Teach me about boxes

I am thinking about replacing my Ranger as a daily driver with either a Nissan Cube, a first gen xB or a Kia Soul. Are there any problems areas with this cars? They seem to be very reasonably priced around here and they are all available. The xB has the best aftermarket but I am only really looking to lower it, swap wheels and tint it. 

Can a modern XL mountain bike fit in the back of one with the front wheel off? Mine is around 1275mm long.

The Cube is probably the least popular so farer and fewer available but...

The auto trans is a CVT (bad) but the manual is a 6 speed (good.)  

I only drove a Cube once but my major complaint was that the very upright glass made for some very odd and difficult reflections from inside while driving the car at night.  Oddly, this made the car very hard to see out of in the evening (which is counter intuitive given the huge windows.) 

John Welsh said:

The Cube is probably the least popular so farer and fewer available but...

The auto trans is a CVT (bad) but the manual is a 6 speed (good.)  

Yeah. I am only interested in a manual.

You might consider adding Pontiac Vibe to your search too.   The Vibe GT of '03-'07 is manual only and gets a zippier engine over the base model.

The missus has a 2012 soul. In my mind it is a car that does nothing well. It's got great rear legroom and has been reliable but storage space is laughable. It looks like it is utilitarian but the truth is that two people cannot pick up two people from the airport in it. It simply won't fit 4 adults with 2 pieces of luggage.  The high, narrow hatch with tons of wasted space under it kills any utility it might have had.  I used to take my 2 door mk4 gti for airport runs like that because it had so much more storage space. 

Jumper K Balls (Trent) said:

The missus has a 2012 soul. In my mind it is a car that does nothing well. It's got great rear legroom and has been reliable but storage space is laughable. It looks like it is utilitarian but the truth is that two people cannot pick up two people from the airport in it. It simply won't fit 4 adults with 2 pieces of luggage.  The high, narrow hatch with tons of wasted space under it kills any utility it might have had.  I used to take my 2 door mk4 gti for airport runs like that because it had so much more storage space. 

 

To be honest, I don't need to carry 4 adults and luggage. If it can fit a mountain bike and one day a car seat that is really all I am looking for. I just think in general the boxes look kind cool slammed. If I am honest, the Soul is my least favorite of the three.

There do exist other, more interesting shapes.

People like the xB.  I see them on CL with like 300K or more all the time.

In reply to 93EXCivic :

We cannot fit her townie bike into the soul with the seats folded. If your bike has quick release wheels then it should be able to happen, but without breaking it down then no.

The soul is surprisingly small inside I thought. I doubt you're getting an MTB in there. Show up for a test drive with a tape measure. I've never been in any of the others but the XB "looks" bigger. Not sure if the interior is too.

One of my co-workers has a 1st gen soul. In all the years he has owned it since new, it has needed three sets of tyres, a set of brakes, oil changes and is currently getting it's first clutch job at 155,000 miles

Ex and I had an 05 xB with a 5-speed.  It was downright fun.  Timing chain, 1.5L that sipped fuel, super bulletproof.  We bought it with 60k and it now has 200k.  It is sitting right now because she rear ended someone and put a hole in the radiator.  I much prefer the look of the boxy xB over the other jellybeans, and Judging by my co-worker's Soul, the xB has way more room in it for not much additional footprint.  I carried a full-length couch in the xB with the back open.

If I were looking for another toaster, I'm not even sure I would consider the other ones - primarily because of the amazing experience I had with the xB, but also because of looks.

In reply to Jumper K Balls (Trent) :

We have one as a rental and I have to agree it is one of the most poorly packaged car I’ve ever seen. We tried to take it to go shopping with my niece yesterday which involves taking the wife’s wheelchair, walker, a small duffel  bag and our cocker spaniel.  These four items have fit in the Fiat countless times, and get lost in the Renegade but the odd shape of the Soul’s interior prevented me from finding a way for these to fit in the car even though it’s the rear seats down. I don’t know how a car can be so square on the outside and not square inside.

Maybe check out the Honda Element as well

http://www.thesupercars.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-Honda-Element-Side-Profile.jpg

I feel like the Element is a much bigger car overall. Right?

In reply to buzzboy :

I believe it is. If I were looking to put a mostly-assembled modern mountain bike in one, that's the one that I'm guessing would be most likely, or at least the least painful.

Given the scale of modern bikes, I'd just look at minivans or cargo vans, and have a changing room as well...

My wife put a lot of miles on a first-gen Soul and we loved it.  However, everything Jumper K Balls said is spot on, no way to reasonably fit a mountain bike in there plus the lift-over is high. It also has the worst manual there is, you cannot downshift to second, third is hard to find...it demands slow, lazy shifts. I have to guess that a Honda Fit is better inside in every way. Lots of info on how to make bikes fit (pardon the pun.)

For your usage a second gen Fit would work and be way more fun to drive than the boxes. I'm 6' and have an XL frame Cannondale Lefty 29er that I regularly transported in my 2013 Fit. In order for this to work I did have to move the passenger seat forward a bit. My cyclocross bike didn't require me to do anything but fold the rear seats flat. 

I am probably striking the Soul off the list. The first gen xB is probably my top choice right now.

I considered the Fit but they seem to command a bit more money and honestly it is basically just straight interstate to and from work so I am not that worried about the fun to drive bit. It will probably be mildly stanced. But I may reconsider the Fit.

The Element gets worse gas milage then I want.

The mountain bike thing would be nice to have so I can have it in the back of the car and go straight to some trails after work but I am not sure how often I'd actually use it. The best trails in the area are a 2ish mile pedal from my house so I rarely drive my bike anywhere anyway and I am keeping the Ranger because having a pickup is just too useful so if I am going from my house to some other further away trails I can put it in the back of that.

Has anyone owned a Cube?

In reply to 93EXCivic :

The first-gen xB is certainly the coolest of the bunch...

Since the Fit was mentioned, Mazda 3 hatch will easily swallow up a mountain bike. 

In reply to 93EXCivic :

TSX 6th gear and output shaft swaps into an AWD Element making them see 30-33mpg highway. 

I have a first gen xB and a manual AWD Element is going to be my replacement for it, but I'm planning on an ECamper conversion as well with the addition of the 6th gear. 

Some personalized plates I've seen on boxes:

INABOX

RTARDUS

Step 1 learn what a proper box is