Looking at the Toyota Rukus reminds you of Kia Soul – snub nose, boxy body, almost vertical back – they even came out around the same time except that the Soul is still in production while Toyota stopped producing the Rukus after 2015.
Toyota Rukus, aka Toyota Corolla Rumion and Scion xB in different markets, is a compact five-door hatchback, with a front-engine, front-wheel or four-wheel-drive layout. Hiroaki Suzuki did its design, and Kanto Auto Works manufactured it for Toyota from 2007 to 2015 in Japan.
Underpinned by Toyota's New MC platform, it shares a kinship with Toyota Corolla (E140 and E150) and Toyota Auris (E150).
Rukus Arrives in Australia
Toyota Rukus entered Australia in May 2010 as Toyota’s attempt to create a demand for a new, undefined market segment. Arming the Rukus with an odd appeal and promoting it as a cool cruising car, Toyota hoped to attract the young crowd and targeted sales at 300 units per month.
Powertrain & Trims
Under its hood, Toyota Rukus had a 2.4-litre 2AZ-FE DOHC VVT-i inline-four petrol engine teamed up with a 4-speed auto transmission. Toyota offered it in three variants called Build 1, Build 2, and Build 3, with a limited-edition Halo trim added the following year.
The engine generated up to 123 kW of power at 6,000rpm and 224 Nm of torque at 4,000rpm.
Build 1 was the standard trim and included ABS, airbags (dual front, head, and side), roof-mounted antenna, tilt and telescopic steering wheel, 16-inch alloy wheels, brake assist, cruise control, centre console, cloth trim, EBD, ESP, halogen headlights, engine immobiliser, low fuel warning, power mirrors/steering/windows, radio CD with 6 speakers, seatbelts (load limiters, pretensioners), traction control, and a trip computer, among the notable features.
Build 2 added an enhanced sound system with nine speakers and a subwoofer, climate control, leather seats, and leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Build 3 added carpet floor covering, CD player/MP3, mobile phone connectivity, remote fuel lid release, and a power sunroof.
The Halo trim was Build-1-based and added a tilt-and-slide sunroof, reversing cam, dark grey cloth trim, footwell lighting, and Voodoo Blue color.
Short-lived Tenure
It enjoyed slight success in its initial release, albeit far below the 300-monthly target. After two years, however, its appeal waned, and sales fell below a thousand in 2012. Sales continued to dwindle. It went down to a little over a hundred units sold in 2015, which led to its withdrawal from the market.
The Rukus does boast of an immense amount of space inside – it gives its passengers an outdoor feel due to this spaciousness. It’s undoubtedly the car for people who drive long distances and need ample space for lugging things around – the Rukus doesn’t lack in this department. Its fuel consumption for combined driving is 8.8L/100km, which is decent, though not impressive.
If you have a Rukus, finding parts for it would be a tedious process primarily because it's not in production anymore. Secondly, there was not a lot of them sold in Australia at the time. If only you could find sellers of secondhand parts or used cars like Rukus, it would not be a problem – and that's what we thought. People selling their cars or auto parts come to Carpart.com.au to list what they're offering for sale, and that's where you should be looking. Check out our sellers now!
-JMSL