as long as the front side windows. Wagon.

I'm not sure what to say about SUV vs. car - GM's new crossovers make me wonder. I usually look at the wheels to decide.

I see a clown car.

An ugly clown car.

An ugly clown car with the instruments in the wrong place.

Both the Mazda 3 and the Protege5 to my mind are hatchbacks. Wagons have to have a rather upright rear door, much like the Kia Rio5.

But I don't really know, nor I really care what they're labeled. I didn't live in the time of gigantic wagons (the Caprice/Roadmaster/Olds 88 was the last gasp).

When I hear wagon, I visualize Subaru Outback, Volvo V70, Audi A6, MB E320. When I hear hatchback, I visualize Mini, Protoge5, Mazda 3, Vibe/Matrix, xB, etc.

Can I make generalizations about them? Yes. Wagons are based on larger cars. Hatchbacks are on smaller cars. So some SUVs hold some wagon/hatchback characteristics? Yes.

There was a time where you could point to an SUV and say, "That's an SUV." But now: "That is a SUV wanting to be a crossover but blends in characteristics of a minivan, SUV, wagon, and sedan all into one." Crossovers are now mutts.

The purebreds are dying every day. What is a Ridgeline? It kinda looks like a truck, but it's based on a minivan frame and it has a lockable trunk like a car and it has all wheel drive like an SUV.

One vehicle that could be a wagon is the Ford Taurus X. It shares its name with a sedan. It's based off of a sedan. Its interior is almost identical with the sedan's. It has an extra row of seats like a sedan-based wagon (reference Caprice). But nooooo....its a crossover. Who knows why.

Is the xB a wagon? Not to me. It's a small hatchback.

Agreed with altimadude - this is a hatchback. If the xB's a wagon, then the Fit is a wagon, too...and I'm not quite ready to make that leap.

clarkma5 has it right. The offical definition of a wagon (or at least the accepted definition until recently) was the side window behind the rear door.

Think 4 door Golf (hatchback) vs Jetta wagon.

"Think 4 door Golf (hatchback) vs Jetta wagon."

This is exactly the example I was going to use.

Another example would be Focus Hatch vs Focus Wagon.

The window behind the rear door seems pretty reasonable as a defining point between a wagon and a hatch. Visually, it has to do with the length behind the rear seats.

When I look at the xB, I see an old person trying to look cool. Oh, you mean the car itself. Honestly, I would say very small SUV as a knee jerk reaction as well. I know it's not a "real" SUV, but it's boxy and you sit a bit higher. And Scion has that other hideous thing that is more wagon-like.

roar02ram said: If the xB's a wagon, then the Fit is a wagon, too...and I'm not quite ready to make that leap.

Coincidentally, I just looked at a Honda Fit window sticker yesterday. On it, the EPA vehicle type and size classification was printed: Small Station Wagon.

To me, the xB is a box, a box with a chopped top. But if you twisted my arm and made me choose between wagon, SUV and hatch, I'd go for hatchback. The squarest of the many hatchbacks I've owned were the late 70's Rabbit, a 1986 VW GTI and a 1989 Civic Si. All had fairly vertical rear hatches, particularly the Civic Si--and I never saw any of them as a wagon.

Wagons have a longish cargo area and drawn-out proportions with substantial rear overhang compared to hatchbacks. No, the xB is a hatchback, and despite what the EPA says, so is the Honda Fit.

I see a wagon, just as most SUV's were called wagons. My old ford bronco was called a wagon, most of the old Jeeps (wagoneer, cherokee) were reffered to as a wagon. So I guess in this regard its a wagon.

I work here so I know it is a wagon, but I still think of it as a compact SUV.

Alright, fair enough brady, I had neglected cars with more sloped hatches in thinking of my D-pillar definition. And then the Honda Fit shows that even a car with a D-pillar and more upright glass isn't necessarily a wagon either. So I think it's more like this:

A wagon has:
1) A D-pillar
2) A reasonably upright rear window (no fastback sloping hatches)
3) A reasonably long rear overhang

There, that makes the Scion xB, Honda Fit, and Hyundai Elantra GT all hatchbacks, while the Subaru Impreza 5-door is IMO a wagon (they call it a hatchback) along with cars like, of course, the Saab 9-3 Sportcombi, Volvo V50, and so on.

I see ugliness.

Okay, okay, I see a wagon, I don't understand how anyone can see an SUV from it, it's so low to the ground,and the wheels are tiny.

Older versions: A boxy, roomy underpowered 4 door hatchback, frequently pimped.

Newer versions: A less boxy, roomy 4 door hatchback "toyota-ized", including cheap interior.