Scion is Toyotas 'youth brand' kind of like the opposite of what they did with Lexus. Idea is to make Toyota's (sorry Scion) trendy with the young uns and college kids who would otherwise drive a VW Jetta.
That's why they build sh1t cars, then there's no need to modify them
Actually, I'm in Manhattan nearly every month and the roads are truly dreadful. I wouldn't want to drive my car on these roads, we think the roads in the Uk are bad!
When you're crashing from pot hole to pot hole, suddenly the 'Yank Tank' makes sense, that's why SUV's is so popular.