Of all the cars in our lot, the Scion xB is one of the best in terms of easy ingress/egress. The door opening is huge -- big enough for a Yeti with a glandular problem, I'd say. The step-up is low, nearly at curb height, but therein lies the problem...
When opening the door for my passenger (yes, gentlemen, you should still be opening the car door for a lady), the low-slung door unceremoniously scrapes along almost any sidewalk. Even with the weight of my waif-like sprite of a passenger, the door still acted more like a kickstand, forcing me to give the door handle a bit of a lift to pivot it shut. I'm guessing this is a bad idea, since the plastic door handle could only support so much weight, but what's a guy to do?
Parking further away from the curb would earn me a ticket in the People's Republic of California. Adding a few hundred pounds of ballast under the driver's seat is, well, just plain stupid. Taking a grinder to the corner of the door would cure it, but I think that would get me banned from future car access. Had Scion created a radius on the corner this probably wouldn't be such a problem. I suppose after a few thousand openings like this, it will develop a dog ear anyways, albeit a much less atrractive solution.
Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor @ 30,615 miles
m_thrizzle says:
03:34 PM, 11/24/08
I was in LA for the auto show this weekend and noticed that the curbs are very tall there. I live in NorCal and the curbs aren't as high. What's the deal? Is LA waiting for a flood or something?
tettes says:
04:25 PM, 11/24/08
People's Republic of California, indeed.
I got a ticket for parking "More than 21 inches away from the curb" in a metered spot in Santa Monica last month. I was INSIDE the white painted parking lines and had fed the meter, but apparently SM has a law against parking more than 21 inches from the curb, even if you're inside the painted lines.
Amazing!
cah11705 says:
05:13 PM, 11/24/08
Lambo Doors!
or more maturely and easier, aston martin doors that open up a little
pengwin says:
08:05 PM, 11/24/08
lambo doors open normally now i believe. atleast the gallardo does.
SadButTrue says:
08:51 PM, 11/24/08
@pengwin,
Gallardo, yes. Murcielago, no -- still rocking the classic lambo doors.
jaguar36 says:
04:40 AM, 11/25/08
You parked almost two feet away from the curb and are complaining about a ticket?
carmizvi says:
05:32 PM, 11/25/08
The 20-something demographic that supposedly buys these cars has a thing for scraped-down dog-ears in their passenger side doors, so let's look at this as a feature or a benefit.
Time to lower the sidewalks, I say.
jahfakin says:
05:29 AM, 11/26/08
I've run into the same problem with my xB, a few time, but only in places were the side walk is usually high. in cases like that, I don't open the door all the way , only half way, and slip in and out of the car. My VW new beetle had the same problem.
jederino says:
09:47 AM, 11/26/08
"What's the deal? Is LA waiting for a flood or something?"
Absolutely! LA is known for flash floods, made all the worse by frequent wild fires, and high curbs are seen in many parts of the LA basin. In the early 20th century, the LA River frequently overtopped its banks and swept people away, before it was channelized.