Scion dealerships are great, the buying experience of a Scion is awesome, but the new xBs have gotten so-so reviews.
The fuel economy for the performance is not stellar (they weigh over 3000lbs now with a high drag coefficient so highway acceleration isn't great) and the interior is pretty cheap with a poorly designed gauge cluster.
There's another funky styled one called the Nissan Cube, but oh my gosh is it slow. Its just painful, and again poor aerodynamics for highway noise/efficiency. These box designs are funky, but just not good if you cruise at 75mph a lot.
Kia Soul Sport wasn't so bad since it was so cheap. Bit more expensive and bigger for a crossover though was the Chevy Equinox, and while I hate the lame chrome trim on the higher models, the interior is nice (finally a GM that doesn't suck), it does have a nice multilink suspension, good engine, and gets 32mpg on regular gas (I think the direct injection helps here a lot; 600 mile range, not bad).
Many people don't know that the current xB is not the same vehicle as the original one. Completely different vechicles for their base. In addition, the new ones have the Camry's engine.
But I've seen some of the same reviews you have.
28 mpg is not great, but it's better than the 15 my pickup has been getting!
If it had been up to me, I would have gotten the xB. The Release 8.0 was a real temptation, although I could just feature waiting for body repair parts for a limited edition (only 2000 of them) to come from Japan!
However, Dottie really liked the Malibu, and you know what the comedian Jeff Allen says: "Happy wife, happy life. Learn it; know it; live it!"