2011 Scion xB advice

[AZjeff]

A 2011 Scion xB with 211k was gifted by the original owner to the animal rescue shelter I volunteer at recently. It's in nice shape overall and was supposedly fully serviced before it was turned over. I'm not the vehicle maintenance person, but I'm going to keep an eye on it since there's nobody else to do it. It will be driven locally to and from the vet's offices and doing errands and it seems like the shelter manager will be the only one driving it. I checked and the 2011 xB isn't on the list of models with the bad pistons/rings with high oil consumption. It's the 2AZ-FE 2.4L engine.

Is there anything with these cars to watch for beyond normal maintenance items? No idea if the tranny has ever been serviced. I haven't driven it yet but plan to take a spin to see how it drives.

thanks

 

[blupupher]

The 2011 xB is on "the list" of piston/ring issues.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2016/MC-10091611-5448.pdf

If it is not burning oil @ 200,000+ miles, it is probably fine, but still check the oil a little more frequently.
Transmission drain and fill with filter change would be on my list of "to do" using Valvoline Maxlife.

Overall if you have one not burning oil, they are pretty solid vehicles.
I know there were a few years they had some cooling system leaks issues, but don't remember off hand (I think it was a water pump issue, but was not a huge issue).

We bought a 2012 xB new for my wife, and my daughter drives it now.
Only 70,000 miles on it, but only issue it has had is the A/C sometimes takes a long time before the compressor kicks in, but once it does, it is very cold.

 

[atikovi]

Never heard of car donations being used in house. Wasn't the intention of the donor that the donee sell the car and use the proceeds towards the shelter? And get a tax deduction in return. That's how 99% of car donations operate.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Never heard of car donations being used in house. Wasn't the intention of the donor that the donee sell the car and use the proceeds towards the shelter? And get a tax deduction in return. That's how 99% of car donations operate.

If he donated the car to a non profit and got a receipt, what does anyone care what happens to the car next?

Most of the "donate your car" places are scams. 90% of the money goes to the outfit that processes and tows / hauls / whatever the car, and they pass along a tiny pittance to the end charity.

 

[AZjeff]

Never heard of car donations being used in house. Wasn't the intention of the donor that the donee sell the car and use the proceeds towards the shelter? And get a tax deduction in return. That's how 99% of car donations operate.

She donated her car specifically to be used by the shelter. Thanks for your unspoken accusation of wrongdoing by the shelter . Got anything of value to add about the xB?

 

[hank2]

Check the oil frequently, perhaps every day. After 2010, the Scion XB was the only Toyota using the 2AZ-FE right to the end of the model in 2015. There's at least a chance that a previous owner used the warranty enhancement for replacement pistons and rings. Some even got new short blocks. The program is ongoing, but only the '13-'15 models qualify now (under 10 years from first title) if they're under 150k mi. Possibly, a Toyota dealer could run the VIN and check?

I have a '14 XB. Other than oil consumption ramping up, the only ongoing problem I have had at 71k, is rear disc troubles. Being a cheesy straight rear axle, it's important to seat rotors squarely. There can be a need for shim adjustments under caliper mounts. I also recently had to have the rear calipers replaced. The Scion rear calipers have a parking brake rachet attached to the caliper! That partially seized up and wouldn't completely free the parking brakes.
The water pumps were a sure problem, but that was more the earlier models, '08, '09, perhaps later. The replacement Aisin WP is much thicker and better quality but requires removing motor mount and engine jacking or dropping to give room for replacement. Original was junk, built to a Toyota price. Cat failures can happen from prolonged excessive oil consumption. Hub bearings and ABS troubles are often reported with advanced miles. Rear beam axles rust out often in the NE, but likely not a problem in AZ.

211k is a whole lot on these and most cars will have troubles at high mileage. They seem to fall into two life categories, depending on the care they received and how they were driven. About 130k or 230k. I have seen claims and odo photos on a couple reaching 300k but I think these had seen engine and trans replacements. Insurance companies seem to hate excessively on the XB2. Maybe the claim rate is a bit higher. The little XD's with Corolla engine are commonly seen with 240k to 300k. Not many of these sold in the US.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I am not one of those people that don't believe in changing trans fluid on high mileage vehicles. Having said that, a lot of people are, so given its not your car I wouldn't touch it - unless whomever is in charge specifically agrees its a good idea. If you do and the trans dies, then everyone will blame you.

I would just keep the oil changed and fluids up. Sounds like its just for local use so the will likely get many years of service from it.

 

[bullwinkle]

I would second the MaxLife usage, go with 5W30 (it will burn it more slowly than the recommended 5W20). If it does well on it, then MaxLife full synthetic should be OK. An un-updated Toyota 2.4 2AZ-FE that doesn‘t burn oil would be a rarity-and a keeper because it would have been super well maintained.

 

[michaelluscher]

Check if it had a rebuilt under the ZE7 campaign, plus check for open recalls
Then read my mega thread on resurrecting a high mileage 2009

So we're all buying Toyotas now 🤔

I won this 2009 xB on eBay, I'm gonna go pick it up Friday 281k, warned of grinding brakes and having to add oil 🛢️ Bring on the piston soak 😈 I got a few cans of on sale B12 chemtool, and a can of Kroil, might let it soak for multiple days It's an auto, coming from it's first and only...

bobistheoilguy.com

Then monitor oil consumption, to see if you'll only need some Liqui Moly idle flushes + HPL engine cleaner, or you'll have to go full hog like I did
Your mileage being much lower, you should be in better shape
We need pictures of the

 

[AZjeff]

Thanks for all of the info and suggestions. I'm going to see if someone can ask the 1 owner where she had the car serviced and find out what has been done. Understand that I'm not going to do tranny drain and fills or piston soaks or brake jobs etc on this car. Don't need that liability. I'll check the oil regularly and make some suggestions based on that and what can be found out about it's maintenance history. Over 200k on a 2011 is quite a bit, maybe things kept clean inside? Time will tell.

About the rescue shelter, United Animal Friends has been around for almost 20 years and primarily rescues dogs from a number of shelters in NE Arizona and NW New Mexico before the dogs are put down because they've timed out. They're mostly Rez dogs and they're not necessarily abused or starved, just mostly ignored and fending for themselves. Some need medical attention. There are way more stray dogs there than adopters and when they get filled up different rescues like UAF take the dogs before, you know. At UAF might be the first time many of these dogs have had humans actually care for them and they really respond. We really are saving dog's lives. UAF rescues cats too but I'm not involved with them. Interacting with these dogs and helping them learn to trust us and then to see them get adopted and hearing about their new life is so rewarding it almost chokes me up. Dogs just want to love and be loved.

Here are the dogs we have right now. Dogs