Scion iM | spiffykerms.com

I had a grand ol’ time the other week peppin’ around in a new Scion iM! Check out the bum on ‘er, so cute right? The Scions are great starter vehicles for anyone ready to purchase their first car. Though, I do have to say I did miss the sunroof, especially living in Sunny California.

But for what it lacks sans sunroof, makes up for what my car doesn’t have â€” a backup camera! It’s so handy to have, especially in a car you’re not familiar with.

I had this Scion iM to review for the week and I drove it up to San Francisco twice! That’s a rare occasion for me to head up to the big city that often, but I’ll take it!

First up was the LancÃ´me event at Clift Hotel, more to come on that later â€”Â because I’m super excited to show you some of their new launches coming out in June. And have you ever wished you could create your own foundation type, coverage, and lasting power? You’re going to want to stayed tuned to my blog, let me tell ya that much. If you follow me on Snapchat you’ve already seen the behind-the-scenes of what’s to come. Shh, don’t tell anyone! :)

Of course, Alfie (aka Captain in Command) is always my first passenger in the car. He loves goin’ for little joy rides. I never drive with him on my lap, ever. I was parked here.

Secondly, it’s been way too long since my husband had been to the City, so on the weekend we drove up and spent the entire day being tourists.

We hit up the California Academy of Sciences.Â I have to be honest, it was a bit of a dud. The Tech Museum in San Jose was wayÂ better and on a completely different scale. While the CAS had a great observation deck to view over the gorgeous Golden Gate Park, we were a bit disappointed in the place itself – plus it was really pricey for day passes! Yikes.

Across the park was theÂ de Young Fine ArtsÂ Museum,Â so we walked over there before it closed.

We only had about 90 minutes to walk around before it closed but for me, that’s honestly long enough.Â You haveÂ to go up on the 9th floor to get an insane view of San Francisco! Don’t leave this building without going up there! Check out those views.

I saw someÂ Picasso paintings (in case you didn’t know, I used to paint replicas of picasso when I attended art school!! I have a soft spot for ol’ Pablo!)

Neither of us had seen the Palace of Fine Arts up close before, and being the parkin’-pro I am, I snagged an excellent spot right in front (there’s extremely limited parking, about 10 spaces!).

This spot is always super populated with wedding & engagement shoots, and all sorts of other people in fancy outfits getting photographed. We saw a Ballerina getting her photos done… so gorgeous. I’m also super lucky since I snagged this guy in for TWO photos with me, in one day! A rare treat!

We finished off our sight-seeing and went down to the populated Fisherman’s Wharf to grab supper at Boudin, and dessert at Ghirardelli. And want to know a little somethin’? In the past 2 years we lived here in the Bay Area, Ghirardelli ice creams have doubled their prices lol. Just something we noticed!

I feel like reviewing cars for the week is such a great way to get a feel for how much I like the brand, or the vehicle type itself.

Wouldn’t it be great if, when you were looking to purchase your own car, dealerships would loan them out to you for that long too? That way you could get such a fantastic idea of whether or not you’d like to purchase. I mean, how much can you really tell with a 20 minute test drive?

Odd question I know, but what’s your favourite city to visit in North America? I have a couple of course:

Toronto, ON
St. John’s, NL (home! Explore your own city!!)
San Francisco, CA
Santa Cruz, CA
Point Lobos, CA

Huge thanks to Scion for loaning me the car for a week to review!

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail inviting me to a small exclusive ScionÂ media launch, and of course being the person to say YES to an opportunity that sounds cool, I obviously agreed.Â The itinerary was a little backwards for me, but considering I had nothing on the go that day I decided to giv’er and go all out for the experience. It went a little something like this:

Drive myself up to San FranciscoÂ during morning rush hour.
We test drive the Scion iM and Scion iA’s down to Santa Cruz.
We eat lunch in Santa Cruz and mingle with the other media attendees.
Drive back in one of the iA or iM vehicles to San Francisco.
I take my own vehicle back and drive it home to San Jose.

So, a lot of back and fourths for me. I’m not one to complain much but by the time I got home it definitely took the good out of me and I was ready for a big ol’ nap, or a good nights sleep.

I filmed a short few clipsÂ while I was the passenger for half the trip, so checkÂ it out! Some spindly windy roads down to Santa Cruz, it was definitely picturesque, and I can betcha a buck this is most likely where a few car commercials are shot! The roads were breathtakingly beautiful with all those gigantic redwood trees and Cali-views.

After whipping out my vlogging camera to capture some footage for my YouTube channel, I realized I didn’t film or take any photographs of the iA sedan I was in, only the sportier hatchback model: Scion iM. I suppose if you were really into reviewing vehicles, you wouldn’t be on my blog because it’s not a car-review blog. So I’m sure you will be able to find photos of that elsewhere on the internet.

Although I’m not even remotely a professional car reviewer I can still give my two cents on what I thought of both the vehicles. Preferably, I am more of a mid-sized hatchback type of gal, and I prefer to feel surrounded by a whole lot of car when I’m driving. As soon as I sat inside the Scion iA sedan, it felt too small for something I would purchase. If you’ve ever sat inside a Toyota Yaris, you would understand the size of the car.

However, IÂ enjoyed taking the Scion iM out for a spin since it feels more versatile and sportier.Â Does the front end look familiar to you? It was built in partnership with Mazda at the same manufacturer as the Mazda 2’s were, so it has the Mazda 2 chassis and transmission. Something I’m a little familiar with due to me owning a Mazda 3 hatch.

2016 Scion iM shown above in the colour Blizzard Pearl, releasing on September 1, 2015 for $18,460 (manual) + $19,255 (automatic). It gets 28mpg city, 37 highway and 32 combined.

The two cars are aimed towards a younger crowd of consumers, newly graduated professionals, buying their first car. The hatchback is a great idea since it’s so diverse, especially if you’re into biking and don’t want a bike rack on the outside of your car (especially considering my husbands bikes cost more than our cars). Fold down the two back seats and you have yourself a safe haven for your pride and joy: the bicycle.

Visit Scion for more vehicle information. Photos below provided by Scion.Â

2016 Scion iA + iM